The Cure

It had been several hours since Brad got home. He had played a few hours of Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown to try and get his mind off everything. It didn’t work. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he didn’t know what the fuck “his way” was. He bounced between the mentality of just commanding her to chill the hell out and commanding her to never listen to a command again. The problem with the second one was the pain. Every time he so much as thought about that one, he felt a small twinge behind his eye. Not pain, but a reminder of the pain that could be. Then it hit him, he knew how to beat the curse. He pulled out his phone and texted Maisie, ignoring the fact it was almost midnight.

“I know how to beat the curse. You and Holly come to my house tomorrow morning.” He sent. He watched as the message had 1 checkmark, sent, 2 received, they turned blue, read then three bubbles pop up to show Maisie was typing. They started and stopped several times before the messages came in.

“Fuck”

“You”

Brad looked at his phone in disbelief. He had just told Maisie he knew a way to beat the curse and she sent that instead? That wasn’t going to work.

“Maisie, call me.” He sent back.

His phone rang immediately.

“What?” She asked, short and to the point.

“Maisie, you will come to my house tomorrow morning at 9am.” Brad said then hung up.

He sent a text to Holly, “Holly, you will be at my house tomorrow morning at 9am, please. I think I have a way to beat the curse.”

He went to sleep.

The next morning, he woke up and started getting ready for what was sure to be an eventful morning. He cleaned up the house and worked on solidifying the commands he was going to use. He couldn’t see why it wouldn’t work. Around 8:30 he heard a knock on the door. There was Holly, punctual as always.

“Hey, come on in.” Brad said and motioned her in.

“Good morning,” she started, “pretty bold statement last night. What do you have in mind?”

“Let’s wait until Maisie gets here, I want to go over it once. Want some eggs?”

“Maisie will be here right at 9 as you commanded, she’s pretty pissed. Eggs would be great.”

Holly looked amazing. Brad couldn’t help watching her figure as she reached up into the kitchen cabinet for a plate. Her shirt rode up revealing her midriff as she did. She turned and saw Brad staring and surprisingly, she didn’t care.

“Like what you see?” she asked.

“Well…yeah, actually. You know you were my first crush when we were younger?” Brad asked hesitantly.

“What? No way, you’ve always had a thing for Maisie”

“Not when I first started seeing girls as something more than friends” Brad responded. “I still remember the first time you came down in a towel when I was over for dinner when I was 13. You were 19 then I think. That image lives rent free in my head.”

Holly blushed, “I remember that, but I never thought you’d even noticed me!”

“I noticed, trust me I noticed.”

Holly looked like she was battling something internally. Like she wanted to say something but knew it could backfire. Just as she started to speak, the doorbell rang.

Brad opened the door and Maisie walked past him without a word and sat down.

“Ok, first of all, this hostility isn’t going to work.” Brad said, clearly talking to Maisie. “If I must, I will command you, but I’d rather not. Drop the bullshit and listen to me honestly. IF you don’t, I will make you, we good?”

Maisie huffed, “Fine. Thank you, master, for allowing me into your home. It most certainly was of my own free will and not because I was ****.”

Brad let the obvious sarcasm slide. “Ladies, we have work to do this morning. I’ve been thinking about this all night. And I think it should work.”

Holly seemed eager and asked, “Can you please explain it already?”

“In a word, no. We’re going to do this while I have it fresh in my mind. I’ll be commanding both of you. If this works, you can thank me later. If it doesn’t, you can keep hating me.”

“I don’t want you to command me anymore” Maisie whined.

“Too bad. The potential rewards outweigh the discomfort; don’t you see that?” Brad was getting annoyed.

Maisie stayed silent so Brad continued, “Maisie, tell me the entirety of the story of the King and Queen you started yesterday. Holly, if you know the story and hear any inconsistencies, interrupt and correct them.”

Maisie started, “The first woman cursed by the witch was the Queen to be back in the 16th century. She was marrying the current King.”

