Chapter 11

The drone on the radio spoke a daily update. The host said “So, it’s the hottest day of the year so far. I know so many of you are sitting at your desk, waiting to run out and go to the beach."

The female co host responded "I know I will be getting the first ice cream of the year when we finish."

"But make sure you drive carefully. There's going to be traffic jams. We don't want to hear about any accidents."

"And if you go swimming in the sea, check which beaches have lifeguards."

Evie jabbed at the radio button with her toe and turned it off. It was midday and she was parked in a lay-by on a cliff road, by the sea with all windows wound down.

She lay flat and sprawled in the passenger seat, wearing a slightly stained t-shirt and only one pair of tights. She had the air conditioning turned on as high as it could, but she still felt clammy, sticky and itchy in the oppressive humid heat.

Lingering around her, the smell of the piles of rubbish, which she had failed to dispose of, was heating up and had made her feel nauseous. This was an accumulation of several days worth of burger boxes, milkshake dregs, fries grease and the last remnants of various ice creams were rotting in the muggy heat, making the air feel thicker and stickier.

She scratched at her side. There was a new itchy problem, her rolls. Last summer there was a bit of muffin top when she sat down, some underboob and thigh rub to worry about. This year her waist creased around from a roll on her upper stomach, wrapping around her back. Her underboob chaffed unless she wore a support bra, her deepening bellybutton felt moist and even a double chin was forming, trapping neck sweat.

She caught a glimpse of her pink face and frizzy blonde hair in the mirror and with jiggling thighs tried to kick at it, to turn it away from herself.

Three months in her car and now in the sweltering heat she felt like she had been turning into a melting pile of flab. If she had to guess, there was probably another ten pounds this month, but she would not have been surprised if a little more.

She stared, aimlessly out of the front window. She would give it another ten minutes before driving on again so the air conditioner didn't drain the battery. She spent a lot of time playing on her phone lately. With a reasonably steady income she had started to make hobbies. Spending hours every day glued to the battle game on her phone, she had made friends from all over the world in her guild, so at least felt like she had company, even if the topic of conversation was generally around growing power and attacking other players. She had also found some small success with betting on horses through a gambling app as well as using her online bank to move some part of her income into shares or cryptocurrency. She had increasingly started to treat these pastimes as a full time job and within a few weeks had accumulated another eight hundred euros. Combined with the web modeling she was now earning enough to be really comfortable, even though she was still earning a bit less money than her job paid, the job she had abandoned without notice for this new car life.

A fly came into the window, landed on the rubbish pile and flew out again. She was too bored and too hot.

She eventually sat up and drove on.

An hour later she parked by a crystal clear cove, completely deserted, a long way from any town and watched the sea as the afternoon sun baked through the windshield.

Her hand rested on the handle, trembling slightly, trying to clear her mind. It clicked. Slowly, she pushed against the door, through a crack came a cool breeze against her bare leg. Her arm shook as she pushed against whatever force was out there, she tried to hold it open but she felt weaker and weaker, before slamming the door shut.

Sighing deep and trying to hold back a tear she relaxed her arm and tried to think of anything else. She knew deep down she wasn't getting out. She knew there was no point feeling disappointed. She wondered if she should find someone to talk to about this.

She had kept her friends and family at bay, by texting or messaging them vague explanations, still letting them maintain whatever excuses they had come up with, but without going into much detail. Most assumed she was traveling for a job. She did not want to involve them in her life right now. She assumed that they would judge her or simply not believe her if she did begin to try and open up to them. However, she did feel the need for meaningful conversation.

Drake could be open to listening. He seems to be aware that something is wrong, but is either uninterested in her as a person since he's paying or just doesn't want to pry too deep incase there was something too serious going on.

The friends in her game would probably think it an elaborate role play or something. There was no help guide for people in her situation. The few attempts she had made to look up people in similar situations or information about curses and how to break them had given her no significant hope.