This Curse - By Alisha Basso Page 0,32

eyes still held from across the driveway. His smile was crooked, making him look mischievous and wicked. When I felt his warm touch at the back of my bra, I cried uncle.

“Okay, enough.” I was fully clothed again. “Cute parlor trick. So now that you have proven you have the magic of a Madea, what’s with the apple?”

His face fell and he folded his arms. The playful man was gone. “I can eat very small amounts of food.” He shrugged. “Nothing much, though. I think that maybe, if I slowly introduce more solid food each day, I might be able to process more and more until the day comes when I no longer need your blood.” He shrugged again and that devilish smile was suddenly back. “Until then?” he winked and nodded toward my house.

“Oh, brother.” I shook my head and walked past him, into the house. He followed, much happier than when we had left.

I was more comfortable with Seth than I had been with anyone before in my life. He had opened up to me in a way that shocked me to my core. Could the Madea in him be causing this rapid change in his personality? In the changes, I felt for him? When he first began to drink my blood, the transformation to his eyes was obvious and almost instant. Then I escaped his hold and he no longer had access to my blood, so the change must have stopped in its tracks. But he didn’t revert to his former self. Then after his return into my life and his steady diet of my blood, he could now do magic and eat small amounts of food. I wondered.

“Seth, have you tried to walk into the sun?” I asked as we sat at my kitchen table.

“Ah, the sun.” he smiled sadly. “I’m afraid I can not, Sweet. I must sleep when the sun is out. Whether I want to or not. I have not been granted the opportunity to test it.” He sat up straighter, “At least the shutting down of my system has prevented curiosity from frying me alive.” He laughed mirthlessly, “No, I have yet to meet the sun, Grace. Not even to soothe my curiosity.” He stood and walked around the table.

***

After I gave him my blood, we studied my brainstorming efforts and tried to come up with a plan. The fact that Seth was part Madea was our ace in the hole. I was sure no one else knew.

We were trying to devise a plan of attack that did not involve Lucian or his new whore, I mean girlfriend. The salt and pepper shakers were used to represent the both of us, and Seth had turned my entire glass jar of dried beans out onto the table to represent our enemies. That move filled me with dread and I told him he was a total fatalist. All he did was shrug and grumble about reality.

“So, dearest Grace, now that you have a better idea of what our numbers look like, perhaps it would be a good time to admit that you are being far too timid with your powers?”

Seth was being kind, rational, and making sense. My feelings for him were beginning to confuse me. I stood up and moved closer to him.

“You realize,” he continued, capturing my full attention, “that you could cut through these creatures with a thought while sitting at this very table? It would increase our chances mightily.”

And he’s back…

“No, Seth! I’m not killing several hundred people from my breakfast nook! What kind of horrible creature do you take me for? Not all of them are bad.” I turned from him, to take my seat again.

“I assumed as much.” He turned to look at me and I glared. “Well? You were so eager to listen.” he defended. “I was feeling like my warrior self again. Protecting the woman I lo…” He abruptly stopped speaking and sat down. “Well.” He cleared his throat as I tried to process what he almost said. I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he turned and made a fuss over a small wrinkle in his already filthy, bloodstained shirt. “At least tell me what you plan to do with your magic.” He continued as if nothing was amiss. “You are going to at least use it, correct?” He folded his arms and looked down his nose at me.

“Seth,” I leaned forward, happy to let it go. I stared into