Running into the fields, Ace did not stop until he reached the tangerine plantation. He walked the lanes barefoot, admiring the neatly planted rows of tangerine trees. He would love to engage in productive conversation with his mother, but evading her was the best way to stop her from forcing them to return to the city, where they had a higher chance of running into a curseling or a curse master.
Ace knew they would return to the city next week, but he was considering getting his parents to move here permanently. After learning about the world of curses, he knew it was safer for regulars to live in less crowded places since curseling liked to convene where more negative emotions gathered. And where there were curselings, the curse masters would flock since exorcising them was their means to accumulate strength and wealth.
But how would Ace go about it? His school, his father's job, and their house were in the city. He could not just ask his parents to move to the countryside. What would they do here, and where would they live? His parents' wealth had depleted to pay off the house loan and cover his sister's college fees. The remainder had been earmarked for his college expenses and his sister's marriage.
Ace's family had to think twice about buying a new Camry, let alone starting afresh in the countryside. Without a miracle, they would likely remain stuck in their neighborhood for the next decade or two. Fortunately, as a curse master, creating a miracle was not a big deal for Ace. The problem was timing, place, and means. He needs to figures these three out to set a miracle in motion.
'Master, I sense a faint curse energy in your surroundings,' Dame Wasp's voice sounded in Ace's head, awakening him from his thoughts.
Ace has been using his skill 'Sense Share' to lend his senses to Dame Wasp so she can monitor his surroundings for a situation like this. He figured to use this skill this way just recently. It was easier and a lot handier than Dame Wasp using the status screen to contact him.
'From where? Which direction?' Ace asked in a panic, praying it was not from his uncle's house, wondering if a curse master joined the guests after he left.
'From the west,' Dame Wasp replied.
'West, you must be sensing it from the auto salvage yard,' Ace mused, relieved that it wasn't from his uncle's house.
On the western side, Dan's ranch shared a border with an auto salvage yard occupying ten acres of land. Due to its relatively small size, unsuitable for farmland or ranching, the owner repurposed it into an auto salvage yard several decades ago.
The auto salvage yard has been the bud of many haunted stories in the town. Ace had heard numerous eerie tales associated with it, particularly because the owner didn't hesitate to accept cars involved in accidents. Most of it was in fun and for entertainment. But Dan, who typically didn't shy away from much, avoided passing by it after nightfall. So when Dame Wasp mentioned sensing a curse energy emanating from the west, Ace suspected the salvage yard must be the source.
'Come on out, Rose,' Ace called, summoning Dame Wasp in her 1/100th form and camouflage. He instructed, 'Go search for the source of the curse energy. Stay in touch with me through the status screen, and don't venture beyond a one-mile radius. If you find anything, report it, and I will recall you. Don't take unnecessary risks. We can discuss what to do later.'
'Yes, master,' Dame Wasp responded before heading toward the auto salvage yard, following the trail of curse energy she sensed.
As for Ace, he opted to wait right there for her report. Just as he began to feel a sense of solitude, he heard the heavy footsteps approaching. It was Danny. Spotting Ace, he slowed down to catch his breath.
"Man, how were you that fast despite being barefoot?" Danny asked rhetorically, nearing Ace.
"What are you doing here? Did uncle send you? Otherwise, nobody can separate you from your plate of ribs," Ace teased Danny, referencing his well-known love for ribs.
"You know it. Let's head back before the guests devour them all," Danny replied, gesturing toward his house.
"Danny, what's wrong with your maternal aunt?" Ace asked, blaming Mandy for ruining everything.
"She likes to party," Danny replied bluntly, then countered, "What's wrong with your mother?"
"Don't expect me to insult my mom just because you insulted your aunt," Ace responded, not succumbing to Danny's provocation.
"Dude, did you ask your mother for money to buy condoms?" Danny inquired, recalling the amusing conversation between his uncle and aunt.
"No," Ace denied with exaggerated emphasis, then asked with a deadpan expression, "What gave you the impression that I would do something like that?"
"Your mother said it. Almost everyone at the party heard her. You should have seen your father's face. It was so hilarious. If she hadn't burst into tears, everyone would have laughed," Danny recounted, gesturing animatedly, as if he were reliving the moment.
"She cried? Why? If anyone should be crying, it should be me. She is embarrassing me," Ace remarked in annoyance. With an overbearing mother who constantly undermined him, such incidents were not new for Ace.
"Dude, let's head back. You don't possibly think you can avoid your mother. Knowing her, if we don't return soon, she will send your father to fetch you," Danny remarked, knowing Mary well enough to anticipate that she wouldn't let Ace have his way.
"Danny, there comes a time in every man's life when they have to take a stand. For me, that moment is now. I will make my stand from here. So, go my dear herald, fetch me a plate of ribs and beer before your dad and his drinking buddies devour them," Ace instructed Danny, as if giving him a heroic quest.
"No way, it's too much work," Danny rejected Ace's proposal instantly.
"Then call somebody in the party and ask them to bring them to us," Ace made a counter proposal that Danny could get on board with.
"Ace, I don't know if you noticed, but I don't have any friends. Let alone someone willing to steal beer for us. There's Mandy, but I don't think your mother will like that," Danny said as he sat down, finding a fresh patch of grass.
Ace remained silent, refraining from making any comments, and instead found himself a patch of grass to sit on. Just then, Dame Wasp used the status screen to report,
[Master, your guess was correct. The source of the curse energy I felt was indeed from the auto salvage yard. There's a curseling hiding here.]
Reading Dame Wasp's report, Ace's expression soured as he thought, 'Well, so much for my plan of escaping the curselings by moving to the countryside.'