The Curse of the Lion's Heart Read online

  “Can you not? Please.”

  “I’m just glad you’re making friends this year, honey.”

  I hated agreeing with my mom, but the truth was, so was I.

  Chapter Five

  Elizabeth’s Story

  By the time I got home, I had almost completely forgotten about the ghostly queen. My homework list was insane for the first day of school. After I’d grabbed myself some chips and one of my mom’s totally gross, all-natural cola drinks from the fridge, I found myself glued to my computer, slogging away at all of my first week assignments.

  I knew that middle school was bound to be different, but I had no idea how much work it was going to be. I’d gotten half-way done with my short story assignment when I first felt the temperature in the air drop.

  “Hi,” I said without looking away at the computer.

  “I expect to be addressed properly when I enter the room,” Elizabeth complained.

  I swiveled in my chair and crossed my arms. “Look, I’m happy to help, if I can, but you’re not a Queen anymore, okay? You’re dead. And we don’t even have a queen here, we have a president. An elected official who, by the way, doesn’t require anyone to bow at his feet.”

  Elizabeth’s already pinched face went even tighter and she huffed. “Have you made any progress on the locket?”

  “Uh no,” I said irritably. “I don’t even know anything about it. When was it taken? And where was it taken? And do you have any idea who might want some old, cursed locket?”

  “Where is the name I gave you?” she demanded.

  I had totally forgotten about that paper, and reached into my pocket. It was there, crumpled into a tiny ball, but the word was still readable. “What is this, anyway?”

  “The Ainsworth family was a family of famous thieves,” she explained impatiently, like I was some sort of toddler. “They procured several items from our family over the years. They exist today, though their names have changed and I believe it is them who have taken my locket.”

  “Was it at the museum?” I asked, staring at the name. Maybe my dad would know who it was, this Ainsworth family. I mean, he was a total nerd for this kind of thing.

  “It was in the archives, un-displayed. The locket, thankfully, was willed to the museum by its rightful owner, so until it was stolen, the curse was contained. Now, however, all who live here are doomed.”

  I tried really hard not to roll my eyes at her dramatics. She stood there in her huge dress and ghostly pale face, eyes wide and she was so serious. I realized after a moment that she actually believed in this curse.

  “Were you cursed or something?” I asked. “I mean, how do you know the curse is actually real?”

  She bowed her head and shook it. “I had a handmaiden, a wonderful girl when I was very young. She was… a stupid thing, didn’t know better. She took the locket from my things, a small trinket, something she knew I would not miss. She gave it to her little sister as a birthday gift. A plague ravaged her village after that, only a fraction of the people survived. My mother had that locket before I was born, and she whispered to me about the curse. She told me of the horrific tales of death and destruction when I was young, and I never forgot them. When she died, that’s what I had left from her. As that handmaiden lay dying, her body burning with fever, she gave it back and the rest of the villages were saved.” Elizabeth shook her head sadly, a small, shimmering ghostly tear dripping down her cheek. “From that moment on, I never took it off. The locket has since been willed from person to person, until eventually it was willed to the museum. I thought it would be safe. I never thought the curse would call to me from beyond the grave.”

  She was so sincere I wanted to believe her. Of course, I didn’t. Okay I might have been a little afraid at that point, but I still didn’t believe in curses. I mean… how ridiculous. I erupted into a series of coughs and Elizabeth clapped her hand over her mouth.

  My face flared red and I shook my head. “No it’s just… allergies. But I’ll go and visit my dad tomorrow and see what he knows, okay?”

  Elizabeth started to say something, but a heavy knock on my door interrupted her. With a sigh, I got up and flung it open, not surprised to see my mom standing there. She didn’t ask to come in my room, as usual, and I flopped back down on my computer chair while she sat down on my bed. She made a face as her eyes roamed over my zombie posters, and video-game logos that I tacked up.

  “When are you going to redecorate in here?”

