Cursed Hearts

Our long night was finally coming to an end. My friend, Holly pushed off the table, stretching her arms above her head.

“I can’t believe we are finally done.” She said, suppressing a yawn despite the five empty cups of coffee before her.

I covered my face, rubbing my eyes from looking at my screen for too long. Holly and I had been working for hours on the paper due tomorrow. We procrastinated until we were forced to finish it at the last minute. I leaned back in my chair, throwing my head back to stretch my neck.

“And we still have about five hours to rest before tomorrow’s lectures,” I added with a smile.

“We are awesome.”

We laughed, getting up to collect our stuff and head to the dorm.

Holly and I have been friends ever since the first year of college. We are both roommates and had most of the classes together which helped us grow closer quickly. She has this irresistible bubbly personality and a friendly way of making others open up easily to her. I was lucky enough to meet her. Thanks to her, I’m not sitting in a corner of the room, crying my eyeballs out from stress and academic failure.

I waited for her to throw the trash before we both headed out of the library, saying our goodbyes to Mrs. Linen, the Liberian, on our way out. I opened the heavy door with one hand, a book I borrowed and our paper in the other. Outside, the cold wind hit us with full force. The weather broadcast warned it would be windy tonight, but I didn’t assume it would be this bad.

“Wait, Willow,” Holly called behind me. “I need to zip up my jacket.”

I waited for her at the bottom of the stairs, shifting from one foot to the other to try and warm up. My hair was flying everywhere and I regretted not pulling it into a ponytail before walking out. I freed one hand to push my hair away from my face.

Another gust of wind hit and a shiver ran across my spine. I closed my eyes tightly, in fear of anything getting into them. When I opened my eyes, I spotted the research paper flying high in the air. I shrieked, trying my best to chase it down. I breathed a little when it dropped nearby, past the electric fence surrounding the old part of the university.

I hurried to catch it before it flew away again. The fence was old and its current was cut off long ago. I only have to pass it to get to the other side. I was only a few steps away when a hand wrapped around my upper arm, preventing me from passing over the worn-out fence.

“What’s wrong, Holly?” I asked, turning to face her.

“Are you going to go there?”

I sighed, “Yes, I’ll just grab the paper, and return.”

“You’ll cross this fence on my dead body. Don’t you know the story behind this place?”

All the students preferred avoiding this part of the university; especially at night. The rumors circling the incidents that led to the burndown of the building are a great myth among us. Yet, I don’t think that anyone believes those childish rumors.

Our college was a boarding school back in the day. Only the elites of the society were granted entry to this school. One day, a mysterious fire erupted in the main building. Thankfully, everyone survived, except for seven students who neither survived nor were their bodies found. Ever since then, it has been declared that this place is haunted.

It is a typical childish horror story, and I never once thought it was true.

I heard that the electric fences were to keep people from wandering inside. They found several groups sneaking in for rituals and some illegal acts. Yet, some still want to hold on to the belief that it was to keep people safe from the ghosts inside. Every once in a while, when the rumors would die out, and the students here would stir up another nonsensical story. The last one was how they spotted shadows moving around from the window. There were also ones about how they heard crashing and saw flames dancing behind the glass right afterward, but the fire died out as soon as it began.

“Holly, How old are you? Five?” I snickered.

She scoffed, “I’m not talking about it being haunted, I meant how actual people use this place as a hide-out. We can print it out tomorrow morning. No need to run after this silly paper.”

I shook my head, “Holly, it’s just a few steps away and I won’t let such childish things stop me. Do you know how long it would take us to print this in the morning? We would be super late for the session!”

I pulled my arm out of her grip and passed over the fence before she could protest again.

I waved to her with a smile, “See? nothing happened.”

Holly still looked around nervously as if someone would jump out of nowhere and kidnap me. I stopped playing with her nerves and went down to business. I took out my phone from my pocket, turning on the flashlight to search for the paper in the dark.

“Gotcha,” I exclaimed as I picked up the paper which was already covered in dust.

I was about to straighten up when the light caught something glimmering. I reached out for that thing, brushing the dust off it.

It was a golden string which, after I pulled it, turned out to be a necklace with a locket that held the most beautiful engravings I’ve ever seen. It was a circular locket with cursive lines lining its edges and small flowers sprouting from its axis. Across the circle, lies a branch with buds flowering into roses and leaves. The locket had a clasp on the side, but I don’t know whether it worked. The shape looked familiar and I inspected it closer, mind racing as I tried to figure out what it reminded me of. When I was close to finally recalling it, Holly’s voice woke me up from my trance.

“What’s taking you so long?” Holly called out from behind me.

“Coming,” I called over my shoulder as I shoved the necklace into my pocket; familiar or not, it was too pretty to leave it buried in the dust.

On our way home, Holly kept lecturing me about how reckless I acted today and that something might have happened to me any moment I was standing there. She was right and I couldn’t argue with her. I wouldn’t have passed over the fence if she wasn’t there waiting for me.

“You won’t do this again.” She warned me sternly.

I promised her along with a sincere apology. As we reached the dormitory, the haunted house conversation died out and we moved on to what we planned to do tomorrow.

“Don’t let me oversleep tomorrow, I have early classes,” Holly stated as she unlocked the room’s door.

“Don’t worry, I’ll wake up early to revise for Dr. Peterson’s exam,” I said before I walked into my room, closing the door behind me.

Our dorm was sectioned into a large room with a bathroom and a small corner, which we turned into our mini kitchen, and a small room with just a space for a bed and a small bedside table. You either sacrifice your freedom for space or have all the freedom you wish, but sacrifice the space to move freely.

