The Curse

Chapter 1

                                                                                    Chapter 1

                                                                                  Family dinner

Teela Fehrenberg was standing in front of the door to her two-story house, lined from almost all sides with windows. She wiped the soles of her boots on the doormat, the words 'Welcome to the Fehrenberg family', printed across it. The girl then proceeded to open the rosewood door. She hung her coat and took off her shoes, running a hand through her long brown hair.

"I'm home," she announced to whoever was listening. "Is anyone home?"

A tall, blond woman jumped out of the kitchen, almost startling Teela, carrying a saucepan and a wooden spoon in her hands. A ruby liquid was splattered across the spoon's surface.

"Try this, sweetie," the woman said.

Teela inched closer to the wooden spoon, her lips tasting the tomato sauce.

"It's good, mum," she stated. "But a piece of advice for future reference."

Teela's mother shoved the spoon into the saucepan.

"Easy on the jumping out," Teela giggled. "You can give people a heart attack!"

"It's not my fault you're not prepared for my entrance," the older woman smiled.

"What are you on about again, Perventia?" Called out an approaching male voice from the hallway, that must have been Teela's father.

"Nothing, Pattery," Perventia responded. "Teela claims I'm startling."

"I didn't say that exactly..."

"Doesn't matter," Perventia interrupted her. "Come – let's eat!"

Perventia started dragging her daughter to the kitchen, which was located several steps away from the front door, living room and the hallway Pattery had emerged out from. Pattery followed them. In the kitchen, Tiffany - one of Teela's sisters, looked like she had been waiting for them, seated on a chair next to the vast wooden table in the living room. It seemed as if she had come out of nowhere.

"You came home, at last!" Tiffany exclaimed, sighing.

"I didn't know you were waiting for me," Teela said, positioning herself on the chair next to Tiffany's.

"Of course, we were waiting for you!" Tiffany cracked a smile. "You know the family tradition – we always dine together!"

"A great tradition if I do say so myself," Pattery pointed out while taking his place on the far end of the vast wooden table, his bronze hair glistening in the fading rays of sunlight.

The kitchen table was littered with various culinary achievements, courtesy of Perventia – a fresh emerald salad, the tomato sauce Teela had tasted not two minutes ago, several different types of cheese such as parmesan, rainbow cheddar, brie and gouda, a few pizzas, pasta Bolognese, garlic bread, balsamic-glazed steak rolls, chicken with lemon and spicy spring onions, chicken saltimbocca with crunchy pea salad, hasselback tomato caprese, mineral water, freshly squeezed apple and orange juices, red and white wines, a huge chocolate cake, vanilla biscuits, and chocolate pudding. She had really outdone herself.

Teela smiled - she knew her mother Perventia had always considered herself a devoted chef, and she took great pleasure in providing delicious meals for her family. Often, she had made so much food that it was hard for Pattery, Teela, Tiffany, and Perventia herself, to climb the stairs up to their bedrooms. In these instances, a lot of food was left untouched, saved for later.

"Do you think it's enough?" Perventia asked them worriedly, while she was pouring the tomato sauce into four different glass cups for the present part of her family.

"You're joking, right?" Teela asked her. "There's enough food on this table to feed the whole town!"

"I'm completely serious, Teela!" Perventia sounded as if she almost reprimanded Teela. "If you get hungry later, I would be to blame!"

"Per," her husband Pattery said warmly. "It's more than enough. Now sit back, relax, and enjoy these delicious treats with us."

Perventia looked at Pattery, her frown betraying her uncertainty, but took her seat at the opposite far end of the table, nevertheless.

Pattery poured some white wine into his and Perventia's glasses and stood up from his seat, raising his glass in the air. He was dressed in an expensive-looking charcoal shirt and jeans – it was clear he had prepared for the family dinner.

"A toast," he announced. "To our family."

Teela and Tiffany had just filled up their glasses with white wine, following their father's example. The two young girls were allowed to drink, but only a glass, and only at official family occasions, such as this one.

"For our ordinary family!" Teela rose from her seat, waving her glass in the air proudly.

Teela noticed Perventia and Pattery exchanging dubious looks, upon hearing the word ordinary.

"A toast to this family – even with not all the members present," Teela uttered, her voice turning down an octave.

Perventia and Pattery Fehrenberg had three more daughters – Pacifika, Kayla, and Klacifia. They had left their family house long ago, due to constant fights with their family about a specific subject. A subject that Teela and Tiffany had no idea about. The three older 'Fehrenberg' sisters hadn't even spoken to their family for years.

"A toast!" Perventia also joined the praise with her glass, standing up from her seat.

"To our ordinary family!" Tiffany proclaimed as well, following her mother's example.

Perventia and Pattery exchanged dubious looks once again when they heard that word – 'ordinary'.

The four of them clinked their glasses against one another and took sips of the wine. The remainder of the evening was occupied by dining on the delicious treats and engaging in various discussions amongst the members of the 'Fehrenberg' family.

The reason for the hesitant looks, exchanged between Perventia and Pattery Fehrenberg, was a complicated one. Their family was harbouring secrets and profound mysteries that were yet to be revealed.

There were challenging things ahead of this family - things that don't usually happen every day.

For the current time being, the 'Fehrenberg' family was content – for the uncomprehending eye, they were posing as the typical middle-class family, with its ordinary life and ordinary problems.

But was the 'Fehrenberg' family really ordinary? Or was there more beneath this family's appearance?