  I rolled my eyes and glanced over at Elizabeth who stood in the corner, watching with narrow eyes. “Never. I like my stuff, thank you.”

  “It’s just,” she hesitated, shaking her head a little. “How do you expect to make any real, lifelong friends if you’re going to surround yourself with this horror junk?”

  “Why would I want friends who don’t like the stuff I like?” I asked. My mind flashed to Penelope and I wondered if she was into any of this stuff. If her style and attitude were anything to go by, I had a feeling she wouldn’t mind my love of horror movies much.

  “I just think it’s a little…” she trailed off, waving her hand at my walls with a grimace. “Immature.”

  I felt my face heat up. It wasn’t the first time my mom insulted my taste in clothes, or music, or movies, or pretty much anything that I liked, but it didn’t take away the sting. I just wanted her to accept me for who I was. I felt like sometimes she just gave up, after having no success with Amanda, but that, somehow, made it worse. “A lot of kids are into this stuff,” I eventually mumbled.

  She shrugged a little and then looked me up and down. “So, how was your first day? Any incidents?”

  I knew exactly what she meant by ‘incidents’, but I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowing that my little ‘oddity’ had caused a girl and her friends to bully me. “Everything went fine. I met a friend, her name’s Penelope. She’s cool.” I didn’t want to give her a bunch of information. It was none of her business, and she’d only start giving me unsolicited advice on how to make and keep friends.

  “Well that’s good,” she said. She got up and walked over to my closet, staring disdainfully at the mostly-black color palette. “Want me to take you shopping?”

  “Mom, seriously, my stuff is fine.”

  “I just think you might notice a difference in your social life if you added a little color into your wardrobe, hon.”

  “I don’t mind my social life. Besides, why do you care? Dad doesn’t care what I wear,” I blurted out. From the look on her face, I knew what I said had stung.

  She turned to me and gave me a smile. “Oh yes, your father, who hasn’t had a successful relationship since our sham marriage. You really want to model your life after that man, Alexandra? I’d hate to see you grow up alone, lonely, and considered a joke in your own profession. Then again, it seems like you’re already halfway there.” She instantly regretted what she said, but I didn’t give her the chance to retract her words.

  “Yeah well, at least dad accepts me for who I am. Anyway I have a lot of homework, so if you don’t mind…” I glued my eyes to the computer and didn’t say a word until I heard the door click shut. When she was gone, I rubbed my face a little and turned back to Elizabeth, who was still standing there.

  “That was your mother?” Her voice was quieter, a little more subdued than it was before.

  I sighed and reached under my glasses to rub my eyes. “Yeah, she’s a real joy.”

  “She cares for you a lot.” I looked up at her and saw she had taken a few steps toward me. “I never got the honor of having children, of being called Mother. I didn’t want to bring a child into the world I was born into. Greed, murder, the throne encompassing everything you are and would ever be. Dead lovers, and family who would murder you. I never wanted a child of mine to have to make the decision to have a cousin executed, or to watch their own mother beheaded in the square.”

  My eyes went wide and I sat back. “You watched your mother—”


  She shook her head and smiled sadly, interrupting my flow of words. “I was spared the image, but not the pain of losing her so young, nor was I spared from the title of being the Whore’s Daughter. My sister hated me, detested me, and would have had me killed if she had been able. I couldn’t dream to bring a child into that world.”

  Even though she looked around my age, I could hear the experience in her voice, the years she’d lived, and the centuries she’d been dead. She was no child, and despite her childish demands and way of carrying herself, she knew what she was talking about. I began to rethink my doubt about the locket, even if I still didn’t believe in a curse.

  “I’m going to do everything I can to find your locket,” I said softly. “I promise. I’ll do some research, I’ll talk to my dad who works at the museum and see what I can dig up. It might take me a few days, but if you can be patient, I’ll get it done.”

