The following week, Max didn't show any signs of the curse. Perfectly fine. He had left his house to hang out with his friends, Zackary and Matthew.

"Where've you been? We haven't seen you in almost a month! We've heard about what happened to your brother......" Matthew said. A worried expression plastered his face.

Zackary elbowed his buddy hard in the ribs.

"Ow, sorry...I'm just curious."

He gave him a stern look. "I don't care! Sorry, Max."

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Max shrugged. "It's fine. He has a right to know."

He explained his situation to the boys.

"Do you still have it?" Zackary asked him in a serious tone.

"It's locked away.... I don't know if I should clear of its magic or not...I wouldn't know how if that was the right thing to do."

Matthew's worried expression grew more stern. "You can't just leave a cursed object in your house...it's not safe! We need to figure out how to clear it. Your blood is now tied to it, maybe your brother's also. You're cursed! Both you and your brother!"

Max sighed. "Okay, if this is something we need to do, someone needs to do it...who could we turn to? This whole village is scared of magic!" He turned away from his friends and stormed back home.

"Max..." Matthew pleaded.

"I'm sorry, but we can't be involved in this...it's dangerous."