“Alright then. Show me,” Abigail challenged, a strange glint in her silver eyes. “Come on, take your glasses off, and let me see this handsome face of yours.” She reached out to swipe the glasses off Bellamy’s face.
Bellamy instantly panicked. “No!” He shouted in fear and quickly backed up, away from Abigail. He stumbled backwards and ending up falling onto the floor.
Abigail looked at the fearful expression on Bellamy’s face and her eyes widened. His breathing was beginning to become irregular, coming in and out in short pants. He looked like he was about to have a panic attack. She frowned since this meant he wasn’t lying. Her disbelief turned to concern. “Bellamy! Snap out of it! I won’t remove your glasses. I…promise.”
Bellamy stared at Abigail and concentrated on slowing down his breathing to a normal pace. He hung his head, feeling pathetic.
Abigail was slightly mystified by what had just happened. “You…you’re telling the truth, aren’t you? You really are cursed too? Who cursed you?”
Bellamy swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and licked his lips. “I don’t know. The curse was passed down from my mother to me when I was born, and she never told me who cursed her.”
Abigail’s expression turned sympathetic. “I’m…sorry. It won’t happen again.”
Bellamy let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks.” He pushed himself up off the floor and dusted his damp clothes off. “I’m…going to go get some rest. It’s been a long day.”
“Alright,” Abigail readily agreed. “Goodnight, Bellamy.” She watched Bellamy leave her bedroom with his shoulders slumped and his head hanging dejectedly, and felt something twist in her gut.
***
Bellamy returned to his bedroom and shut the door softly behind him. He leaned his back against the door, and let out a heavy sigh. Talking about his curse had never been a comfortable subject for him. In fact, he realized that he’d never talked to anyone about the curse except for his mother. But he’d told Abigail. Why?
Bellamy’s body was shivering slightly due to his damp clothes and he decided to take a quick, hot shower before going to bed. After he finished his shower, he dressed in the silk pj’s that Abigail had provided for him. Those flashy pj’s made him feel like a gigolo, or pimp or something. The corner of his mouth twitched and he shook his head ruefully. He really needed to ask Abigail for some normal sleepwear.
Bellamy padded over to the bed, buried himself under the covers, and fell into a restless, troubled sleep. He began to have another dream vision…
FLASHBACK
Nineteen years ago, Doris had been living in Alaska in the town that would someday be known as Yeti Town. Her parents were Hunters, but she really had no interest in pursuing the family trade. Instead, she concentrated on getting a college degree online so that she’d eventually be able to leave and get a job elsewhere.
Doris hated living in Alaska. In the small, isolated town there weren’t a lot of things one could do for fun or entertainment. The town always seemed to be buried under at least a foot of snow. Doris was sick of snow. She longed to move to New York City where she’d be able to go to the mall or movie theaters, and act like a normal teenaged girl.
The only joy Doris found was when she took her team of five dogs and went for a drive on her dogsled. She loved her dogs. They were her only true friends. Her life continued to be uneventful, until one day as Doris was crossing a frozen lake on her dogsled she heard a male voice inside of her head:
Doris, please, help me…
Pulling back on the reins Doris stopped the sled and looked around wildly, wondering where the voice had come from. “Hello?” she called out with a slight tremor in her voice.
Doris, only you can help me. Free me from my prison. I’ll die if I remain here much longer. There was a note of urgency in the voice now.
Doris frowned, and her brow furrowed. “Who said that? Hello? Where are you?”
I’m here. Hurry, Doris. You must save me. The rich, velvety male voice continued.
Doris hopped off the sled and began to wander across the ice.
Below you. The voice informed her suddenly.
Doris glanced down at the ice beneath her feet, and gasped. Directly below her and trapped inside of the ice was a man. “Oh my God,” she breathed in shock.
Hurry, Doris, get me out of here. Free me. The voice insisted.
Doris shook her head helplessly as she looked down at the trapped figure. “But…how?”
Fetch the icepick you have on your sled and return. The voice instructed.
“Oookay.” Doris wasn’t sure how this trapped man knew she even had an icepick with her, but followed the man’s instructions, fetched the icepick, and returned to the same spot on the frozen lake.
Now, break the ice. The voice directed.
Doris gulped. “I don’t think I’m strong enough to do something like that.” A skeptical expression had formed on her face.
You can do it, Doris. You are my only hope. The voice urged passionately.
