My Curse

Chapter 1

There is this amazing building that people talk about in the town. It is a magnificent piece of architecture. In its prime it was a hard working factory but then sadly got closed down. The roof caved in and with help from the wind and the rain one of the main walls fell down. Then an extraordinary man called Mr Spark filled in the missing wall with sparkling glass, put in a metal roof, added a few floors and rooms and opened it as a school, Challenger High. This school is not just for ordinary people, it is for people like me and Mr Spark. Mr Spark always says that people like me should be proud of what they have got. But I have always seen it as a curse.
The first time I remember being aware of my gift I was about 11 or 12 years old. My mum had invited her new boyfriend found to meet me. She had just gone out to the shops. As soon as she had gone out of the door his attitude changed. He had this evil grin on his face, one that did not mean well. He came across to me and sat down next to me on the sofa and put is right hand on my knee. He asked me how I was getting on a school; the conversation was casual at first. But then he got serious and asked me about my grades, all the time his hand didn't leave my knee and i felt the heat rise in the room. When I said that I had failed a react test I felt his fist collide with my face. I looked up at him as somehow I was now spread out on the floor and he was shouting at me.
"You are pathetic. You're a pathetic bitch." I will never forget those words or his face.
That was the first time my brain took a photo, his sneering face looking down on me. My mum returned home only a few minutes later. I was stunned at what had occurred and could not deal with telling her as he had made her so much happier. I had not seen her so happy since Dad was alive and that was two years ago. Every time now we were alone he would corner me and find something within me to fault. He was smart though he never marked me in places visible to my mum. Every day his relationship with mum grows stronger and mine is shifted further to the side. Together we act like one big happy family but in my bedroom the pictures come back to haunt me.
I was in my local primary school and we had a visitor come to talk to us, his name was Mr Spark. He asked us about our talents and what we thought we were best at. We were not able to skive away - he asked everyone.
"So what's your talent young lady?" he asked me.
"I don't know." I replied.
"So what's your favourite subject?" he prompted.
"Art." I snapped. My head had been throbbing from being bashed against the kitchen table this morning and my temper was short. An attention seeking boy in my class shouted out,
"She's really good! She drew a picture of Mrs Smith and it looks exactly like her when she gets annoyed."
The whole year group broke out with laughter. I sunk into my seat. I hated attention. Mr Spark's eyes sparkled at this and said, "Could you draw a picture of me?"
It was the last thing on my mind but anything to get all the eyes off of me, i gave a curt nod. He asked me to stay behind.
My mind flicked through the images I had of Mr Sparks that I had stored over the past hour. I quickly drew his face. I had chosen an image of him of when he had smiled at me. As I handed it to him I looked at his face. He stared into my eyes and asked me if I knew how long I had taken to draw the picture. I had never taken it into consideration. As I was staring at him blankly he replied, "Ten minutes."
He said that was incredibly fast for the quality that it was and that I was very talented. I was sick of the compliments and wanted to leave. As I thanked him and stood up to go, he said, "I'll be in touch."
I took it as a joke as I rushed out the door, never expecting to see him again.
As it turned out he got in contact with my mum and explained what his intentions were. He could see people's talents when they were in action. Mine was in action all the time taking photos of every second, every face, every building every animal and every violent moment that I endured. He told my mum that I needed to expand my gift and that his school was the place for it. We visited the school and met people with different gifts like me. My mum was frightened at first but was excited for me. She did not fully understand what was going on in my head but she somehow felt that this would be the best place for me. There were no other schools like it.
My first day was surreal. You did not have normal lessons; you went to whatever department you wanted to, did whatever you wanted and taught whatever you felt like. You had to attend classes where you learnt how to use your power and make it stronger and for some, how to control it. Even then they were not like normal classes.
In my first class we had to show a group our talents. We all stood in a circle and Mrs Mooney took our class, her body screaming elegance as she drifted around instructing us to share our gift. George was first his name, his power has frightened me to this day, he was first up to show his talent. He could control what other people could see. This for me was too much. He made everybody in the room see a blank canvas. I do not like not being able to see the amount of blank photos in my mind. It made me feel insecure and nervous and the photos become more rapid in my mind. It was only for a few seconds but after the light came back I fell to the ground. I do not have any recollection of what happened next but later on that day Crystal, a girl who was in the class and who is now my best friend, told me that Charlie, the boy apparently standing next to me was very concerned about my welfare.
Charlie and I have been close ever since. He is able to see and change people's emotions. He is fascinated by me as I have so many photographic emotions in my mind. I trust him and that scares me not that i have a choice. He is my rock; he knows all my secrets, even though I had to force him not to tell others. He cares for me and I like him more than I care to admit.
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I am writing more just give me time !