Veronica looks at Kevin. He is laughing out loud in the company of his friends, without looking like a person she cursed. He's happy and thinks he's the coolest kid in school now. People are on his side. They point their fingers at the seventeen-year-old and still make fun of the fact that she is crazy.
It seems to be the girl that her curse didn't quite go according to plan. Kevin is not being tormented by the demon. He has not become its victim. Veronica, on the other hand, has terrible nightmares every night that look like excerpts from Steven's life. She sees a hospital in this place, and this is disturbing because she found an article on the Internet about this building that was supposedly a mental hospital in the early twentieth century.
In these nightmares, she sees what kind of hell Steven went through. He was sane, but because of his shamanic abilities, he was considered insane.
No one believed him.
— My hands are itching. I want to hit that idiot — Nicki says as she sits down next to her friend and strokes her hair, which is no longer red, but has regained its natural dark color.
— You don't know how sorry I am that the curse didn't work on me. That asshole deserved it. I can't bear to look at his face swimming in victory.
— You should stay away from him, ignore him.
The seventeen-year-old rubs her hands over her face and sighs loudly.
— This whole situation is really starting to bother me. Apparently Erick's curse has been broken, he hasn't seen or felt the demon since, but it's all been passed on to me. Why is that?
— Maybe because you were the one who played with black magic? You started this war, and you have to finish it. — Nicki shrugs because she doesn't know how to explain it to herself.
— What worries me more... .... is Lucas. He's been acting strange lately.
— Lucas? — The blonde girl ponders for a moment, wondering if something about the 16-year-old's behavior has been bothering her lately. — I haven't noticed anything.
— I know him inside and out. I can tell he is hiding something from me.
— Speak of the devil.
A big boy is walking toward the girls. His hands are in his pockets. His face looks pale and dreamy.
He is depressed.
He sits down next to Veronica and runs his fingers through his hair, looking like he hasn't slept all night. His eyes are watery and he is lifeless.
— What's going on? — asks his friend, looking at him thoughtfully.
— And why should something be wrong? — He forces a smile, making her even more worried. — I'm just not in the mood today.
— You haven't been desiring a few days now, and you're starting to get on my nerves. I thought we talked about everything. — Offended, she turns her face in the other direction, and then Lucas gives in to her.
— All right, I'll tell you. — He lowers his face and looks at his shoes for a long moment. — Every night I have nightmares. I see the same dream, I see someone dying in front of me, but I can't see their face. It's strange.
Nicki puts her hands to her mouth, obviously disturbed by his words.
— It definitely has something to do with black magic. Since then, we've both had disturbing nightmares. And him. — Veronica points at Kevin. — He is fine. He's enjoying his time, thinking he's God knows who. It seems to me that we have done something wrong.
In her mind, the blonde thanks herself for having stopped participating in their ritual at the right moment.
— At least your family is safe. We'll be fine. — Lucas turns to his friend and takes her hand.
— First, I have to find out why my family is cursed. There must be a reason. — Veronica closes her eyelids as she notices the demon laughing mockingly in her direction.
She wants nothing more than for this nightmare to end.
*
Erick feels like a newborn as he walks down the hall to his next class. He is sleepy, and more importantly, he has not had contact with the demon for several days.
After sixteen years of torture, he can finally relax and start living like any other teenager — a normal life.
He stops mid-step when his attention is drawn to Miranda, who is being tormented by her classmates. They taunt her for being a poor whore who sold herself to the headmaster to pretend to be newly rich people.
Brunet clenches his fists in anger and wants to take them on.
Miranda helped him, now it's time for him to repay her.
— Since you're so willing to give to the director, why don't you sleep with me? You'll find it's more fun with someone much younger. — The boy, who used to jump around her and try to pick her up at all costs, now mocks her in front of others and treats her with disrespect.
Inside, Erick is seething with anger. He cannot look into Miranda's sad eyes, even though he destroyed her from the inside.
— I don't care if you believe that stupid gossip! — defends the girl, although her eyes are filled with tears. — Think what you want, but if you don't know the truth, don't speak out loud about something that is a lie! So what if I am poor? I'm just like you, and I have feelings too!
Peers burst out laughing, thinking she was pathetic.
— Did you hear that? She dares to compare herself with us! This trash thinks she's on the same level as us!
Scott can't stand it. He approaches her with his arms crossed on his chest, piercing her with his eyes.
— The lunatic's brother has come — sneers one of the girls. — This school is going downhill. Every year they accept worse and worse. At this rate, they will close Horace Mann. And it's difficult to believe that he and Veronica are the children of the legendary Joseph Scott. I guess that's the one thing he didn't do right in life.
