The four of us grew up together, thick as thieves. But then, just like that, Frank died in a car crash. A few days later, Joey drowned while fishing. And was it all because of Chris's damn jinx? Right after I got back from Frank’s funeral, I grabbed Chris, hard. Because I had this gut feeling Frank’s death had something to do with him. Here’s how it went down: the day before Frank died, me, Frank, Chris, and Joey were just hanging out, grabbing coffee. We were buds since forever, always getting together to shoot the breeze whenever we could. We were laughing about something, and suddenly Chris just stares at Frank and says something totally out of the blue. “Hey Frank, you driving into the city tomorrow, right? Be careful, man. Might be your last chance to have coffee with us!” The three of us kind of froze for a second, but then brushed it off. I mean, it didn’t sound that weird, maybe even a little concerned. Even if Chris was just trying to spook Frank, it was the kind of dumb joke we’d pull. But still… I saw this flash of something weird in Chris’s eyes when he said it. I didn’t think much of it then. Then the next day, Frank was driving that winding road into the city, and his car went right off a cliff. He was killed instantly. Me, Chris, and Joey couldn’t believe it. One minute Frank’s there, the next… gone. We pushed down our grief and helped his family with the funeral arrangements. As soon as it was over, I dragged Chris back to my place and laid into him. “Chris, what the hell is wrong with you? Are you cursed or something?” Chris just looked at me, totally confused. “Alex, what are you talking about?” “You practically called it! You said Frank was gonna have an accident, and the next day he’s dead! You possessed or something?” I stared him down. Chris blinked a few times, then put on this wounded look. “Alex, come on, man, don’t pin this on me. It was a stupid joke, that’s all. How was I supposed to know something would actually happen?” I stared at him for a long time, trying to see through him, but couldn’t find a crack. I let him go, feeling uneasy. Maybe it was just a horrible coincidence? But then, a few days later, something else happened that made my skin crawl. 2 Three days after the funeral, I suggested me, Joey, and Chris go fishing down by the river. Frank’s death hit us all hard. We needed something to take our minds off it, try to shake off the sadness. Joey and Chris were up for it. We got down to the riverbank, casting our lines, talking about nothing much, just waiting for a bite. Suddenly, Joey’s line went taut, the tip of his rod bending like crazy! He yanked back hard, fighting it. The rod looked like it was about to snap, but whatever was on the line wasn’t coming up. “Whoa, this is a big one!” Joey sounded stoked. He yelled for us to give him a hand. I was about to get up, but then I heard Chris say, real quiet and creepy, “Joey, man… that’s not a fish you hooked. Let it go. Seriously, let it go, or it’ll pull you down for good!” I stopped. What the hell was he talking about? It was broad daylight. I was about to tell Chris to shut up, but Joey already started cussing him out. “Chris, you asshole! What kind of crap is that? Get over here and help me!” “No way, man. I’m not getting dragged in,” Chris said, with this weird little smile. His smile looked… wrong. Sinister. Seeing Joey still struggling, I stood up to help. “Alex, watch yourself. There’s something down there,” Chris warned suddenly. I hesitated for a split second. Just then, Joey let out a terrified yell, and the rod jerked him right into the river! I jumped, startled, but didn’t dive in right away. We all grew up by this river. Joey especially was the best swimmer out of the four of us. Falling in wouldn’t normally be a big deal for him. Chris didn’t move either, just sat there watching Joey flailing in the water. But I saw that weird expression on his face again, something I couldn’t place. Then I realized something was seriously wrong. Joey wasn’t fighting a fish anymore. It looked like something unseen was pulling him down. His arms were thrashing wildly, like he was begging for help! Then, just like that, his head and hands disappeared under the water! My face went pale, my stomach dropped. “He’s in trouble! Help him!” I yelled at Chris. Without even taking off my shoes or shirt, I plunged into the river. Chris jumped in right after me, no hesitation this time. We took deep breaths and dove down. We found Joey tangled in thick weeds at the bottom. We grabbed his clothes, his arms, pulling with all our might, but we couldn’t free him! It felt like something in the weeds was physically pulling his legs down. For a terrifying second, I actually thought, Is there really something down there trying to kill Joey? But there was no time to freak out. After a struggle, Chris and I finally dragged Joey back onto the bank. His lips were blue, he wasn't breathing. We called 911, then started CPR immediately – chest compressions, rescue breaths, everything we’d seen on TV. Water poured out of his mouth, but he didn't wake up. Later, we took him to the hospital. We waited outside the ICU for two agonizing hours until the doctor came out. “He’s stable for now, out of immediate danger. But he might have been without oxygen for too long… it could take a while for him to regain consciousness.” My heart sank. “You mean… he could be in a coma? Or… worse?” The doctor said Joey was young and strong, he’d probably wake up soon. 3 Even though Joey was alive, I felt sick walking out of the hospital. Chris looked grim too. First Frank, now Joey barely clinging to life… what the hell was happening to us? Was it just a horrible bad luck streak? Then I remembered: both Frank and Joey had their accidents right after Chris said something weird. Chris had even mentioned something pulling Joey down in the river, and even though Joey was a great swimmer, he almost drowned. I didn’t care about the people coming and going outside the hospital. I grabbed Chris by the collar, my voice harsh. “Chris, damn it! What are you, psychic? Or did you put the evil eye on them?” Chris struggled out of my grip. “Alex, what are you talking about? Psychic?” “How else did you know Joey hooked something bad? Something that would pull him under?” “I was joking, man! Freaking kidding! You actually believed that?” “How could I not believe it? You say something about Frank, Frank dies. You say something about Joey, Joey almost dies! What are the odds of that, Chris? Winning the lottery jackpot is more likely!” “But… but I was just talking crap! Maybe… maybe it was just their time, you know? Like fate. I just happened to say something dumb right before.” Whether he was lying or just didn’t want to deal with me, Chris shook me off, hurried to his car, locked the doors, and ignored me banging on the window. I had to take the bus home, feeling miserable and confused. I couldn’t sleep that night. Losing Frank and almost losing Joey was heartbreaking, but Chris… Chris was starting to scare the hell out of me. Yeah, he liked to joke around, but he’d never said creepy, specific stuff like that before Frank and Joey got hurt. Had something happened to him? And if this kept up… was he going to be next?
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