The Curse

Jenna paced back and forth, her tension increasing, her brow furrowing.

" Ugh, where is he !?" she exploded, into the thin, dusty air of the attic.

Suddenly, she heard shuffling and dived behind the battered up old couch. There was coughing and then,

" Jenna, its me, help," Aaron struggled up the steps with a box in his arms.

Jenna jumped up and helped him heave up the box.

" Whats this ?" she asked, curiously peeking into the box.

" This," he said, " is what we call payment !"

Jenna and Aaron both laughed, and proceeded to carry the box through the door into the adjoining attic.

Jenna had known Aaron since they were little, they had been through a lot together, and come out the other side, unscathed. Both the same age, they had done everything together. First day of school, first time allowed into the town without parental supervision, first time in at an adult rated movie, 16th birthday, first time in a stolen car, first time drinking, first time smoking, first kiss, first time they stole together, first time in a police cell...

And here they were, sitting with a box of dusty old junk from the old widow's house next door. Revenge. Theft. Payment ?

They had been working in her house a few weeks, trying to earn some extra money. Doing odd jobs here and there, they had come across a lot of weird and interesting stuff. Including the door connecting Jenna's house to Mrs Gilly's.

At the end of the two weeks, Jenna and Aaron had approached Mrs Gilly for their payment. What did they get ?

" Go forth, children, do not tither, I have cleansed youre bodies for two weeks, and you are now free of sin. Go forth, and dont turn back !"

" What ?!" Aaron and Jenna both exploded simultaneously, incredulity written across their faces.

Mrs Gilly shooed them out of the house, ignoring their angry protests.

And now, a few weeks on, a plan had been formed and executed. To gain entry into Mrs Gillys house through the door they had discovered earlier, wait until Mrs Gilly did her daily trip to the shop to buy cat food, (she spent more money on her cat's food than her own !) and then grab what they could from the cabinets they had cleaned and the drawers they had found the keys for, but never cared to use. Until now.

" So, what did you get ?" asked Jenna eagerly.

" Well, I dont really know, 'cause I got sorta freaked that all her cats were surrounding me and staring at me. It was like they knew what I was doing and it just sorta creeped me out, ya' know ? Anyway, I grabbed what I could " he demonstrated by pulling out items from the box, and spreading them on the floor.

An old pearl necklace, a tarnished old trinket box with a thimble inside, a stuffed bird (both avoided touching the moldy feathers), a pair of silk gloves with various stains, a broken jewellery box, a couple of old coins, some old war medals (from Mr Gilly, before he got killed by a rogue bullet), and finally, a tarnished ring, with what appeared to be a black stone in the middle.

" Basically, a bunch of junk, " stated Jenna blankly staring at the assorted items on the floor.

" I did try," grinned Aaron, looking sheepish.

" Well, obviously not hard enough ! We work for two weeks and what do we get ? A preaching from an old bat and a box load of junk !" She stated angrily.

" Well, am sure some of this could fetch a price. What about that jewellery box ? A couple of screws here and there and it'll be worth something. And those gloves, am sure we could get the stains out. And am sure the antiques shop will take the coins, the medals and the ring," he said, picking up the ring, and staring at it.

Jenna looked up and saw something change in Aarons eyes.

" Aaron ?" whispered Jenna, looking scared.

Aaron showed no sign of hearing Jenna, continuing to stare at the ring, his face getting paler with each second that ticked by.

" Aaron !" Jenna shouted, deciding to take action, grabbed Aaron by the shoulders and shook him, hard.

Suddenly, Aaron looked up at Jenna.

" I'm not Aaron !"

The next few hours were a blur for Jenna.

She spent most of her time trying to convince Aaron that he wasnt who he thought he was - a rich pirate from the 16th to 18th century, named Ivan Rowan.

" Listen Aaron, " began Jenna pleadingly.

" The name, fair lady, is Ivan. Ivan Rowan." said Ivans voice from Aarons mouth.

Jenna groaned and put her head in her hands.

" Listen," she began, " You are in my best friends body. You are a pirate from hundreds of years ago. Your dead. I dont know how you got here, or in Aaron's body, but you certainly dont belong here. I have a feeling its something to do with that ring !" said Jenna bitterly, pointing at the ring Ivan had put on Aaron's finger.

" This is my ring. I lost it, during my battle. Ordering my crew onwards, it flew from my finger. I never saw it again. Until now. This ring is special, my girl, aye, special !" said Ivan fondly, staring at the ring.

" How do you mean, special ?" said Jenna suspiciously.

" I mean," said Ivan, leaning forward dramaticlly, and lowering his voice to little more than a gruff whisper, " It has powers !"

" What ?!" said Jenna, wondering what powers it posessed, and how it came into the posession of Mrs Gilly.

" Its special, see, 'cause I got it from an old woman, selling her last posessions for what little money she could. Illigitimate child, you see, nasty business. Anyway, this woman told me the ring could tell when a person was turning bad. Going down the wrong road, see ? It would do its thing, see, teach whoever it was a lesson, and then, when it believed the lesson was taught, it would retract its powers, and the person, in the end would come out a better person. Even if it meant rebirth." he said quite happily.

" Rebirth ?" said Jenna uncertainly.

" Yes, you know, death, then rebirth," he said calmly.

" Death ?!" shrieked Jenna appalled.

Suddenly, she was crying, and pleading.

" Please, please dont let Aaron die, please, I promise I'll be good, Iv'e learned my lesson, please !" she sobbed, clinging onto Aarons body.

Suddenly, it was Aarons voice whispering reassuringly in her ear.

" Its okay Jenna, its okay," said Aaron.

" Aaron !" exclaimed Jenna.

" Yeah, its me, sorry, what happened ? I blacked out, and I dreamed. I dreamed a horrible dream. I was back in time, maybe the 17th century ? And I was about to be hanged, for theft !" said Aaron, rubbing his neck.

" Oh Aaron, Aaron," mumbled Jenna, knowing how close she had been to losing a friend.

Both Aaron and Jenna learned their lesson, and returned the box of posessions to Mrs Gilly.

The ring, however, had vanished.