Cursed To Hold My Breath

Discovery

My blood froze, and everything around me suddenly stopped. Twin brother...I stared at Erik, tears streaming down my cheeks. I sank to my knees, trembling.

"Erik...h – how?" I whispered. "I've been an only child all my life."

"That's what mother wanted you to believe." He said. I winced at him not saying 'your' anymore.

"You looked so familiar." I said quietly. "Because you looked just like dad."

Erik nodded. "Yes, I doubted in my mind that you would recognize me, but it's sad knowing you had no idea." He knelt beside me. "The bond between us is so much different than how you see others."

"What do you mean?" I sniffed.

"Because you're my twin, and we both share two different worlds, but you can do more than just see and hear me." He explained. "I may be a ghost, but most people can't see them as clearly as you can."

"And that's what makes me...special?" I stared into his blue eyes. He was so close to me, I could feel the familiar cold presence of him sending goosebumps down my arm, despite wearing a sweater.

"Something like that." Erik shrugged.

"Why do you feel so cold?" I asked, edging away from him.

"Sorry, ghosts are normally like that."

I nodded. "So, what about this curse?" I asked.

"Are you sure you want to know?" He looked at me.

I bit my lip, hesitating, then nodded. "Yes, I'm sure."

"Okay." He cleared his throat, then began, "A very, very long time ago, in the late 1600's, there was a man who fell in love with this beautiful woman. They were inseparable, but the woman had some deep secrets, she was a witch. However, instead of turning her in or hanging her, he hid the woman in fear of losing her."

"Like during the Salem Witch Trials and stuff?" I asked.

He nodded, then continued. "The man had a lifetime career as what one would call a magician, despite many believing he meddled with witchcraft. He used the woman as his assistant for a few of his acts, but later on, he became too much of a daredevil.

The man wanted to pull off a dangerous trick no one had ever dared to try before: the water torture chamber escape. He was of course too afraid to try it for himself, so he convinced the woman to do the trick by strapping her in a straight jacket and chains before plunging her into the tank.

Unfortunately, the trick had gone horribly wrong as the minutes passed by, and she could not escape. Knowing that the man had only fallen for her beauty, she became furious. In the tank, she said with her last breath, 'may all young maidens in your future generations be doomed to face the same fate as I and rot in their watery graves.'  To this day, his family has been cursed, with no hope of breaking it." He finished.

"So this man was one of dad's ancestors?" I asked. "The one who had been cursed?"

"Yes." Erik nodded. "He unfortunately didn't believe the witch's curse and married a young maiden, and borne a child, thus continuing the generations and dooming those affected by the curse."

"So, the curse is that all females will die young to drowning in this family?" I confirmed.

"Only those relating to him, mother's isn't affected except for herself and you and those after you." He explained.

I nodded slowly, taking it all in. So I have a dead twin brother to whom I'm talking to right now, I can see all other ghosts too, and my family is cursed. Great. "So then, " I began. "Are all those ghosts I've been seeing..." I trailed off.