Holly interrupted, “Uh Mais, who the hell told you they were royalty? You realize if that were the case, Mom would be the Queen of England right now, right?”

“How did I miss that?” Maisie said.

“It was actually just 2 peasant people. The witch was originally betrothed to the man, but he fell in love with the woman. When the witch found out, she gave her this curse in the form of a blessing at their wedding. Ultimately, the power corrupted him, and he abused his new wife horribly. So much so that the townspeople eventually learned of it and had him hanged for crimes against humanity.”

“Well, that makes things a lot clearer. Thank you both.” Brad said then continued, “The reason I needed you both here is because we are going to try to balance the next few commands between the 2 of you. I’m hoping that will reduce the side…never mind”

“Side effects? What side effects?” Holly asked. Maisie stayed sulking.

“Don’t worry about it. Maisie,” She perked up “we’re starting with you. Maisie you know the answer to this question and will tell me when I finish. Is the cure’s power fading?” Brad felt a small hint of pain as he finished the question.

Maisie was silent, but her eyes were moving rapidly as if she was reading then suddenly, they stopped. “Yes, it is fading. But very slowly, the curse will likely last for at least another 2,000 years.”

“Ok, Holly, based on that information, you know the exact date when the last cursed daughter will be born barring any changes. Tell me” Another twinge of pain, this one slightly more noticeable.

“This feel so weird! It’s like information is downloading into my brain! July 3, 4095.” Holly looked physically exhausted already.

“Maisie, you know the answers to any questions I ask and will tell me honestly.” Brad looked at her for confirmation, which he received with a nod.

“Has anyone ever beat the curse in history?”

“No.”

“Has anyone ever tried to beat it with the help of their ‘master’?”

“Yes.”

“Holly, you know exactly how to manipulate the curse to be as easy to live with as possible” As soon as Brad finished the sentence, an immense pain covered the entirety of his head. He doubled over holding his head. Holly appeared to be disoriented as well. Finally they both seemed to have recovered.

“Well?” Brad said, gesturing at Holly.

Holly opened her mouth, but no words came out. She looked panicked and said “What happened to my voice? Wait? I can talk again.” She tried to say something else but no sound came out.

“It’s like something is keeping me from telling you. I know exactly what you need to say but I can’t get the words out. Here let me try texting it to you.”

Holly pulled out her phone and started typing, shortly into the first sentence, the phone cracked in half. If Brad hadn’t seen magic working firsthand already, he would’ve accused Holly of intentionally destroying it.

“I don’t know what to do” Holly cried, “I want you to have this information so bad!”

“Ok, it’s ok. Just keep the information for now. Maisie, your turn” Brad replied seriously.

“Don’t. Please. I can’t take anymore” Maisie said.

“Shut the fuck up.” Holly exploded. “So, he told you to finish doing something YOU started, boo hoo. He’s trying to get RID of this thing. If it works, you’ll never have to listen to a thing he says again. Stop being a whiny bitch! Do you know how many of our ancestors literally killed to try and find someone willing to try? No. That’s all locked in my head now.”

The room went silent. Maisie had recoiled as far back into the chair as she could.

Brad looked at Maise, “Maisie, you know and will tell me exactly how to beat this curse so you and your bloodline will never have to deal with it again.”

“Brad, no!” Holly yelled.

She rushed over to try and stop him, but it was too late. Brad saw a blinding white light and pain he didn’t know was possible filled his whole body. His heart was pounding harder than it had any right to and he clutched his chest. Maisie was staring straight at the wall with a blank stare. Brad tried to speak but instead fell to the ground. His breathing slow, almost nonexistent.

Holly grabbed Maisie’s phone and called 911.

“Hello, I need help at 426 Lawson Dr unit 2304. My friend collapsed and I don’t think he’s breathing!”

Holly hung up the phone and looked over at Maisie, whose expression hadn’t changed.

“Shit, this isn’t good. Shit Shit Shit”