According to Annie Bullock, the curse had begun the moment they divided up and devoured that being a thousand years ago.
He stared at Annie in disbelief and couldn't help asking:
"Then who's inside that body of yours now?"
Joey was beginning to suspect that Annie's youthful shell housed a thousand-year-old monster.
Catching the strange look in Joey's eyes, Annie's expression abruptly turned cold. She snorted. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm Annie Bullock. I'm twenty-three."
Women really were sensitive about their age. Joey gave an awkward smile and shrank back, not daring to interrupt.
The curse was hereditary and impossible to break, and it also followed a cycle.
Every so often, it would find new hosts. Those afflicted would unconsciously seek out the parts of the being's body that had been divided up and eaten.
A powerful convergence would bring the eight cursed people together without their realizing it.
That was entirely consistent with the law of convergence governing Beyonder characteristics.
"This unconscious convergence draws the cursed to Ghost Island. The longer they stay on the island, the deeper the curse eats into them."
Joey hesitated over whether to bring the matter out into the open.
There was only one thing he cared about: why was someone who had died ten years ago standing perfectly fine before him?
But after thinking it over, he still felt it was unwise. He had no way to explain where he had gotten that information.
Suddenly, something seemed to occur to him. His expression shifted, his eyes darted, and he said:
"How did Professor Remo die?" He made no attempt to conceal his assessment. "That corpse had been dead for at least several years."
He deliberately kept the timeframe vague, watching Annie's expression closely as he spoke.
To his surprise, Annie looked just as