Erick grabs her hand and pulls her forward, intending to give her a lesson in good manners.
— Listen, virtue - unspoiled....
His term outrages the girl.
— Do you know what it means to call me that?
The 16-year-old smiles mockingly, then replies:
— And did I call you wrong? It has come to my attention that you go to bed with boys and are still a virgin..... Interesting.
Everyone around her bursts out laughing, and she blushes up to her ears.
— How dare you... How dare you spread false rumors! — she cries, trying to pull her hand out of his grasp, but he won't let her.
— Well... and how do you feel now that you know the truth and everyone around you doesn't believe you? Put yourself in Miranda's and my sister's shoes. They, too, try to defend themselves, claiming that the rumors about them are nonsense pulled out of thin air, and yet the students mock them. Why? Because they prefer to create sensations that are not true and destroy another person's life. These days, people get a strange satisfaction from seeing someone suffer.
Miranda is impressed when Erick stands up for her. She smiles slightly, feeling that this boy is beginning to mature.
His classmates seem confused by his words, especially the girl who insulted Veronica moments before.
The students disperse, leaving only Miranda in the hallway, looking at her classmate with gratitude in her eyes.
— That was a good one. If you'd like to, you can win people over in a smart way. You don't have to be a nerd to be cool.
Erick nods and crouches down on the windowsill.
— It's true. I have to admit that when a person gets rid of dark feelings in his soul, life seems easier and .... more pleasant.
— Did you win with him? — Miranda looks at him carefully as she crouches down beside him. — You are different lately. You look different too, not so dark and scary like before.
His eyes look happy as he looks at her for a long moment.
— Yes, and a lot of that is thanks to you. You helped me get over it.
Miranda sighs, feeling intimidated as she notices his intense gaze. She didn't notice it before, or didn't want to, but now she has to admit that he is incredibly handsome.
— What about your sister? Is she still arguing with him? — She hastily changes the subject because she is getting hot.
— Yes, and now it's my turn to help her.
*
— Why didn't Kevin fall victim? — Veronica rests her cheeks on her hands and stares at her reflection. Lying on her bed, Lucas plays diamonds on his phone, trying to forget the terrible nightmares, if only for a moment, while Nicki tries to solve a mystery about black magic with her friend.
— And shouldn't the victim be a virgin?
Veronica turns to the blonde and looks shocked.
— Are you saying that Kevin has already had sex?
Nicki raises her eyebrows.
— He's not the good boy type. He's eighteen years old. Besides, he likes to party with the ladies. He'd probably rip you off pretty quick, too, if you were with him.
Lucas swallows his saliva harder, upset by her topic.
— If he wasn't a virgin and couldn't be a victim.... — Her eyes find Lucas lying on the bed. The boy immediately understands what she means.
— Are you saying that I became a victim? — He points at himself. — That's impossible! I'm not a virgin either!
The brunette looks confused for a few minutes, then unexpectedly jumps at him:
— Who did you sleep with, you bastard! Why don't I know anything about it? — She walks over to the bed and jumps on her friend, sitting on him with her arm around him. — Confess to me here and now!
— Should I brag to you that I slept with a virgin during my vacation? — He runs away with his eyes, and she takes his face in her hands. — Every boy at this age should have become a man by now.
Nicki chokes up when she sees Veronica's angry face. She has no doubt that her friend is jealous.
— Tell me the name of this girl! I will tell your mother everything! She thinks you're a child of angels, you devil! — She grabs him by the ears and pulls him mercilessly, which is cute from Nicki's perspective.
She will always say that she sees them as more than friends. They have chemistry, even if they hide it.
— I won't tell you her name so you won't kill her!
Veronica suddenly stops. Her eyes are wide open as she looks at Lucas.
— You met Miranda during your vacation.... She followed you like a dog from the beginning! Is she the one you slept with?
— Are you crazy!
She attacks him again, and Nicki shakes her head. If Lucas does not tell Veronica the truth, her friend will definitely tear Miranda apart today.
— I would rather not bother you, Vera, but since the blonde boy is not a virgin, only you could become a victim. What if Lucas sees your death in his dreams?
The blood drains from her face. She stares at her best friend's face for a long moment, then shifts her gaze to the blonde.
— That would explain why the whole curse was passed on to me. I became a victim of the black magic I was practicing.
— This is precisely why I told you this was no joke! — she yells at her friend Nicki. — Such things are not done without a clue!
The brunette girl comes down from her friend and combs her hair with her hand. The boy takes advantage of this and rises to a sitting position. He looks at something and thinks about the nightmares he has at night.
He lies to Veronica about two things.
First, in the dream he sees himself dying perfectly in front of her, and second, he is still a virgin.
What if he really is the victim of her black magic?