Cursed Read online

  Also by Jen Calonita

  Fairy Tale Reform School

  Flunked

  Charmed

  Tricked

  Switched

  Wished

  Cursed

  Royal Academy Rebels

  Misfits

  Outlaws

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  Books. Change. Lives.

  Copyright © 2020 by Jen Calonita

  Cover and internal design © 2020 by Sourcebooks

  Cover art © Mike Heath/Shannon Associates

  Series design by Regina Flath

  Internal images © Stephen Rees/Shutterstock; Freepik

  Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Published by Sourcebooks Young Readers, an imprint of Sourcebooks Kids

  P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410

  (630) 961-3900

  sourcebookskids.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Calonita, Jen author.

  Title: Cursed / Jen Calonita.

  Description: Naperville, IL : Sourcebooks Young Readers, [2020] | Series: Fairy Tale Reform School | Audience: Ages 10 and up.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2019052809 | (hardcover)

  Subjects: CYAC: Fairy tales--Fiction. | Characters in literature--Fiction. | Magic--Fiction. | Blessing and cursing--Fiction. | Heroes--Fiction. | Reformatories--Fiction. | Schools--Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.C1364 Cur 2020 | DDC [Fic]--dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019052809

  Contents

  Front Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Acknowledgments

  Excerpt from Misfits

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  About the Author

  Back Cover

  For the newest member of the Calonita family, Massimo Campagna.

  Once a villain, always a villain.

  Happily Ever After Scrolls

  Brought to you by FairyWeb—Enchantasia’s Number One News Source!

  Royal Court Clash at Enchantasia Village Meeting

  by Coco Collette

  Tensions were high at last night’s emergency village meeting attended by Enchantasia’s royal court. Reigning princesses Ella, Rapunzel, Snow, and the recently returned Sleeping Beauty, Rose, spoke to a large crowd about what is being done to protect citizens from the wrath of Rumpelstiltskin and recently returned Evil Fairy Alva. “Both the royal guard and the Dwarf Police Squad are spread out across the kingdom looking for signs of these villains,” Rapunzel told the audience. “We are dedicated to protecting our people and preventing these villains from spreading fear throughout the land.”

  This HEAS reporter made waves when she mentioned an anonymous tip she received about the two villains. “I’m told they’re trying to get the remaining ingredients they need to enact a curse on Enchantasia and alter the course of history,” this reporter said.

  A woman in the back row fainted. Another screamed, “Is it true? Is Enchantasia about to be cursed?”

  “What ingredients do they still need?” interrupted another. “Why aren’t you trying to stop them?”

  “We cannot comment on the curse at this time,” Rapunzel replied, to which the room erupted in both shouting and tears. Pattycake Bakersman even threw handfuls of flour at the royal court. He was quickly apprehended by Dwarf Police Chief Pete and taken away.

  (In hindsight, perhaps this reporter should have questioned the royal court in private, but award-winning reporters like me never shy away from the tough questions.) Princess Ella tried to bring the room back to order. “Please trust that the royal court is not sitting idly by. Even as I speak, individuals with skills far superior to my own are working to keep these villains from cursing anyone. We must remain calm and stay vigilant.”

  “How?” said one individual. “We can’t defend ourselves against a curse that rewinds time!”

  “How do I protect my family?” shouted another.

  “And who is protecting the students at Fairy Tale Reform School? Or Royal Academy now that Headmistress Olivina has gone missing?” asked a woman.

  “Well…” Princess Ella looked at the rest of the royal court for guidance.

  “Has Olivina joined the villainous ranks of Mr. Stiltskin and Alva?” asked a man holding a crying baby.

  “We aren’t sure, but—” Rapunzel was quickly interrupted.

  “Fear not about Royal Academy!” Princess Rose stood to greet her public. “I will happily take up the headmistress title at the school until a new headmistress has been found.” Villagers cheered.

  “Uh, Princess Rose, I don’t believe we’ve discussed that matter yet,” Snow interjected.

  “Are you saying I wouldn’t be a good headmistress?” Rose countered.

  “I’m saying you fell under a villain’s spell once before, and running a royal school with a headmistress who has questionable allegiances might not be the best move,” Snow replied. Many in the audience gasped.

  “I am a beloved princess who deserves a second chance!” Rose cried (like literally cried, which caused the Rose groupies in the back to stand up with their Princess Rose Is Number 1 signs and cheer).

  “May we please have some order?” Princess Ella begged to no avail.

  Suddenly there was a gust of wind, and the room went dark. People screamed and hid under their chairs. When the torches relit, Headmistress Flora of Fairy Tale Reform School and Professor Harlow (a.k.a. the former Evil Queen) were standing in the center of the room.

  “Silence!” Professor Harlow glared at the assembled villagers. “When the royal court tells you all to shush, you shush!”

  The silence was so loud Princess Ella’s mice friends could be heard squeaking in terror inside a wall.

  “Finally! ” Professor Harlow’s purple cape swirled around her. “Now Flora has something to say.”

