The Curse of Hollyeve Part 1: Colin

Part 3

Part 4

Eric lived down in LA. He was a failed actor pushing 40 and somehow an eternal optimist. 

Hollyeve showed up in Eric’s class in sixth grade. A mysterious new kid that caught the eye of the self described “shy loner.”

“She was manic pixie dream girl before that was even a known thing,” Eric explained. “She was this little Zoey Deschanel plopped down into my rural southern Oregon hometown - sitting there in a flower dress, long black hair, big eyes. Sad eyes. I’ll always remember the saddest eyes I’ve ever seen.”

Eric drank $15 craft cocktails as he told the story like they were the oxygen he needed to stay alive and his eyes floated around the bar like a mad man’s. He was either crazy, or Hollyeve had ruined him over the years. 

“First girl I was ever brave enough to talk to. I think because I could tell she was a little weirdo, just like me. I talked to her slowly and eventually asked her to be my girlfriend in the library. No one else seemed to want to talk to the kids who were reading sci-fi books and faking injuries to get out of P.E,” Eric went on. 

Eric and Hollyeve started a “little sixth grade love for the ages.” A lot of handholding. Some kisses and some sweet notes, but that was it. She didn’t talk much or seem to really have much of an opinion on or memory about anything. She kind of just listened to him most of the time. 

“I was definitely the typical 90s problematic male. Mansplaining everything. Talking endlessly about The Simpsons, Star Wars, Stephen King, video games, Monty Python, Weezer, and all this typical nerd boy stuff. I should have known something was up when she kept listening to my shit, really,” Eric rambled. 

There was another odd thing about his young romance with Hollyeve. When people weren’t looking, she got aggressive. 

“If no one was around and we were kissing she would bite my lip, draw blood. She would slap me out of nowhere. I don’t know. I kind of just thought ‘hey, I guess this is an adult relationship. I guess it explains a lot why I can’t keep one now,” Eric said. 

Eric’s demeanor started to change. He started to get a bit wispy and nostalgic.

“It was the best thing I ever had. I know we were young and I probably sound psychotic saying this, but I really felt like we had a connection I’ve never had with other girls, I know I shouldn’t, but I almost miss it,” Eric explained. 

I wanted to know where Eric’s story went from here and was tired of hearing about his longings for whatever cursed little romance he had with Hollyeve. 

Every girl he ever dated after Hollyeve slowly turned abusive on him. All the way from middle school up until his mid-20s. 

Verbal. Mental. Physical. He got it all. Every kind of girl too. Even if they seemed like the sweetest thing, eventually they would turn. 

He would even check in with other ex-boyfriends of the girls and they would all swear the girls never got like that with them. It was just him. 

Eric explained he thought the problem may have been that he was drawn to women who looked like Hollyeve - pale, long dark hair, big sad eyes, detached demeanor. He thought that maybe if he found the opposite it would help.

And he thought he had solved the curse. He didn’t. I’ll let Eric share the story in his own words from my recording. 

Her name was Jordyn…she looked nothing like Hollyever…short…tan…blonde…bubbly…full of life…natural smile. 

We met on an app. It took a year of me avoiding girls like Hollyeve. I swear it was like they were drawn to me. I’d constantly get likes from girls who were way out of my league, but they were just exactly Hollyeve.

Jordyn and I were perfect. She liked the same weird shit I did. Was like an extroverted introvert, which is like, so hard to find in L.A. You mostly get one or the other. 

Things moved quickly because of all that. We were basically living together in a month. Happiest I’ve ever been. This nice, hot, positive girl is just hanging out at my shitty apartment all the time?

Sorry, I struggle to even talk about her without feeling like I couldn’t have saved it, but after like three months, I’m thinking about marriage. Don’t say that, obviously but it’s in my head. Like how a girl thinks about her first name sounds with her new guy’s last name so quick…that was me. 

I kept waiting for it to turn. I kept waiting to meet up with her at her place and have her throw a glass at me or scratch my neck for no reason. But, it just never happened. 

We went on our first trip - a road trip weekend up in Big Sur. I splurged. Get this big cabin up above the rocks.

The first night starts great. Good dinner. Good wine. Good scenery…good sex. I fall asleep without even realizing it. 

I wake up in the middle of the night. She wasn’t there. I look all over the house and can’t find her. Start to panic. 

I walk out onto the deck and look down at the rocks and rough water below. I wonder for a minute if she jumped. 

I turned and saw her on the roof - standing up there in the moonlight. I was relieved…until I saw the noose in her grasp. 

She started slowly walking towards me on the roof, getting right to the edge, getting me to shut up. 

“Please Jordyn,” I pleaded one more time as she stopped on the edge of the roof. 

“The rope isn’t for me. It’s for you,” Jordyn sadly so flat I almost didn’t register what she said. 

“What?” I asked and stepped forward. 

Jordyn jumped off the 10-foot roof without hesitation, her feet landing right on my chest. She caught me off guard and was able to pin me down in just a few seconds. 

She slipped the noose on my neck before I could do anything. 

I tried to fight. I’m not the biggest or strongest guy and she got the jump on me. She dragged me off the deck in the blink of an eye and got the noose around my neck. 

I was suddenly hanging hundreds of feet above jagged rocks, the noose around my neck. 

I looked up and saw Jordyn above me for one second as I felt the noose tighten around my neck. There was no sorry in her eyes. Just rage. 

She walked away. Leaving me there, hanging. 

Luckily I had grabbed the inside of the noose before I dropped and was able to wedge my hand in there enough to where I could keep it from choking me for a while, but I would eventually run out of energy. 

I heard the sound of my car driving away. Jordyn had left me there for dead. 

My only hope was a light I saw off in the distance. There must have been another house nearby.

I screamed for my life. Straight for a good five minutes. 

I heard a car pull up in front of the cabin. I wondered if Jordyn was coming back to finish me off. 

I was relieved when I saw a man arrive. He saved my life. 

Eric was shook up. He said he needed another drink and a half before he went on. 

He explained Jordyn connected with him the next morning apoplectic and apologetic. She wondered if he was going to tell the police. She said she deserved to go to jail. She didn’t know what happened. It was like something else took over her the night before and did everything and she could only watch. 

Eric didn’t turn her in. He had been through this before. It wasn’t her fault. They just wouldn’t see each other anymore. 

Eric gave up dating at that point. No more apps. Nothing. He had to be celibate. 

He explained the worst part was the more he fought it the more Hollyeve’s curse tried to pull him in. The more women hit on him. The more beautiful women hit on him. 

Eric and I shared some more drinks before I was nearly blacked out and had to excuse myself. 

Any doubt I had about if Eric was telling the truth vanished when I saw him getting into his car in the parking lot. 

I watched a sultry, dark haired LA beauty- easily could have been a model or actress - walk up to the awkward and out of shape gargoyle that was Eric as he got into his car in the parking lot. 

She was throwing serious flirtations at him. 

He smiled politely and drove away. 

I watched the woman walk past me as she left the lot. Her eyes were as black as oil.