  She perked up after that, and smiled at me. She gave a solemn nod, standing tall and regal, and brushed her hand down the front of her impossibly frilly dress. “I will be here when you call. And make haste, Alexandra, the fate of the world may rest on your shoulders.”

  Chapter Six

  Jack Whatever

  I didn’t exactly sleep well that night, with nightmares of zombies led by a giant, glowing locket floating around my head. I woke feeling groggy and irritated. The idea of facing another day of Misty’s nasty remarks and snickers following me all over wasn’t appealing.

  My mom stared at me as I trudged downstairs, and she put her wrist against my forehead. “You coming down with something, honey?”

  I yawned and shook my head. “No, I just didn’t sleep well.” That was the truth. There was no curse, I was not sick, and the entire town was not going to fall under some locket-induced-plague. Nope. No way. Still, the faster I found the locket, the better. “Can I see dad at the museum today after school?”

  My mom frowned. It wasn’t like she and my dad were enemies, but she hated when I asked to see him outside of his normal schedule. “Why?”

  I took a long drink of my orange juice before I answered her. “I just have to ask him a question. The school’s only two blocks away from the museum. Why don’t you just pick me up a couple of hours late?”

  My mom gave a small sigh, but I could tell by the look on her face she wasn’t going to say no. She gave me her, I’m-annoyed-but-okay nod, then ushered me out to the car. Even though I knew I was going to have to see Misty and her friends again, I was a thousand times less nervous to be at school. I even a little excited when I saw Penelope waiting for me on the front steps, which was definitely a new feeling for me.

  I choked out a goodbye to my mom as I jumped out of the car, and ran up to meet my friend. She was sitting on the steps with a handful of red licorice sticks and offered me one as we walked up the steps inside.

  “My mother,” she said, emphasizing the word mother with a frown, “made me get here early, so I raided the vending machine.”

  We still had twenty minutes before the bell, and the halls were pretty empty. Penelope said she already had her books, so we strolled down the hall toward my locker. As we turned the corner, I caught a glimpse of Jack walking on the other side of the ramp, and yet again, I couldn’t stop staring at him.

  “Earth to Alexandra,” Penelope said, and I realized after a second, she’d been calling me for a few seconds.

  Blushing, I opened my locker and grabbed the books for my first two classes. “Sorry, it was a long night.”

  She glanced back across the ramp at Jack and then lifted and eyebrow. “Uh huh.”

  I rolled my eyes as I shoved the books for my first three classes into my bag. “Seriously, it was. I had to deal with some stuff at home, then I had like the worst nightmare of all time.” None of that was a lie, and she was instantly distracted from the topic of Jack.

  “Did the uh… ghost, or whatever, come visit you?” she asked excitedly.

  I glanced around to make sure no one was listening. “Yeah. She gave me some info, so I’m going to do some research on it tonight. I know what I’m looking for now, at least, and she gave me a place to start.”

  “Need any help?” Her eyes were wide and eager with her question, and it was tempting, it really was. But I couldn’t say yes. More than once, these little missions had gotten me into dangerous situations with people who weren’t really all there in the head, and I couldn’t risk putting my new friend in danger.

  “I don’t think I need help today, but I’ll let you know,” I said, not wanting to hurt her feelings. She looked a little disappointed, but still hopeful that I might ask her to assist a little later on. The truth was, I would have loved a friend to go with me when I had to do things like breaking into buildings at midnight. Someone to make those creepy nights when I was sneaking into the museum or some stranger’s office a little easier to deal with, but I couldn’t ask her to do that. I’d already tarnished my record, and I didn’t want to put her in that situation.

  Desperate to change the subject, I started complaining about my mom and before long, we were sharing a complaining fest, with all thoughts of Queen Elizabeth or any ghostly missions, fading into the background.

  The day passed pretty quickly, too. Even though I got a lot of sneers and nasty remarks from Misty and her gang, knowing I had a new friend and I wasn’t a total outcast made me feel more normal than I had felt in years. Even gym wasn’t a total nightmare, and by the time the final bell rang, I was in a really good mood.

