Cursed

Chapter 3

"What direction?"

"South, Grandpa! Head south!" Winter was shouting at her grandfather. A snow storm had set in, causing everyone to have to shout to hear each other. The joys of being born in January, Winter kept saying over and over again in her head.

"Why can't it be Summer?" Summer was complaining. Winter gave her a dirty look. "Sorry!" Summer said. "I know this is your namesake season, but I was named after summer and it's my favorite season. Besides, we could die here!"

"We're not going to die," Winter reassured her. Summer just nodded, wrapping her coat tighter around herself.

Suddenly, Winter felt a strange feeling. She couldn't explain it or understand it, but it was almost like a gut feeling that she felt she should trust.

"Grandpa, turn right," Winter said, almost in a strange trance.

"What?"

"Turn right!" Winter shouted. Her grandfather tried to argue, but she silenced him. He turned right.

"Now turn left. Okay, okay... Keep going straight... Now turn left again. Okay... Turn right... Okay... Go straight. Okay... Now, stop right here!"

Michael slammed on the brakes, stopping the car. Winter was immediately out of the car, racing up the steps and onto someone's front porch.

Winter rang the doorbell, somehow knowing that this was the right house. She was greeted by an ancient-looking man with a long white beard.

"I've been expecting you," the man said. "I just got off the phone with my dear friend Emma. She told me you were looking for me?"

By that time, Michael had already started climbing the stairs up to Julian's house. "Michael," Julian said, "I see you have come to fulfill your end of our deal."

"I have, Julian," Michael said. "Here are my granddaughters. Winter," he said, gesturing to his brunette granddaughter, "and Summer." His gesture moved to his blonde granddaughter.

"Pleasure to meet you," Julian said. "Please, come in. It's quite frosty; we wouldn't want you to stay out there longer than you have to. Would you like some coffee or tea?"

"Tea would be nice," Michael said. Julian led them into a beautiful grand foyer with an ornate staircase. He then led them to the very big and modern kitchen, which, for some reason, surprised Winter.

"How can you see?" Winter asked. "The journal said you were blind."

"I can see in many other ways," Julian explained vaguely.

He handed Michael a cup of tea. "So I'm assuming the girls know about," Julian started, then glanced nervously at the girls, "it?"

"Yes, they do," Michael said. "We can openly discuss it." 

"Good," Julian said, putting a tea bag into his cup. "Winter, Summer, I am going to share with you some of the history of the amulet." The girls nodded. "Because of your special... situation, there is actually two necklaces created to represent the amulet."

"What are you talking about?" Winter asked.

"Well," Julian began, "without the amulet, you girls won't have your powers. But since there was only one amulet, we needed individual symbols of the amulet for each of you girls to wear." He pulled a fabric pouch out of a drawer in the kitchen. He tipped over the pouch, and two necklaces fell out into his open palm. "Winter, you get a snowflake," he said, handing Winter the necklace with a beautiful snowflake charm. "And Summer, you get the sun," he said, giving Summer her necklace.