Her face fell.
"Can we talk for a minute?" I asked, trying to sound as non-threatening as possible. "We just have a few questions."
"About what? Me or Deva?" Katie fumbled with her keys as she unlocked her car door.
"About both," Carol said, her voice soft but firm.
I couldn't blame Katie for being on edge, after all, we were basically stalking her.
"Look," Carol said, her tone gentle and soothing. "We understand that this is all very upsetting and confusing for you. We're just trying to help."
"Help?" Katie scoffed, her hands trembling as she fumbled with her keys. "You think harassing me is helping?"
"Okay, maybe we went about this the wrong way," I said. "We really do want to figure out what happened to Deva's Delights. If we figure that out, we might be able to figure out things with you too."
After a minute of silence, she releases a slow breath. "Fine," she finally said, her voice low and shaky. "I'll tell you. Don't think this means I'm suddenly on board with your little investigation or whatever."
"Thank you," Beth said gently, her eyes softening with gratitude. "We understand how difficult this must be for you."
"Difficult?" Katie snorted, the bitterness in her tone catching me off guard. "You have no idea. I was so angry about my experience at her restaurant. It wasn’t enough that my boyfriend left me, or that I got fired from my job, but then I went into Deva’s andthey treated me like garbage too. So, I was looking for a solution to make me feel better. And I thought I found it. Only, it made everything worse.”
So, Katie’s life was hard. Was that why she freaked out at Deva that day? Maybe. Unhappy people were often angry people.
Katie continued talking, almost embarrassed by what she was revealing. "The other things… had reasons, like maybe I cheated on my boyfriend, and I might not have been doing my job very well, but everything after that was random.” She hesitated before continuing. “Ever since Deva... well, my life has been a complete nightmare. I trip over everything. I’ve torn a dozen different pairs of pants and shorts. I’ve stubbed my toes over and over again. I keep breaking pencils. My car kept having issues. It’s just… constant."
We all exchanged a glance. That sounded like a curse.
“What changed your life from hard to… cursed?” Carol asked, smiling at the end like it was just an expression.
Her cheeks heated. “A few weeks before everything happened, I went to this tarot reader. I know it sounds stupid."
"Tarot readings aren't that unusual." I tried to make her less self-conscious about her admission. "People seek guidance from all sorts of places when they're going through tough times."
"Except this wasn't your average tarot reading," Katie said. "The woman who did it told me that she could curse Deva for me if I wanted. That it would give Deva what she deserved and also give me the better life I deserve."
"Did you believe her?" Beth asked, her face pale.
"Of course not," Katie said. "I figured it was just a scam, some stupid trick to get more money out of me. It was cheap, though, so I did it on a whim." She shuddered. "Ever since that day, it's like everything has gone wrong. My life has been in shambles, and now you three are hounding me at every turn."
"Katie, we're not trying to make things worse for you," I said softly. "We just want to help Deva and you both."
"Listen," Katie finally said, her voice low and dangerous. "I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but if I see any of you near me again, I won't hesitate to call the cops. Do you understand?"
"Katie, we're not—" Carol said, but Katie cut her off with a bitter laugh.
"Save it," she spat, her eyes flashing with frustration and sadness. "I don't need your pity, and I certainly don't need your help." With that, she stormed away from us, slamming her car door shut before peeling out of the parking lot.
"That went... well."
"She's hurting, and she's scared. We need to be patient with her," Carol said gently.
"Patient?" I huffed, my own frustration rising. "She just threatened to have us arrested. How much more patient can we be?"
Carol gave me a strange look. “From her human viewpoint, we’re just three women stalking her. I’d say she’d been a heck of a lot more patient than I would be.”
“Fair enough,” I said with a sigh.
Beth stared after Katie’s car. "We need to figure out who cursed Deva and Katie without making things worse for either of them."
