The Haunted’s Kiss of Regret and Repentance

“Shyne!” I fell to the ground, and a heavy body was on top of me. I groaned in pain when my head hit the floor a bit hard.

“Oh my God!” There were different voices around me, but my eyes were still closed. I knew the voices, but the hit on my head was a bit hard, and I still had tears in my eyes, so I just felt like closing them.

The voices were still talking, and I felt someone pull me into a sitting position, and the heavy person on top of me pulled me into a tight hug. I felt the big arms wrap around my shoulder, and my face was pressed on his chest. I hugged him back and I let my tears fall. I cried silently as my tears soaked his shirt.

“Shyne, shh…” the guy said, and he gave me one more squeeze before letting me go and holding my face as he wiped my tears.

I looked at the guy, and it was James, one of my four best friends in Law School. I looked to my side and I realized that Kimmy, Joyce and Loki were looking at me with worried faces.

“Hey,” James said, and he slowly helped me stand up, “you okay?”

I nodded, but I winced and held the back of my head when an annoying pain suddenly cursed through my head, down to my neck. I almost forgot that I hit my head a bit hard as we fell down. Everyone was silent as I took deep breaths and rubbed the back of my head a few more times.

I looked at the four of them, and I could feel tears fall from my eyes as I recalled how frustrated I am at the moment. My grades were all down, I have a stupid curse that I still haven’t figured out how to break yet, and I’m also heartbroken about what Brixton did to me. I feel like I was going mad, and I shouldn’t be, because the only thing keeping the curse at bay was my ability to focus my mind on the positive things in life, and not the negative aura around me.

“Hey, Shyne, come here,” Joyce, the smallest one said as she took my hand and guided me to the base of the stairs a few meters away from us.

“Shyne,” I looked at Joyce and the others as I sat down. I took a deep breath and tried to wipe my tears with my handkerchief as I took a few more breaths to compose myself.

“I-I’m sorry guys,” I said in a gruff voice, my throat felt like it was burning as I fought hard to prevent myself from crying, “I got you all worried, and I am so sorry.”

“Don’t be stupid, Shyne,” Kimmy said as she sat beside me with a deep and heavy sigh, “stop saying sorry, and stop keeping things for yourself. We’re your friends.” she said as she looked up at Joyce, James, and Loki. The three of them also gave me a nod of confirmation. I smiled sadly at them.

“Thanks guys,” I said and wiped my face, “I’ll tell the four of you the truth, but, promise me something,” I looked at each of their eyes.

“Promise me that you guys will listen to everything first, and if you don’t believe me, just pretend like I made up everything and you’ll still be my friends. But, if you believe me, you won’t get yourselves involved. Deal?”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

I began to tell them the truth about my depression, as well as the reasons why I decided to go to law school. The story of Rina, how we met, what I did, and about the curse that he gave. However, I didn’t mention the unexplainable dreams too much, because I knew they wouldn’t understand me. Instead, I told them that my nightmares were taking a toll on me, and it was probably the lack of sleep and paranoia that made me see things.

I knew that by the look on their faces, they thought I was either going mad, or they tried to think of a logical explanation as to what I was talking about.

“Hold up,” Joyce said as she rubbed her temple. We were all sitting on the floor by this time except for Kimmy who was on the bottom of the stairs, “you mean to tell me, you’re technically being haunted by your ex who was part of a cult?!” she said exaggeratedly. I knew she was also losing it by the way she stressed the word “cult”.

“Well, yes,” I replied. None of them spoke, so I released a deep breath before standing up and facing the four of them.

“Alright guys, here’s my request,” I rubbed my palms together as I felt my hand grew cold, “Whatever I told you guys, it’s up to you all, whether you believe me or not. I just want you guys to forgive me for scaring you, and for being a bit distant. I just didn’t want any of you to be caught up in this mess that I’m in.”

I felt my tears fall again, and I wiped it hard with the back of my hand. The four of them just silently watched me as I tried to calm myself down.

“I ran away from the mistakes I made, and I hate that it’s still chasing me after all these years,” I whispered with a rough tone, “I’m sorry if you guys had to know about this.”

“Hey, we’re friends, Shyne,” Loki said as he stood up and rubbed my back. He gave me a warm smile, and so did the others.

“Alright,” Kimmy stood up and picked up my bag and gave it to me, “you guys know I’m not good with drama, so why don’t we just go for a road trip or something, and let’s try to cheer you up, huh, Shyne? You said it yourself, you need to be positive to at least have a chance at keeping this curse at bay. Though I don’t believe it, but, if it helps you, then I’m all for a trip.”

I smiled, and for the first time in months, I actually felt happy. Maybe there is hope.