The rooms’ distribution was decided after about six or seven rounds of rock, paper, and scissors. Both of us were satisfied with the results and didn’t argue as Holly took the large room and I settled in the smaller one. I didn’t have much luggage and would study on our couch outside with Holly; so the room was perfect for me.

I got ready for bed, feeling worn out after the long studying session. I changed my clothes and threw them on the short hanger in the corner. I had just changed into my nightwear when a knock sounded on the door.

“Don’t forget to pack your dirty clothes, I’m going to the laundromat

tomorrow after my classes,” Holly shouted from behind the door.

“Thanks. I will take them out now.”

I grabbed the clothes I just took off to empty their pockets and add them to the heap of dirty laundry sitting in their designated basket in the corner of the room. I patted all the pockets, taking out coins and receipts I usually forget. I picked up the jacket, recalling the necklace I had taken from the haunted place.

I took it out of the pocket, inspecting it closely again. I still couldn’t remember where I had spotted such a figure before. It looked in perfect condition, despite being buried in this garden. Did someone drop it there recently? Or did they throw it on purpose?

I frowned, the quiet room giving me a moment to think clearly. I gasped when the drawing flashed somewhere familiar in my mind. I hurried to my bag and opened it quickly. I took out my notebook which I usually use to take notes during lectures. I flipped through it, watching as the pattern on the necklace kept showing up again and again on every other page. My crappy drawing resembles the drawing very much.

My heartbeats quickened as I studied the necklace. The familiar locket calling out to me. I tried to ignore it, but the urge was too much. I stood in front of the mirror, raising the necklace to my neck. I clasped the necklace around my neck, the clasp was surprisingly smooth, and didn’t take much time to wear it. I ran my fingers across the pendant feeling the edges of the flower beneath my touch. Its beauty was alluring despite the bad feeling settling in the bit of my stomach. I brushed some dust off the pendant, recalling the clasp on the side.

The sharp worn clasp wouldn’t budge easily under the force of my fingers. I picked up the mechanical pencil from the floor and tried to use it to move the rusty clasp, until it finally opened up, revealing what was inside. It was full of dust that I had to brush off until the picture underneath was clear.

I frowned as the image of an enticing face came into view. He was smirking, with a hair perfectly styled and eyes full of confidence. His handsome features were young and bold. As much as the necklace, he looked familiar. I had this feeling that I stared into these eyes before, felt the warmth of their gaze and the heat of their fire.

Why do I remember this? And why did this pattern haunt me all this time?

Something doesn’t feel right about this.

Panic settled in my chest and the uneasiness made me feel nauseous. I felt the necklace almost choking me and I lost the ability to breathe. A shiver ran down my spine, even though the windows were closed shut. I couldn’t bear it anymore as I reached for the clasp at the back. The smooth metal wouldn’t budge anymore as it got stuck. My breath turned into short gasps as I pulled on the necklace, ignoring how the thin metal cut into my skin. I wanted nothing but to take it off.

That was when I saw it.

Snippets of memories flashed before my eyes. Memories that didn’t belong to me. Memories that I knew nothing about. Yet, they were all the more familiar.

I saw it all: the main building stood pristine, students laughing and chatting as they flowed in and out of its doors, carefree and alive. Grand halls and dancing balls were filled with people who looked genuinely happy in harmony. The same pair of brown eyes that I saw in the picture were smiling and looking fondly at someone. I could hear the laughter, the chitchat, everything.

I felt his hands encircling my waist and his body close to mine. I heard his soft voice in my ears as I let my fingers weave through the silky strands of his hair, the touch lingering as if I could memorize the warmth of his presence. But I was mostly captivated by his eyes, how he looked at me as if I was the only one worthy of their loving gaze. I felt like I was trespassing over something that didn’t belong to me.

But things spiraled out of control and the rosy memories grew darker and the screams echoed in my head, the same light-hearted students were now panicking as they ran away from something. The grand halls were now filled with blood and shrill calls for help. The whole building was on fire, right before my eyes. Then everything faded away.

My knees hit the floor as extreme pain flared through my chest. I was breathing hard as my heartbeat quickened. I looked up at the mirror to see that while pulling on the necklace, I ended up hurting myself and droplets of blood dropped on the thin gold; yet, the necklace stubbornly remained around my neck.

The memories disappeared and the pain eased, but I didn’t move as I stared at the golden locket in confusion and horror. My head was spinning and I lost the ability to think straight.

Maybe Holly was right, I shouldn’t have walked in there, let alone take such a thing home with me. The talks weren’t just silly, childish tales after all. I was too scared to breathe or move from my spot on the ground. I felt like I was intruding upon something I shouldn’t be looking at, like a child hiding behind the wall and watching the scene from afar when they shouldn’t.

Where did all those memories come from? What did I bring upon myself?

I reached out for the locket with shaky hands. Realizing that I should figure out how to get rid of it, I decided to revisit the haunted building and try to return it there somehow. Maybe I could find something to guide me or an answer to this chaos. Exhaustion overtook my panic, even as fear lingered, dreading what I might face in my dreams.

I threw the laundry in the basket and gathered up my things. I covered up the necklace with my hand, taking a shaky breath as I convinced myself I would find a way to get rid of it first thing in the morning. Still, a quiet voice inside me whispered that it wouldn’t be that easy.

Covering it up, I calmed myself down as I promised to go there first thing in the morning. I’ll find a way to take it off and return it.