The Cursed Man (3 page)

The director closed the book and put it away. “I hate to sound so glum, Dr. Lee, but if you do that, you're as good as dead. I've mourned the death of many since I've taken responsibility of Mr. Kunkle. You couldn't imagine what that can do to a man's soul.”

“One more second of delay on your part will have me on the phone with my boss. I'm sure he'd love to discuss what I've found today. What do you think, two, three hours tops before they've relieved you of your duty? Make your move. What's it going to be?”

The director picked up the phone and turned away from Anna. “Bonnie, I'd like you to send Michael in. Let him know he'll be escorting Dr. Lee to see Mr. Kunkle.”

The director twirled the phone chord around his finger and nodded. “Yes, I made her aware of the circumstances. But it seems as though she has made her decision, and she insists on seeing him.”

 

 

FIRST MEETING

 

 

Alister looked out the window in his room, past the steel bars and into a wilted rose garden. Two decrepit cement benches were wrapped with dead ivy, which circumscribed the garden. The surrounding grass was brown. The outlying forest had succumbed to disease; trees that remained upright were bare of bark and hadn't produced leaves in years, and fallen timber had rotted to shells. All wildlife had long ago abandoned the once lush woodland.

Two gentle taps at the door diverted his attention. Although the small window on the door had been covered with paper, he could see feet in the space underneath the door. Certainly, someone had lost their way and inadvertently chosen his door to knock on. He remained quiet and returned his gaze to the garden, believing that whoever it was would depart once they realized their error.

He heard another barrage of thumps on the door, and this time it was louder.

“Hello?”

It was the voice of a woman.

“Mr. Kunkle?”

The hinges groaned and his door swung open.

“Mr. Kunkle?”

A chill raced up his spine and he stiffened, paralyzed by the utterances that shattered the peace he had immersed himself in. Like the approach of something wicked, the hair on the back of his neck stood up, and he could feel her presence move inside the room.

“I am Dr. Lee.”

Sweat seeped through his pores, and his heart pounded inside his chest without mercy. He fought his apprehension and dared to look at the doctor. She was slender and stood about five feet, seven inches tall. She had a pretty face and a kind smile and was perfectly tan.

He met the woman's eyes and wanted to say something, but it was forbidden.

“I've come to ask you some questions, Mr. Kunkle. May I have some of your time?”

Alister didn't respond. The vow he made to never speak again felt impossible to break.

“Mr. Kunkle?”

The smell of her fresh breath and perfumed body reached him. The aroma was overpowering and made his nose itch.

“I've come a long way and had to hurdle a lot of obstacles to meet with you. I plead for your cooperation.”

Alister stared at his reflection in the window. What he saw was a man that was beyond help, that had long ago stopped caring about anything. His hair and beard covered his face, and deep lines surrounding his eyes told of his struggles.

He cleared his throat, licked his lips and tried to speak. A raspy croak was the only sound produced, and it hurt. His vow remained stronger than his will.

“I understand you've had to endure many tragedies in your life. I'm here to understand why people believe you are cursed.”

Alister concentrated a stare on Anna that turned her eyes away. He was sure she had been given the facts and she had chosen to ignore them. He could only hope to find out why before she died.

“I am ready to hear whatever it is you have to say.”

Although he knew the silence wasn't going to last forever, a tear welled in the corner of his eye for what was to come. And his vow didn't matter anymore. She spoke to him, and because of that, the death and torment would start again and he would have no peace.

“I've heard others say that,” he said. His voice cracked, and his words were barely above a whisper.

Anna offered Alister a smile. “Thank you for your words,” she said as she sat down.

“I don't think you understand what your words have done,” Alister said. “They are enough to gain its attention, and you are as good as dead.”

 

 

SCARS OF PAIN

 

 

 
“I have to be honest with you, Alister. I don't believe in curses or intangible evil things that lurk in dark places and prey on unsuspecting people,” Anna said.

Alister sighed. “And I see being a doctor doesn't make you any less foolish.”

Alister cleared his throat and coughed. He rubbed his neck. The burning itch in his throat made it difficult and painful to speak.

Anna's focus was on Alister's palms, and his eyes followed her gaze. They were discolored with red and purple mountains of scarred flesh. He placed them in his lap, palms down.

“What happened to your hands?”

“Something terrible, but there is much to tell you before we get to that.”

“Then let us begin.”

“With my wife, Sharon?” he said, and his voice cracked.

“If you're uncomfortable, I can get you some water.”

“I deserve no comfort, not after the things I have done.”  He ran taut fingers through his long, gray hair and a cluster of knots stopped his hand. “All the suffering I get, I deserve.”

“I don't believe you deserve to suffer.”

“Maybe you should hold your judgment until you hear my story.”

Anna nodded and her hair swayed with the movement of her head.

“Sharon, my wife, was good for me, but I was no good for her.”

“Because of the curse?”

“Yes.” Alister crossed his arms over his chest. “But you make it sound so simple when you say it like that.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Sharon was the only constant in all the tragedy that surrounded me.”

Anna smiled. “Did you know each other long?”

“Through grade school, junior high, and senior high. We started dating in eleventh grade and had a typical relationship of old. It was at a time when men respected women. I can remember rushing to open doors for her, and we always held hands.” His eyes danced around the room, chasing memories concealed long ago. He smiled. “We would go for ice-cream sodas, enjoy the drive-in theaters and frequent sock hops.”

“The age of innocence.”

Those words broadened Alister's smile. “Indeed it was.  Sharon wore poodle skirts with bobby socks and saddle shoes and a neck scarf with a virgin pin that she displayed proudly.”

“And what about you?”

“Me? My hair was slicked back, and I always had a pack of cigarettes rolled in the sleeve of my tight undershirt.” He pointed to his bare feet and ran a finger up his leg. “Penny loafers with blue jeans.”