“Well, alright, if you insist.” Doris raised the pick and brought it down upon the ice again and again until the ice miraculously began to crack. Doris blinked down in surprise and smiled before she kept on bringing the icepick down upon the ice. She worked until the calluses on her hands started to bleed. When a single drop of her blood fell onto the ice it suddenly shattered away completely.
Doris cried out as she was blasted back by some unseen force. “Eee!” She landed on her behind and groaned. “Ow.” Then she looked up to see that a very handsome man was standing directly in front of her.
Doris had never seen such a handsome man before. His short, wavy, hair was the color of spun gold. His sparkling blue eyes were the color of the sky on a clear summer day. Although his face was youthful in appearance, especially with that dimple in his chin, his eyes seemed to hold untold wisdom. He was wearing a hooded, dark blue velvet cloak. The pattern of stars had been embroidered into the material with gold thread.
Doris gawked at the mysterious, otherworldly man. “You…who…what are you?”
“I am a sorcerer and a Wish Granter,” the man said with a slight nod. “My name is Agathon.”
Doris blinked slowly. “You can’t be serious.”
“Doris, you have saved my life. I now owe you a single wish,” Agathon informed her in a commanding tone. “What is thy desire?”
Doris was startled, confused, and half-incredulous with this sudden turn of events. “My desire…? I thought genies granted three wishes?” She added in a lighthearted tone, which simply caused the sorcerer to arch an eyebrow at her. Doris had only one desire that came to her mind. And that was the love of a young man who lived in town. His name was Raul DeWinter.
Raul was extremely handsome. He had hair the color of midnight, blue eyes the color of periwinkles, and alabaster skin. Raul had a lean, muscular physique due to his training as a Hunter. He was known for being quite skilled with his rifle and could take down most prey with a single shot. Raul was also known for being a notorious playboy due to his good looks.
Doris had tried to flirt with and get Raul’s attention upon several occasions, but to no avail. She was simply too plain. She wished she were beautiful enough to get Raul’s attention. If she had Raul’s love she knew she would be happy, even living in this isolated Alaskan town, and she wouldn’t feel so lonely anymore.
A determined expression formed on Doris’s face and she met Agathon’s inquisitive stare. Even if this were just a dream, she decided to be honest about her one true desire. “I wish for Raul DeWinter to fall madly in love with me.”
The sorcerer blinked, and then let out a heavy, disappointed sigh. “You want me to cast a love spell? Why is it always a love spell?” He muttered the last darkly to himself in a low voice so that Doris wouldn’t hear.
Doris nodded eagerly. “Yes.”
“Very well. But before I grant you your wish, Doris, I feel I must tell you why I ended up trapped in my icy prison. It’s because I granted someone a wish and they didn’t like how the wish was granted. But, you see, wishes are dangerous. All magic has a price. The balance of the universe must be maintained.
“For example, you could wish to save someone’s life, but unwittingly cause the death of someone else instead. A life for a life. The principle of equal exchange. You cannot make something out of nothing. This ungrateful cur grew angry with me and decided to imprison me here.” Agathon’s blue eyes glittered dangerously as he remembered this unjust betrayal.
“So if Raul falls in love with me,” Doris began to muse aloud, “what will happen as a result?”
The sorcerer shrugged. “I cannot foresee how the universe will choose to grant you your wish. I can only warn you that there will be a price for your wish being granted, in order to maintain the balance of the universe. That being said, do you still want me to grant your wish?” Agathon’s eyebrows rose in question.
Doris nibbled on her lower lip as she considered what Agathon had told her for a moment. That’s when she glanced around the cold, icy, desolate landscape. Doris rubbed at her arms where goosebumps had formed due to the cold. The silence was heavy without her or Agathon speaking. The loneliness was starting to seep into her bones again. She was so tired of being alone.
I don’t want to be alone anymore! Doris thought desperately to herself. I’m willing to try something crazy. She looked up, met the sorcerer’s eyes, swallowed a lump of nervousness in her throat, and nodded. “Yes. Please, grant me my wish. Make Raul fall in love with me.”
Disappointment swirled in Agathon’s blue eyes, but he nodded just the same. “Your wish…has been granted.”
As Doris headed home on her dogsled, she didn’t feel any different. But she was thrumming with nervous, expectant energy. She couldn’t wait to go and see Raul at his usual hangout - the Polar Bear Pub - in order to see if his feelings for her had miraculously changed in some way.
