Cursed (Old Version)

Cursed: Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I curl up into a tight ball as my mother gently knocks on my door, telling both Nene and I that it's time to get ready for school, and also that breakfast is on the table downstairs. I hear Nene's sheets crinkle as she rolls over to face my bed, yawning and muttering about how she hates mornings as if it's just an average morning. I can barely breathe though, and don't move an inch. It doesn't take long for Nene to notice that I'm not moving, and when I hear the creaking of the floors around me, notifying me that Nene's moving, I can feel long seconds pass by right before I feel her gently sit on my bed next to me.

“Your mother knocked on the door,” Nene says with another yawn, watching me curiously for any clue on how I might react this morning, which I catch through my peripheral vision.

I stare at the wall without moving before switching my gaze to my sheets, and finally moving my gaze to my hands. I've brought so much misery with these two hands...and that's all I can think about. Even Nene is tied up in it all now, and THESE TWO HANDS...made it possible. How did I even manage all this?! I'm just one girl...

Nene pokes me gently, “Time to get up,” while eying me still with worry in her eyes. She then gently rests her hand on my shoulder and frowns in her body language as I shudder under her touch. Without even blinking she scoots over to the other side of me to lay down next to me, stretching a bit before going a bit limp, “Sooooo...I take it you didn't sleep well.”

My voice cracks, “How could I?”

Nene shakes her head, vibrating my bed a bit, “I...I don't know...I honestly...don't know.”

I stare at the friendly wall again, and it's a useful wall too. A nice wall that has a purpose. It helps people, protects people, and guides people too. A wall with a destiny built within every fiber of its being. I have to wonder though, that when it was a tree if it knew it was going to become a wall. Do you truly ever know your destiny? Even if it seems like a good one? It seems like the only destinies you become aware of are the ones that do harm. The others seem to go unnoticed, and still people...and trees stumble upon them. How did I stumble upon this destiny, though? With my two hands? With my magical birthright? Everything seems so tied together with all that I do and am except in moments like these...where I can't possibly feel more far away from myself.

Suddenly, the wall doesn't seem so friendly anymore. It feels trapped...just like me.

Nene clears her throat from the receding sleepiness, “I-I know this sounds silly, but it sounds like your curse has been around for a long time. There just HAS to be more information on it,” Nene says confidently. “If we can just, you know, just learn more we might be able to...stop it. I mean, that's what witches do, right? Break curses and...light stuff on fire.”

Tears form in my eyes and I choke on some air I try to breathe in, “Y-yeah, that's all we do. I'm really good at lighting stuff on fire, that's for sure...”

Nene hugs me in an awkward, side hug, “You do a lot of good too! Don't start doubting that now. You just...can't.”

I break the hug, sitting up abruptly to look down at Nene, “REALLY?! Are you so sure about that?!” I whisper furiously. “All of this is unnatural! That's WHY it happened to me! I deserve this curse! I'm unnatural and I...I screwed up! I DESERVE everything that's happening to me!”

Nene sits straight up with astonishment in her eyes, “You can't be serious! You're 16! Nobody deserves to die that early!”

“Doesn't mean it...doesn't happen,” I say defeated, feeling my inner fire dissipate. “Besides, I do deserve this. I really...REALLY do.”