Sarah didn't really sleep at all that night.
That café scene just kept hitting her brain on repeat — that stupid fan, all that blood, the way that guy's face just… went blank. She kept wondering who he was. Did someone love him? Maybe someone is waiting at home. Maybe his mom will get a phone call and just break down. All of that just because he smiled at her and flirted for like two minutes.
She ended up on the apartment floor, just hugging her knees. Lights off. Didn't want to see anything anymore. Her phone kept buzzing on the side with some alert: 'Café worker dies in strange accident, cause unknown'. She just threw her phone away from her. Accident? it's not even an accident! I hate that word.
Grandma's voice kept spinning in her head:
"They used to call it a blessing," she used to say. Wrapped in that old shawl, looking outside with tired eyes.
"Men loved the women in our family. They thought it was from god."
Then she would look at Sarah and say: "It's not a blessing. It's a curse."
Sarah was probably thirteen when she heard that for the first time. Too young to really get it then. She was told some ancestor messed with some evil spirit or demon or god or… whatever. And they got cursed. Women in the family were all beautiful but whoever loved them?? died.
"Love them and die. Touch them and die. Sleep with them and they're gone forever," grandma had said.
Back then it sounded scary, like a horror story. She never thought it would literally become her life.
Later she forced herself to go buy groceries. Bread, stuff like that. Pretend life is normal.
Some middle-aged guy kept glancing her way near the fruits aisle. She didn't know him at all. He was just staring. That old pit feeling dropped in her stomach. She turned away quick, tried to lose him.
But no — he followed her.
"Hey, excuse me," he said, holding out some receipt like it was hers. He smiled too wide. Creepy.
"That's not mine," she said and kept walking.
"You sure?" he said. "You're really beautiful, by the way."
That did it. Her chest got heavy. "Please don't," she said. Too late though.
She walked straight out of that shop. Didn't even buy the bread. She already knew what was gonna happen.
Ten minutes later — tires screeching behind her, people yelling. She turned and saw that same guy under the wheels of a delivery truck. Leg almost off. Blood everywhere. Someone was screaming, someone puked.
She closed her eyes, sighed and just walked away. She didn't even feel shock anymore. Just this heavy tiredness.
That evening she sat on a park bench, staring at nothing. Didn't even notice somebody sat nearby until:
"Hi."
She turned and felt her heart drop for a second. It was that same guy from the morning. Ryan.
He gave this small, awkward smile. "Sorry, I know this is random. But earlier I saw you and you looked so scared. Just… are you okay?"
She looked away. "You shouldn't talk to me."
He frowned a little. "You said that before. Why?"
She didn't bother to answer.
He sighed. Looked forward. "I'm not trying anything. You just look like you're struggling. And I get it."
She swallowed hard. Something about the way he said that — quiet, gentle — kind of hurt.
She stood up. "Just stay away from me."
As she started walking off, he said softly, "I'm Ryan."
She paused for half a second. Didn't turn around. Then kept walking. She didn't want to know his name. Once someone becomes real… they die around her.
That night she had another one of those creepy dreams. Some woman she didn't know, crying, with dead bodies around her. Sarah woke up sweating. And there was this weird voice in her mind:
Break me… or become me.
She didn't understand but yeah. This curse wasn't done with her. Not even close.