Cursed Souls - Chapter 11 11 Kure

“Kure, how is your sister doing today?” Ava asked sympathetically.

He looked over at her indifferently.

“Yanno… same ol’ same ol’” he exited the room.

Kure had been arguably been a lot less combative and spunky in the two weeks following the discovered’ incident. He often slept on the floor away from Ava. He didn’t talk to her much either. Kure spent a lot of time working to try to keep Oaki off his mind. She hadn’t awoken yet for almost two weeks now. He blamed himself. He knew how she was. She didn’t like being around people. That night, the dinner… he blamed herself for why she left. He instantly felt guilt pierce through his heart.

She saved 102 people. Without that dinner, they might actually be dead. He was angry. He went to one of the recreational floors and found a heavy bag. He often went up here alone these days. He spent a lot of time punching the bag. He had a dragon inside of him. All the anger and frustration. He wanted his sister to wake up. He missed her voice and sweet nature. After the accident, she had many health issues which resulted in her having a lot of limitations. Her overstressed body might not be able to bounce back so easily he thought after seeing her sleep the first night. She was often times very cold to the touch. He hit the bag harder and tried to block the past from his memory.

This failed. He sat against the wall. He looked out over the empty room. He closed his eyes and drifted into a sound sleep for three hours. When he awoke he went back to hitting the bag. Every time he hit the bag it brought memories back of the accident and more internal rage. After everything that had happened. Everyone else woke up. Everyone else got to go back to a safe place with there partner in the comfort of their room. Everyone else went back to being healthy again. It was so unfair. He scoffed and hit the bag again then punched with his left hand. Through his glove, his knuckles were bleeding. He took them off and set them aside. He went back to his room. His tank top drenched in sweat and blood. Ava ran over to him. But before he could even get a word in the closed the bathroom door. She hated how distant he felt. She hated seeing him like this. But she didn’t understand why he was acting like this.

The water turned on and he was taking a shower. She sat on the floor and waiting for him to come out of the bathroom.

“Kure lets have a real conversation… I want to get a few things off my chest”

“Well, honey you are a woman… I don’t think they can remove those things from you… plus sounds painful.” He said back

“Kure I’m being serious,” she remarked.

“Okay, what’s wrong?” He said turning around to grab a shirt as he rolled his eyes.

“What’s wrong is you. You never take the things I say seriously and you ignore me now. And I just want to know what I did to upset you.” She looked down and sighed

“Look… it’s not you. Okay. It has nothing to do with you. Now get some sleep.” He grabbed a sheet and went to his usual place on the floor and turned away from her.

“Please come here with me. Sleep in the bed. Just tonight. Please.” She said in a desperate tone.

“Okay” he knew should keep begging so he sulked over to the bed and laid down.

“Kure…?” She asked.

He laid beside her in bed back facing away as he closed his eyes and sighed… “yes Ava?”

“Is this because of your sister?… that you are acting this way?”

He gave no response. He tried to pretend to be asleep. But instead, he felt tears rolling down his face. He grabbed his shirt and wiped his face quickly.

“Drop it.” He said in a very serious tone.

She rolled behind him and put her arm around his waist as she laid behind him. He tried to move away but she moved closer leaving no space between them. He took her hand and removed it. He rolled over to look at her.

“What do you want?” He said

She looked straight into his eyes and felt her heart pounding. The tension between them was intense. She couldn’t form any words so she just sat staring into his eyes. He closed his eyes and started to roll the opposite way again. She grabbed his toned arm to stop him from rolling. He faced her again.

“Please talk to me,” she said.

Kure could see the desperation and pain in her eyes. He stared at her for about a minute before speaking.

“Okay… talking,” he said as he smirked.

“Not what I mean. What’s wrong Kure” she asked in a calm voice.

“Nothing really.” He replied.

She threw the blankets off the top of them. She leaned over and pushed Kure’s shoulder so he was laying flat against the bed. Then she moved one leg over him and sat on top of him. She leaned down and placed her arms below him so that arms were beneath him and her hand lightly holding his shoulders. She laid we head against his right shoulder. He froze. What the heck is she doing? His heart raced.

“I’m always going to be here for you. You know that right.”

He remained silent not replying to her. She reminded him of a koala bear hugging him. He laid there motionless. He felt dampness on his shirt where her head was resting.

“Everyone ices me out. Please don’t do it to me too.” She said in a sniffle.