  Penelope followed me down the front steps, though she had to hang back and wait for her mom to finish up in the classroom. “Where’s your mom?” she asked me.

  I gave a shrug. “My dad works a few blocks away at the museum so I’m going to go see if he knows anything about that name you-know-who gave me,” I said in a low voice.

  “Your life is so cool,” she complained.

  I blushed a little, shaking my head. My life was definitely not cool. Being made fun of for talking to yourself in the middle of class—so not cool. And being constantly hounded by weird dead people might have sounded cool, but really it was just a huge pain. “I’ll call you when I’m done,” I said and waved as I headed down the sidewalk.

  There were several kids heading home the same way I was walking. I kept apart from them, and after a little while, I got this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. Like I was being watched. I glanced around but they were all preoccupied with their cell phones and iPods. They didn’t even seem to notice I was there, so I figured I was just being a little paranoid. Downtown was kind of a creepy place anyway, and even though I’d grown up around there, it made me feel a little lost when I was walking the streets on my own.

  The museum my dad worked at was the city’s largest one. It stood seven stories tall, the building shaped so the front had those big Roman columns in white marble. The steps gave off this really cool echo when you walked up to the doors. In the very front of lobby, just to the right of the check-in desk, was a huge case with an Aztec mummy so old, they could only guess what year it had come from.

  My dad loved working there, too. He always said how even as a kid he’d dreamed of being able to spend his days doing research on ancient items and getting to talk about them all day. He was a total geek, but I kind of liked him that way.

  I walked past Amos, the security guard. He’d been working at the museum since forever, and I’d known him since I was a kid. He was older, with really thick grey hair and a super wrinkled face, but he was one of the coolest adults that I’d ever met. When I was young, he would tell me stories about when he was a boy growing up in Spain, and how he used to watch out of his window while all the people in the city would run with the bulls. He even told me stories about how he almost got gored a couple of times, but now that I was older I had a feeling he was just making that up to sound exciting. True or not though, his stories were always the best.

  “Hey there, X,” he said, using the nickname he’d given to me when
I was four. He said I was the first girl he’d met with an X in her name and that made me special. Something else he was probably making up, but I liked it anyway.

  “Hi,” I said with a grin and walked up to his desk. I looked around the top to see if he had any junk food I could snag, but his desk was empty of any treats.

  He saw where I was looking and smiled as he reached into his top drawer and pulled out a chocolate bar. As I unwrapped it, he asked, “How’s middle school treating you so far?”

  I smiled as I chewed the sweet treat. “Not bad. Made some friends,” I said, embellishing on the ‘some’ part. “It’s a lot of work, but I like it so far.”

  “You’re gonna be a star, Pequeña, don't you worry about that.”

  “I don’t worry, you know that,” I said with a smile. “Anyway, is my dad busy? I kind of forgot to tell him I was stopping by.” That was true. I had been so caught up in the first day of school and this whole ghost thing, I had totally forgotten to call him the night before and let him know I’d be over. Not that he ever minded when I dropped by, but I was usually better than that.

  “He’s in his office as usual,” Amos said with a wink. “I’m sure he’ll love to see you.”

  “Yeah right,” I muttered under my breath, but Amos didn’t seem to have heard me, which was good because he hated when I was sarcastic. He said it was unbecoming of a successful young lady, which I guess might be true, but I was never very worried about being lady-like. Besides, my mom was the most sarcastic, grumpy person I knew and she was wildly successful. Not that I wanted to be anything like her. I waved back at Amos as I turned the corner toward the elevators.

  My dad’s office was on the third floor, which was a floor that normal museum visitors didn’t get to go. You had to take a special elevator which required a card to open. I’d had one since I was about six. The third floor was mostly rooms filled with boxes and crates and tables packed full of museum stuff my dad said would probably never make it out onto the display floor.