Cursed

Ten years ago ~

Marie followed after her sister, Kristy, through the forest. Suddenly she slid to a stop as she saw Kristy in front of a tall gate. Kristy was looking for a way around the gate. Marie felt nervous as she looked to the woods beyond the gate.

An unnatural fog clung to the trees on the other side of the gate. Marie looked towards her own side of the gate. There was no fog. She stepped closer to her sister and clung to her dress.

"Marie, will you let go," Kristy shrugged her off and continued searching for a way around the gate.

"We shouldn't be here Kristy," she looked over her sister's shoulder and saw a dark pool of water just a few feet from the gate.

"Oh don't be such a baby, it'll be fine," Kristy finally found a space big enough for her to slip through.

"But Kristy." Marie reached for her sister but she had already slipped through the space and was on the other side.

"This is amazing," Kristy moved away from the gate and walked past the pool.

Marie noticed a ripple in the dark water as her sister moved to the other side of the pool. She dropped down and tried to squeeze through the same gap but she was too big to fit as neatly as her petite sister. She struggled to squeeze through, knowing her sister was in danger. She managed to get one shoulder through when she heard Kristy scream.

Marie looked up and saw her sister being dragged into the pool by some kind of creature. She struggled to get through the gap and finally managed to get to the other side of the gate. Her sister was pulled waist deep into the water. More of the strange creatures grabbed onto her and started dragging her deeper. Marie struggled to her feet and tried to reach for her sister.

Kristy reached out her hand but it was pulled down by another creature. Her blue eyes were wide with fear and knowing that she would die. Marie tried to grab her hand but Kristy was dragged beneath the water. Marie stared in disbelief then let out a ragged cry. It was cut short when she heard movement from the other side of that deadly lake. She tried to see who it was but the fog distorted everything.

Suddenly a long stick appeared and dipped into the water. It hooked onto the shredded yellow dress of her sister. Marie stared in fear as the dress was thrust to her on the stick. She reached out with her fingers and clutched the soaked fabric to her. This was all that was left of Kristy.

Marie stood up and headed back towards the gate. She felt a deep down guilt for not trying harder to save her sister. She slipped through the gap with little diffuculty and walked back towards the safety of the normal forest. She looked back and could've sworn she saw something standing by the pool. She shook her head and fled down the path towards home.

Present Day~

Marie woke up to the buzzing of her alarm clock. She groaned and sat up. She slapped a hand on the offensive device and rolled out of bed. She looked in the mirror and saw the blueish beginning of bruising under her eyes. She never had a true night's sleep since that horrible day of losing Kristy. It still haunted her to this day.

The guilt she carried had worsen over the years. Her parents had sent her to shrinks and specialists to cure her of her problems. She didn't see much of a problem herself. So she was failing at school, didn't want to go outside, and never wanted to go near the forest around her house ever again. So what? A lot of sixteen year olds were failing their second year of high school. But because she had a tragic past, her parents decided that it had affected her.

She rubbed her hands over her face and leaned away from the mirror. It was time to get ready for school. She reached down and pulled on a shirt she had worn yesterday. It was a little wrinkly but she honestly didn't care. She looked around the destruction of her room and found a pair of jeans. She yanked them on and grabbed her backpack. She looked in the mirror and decided her hair could suffer today.

She got her disheveled self downstairs and saw her parents eating their breakfast. They looked years older due to the lost of one daughter and lack of response from the remaining one. It was a strain they had a hard time bearing. Marie moved past them and popped in a single piece of bread into the toaster. With all the guilt she carried, she could barely eat more than that.

She waited for the toaster quietly. Maybe if she stayed quiet neither of her parents would try to talk to her. It was a long shot but it was possible.

"Have fun in school today," her mother broke the silent tandem.

Marie just nodded and the toast popped up. She grabbed it up and stuffed it in her mouth. She fled the house and waited for the bus at the end of the lane. She ate her dry toast in silence as she hefted the backpack higher on her shoulder.

The bus showed up just as she finished her small breakfast. She climbed up the steps and picked a seat far in the back. She watched the woods as the bus pulled away. The chatter of the other kids was a buzzing in her ears as she focused on the passing trees. As the trees passed she thought she saw a human like figure standing among them. But the bus was going too fast and soon the imagined vision was gone.

Marie shook her head and sat back against the moth eaten seat. It must have been her imagination. Wasn't it?

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