He sat up. She didn’t let go of him. Just held him tighter and wrapped her feet interlocked behind his back and her arms around his chest.

“Okay. What do you want to know?” He said calmly. She could feel a low vibration when he spoke.

“What’s wrong with her?” She asked.

By her, Kure knew exactly who she meant. Oaki. He took a deep breath out.

“She isn’t like everyone else. A few years ago she got into a car accident. It was winter and she and my mom was coming home late from the store. The roads were completely iced over. Long story short a semi- crashed into the side of the car and threw them off the road. My mom died about five minutes after impact. When they found them oaki had been stabbed on the right side of her rib cage near her heart and her left shoulder by a metal pole. She sat for three hours sitting with the poles through her body. When the paramedics found her she was the only survivor. For a year she didn’t go to school. She refused to get in a car as well unless she had medicine to calm her down. She talked less and less. When she got to the hospital she had emergency surgery. Her heart had been slightly punctured. The surgery had taken six hours. After she came out of surgery she stayed asleep for three weeks. Well, not really asleep. She was in a coma. When she woke up she didn’t talk for about two months. My dad had gone off the rails. He lost his wife and he saw his daughter in pain. He started to drink all the time and lost his job. It’s just seeing her like that. It just reminds me of everything.” He paused for a moment. “Ava it’s all my fault. If it weren’t for me…”

“Kure none of what happened was your fault.” She said holding him tightly.

“If we wouldn’t have had that dinner none of this would have happened,” he said holding back the tears in his eyes.

“Kure she might have left anyway, we will never know but we can’t focus on what could have happened. We have to live every day with what did. You’re a good brother to her. She will get better I just know she will. She is strong she will pull through.” Ava said hopefully.

She let go of Kure. She had been crying a bit because of the story. She started to unwrap herself around him when he suddenly put his arms around her back hugging her tightly. She hugged him back then got off him. He got out of bed and walked to the mini fridge. There was nothing in there so he went to the door getting ready to go to the cafeteria. Ava springs up to her feet and hugged his waist from behind. Kure turned around to her.

“Yanno if you tell anyone anything I will deny it.” He said with a light-hearted tone.

He reached down and grabbed her hand. He opened the door and saw the forest green-eyed boy in the edgy leather jacket.

“And you are….?” Kure asked

“Chris. I’m Chris. Noah won’t open the door and I hear you’re her brother, it’s really important.”

Kure looked at him puzzled.

“I need you to watch this!” Chris said forcing the tablet into Kure’s hand then barging his way into the room.

He grabbed the tablet back from Kure’s hand and sat on the bed. They followed him. He played the video. They watched and were horrified at the sight. Chris opened the hatch to go to Ember and Elijah’s room. He went through there door and ran to Oaki’s bedside. He held her hand. Noah turned around in shock.

“Do you know what NO means? I mean really man… not that hard of a concept” Noah said in an annoyed tone.

“There’s something with her!” Chris said scrambling for words.

She was laying in the bed. Her lips a white color. Her skin even more pale, lacking any sense of pigment. She seemed to be in an even worse condition than from before. He grabbed her hand and leaned over her.

“I know you in there, wake up angel. You have to wake up.” He pleaded.

Kure and Ava ran into the room. They showed Noah Ember and Elijah the tablet. The room fell silent. They all looked at each other.

“We have to show everyone.” Said, Kure.

“Agreed.” Everyone else said.

“There has to be a unit that broadcasts the footage somewhere.”

They all left the room and went down to the cafeteria. They went all the way to the top floor and found a cable and plugged it into the tablet. Then they played the video. It was broadcast throughout the whole compound. Everyone knows the truth now. How this started. Why here? No one knew. They went back to the room. Chris and Kure had been talking a lot the whole time back. Ava and ember walked behind them.

“Future bromance?” They giggled.

Just then the loudspeakers sounded.

“Community meeting in the cafeteria starting in 20 minutes. Everyone must be there.”

They paused then turned to go back to the cafeteria. Just then Ava grabbed Kure’s hand.

“I forgot something. Come with me?” She asked him

“Ava comes on it can’t it wait?”

“Kure!” She said giving him a death glare.

He left the group and went back to the room with Ava. Just then a person dressed in all back was holding Oaki in his arms running down the hallway. Kure ran after him down the hallway.

“Kure!” Ava screamed.

Then he got hit over the back of the head. He looked at the person running down the hall as he fell. Then his vision faded away.