Cursed by Wendy Owens Page A

should call Michael.” Uri said, remembering the urgency of the moment.
    “So where is this phone we were promised?” Gabe asked, looking around.
    Uri scurried around the room, frantically throwing open drawers and searching for the promised phone line.   Looking behind a nearby chest, Uri located a cord and tracked it with his fingertips.   He found a plug without a phone at the end of it.
    “Apparently someone doesn’t want us to have a phone!”   Uri snapped, enraged at being misled.   Throwing the useless cord to the floor, Uri bounded to the exit.
    Throwing open the door in a huff, Uri stumbled back just before he ran into the backside of a house-sized man.   Turning around slowly, the guard stared at Uri intensely before growling, “Yes?”
    It was clear Patina expected them to remain in their rooms based on the size of the man.
    “Umm yes, well…” Uri said, trying to regain his composure.   “Hello there, good chap,” Uri said before patting the guard’s chest.   The guard did not seem pleased as his eyebrows sank and the corners of his mouth curled.   Gabe chuckled to himself.   He found it funny that the large man unnerved his friend so much that he was resorting to words like ‘chap’.
    “We were promised a phone line, but apparently some mistake has been made.   It appears our phone is missing.”   Uri explained.
    “Yes,” the large man replied.
    “Well, I need to make a call!” Uri exclaimed.   The man continued to stand there looking Uri up and down.   “Well?   It’s urgent!”
    “Wait here, I will call for an escort.”   The man leaned forward and closed the door before Uri could say another word.
    “Wow, really warm reception.” Uri said spinning around, overwhelmed by his frustration.
    Gabe gave a half smile.   He wondered how he was ever going to help Sophie if these people were not going to help them.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

    “Well?” Gabe urged as Uri reentered the room.
    “What?” Uri replied in a daze.
    “Did you talk to him?   Michael?” Gabe asked, slipping the few items he packed into a nearby drawer as Uri walked across the length of the room in silence.
    With a dazed look on his face, Uri stopped when he reached the bed and rested on the edge of it.
    “Uri?” Gabe said, attempting to snap him out of the trance like condition.   “Did you get to talk to Michael?   How is everyone?   Is Sophie alright?”
    Still Uri said nothing, staring at the empty space in front of him.   Gabe walked hurriedly over to him and waved a hand in front of his face, repeatedly snapping his fingers.   “Hey, snap out of it!”
    “Huh,” Uri muttered shaking his head as if the coma he was in was something he could physically brush off.   “What did you say?”
    “Is everything alright?”
    “Not exactly.” Uri replied.
    “Is it Sophie?” Gabe asked, his voice strained with panic.
    “No, she’s fine.” Uri quickly put Gabe’s fears to rest.
    “Is it someone else?”
    Uri just nodded at first, not wanting to bring the situation into reality by verbalizing it.   “Michael.” Uri whispered finally, unable to say the name at a normal volume.
    “What happened?   Is he ok?” Gabe asked, turning and resting on the corner of a chest of drawers.
    “The trackers, they were on him as soon as he left…” Uri answered, his words trailing off and he continued to look blankly at the space in front of him.
    “Uri!” Gabe exclaimed.   “Is Michael alright?”
    “Oh, yeah, I guess.   The clerics have been working pretty hard on him and they say that he’ll pull through.   But Haim said he was banged up pretty good.”
    “Well, that’s good news, right?   Michael is going to be okay.”
    “Gabe, he could have died!   He went out there on his own to protect us,” Uri shook his head, running his hands over his face and through his greasy hair.   “I should have never let him do it.   I told him not to go alone, but he said he didn’t want to risk the