  “During times like these, we must pull together,” Headmistress Flora implored. “Villains try to tear us apart, but we are stronger than we realize. I know it’s hard not to fall victim to fear, but we must try. Know that the royal court and many former villains are working together to protect Enchantasia. We simply ask that you remain patient.”

  Patient we will be, but for how long? That’s what this reporter wants to know. (Although I’m told I can’t get into that here, or we’d have to put this blog post on our opinion page.) For now, all I’ll say is I hope the former Wicked Stepmother is right: someone needs to save us. The question is: Who?

  CURSE READINESS—HOW DO WE PREPARE?—only in tomorrow’s HEAS!

  Snail Mail

  Don’t trust the sharks! Let sea snails deliver your mail safely!

  FROM: Hayley Holliway at the coral reef at Shipwreck Cove

  TO: Gilly Cobbler at Fairy Tale Reform School

  Gilly,

  I’m not sure how fast this Snail Mail service is (they don’t have Pegasus Postal Service in the ocean), but I had no choice but to try it out. I just wish upon a starfish that this message reaches you in time.

  I think someone is trying to steal the magic lamp you sent me to protect and hide. I know it sounds strange, but I can feel a disturbance in the way the water flows, the fish move, and the wind blows. Trouble is brewing. Several ships have been spotted in the area. I haven’t gotten close enough to see who they are (My mother only allows me to swim beyond the reef during the day. Sigh.), but I can tell they’re searching for something. No one comes to Shipwreck Cove unless they want to get attacked by a kraken, and who wants to get attacked by a kraken? (Okay, so there’s not really a kraken. Mermaids are just really good at telling tall tales.)

  I’ve been under the sea a while now and don’t know what’s happening on land (I miss it), but my gills can sense danger. I fear it’s You-Know-Who and his candy-loving squad. Come quickly, Gilly, and bring backup!

&nbsp
; Your friend,

  Hayley

  Chapter 1

  Ahoy, Matey!

  “Full speed ahead, me hearties!” Ollie shouts. He’s got one hand on the pirate ship’s wheel and the other holding a gold spyglass that he’s looking through. “Land ho!”

  “Land? Where exactly do you see land?” Jocelyn asks. Her pale face is almost green as she holds on to one of the ship’s railings. The journey has been kind of rocky.

  And I don’t just mean the water, which is choppy. Our two days’ voyage to Shipwreck Cove has been complicated by the fact that this ship has too many captains—Blackbeard, Ollie, and each of my friends has a different opinion on the fastest way to get to Hayley.

  Professor Blackbeard agreed to take us on his ship, but neither he nor Madame Cleo, who offered to chaperone, had a map that showed the location of the cove. Apparently, they don’t pinpoint secret mermaid coves on nautical charts. Ollie seems to think he’s been there, though.

  “Shipwreck Cove be straight ahead!” he says in a thick pirate brogue.

  Allison Grace, who we call AG, narrows her blue eyes and looks out at the vast ocean in front of us. “I don’t see anything,” she whispers.

  I shrug. “Neither do I.”

  “Ollie?” Kayla flies over, her fairy wings popping out and fluttering like they do whenever she’s anxious. “I’ve been thinking a lot about Shipwreck Cove, and, um, doesn’t the name make you think we should anchor elsewhere? I feel funny sailing the ship into a place that has ‘shipwreck’ in its name.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about it yet,” Jocelyn says, her cape billowing in the sea breeze. “Ollie’s wrong—we are nowhere near land. A good sorceress like myself can tell.”

  Ollie’s head swivels around so fast I’m sure it’s going to spin off. “Are ye saying me be wrong? Do ye want to wind up in Davy Jones’s locker?” Ollie asks the Evil Queen’s younger sister. “If I say, ‘There be land,’ there be land ahead!”

  The second Blackbeard asked Ollie to help him command his ship, Ollie went full pirate on us. He’s wearing an eye patch even though we all know he has two brown eyes that he can see perfectly well out of, and he’s swapped out his usual red bandanna for Blackbeard’s wide black hat with a white feather stuck in the top.

  I hear a psst and turn around.

  “I think Ollie’s saying that if Jocelyn questions him again, he’ll make her walk the plank, which means throw her overboard,” Maxine whispers to me and Jocelyn. She’s been keeping a scroll of pirate terms and definitions so we can all understand Ollie’s new pirate-speak.

  Jocelyn narrows her eyes at Ollie, folding her arms across her chest. “I’d like to see him try.”

  Ollie is too busy singing a sea chantey to himself to pay her any mind. “All hands, ahoy! We be facing a kraken soon.”

  “A kraken?” Drool puddles around the edges of Maxine’s ample ogre mouth. She links arms with Allison Grace, and they both look around nervously. “Gilly said that was just a myth.”

  “It is a myth,” says Jax as he runs a sail effortlessly up one of the masts. The pirate ship’s black skull-and-crossbones flag makes a snapping sound in the wind. (Jax has been battening and raising things like a pro, unlike the rest of us who haven’t found our sea legs yet.) “Ollie, don’t make them nervous.”

