Cursed Read Online Free PDF Page B

seventeen. I just want to be a normal teenager. Date other girls without caring how rich their parents are or if they can help your company,” Jayden said, frustrated.
    “I don’t want you to make the mistake I did,” his father replied. He considered Jayden for a long moment. “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. Just don’t lose focus. You’re meant for great things, Jay.”
    “I’ve been hearing that a lot lately.”
    His father was quiet, pensive to the point of troubled.
    “What’s wrong?” Jayden asked curiously. His dad wasn’t one to dwell on the troubles of life.
    “You’re right, Jayden. We do put a lot of responsibility on your shoulders,” his dad answered. “You can handle it all well, but it makes me not want to add to your burden.”
    “How so? Are we broke?”
    “No.” His dad smiled. “You’re probably not going to want to hear this. It’s one of the reasons I pressure you so much to excel.”
    Jayden leaned forward, intrigued by the enigmatic response from the laid-back, technological genius known for wearing jeans and sandals to business meetings.
    His father rose and went to his desk, retrieving something from the top drawer. It was small enough for his fist to hide it from view, and Jayden sat on the edge of his seat in anticipation.
    “This has been passed down for four hundred years.” His father held out his closed fist.
    Jayden glanced at him, unsettled by the grim tone. He held out his hand.
    His father dropped an old skeleton key into his palm. At one time, the iron might’ve been smooth, but it was rough now, chipped and rusted, with a dark patina covering what remained of the smooth surfaces.
    “I hope this opens a treasure chest,” Jayden said, studying it.
    “Not exactly.” His father took it. “This is the family legacy, Jayden, a very dark, horrible, disturbing one. This key went to the set of chains belonging to the first slave our ancestor sold to the Americas.”
    Jayden was silent, surprised.
    “Once upon a time” his dad flashed a quick smile “about twenty generations ago, an impoverished man in Africa began selling men and women to the Europeans who needed slave labor in the New World. He started with his cousins then the other members of his village and soon expanded his operation to incorporate every village he could reach. He sold tens of thousands of Africans into slavery and killed those who refused to go. He became a very, very wealthy man virtually overnight, sought out by nobility and rich Europeans for his ability to supply human laborers and servants fast, no questions asked. There wasn’t an order too big or unique for him to fill. His sons and their sons – a total of ten generations – followed in his footsteps, selling our people into slavery until the Civil War.”
    “You’re serious?” Jayden managed, not expecting to hear such news about his father’s highly respected family.
    “Very. He became corrupt with power, influence and riches. His deeds are why no one in our family is named Charles. Somewhere along the line, he crossed paths with one of those backwards types who believed in magic, a woman named Brianne. An alleged curse was placed upon the family, so that every firstborn would die, until ninety-nine had been killed. They say he claims the lives himself. Then, after ninety nine, his penance would be fulfilled.”
    After his bizarre dealings with his grandmother, Jayden couldn’t help but laugh. He understood the mystery and myths about voodoo – the tourists they brought in were what helped save New Orleans after the hurricanes hit. But that didn’t mean he believed any of it.
    “I know,” his father said, relaxing. “ That part of the tale, I don’t believe either. Though I will admit I’m glad you’re number one hundred. My older brother was number ninety-nine and died in a car accident. Got hit by a drunk driver that was certainly not a four hundred year old African.”
    “That’s insane, Daddy,”