LIVING CURSE

CHAPTER 1

Violet's POV;

“Close your eyes, the light is gone,
The stars are tucked away.
The dark is soft, a velvet blanket
To hide the busy day.

The power isn't in the sun,
But what stays out of sight.
Keep your secret hollow,
Safe from burning light.

Don't be scared of quiet corners,
Or shapes on the wall.
Shadows are always there,
To catch you if you fall.

The dark will wrap you up so tight,
Safe and deep within.
Sleep now little shadow,
Where the dreams begin.”

“Goodnight princess” Dad said after singing the lullaby, planting a gentle kiss on my forehead.

“Goodnight Daddy” I responded, a huge smile spread across my face. I watched him walk slowly to the door, blowing me a kiss before turning off the light. I had relaxed in my bed to sleep but there came my father's scream. “Daddy?” I panicked, crawling out of my bed.

My tiny heart pounded hard in my chest, my legs shaky with every step I took forward. “Daddy?” I called out again, my voice shaky. Tears had clouded my vision but Dad had always said I should never have a reason to cry.

I exited my room, the light flickering. I rushed to the living room to find my Dad being choked to death by a man in a black hood. The man had something that looked like a chain wrapped around my Dad's neck. The chain looked like it had just been dip into fire, red-hot and smoky.

“Daddy?” I shrieked, tears rolling down my cheeks uncontrollably. I shook in fear, my feet stuck to the ground, my heart pounding even harder. And then, the man in the black hood shifted his gaze to me.

“Princess? Get away from here now!” Dad managed to cough out.

“Daddy” was all I could mutter, my face all messed up.

He grabbed the man in front of him and yelled again. “Violet! Now! Get out! Go get help from Grandma”

But I still couldn't move my legs.

“I can't” I sobbed loudly, but then I felt pushed back by a sudden wind pressure to my chest. While I was carried out of the house by the wind, I watched my Dad's neck fall off from his body, his eyes empty but they just stared back at me. I screamed as loudly as I could, sobbing even harder, but the wind just somehow carried me away from the house and into my neighbor's yard.

***

I woke up with a loud scream for the seventh time in two weeks. I had constantly been having the same nightmares, over and over again. But this was not just a nightmare, it was the piece of my memory I had tried so hard to bury over the years. I had just turned six on the night my father was murdered. A man with a black hood, a red-hot chain that chopped Dad's head off his body, the sudden wind that pushed me away? I guess I didn't remember everything after all. I was seeing things.

I threw my blanket off my body, swinging out of bed to land on the cold floor board. I strode over to my mirror, my reflection staring back at me.

“Happy birthday” I muttered, before leaving my room. It had been exactly 11 years since the incident at our old house. The incident that had left me broken for so many years. The incident I thought I had managed to erase from my memory.

It was never going away.

I went to the living room for my usual morning routines. They were just basic moves I had mastered over the years, core trainings Grandma had drilled into my head. And so I began, moving my feet with so much precision like I was walking in a minefield, my movements calculated. I didn't know why anything of it was important, but I never asked. To Grandma and the neighbors, it was all a part of the ‘ancestral dance', but to me, it was just a chore, like sweeping floors.

“The air, the water, the fire, the earth and even the dark. Appreciate these elements for they were born long before your ancestors” Grandma always said.

I sucked in my breath, trying to find my peace. I carefully turned around, throwing my palms forward till I hit the spot that felt right. And then I just sank into it, my consciousness falling into an empty black hole, xao. It usually took me thirty minutes or more to get into this state when I was much younger, but now, I could jump in and out of it like I was falling asleep.

I moved my arms in a slow, wide circle. The air felt heavy like I was pushing through deep water. It had always been like this, the way the air pushed back when we moved, and the way the wind hooked onto my wrist. Everyone else could feel it if they concentrated hard enough.

I spun on my heels and kicked my right foot forward before planting it right back on the ground. I pushed my weight on that foot and inhaled deeply. I moved again, shifting into what looked like a fighting stance. I always asked about this particular move, but I never really got a direct answer.

I stood back up, keeping my breath steady. And then I did the final move, ‘the shadow gust', the hardest move in the book. It was a series of steps, twirlings and hand movements which made me feel as light as a feather.

“Your landing was wrong,” Grandma said, her sharp voice cutting through the silence.

My heart jumped for a second. “Grandma,” I chuckled. “I swear, I got it right” I whined.

“The shadow gust has to be perfected and exact.” She hit her stick hard on the floor board. “Don't feel the air around you, be the air around you. Drift with it, connect with its rhythm” she added.

“I don't understand any of that” I groaned. “I did all I'm supposed to do and now I have to get ready” I rushed past her, blowing her a kiss.

“You will” she chuckled. “I have a present for you”

“Really?” I spun around. “I hope it's not anything weird again. I've not recovered from your Egyptian turtle last year” I visibly cringed.

“That was no turtle, it was an aspidotun, and it's for prot–”

“Protection. Never take it off. I get it” I finished, holding a forced smile.

“Go get ready” she sighed and waved her weak wrists, dismissing me.