Life Curse: Taber Blood I

Chapter 31

Macey wasn't sure if the child was Jared or an alternate version of him like Brenda. "David," she whispered. "What if it isn't Jared?" She watched the child approach. He looked like Jared, her beautiful son. But Macey's trips in and out of alternate realities confused her to the point of not trusting anything to be authentic. If the child she saw moving closer to her is Jared, she'll need to get him back to painting the tree. She has yet to figure out how to accomplish their return because all she could do was stare at the boy who looked like her son. 

"He's not levitating or drooling nasty-looking muck," David said. It was his way of disguising between reality and allusion. He now understood what his patients experienced and its changed his whole perspective on mental health. Some of it anyway, at least he now has real experience to relate to his patients. 

"Mom, what's wrong?" Jared asked. His brown eyes expressed genuine concern and that inquisitive thinking he's always possessed. 

A piercing screech startled the three of them. The halls began to reek of Evalena's rotting flesh. The floor shook hard and fast, throwing them off balance as they reached for the walls to steady themselves. Jared's face turned pale. Macey saw him staring past her and David, and she looked back at the other end of the hall, and there stood Evalena. Her appearance was a human form. There was no sign of Brian though his camera still hung around her neck, a horrid reminder of what she did to him. Macey felt the urge to rip right through Evalena but to let her anger control her would end in failure. She had no choice but to move in the direction of Jared. She looked to her son with pleading eyes.

"Mom, on three," Jared said. The space behind him opened to a swirling tunnel. 

Macey walked toward him, "Jared." 

David slowed Macey down, "Are you sure?"

Macey nodded, "Yes."

"One, two," mother and son said together. 

David instinctively knew to move on two because they never counted to three. The three of them jumped into the tunnel and landed back in the library, laid flat out on their backs.

"I'd love to land on my feet, just once," David said, holding his head. The three of them got up and faced the tree and saw Eddie, Roxanna, and Brenda standing in front of it, silent and wide-eyed. Eddie lowered his body. His beast features appeared below the surface, ready to attack. 

"Move away from the tree," Jared said. But they just stood there. Like Macey and David, they had been through their alternate realities. "I must fix the tree so Evalena will go away." 

Little Brenda dragged a can of paint toward the wall, "I'll help you," she said. 

Roxanna ran her trembling hand through her hair. Macey had no idea what Roxanna's alternate reality was like, but it must have been hard on her. "Is this real?" Roxanna asked, staring at Macey for the answer. She needed her best friend to tell her everything was ok, that she and David were real. 

"I think it is," Macey said.

"I think Chad is dead," Roxanna said with a puzzled expression. "He cheated on me. Many times." 

Macey hugged Roxanna while whispering in her ear, "I'm sorry," she said, knowing Roxanna was in shock. 

Roxanna wiped her tears and took a deep breath, and faced the library door. "I'm ready," she said. 

David stepped beside her, "Ready for what?" he said as Macey and Eddie joined them. They faced the battle together while Jared repainted the tree behind them. 

Macey remembered Jared saying the names painted at the top should be at the bottom when they first arrived at the mansion. In hindsight, Macey realized Jared's instinct was spot on, not unusual for Jared. Instinctual is how Macey would describe her son. The moment the nurse laid Jared on her chest at birth, he seemed to sense her needs. Jared slept through the night, allowing her to rest. He fed on her breast at convenient times. As he aged, he waited as she finished the dishes or showered before seeking her attention. Her son was born to fight this battle. How else would he know rearranging the names on the tree would end the curse? Her late husband wanted to shield Jared from the witches' curse, but his battle was inevitable.  She glanced back at Jared, hard at work, painting the names in respective order.