  “Nervous? Do I look nervous?” I take one of the arrows out of the quiver hanging from my back and aim it at the nothingness in front of us. “Why should any of us be nervous?”

  “Yeah!” Jocelyn seconds, looking at Kayla, AG, and Maxine for backup. “Are you saying because we’re girls, we can’t hold our own against a mythical sea monster?”

  “I said nothing of the sort.” Jax flashes us a charming grin (his prince specialty). “We know our skills can’t hold a candle to yours. Right, Ollie?”

  Ollie doesn’t answer. He’s too busy licking his finger and holding it up in the wind. “Storm’s a-brewing.”

  “There isn’t a cloud in the sky!” Jocelyn argues.

  “Shiver me timbers! Jocelyn, don’t contradict the pirate captain,” Maxine says, consulting her scroll. “You don’t want to be…uh…shark bait!”

  Ollie beams at her proudly.

  Jocelyn rolls her eyes. “All I’m saying is we are nowhere near land, there is no storm coming, and Ollie has about as much knowledge of the seas as I have of what the Royal Ladies-in-Waiting do at club meetings.”

  “You’re welcome to join us anytime,” I say sweetly. “Our pink sash would coordinate well with your all-black ensemble.” Jocelyn growls at me.

  I may not love being a member of that club, but it is the one place at FTRS I can go without worrying Jocelyn will be there. She hates princess stuff more than I do.

  “How we be doing, mateys?” The booming tread of Blackbeard’s heavy, beat-up black boots announce his arrival on deck. (Pirates aren’t much for the latest fashions. I can appreciate that.) “That be me hat you’re sporting, Ollie?”

  Ollie whips it off and laughs nervously. “Is it? How did that get there? I be losing me mind, Captain! Sorry!”

  Blackbeard places it on his head, and the white feather on top starts to disintegrate. He nudges Ollie out of the way so he can take the wheel. “Madame Cleo says we be getting close to Shipwreck Cove.”

  “But sir, there is no land anywhere,” Jax points out. “How can we be getting close?”

  Blackbeard points a grimy black finger at his forehead. “We pirates see things with our minds. I know the sea like the back of me hands! We sense things mere landlubbers like yerselves do not!”

  “Darlings!” I hear Madame Cleo’s voice. We all look over the side of the ship and see the sea siren sporting long, canary-yellow hair. (Yesterday it was green.) She smiles beatifically. “How are you feeling, AG? Get your sea legs yet?”

  “Not really.” AG clutches her stomach. “But still glad you convinced my mom and dad to let me come.”

  “Of course, darling!” Madame Cleo says, and her hair goes from yellow to pink. “That Beast of a father of yours is a real softy when you talk to him the right way. Besides, Beauty agreed you need a chance to spread your wings.” AG beams at her. “Did Ollie and Beardy-Boy tell you I spoke to three puffer fish and a school of seahorses that said Shipwreck Cove is two nautical miles ahead?”

  “See things with your mind, huh?” Jocelyn mutters. Blackbeard’s cheeks take on a pink tinge.

  “Thanks, Madame Cleo!” I shout. “I’ll tell the others.” I pull the broken mirror out of the sheath hanging from my side and hold it into the sunlight. The broken glass practically blinds me. The gold leaf on the handle is etched away, and the binds holding it together are fragile at best, but Professor Harlow’s mirror—once used so she could communicate with Alva, the Wicked Fairy of Sleeping Beauty’s nightmares—has been magically restored.

  Two black eyes stare back at me. “Yes, Ms. Cobbler, what do you need now?” the former Evil Queen drawls.

  “Professor Harlow, we—” I start to say.

  Harlow cuts me off. “Honestly, Flora, if the girl can’t make a single decision on her own, how can we really keep her in the Magical Metamorphosis Program here at school? She’s not acting like a leader should. Now, Jocelyn on the other hand…”

  “Harlow, please be reasonable,” Headmistress Flora says wearily.

  I can’t remember the last time I saw the former Wicked Stepmother look this tired. Actually, I do remember—it was when we snuck out of FTRS and climbed a beanstalk to find my younger sister Anna and got tricked by Rumpelstiltskin. Or maybe it was when Maxine made a wish on the magic lamp we’re now looking for, and it made everyone at FTRS go bananas. Or maybe…

  “Gillian? Gilly? Are you listening to me?”

  “Sorry, Headmistress Flora. Yes!” I had zoned out again. Ollie is right about the sea being good for collecting your thoughts. The minute I stepped aboard, all I could think about was Anna. Is she truly evil? Or under Rumpelstiltskin’s spell? Does it even matter? If she’s trying to hurt Enchantasia, she’s evil. And that means we’re on opposite sides.

  “Hayley sent the letter to Gilly; therefore Gilly is in control of the mirror on this trip,” Flora tells Harlow.