Cursed - part 5

Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog :) This is part five of a little story I'm writing. For anyone who is new here, I would recommend you start at part one and work your way through. Happy reading!

I push the bar underneath the trapdoor, holding it firmly in place. Above, Josh won't be able to get down here and sneak out while Jane and I sleep.
"Ok, that should be safe," I say, slumping against the wall of the hollowed tree.
"Are you sure?" Jane asks anxiously. "What if the curse makes him stronger and he breaks through?"
"We'll hear," I say. My eyes are already closing. It's been almost a full day since any of us slept. "The search parties won't come here for a while," I continue. "We'll be safe for now."
Jane seems to take my word for it, because she lies down without further comment and soon her breathing is deep and even. Despite how tired I am, I find myself lying awake, worrying. Josh has had the curse a few days. In most people, it takes no more than a week to become lethal. I need to get going on finding a cure, or it may be too late for all of us.
Finally I give up on sleep and light the lamp. The smoke circles up through small holes in the divisions between different layers of the tree. I take out some dried fruit to chew on and think. If my theory is correct, the creators dwell somewhere in this forest, and they are the only ones who can take the curse off Josh. The problem is that I have no idea where in the vast forest they could be, nor how to contact them.
"Lara?" Josh's voice carries easily down through the thin wooden barrier.
"I'm here," I call,  bracing myself for another round of Josh berating me to let him go before hurts me without wanting to. I am surprised - as well as relieved - when he doesn't. I listen, but he is silent. Finally, I can't sit down here alone anymore. If ever I needed Josh, it's now.
I pull away the bar to the trapdoor and try to push it open, but it won't go up. "Josh?"
"Don't come up," he says. "I'm safer alone."
"I'm not leaving you all alone with the curse," I say. "Now get your butt off the trapdoor."
He hesitates, then sighs. He can't stay away from me any more than I can stay away from him. I quickly climb up, closing it behind me.
"Hey," I say, wrapping my arms around him. "It's going to be ok."
Josh hugs me silently and I turn his face up, kissing him softly.
He pulls away. "I could hurt you."
"No you won't. I know how the curse works," I say quickly, before he can protest, "but I also know you, Josh. You would never hurt me. Please, just trust me on this. Let me help you. I'm going to save you, I promise."
Finally, I see what I am looking for: a speck of doubt. "You really think you can beat it? No one has ever defeated the curse before."
"There's a first time for everything. Now lie down - we both need our rest. They'll be looking."
He reluctantly lets me ease him onto his back, stroking his hair. "We'll be fine," I murmur. Josh's arms wrap around me and I breathe in deeply. Finally, my body relaxes and I drift off into sleep.
I wake with a shock. A scream is locked in my throat, the pain everywhere. I have heard people describe what it is like to be struck by lightning; I imagine this is similar.
I twist around to see someone behind me. His hands are on either side of my neck, and the pain is emanating from those two points. I struggle, but he is too strong.
My breath is coming short and fast, and there are spots in my vision. I stare at the man. His eyes are locked with mine. Wait a moment... Josh, that's Josh. It's Josh as I've never seen him, though. The expression on his face is lethal and cruel; I have could never have imagined it on his face before seeing it. As it is, I barely recognise him. At once, I know what is happening: the curse. It's telling him to kill every living thing in sight, and giving him the power to do it.
"Josh," I choke out. "It's me."
His eyes flicker, but I am fast losing consciousness.
"Josh..."
The black spots expand before my eyes, but I can still hear his gasp of realisation as his hands fly off me. As my vision flickers back, I see him scrambling as far away from me as he can, his face set in horror. "Lara," he whispers. "I'm so sorry." He stares at his hands in shock.
"It's ok," I gasp, getting my breath back. "It's fine, I told you that you wouldn't hurt me."
He is shaking, and I make to go over to him, but Josh holds his hands up like a shield.
"Josh, listen to me," I say. "No one with the curse has been able to back off once moving in for the kill before. You just did. I told you that you're different."
He doesn't even seem to hear me. Lost in some private world of terror, he presses himself against the inside of the tree trunk, staying as far away from me as possible.
"Hey, are you two alright up there?" Jane calls, apparently having woken up."
"Fine," I say after a slight hesitation.
I look again at Josh, whose eyes are closed and face is twitching.
I wonder what I have gotten us into.

To be continued