“Things sound like they were so much simpler then.”

“In many ways they were, and I often wished it would never end. Sharon and I were consumed with our future. We would talk for hours about getting married, starting a family and living in a house with a white picket fence.”

“That sounds romantic.”

“It was all a lie. I tried to tuck away my secret of being cursed, hoping that if I ignored it, it would just go away. But soon after we married and Sharon got pregnant, complications started.” Alister rubbed his chin. “She had morning sickness that lasted the entire day, and her doctor treated her for toxemia. Back then, they used water pills as a treatment, but nowadays that is known to worsen the condition. She couldn't function when she was awake and couldn't find the comfort to sleep.”

“She must have been miserable.”

“That's an understatement, doctor. As her pregnancy progressed, the symptoms only worsened. I took care of her as best I could, but my efforts were never enough. Everything that went wrong was my fault, and, according to Sharon, nothing was ever right.”

“You fought a lot?”

Alister nodded. “It was like the curse was tormenting her and making me suffer for some reason.”

“What would it have to gain by making you suffer?”

“I don't know, and that is something I still struggle with.” Alister sagged into the chair. “By breaking me down emotionally, maybe it was making me more dependent on it.”

Anna started to speak, but refrained.

“The day of joy came when Sharon's water broke and I rushed her to the hospital. I thought the changes in her body would make things right.” A tear fell from his eye, and he wiped it away. “Sharon had a placenta previa birth, and the umbilical cord was wrapped around Rebecca's throat. The child had been deprived of oxygen and had come into the world with severe retardation.”

“I'm sorry,” Anna said.

“Sharon was ashamed of her.”

Anna looked out the window. The steel bars blocked most of the view.

“Sharon remained silent about Rebecca's condition. As the days went by, her depression only seemed to deepen, and her patience and compassion for Rebecca had become nonexistent.” Alister's posture stiffened. “She didn't care for her the way a mother normally does. Mothers are gentle and nurturing by nature, but she was distant and uncaring.”

Alister repressed the swell of emotion that fought to escape. He swallowed hard and shook his head.

“What happened to Rebecca wasn't Sharon's fault; it was nature underperforming.”

But deep down inside, Alister knew better. Although the curse hadn't yet become blatant in its desire to make him suffer, all the signs had been there.

“I remember this sweltering hot day when we were sitting on the patio. Sharon was in her eighth month of pregnancy, and that day more than any day before held lots of promise. She smiled when we spoke, and there weren't any rude comments whispered.”

Alister chased an itch that moved up his arm, and Anna watched him.

“I brought her out a glass of ice cold lemonade and settled into a chair beside her.” He smiled. “Things were perfect.” He watched dandruff dance in the sunlight beaming in through the window.

“The bliss I was feeling was intoxicating.” His smile broadened, and he raised a brow. “So powerful that I'd forgotten about all the bad we'd been through.”

Alister paused, looked to his feet and slowly raised his focus to Anna.

“Believe me when I tell you, doctor, we'd been through a lot of bad, and for me to forget for even a moment, there must have been magic.”

Anna looked to her notepad, chewed her pen, and jotted down some thoughts. Alister reached for her paper and tried to spy what it said.

“What are you writing?”

She moved away. “Just some thoughts.”

“Yours or mine?”

“Both.”

Alister wrinkled the skin on his forehead.

“Care to share?”

Anna shook her head. “I want to know about this day you started to tell me about.”

“Good distraction, doctor.” He smiled. “I wish I could have held on to that moment forever. We were friends for the first time in months, and I actually felt loved.”

“That's a wonderful feeling,” Anna said. “Knowing someone cares for you.”

“For me in that moment, it was nothing more than a distraction, a way to help me forget about all the death that surrounded me.”

Anna logged additional thoughts in her notebook.

“Our conversation quickly fell off, and Sharon broke the silence by asking what I had done.”

“Did you know what she was referring to?”

“Yes, but I didn't say so.” He scratched his forearm. “I didn't dare.”

“What did she say?”

“That there was something unnatural surrounding me. And that it had gone after everyone I loved, and Sharon and the baby were all that I had left.”

Anna placed her pen down. “Those were powerful words and a heavy accusation.”

“It hit home, and it still does. My heart sank. That was the only time she ever hinted at knowing about the strange events happening around me.”

Anna paused in thought, and Alister used the time to massage the front of his neck.

“And yet she didn't do anything to escape it?” Anna said.

Alister shrugged. “Maybe she knew she couldn't. She rubbed her belly and told me she could feel things weren't right, and that whatever I was hiding was making my unborn child suffer for it. She flashed me a disappointed smile and walked into the house without another word.”

Anna refused to scratch an itch on her arm. “With all due respect, I'm going to be skeptical until I see proof that makes me think otherwise. I don't believe you are crazy or cursed.”

“I am one or the other, doctor. There is no doubt about that.”

“I believe you've been plagued by a series of tragedies that have forced you into a safe place.”

“I'm not the one who is safe in here.”

“It is easier to hide from a problem—”

“The people outside this room are the ones who are safe.”

“—rather than face it.”

“Is that what you think this is? A problem?” Alister's eyes were wide, and Anna looked away. “I think your need to find traditional answers to extraordinary circumstances has clouded your ability to see the truth no matter how close to it you actually are.”

Anna turned a page in her notepad. “That very well could be. After all, I am only human.”

“Well, from where I sit, it is.”

She clasped her hands together and placed them on her lap.

“I see you don't like it when you are challenged.”

“This isn't about me.”

“I know, and I also know that you like to stay in control. That's what shrinks do.” Alister threw his hands in the air. “Very well, I haven't had control in years, so it is yours to keep.”