The first time I began to notice that something was wrong with me was when strange things began to happen around me; plants withered, animals ran for their lives whenever they see me, shadows follow me longer than they should and even my own shadow sometimes appeared to be double.
I knew that something was definitely wrong with me but just couldn't place it. There was no name for it.
The first day I confirmed this; was one night.
Nine years old then, I was so little, looking like a five years old child. I was supposed to be a simple child growing up in the loving arms of parents that didn't birth me.
Yes.
I was picked by the bush side, a small road leading to a bush. But despite picked up, I was loved. Most especially by her; my foster mother. My father died before I became mine, so she has been the one taking care of me since then.
That fateful night, I was walking down the road with a leather bag hung on my left shoulder. I had just gone out to buy the bread my mother sent me to — It was supposed to be our dinner since we were very wealthy.
I had just walked some metres away from the grocery store when I began to hear footsteps behind me. I tuned around and saw three men.
One was holding a bottle, the one a metal pipe and the last one wasn't holding anything, he was just smoking a cigarette.
"Is he the one?" The one holding the metal pipe asked.
"Yes," the one smoking replied. "Doesn't look like it, huh?" He smirked.
"Yes," the man holding the pipe replied. "But who cares? He's evil and we have to kill him."
When I heard the word kill, I knew I was a goner if I should waste a second there so I turned to my heels and began to run.
I ran with all my strength; like my life depended on it— and truly, my life depended on it.
But... I couldn't make it far. My small legs wouldn't give me the speed I wished I had and soon, I was caught by the one holding a bottle.
"So you think you can outrun us?" He sneered. "We are going to kill you tonight!"
"K—kill me? I didn't do anything!" I yelled, uselessly struggling against his grip.
By then, the other two had caught up to us.
The one holding the pipe scoffed. He glared at me like someone who had seen a monster.
"So you go about killing animals?" He muttered. "You made his daughter cry and faint, tell me how you did it."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about," I said stuttering.
Funny enough, everything they said was through. But the strangest part of it was that I didn't know how or when it happened. I just blank out for a sec or two and when I open my eyes again, the deed has already been done.
"You're denying it," the man's father stated. "She told me everything that happened and my daughter will not lie to me about something like that."
My grip on the bag tightened. The bread inside was beginning to flatten.
"You don't go about accusing someone wrongly!" I said, trying to sound more firm. "I don't know anything about what you're saying."
That's when something shifted.
I could feel it. Deep inside me, it stirred. it felt as though someone or something was turning in its sleep.
My vision blurred at the edges.
It was coming and I knew it. If I waste a sec, it'd come and that will be it. I shouldn't stay there. Not when I didn't want it to happen again.
I slapped the man's off immediately and took off again.
"You little bastard!" I heard one of the men shout behind me. "Come back here!"
I didn't dare stop running. I ran until I ran into a corner, unfortunately, I stumbled and fell among a few piles of waste bin filled to the brim.
I grunted and got up but just, the three man had surrounded me already.
"Think you can escape?" The one smoking taunted. He stepped forward, closing the distance between us. Then he pulled out the cigarette in his mouth, brought himself down to my level and placed the burning cigarette on my face.
I yelled frantically. The fire burned against my skin.
But that wasn't what I was more concerned about.
I pressed a hand to my chest.
'Stop.'
'Please stop'
The man straightened and the one holding the pipe took over. He raised his arm.
"You should never be allowed to exist." He swung.
I ducked purely on instinct. The pipe smashed into the metal waste bin, beside my head, sending sparks into the air. I stumbled backwards, and fell down.
The leather bag finally dropped to the ground, opening. The bread rolled into dirty water. That was supposed to be our dinner.
Something inside me laughed instantly.
Not out loud but inside.
A sound without a sound.
My hands began to shake. My heart hammered so much that it hurt.
This always happened to me. Fear first then pain.
The men foolishly closed in.
"S-stay back," I stuttered. "I didn't want them killed like the others. I really didn't care if I was treated as a monster. My mother had taught me to love everyone and it was still imprinted in my memories.
But these men, they didn't care if it cost their lives in the end. They were bent on dealing with me, failing to realize that they had made the biggest mistakes of their lives.
I turned on my knees and tried to crawl my way out but the one holding a bottle rushed at me, giving me a kick at my side.
I cried in pain as I was slammed into the brick wall nearby.
The laughter came again.
I curled inward, pressing both hands against my ears.
"No, please. Don't do it again," I whispered.
The pressure inside my chest exploded, the air dropped ten degrees in an instant. The lights on the alley flickered and every shadow around me twisted towards me. It was scary.
The man holding the bottle raised his arm, ready to attack me.
I closed my eyes, waiting for the attack to come.
A second. Two. Three.
Nothing happened.
I opened my eyes and saw all of the three men standing, frozen in one place. Their faces had been drained of color.
I looked at my arm, black veins curled up like living wires. I gazed at my reflection on a broken glass. It stared back at me with eyes not fully mine.
The men suddenly screamed.
I didn't know what happened next... I never do.
The next time I opened my eyes, they were all gone. It was just me sitting in the cold ground, my back against the wall. My clothes were soaked.
Not with water.
Where were the men? Did they run?
I didn't know if something worse had happened.
I felt a familiar emptiness, like something had taken a bite of my soul. I gazed up, into the night sky and let out a tired sigh.
I staggered to my feet and made my way home.
Mother was waiting at the door. The moment she saw me, she rushed and hugged me, despite my clothes all bloody and partially shredded.
"Oh, my baby!" She said, hugging me tightly. "What have they done to you?"
I buried my face in her coat. "I tried, mother. I really tried."
She stroked my hair gently. "It's not your fault, baby," she whispered like she always did. "It's never your fault."
But I knew better.
She guided me inside our small house and took me to the bathroom.
"Wait here while I get you water to bath," she said and rushed out.
I gazed at her retreating shadow in silence.
Soon, she returned again carrying a bucket of warm water.
She placed it close to me. "Wash up while I go to find something else for dinner."
"Mother, don't go. I am not hungry," I whispered but she smiled.
"No, baby. You've got to eat something."
She didn't let me speak again and rushed out.
I silently took off my clothes and washed my enter body. The blood flowing to the floor and coloring it red. I gazed at the blood, feeling irritated by the sight of it.
My mind wandered back to the men. What had happened to them?
Whose blood was it on my shirt?!
I could still feel the taste of iron in my mouth. But how?
Am I Cursed?
~AN~
Thank you for taking out your time to read this first chapter.
I hope you'll like it and find it interesting.
Join me on this journey once more. And support me.
It'll only a take a power stone or more to become my fan.
TYSM.