Once at home, Doris took a quick shower, blow-dried and styled her hair as best she could and brushed her teeth. She didn’t want to have bad breath in case things worked out and Raul wanted to kiss her. She picked out a cute outfit - well, as cute as it could get in this cold weather. She’d decided on a tight, long-sleeved, low-cut black shirt, a knee-length black and white skirt, stockings and knee boots. She only owned one expensive coat - a floor-length, black mink one and this was the coat she chose to wear.
Doris didn’t want her parents to know she was going out again at such a late hour and had to stealthily sneak out of the log cabin. Trembling with excitement, Doris hopped onto her dogsled, grabbed the reins, and drove to the Polar Bear Pub.
She parked the sled right outside the pub, hopped off, made her way to the front door, and entered. A pleasant gust of warm air hit Doris as soon as she entered, turning her pale, frozen cheeks pink.
Doris took off her mink coat and hat, and hung both items by the door. As Doris began to make her way deeper into the pub she could feel eyes on her. She looked around and was surprised to see that the men inside of the pub all had their attention on her. Doris stilled and took in their admiring glances with disbelief.
Something was different about her. She smiled to herself. Usually she was invisible to the men in this town, but now…
Doris quickly searched the pub for Raul and spotted him seated at the bar on a tall barstool with two women seated on either side of him on their own stools. The women were both clinging to one of his arms and rubbing their cleavage against him.
Oh, Raul, always the playboy. Doris thought. Perhaps you will never change. She swallowed and nervously began to make her way towards him. This was it - the moment of truth.
Raul felt someone’s intense stare on him and spun on his barstool curiously to see who would dare to stare at him so blatantly. He was wearing his usual cocky expression, but when he met Doris’s plain brown eyes his expression changed. First, he looked surprised, then intrigued, and finally amorously shy.
Raul slid off the stool with his usual confident movements, and approached Doris. Doris walked towards Raul with stiff, awkward steps. The rest of the pub seemed to disappear for Doris until it was just her and Raul.
Raul’s brow furrowed as he looked over Doris’s face. “Doris, is that really you?” His voice had grown low, husky.
Doris nodded and offered Raul a timid smile. “Hi Raul. I, um…”
Before Doris could finish her sentence, Raul reached out, cupped Doris’s cheek, and smoothly leaned in for a kiss.
Doris’s eyes flared in surprise, and she inwardly squealed. Eeee! Raul was kissing her! She shut her eyes and eagerly kissed him back even though she didn’t really know what she was doing. But Raul didn’t seem to mind her unskilled kissing. It felt so good to be kissing him and to be in his arms like this. It felt like a dream. Doris was on Cloud 9. However-
Abruptly Raul was yanked away from Doris. “Hey! Why the hell are you kissing Doris? Doris is my gal!” one young man announced right before he punched Raul hard across the face.
Doris blinked at this guy she barely knew claiming that she was his. What the hell…? She raised her chin, and clenched her hands into fists at her sides. “You’re not my boyfriend. I don’t even know you, buddy.”
Raul rubbed his cheek where a red mark was beginning to form. A feral grin curled Raul’s lips before he punched the young man right back. “Doris is mine!” he growled possessively.
Raul’s declaration made Doris’s heart flutter inside of her chest. Until-
“No, Doris is mine!” another man stood up from one of the nearby tables.
“No, mine!” another man objected.
Doris stared around the pub wide-eyed, wondering what the hell was going on. What was wrong with these men? Then Doris remembered the sorcerer’s warning. Was this the ‘price’ he’d mentioned she’d have to pay for gaining Raul’s love?
Doris realized in that moment she had to do something before things escalated inside of the pub into a crazy bar fight. She grabbed Raul’s hand, raised her chin, and spoke loudly, “Listen up, everyone, the one I love is Raul!”
Raul gave Doris a surprised, pleased look. “Doris,” he said dreamily.
Several men moaned in despair while a few other men grew angrier than before. Shit! A tremor of fear crawled up her spine. She didn’t like that crazed look in their eyes. “Time to go, darling.” Doris pulled Raul along with her and they made a hasty exit from the pub.
Doris mounted her dogsled, and Raul hopped up behind her. Raul wrapped his arms around Doris’s waist, and off they went. “Mush!” Doris snapped the reins with a flick of her wrists.
Doris was so frazzled by what had just happened that she didn’t even know where she was really going. All she knew is that she had to put as much distance between them and the pub as possible.
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