"Wow," I said, not quite sure what else to say. The house was completely…normal, even beautiful. The lawn was lush and green, and even had a garden with white and red roses. The house itself was white, the paint was not even chipped. The glass doors where stainless, the lace blue curtains where hung perfectly. The walk way was made up of gravel, each stone seemed just where it should be, and there was even a welcome mat on the fresh wooden porch.

"It's just a house," he commented, leading me inside.

It was just a house, but not the type I would have expected somebody like Megumi to live in. But maybe I was to quick to assume things. I shouldn't act like those idiots at school, I thought to myself, he could be totally different from what everyone says he is.

He seemed anxious as we walked through the hall. He peered into each room of the empty house, making sure no one was home, it seemed like.

"Any reason you keep looking around?"

"No reason."

Another thing about Megumi, he doesn't like people interfering with his personal life. He could block people around him, and it made him seem untouchable. Maybe, if this was a different time, a different place, I considered, I would like very much to talk to him. To see what about him made him so untouchable. To tell him my secret. But this wasn't the time nor place. I had a limited amount of time, I could feel it, and O had to learn quickly. I would do whatever it took. And unfortunately, that did not include getting any closer to Megumi Hanajima than I had too.

"Here's my room," he said. As I looked inside, I realized maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to judge, again.

The room had dark grey walls, black curtains fell over the windows instead of blue. Most of the furniture was as dark as the walls, the bedspread was pitch black. The walls where lined with bookshelves, each shelf filled with books on almost everything. The room was strange and beautiful all at the same time, and she felt warmer here than anywhere else in the house

Suddenly I figured out where the warmth was coming from. Megumi was starting a small fire in a strange metal tin.

"What are you doing?!"

"You want to learn right?"

"Yeah, but…are you sure we can do this?"
"Are to backing out?"

"No! I just…"

"When you begin curses you have to let go of fear and hesitancy. That's the first rule."

I shut up. What was the point of arguing? I made a mental note of that rule, however. I have a pretty good memory, and I knew once I had learned it, I would remember it for a long time.

Finally he was able to start a small fire. He sprinkled whitish powder over the flames, making turn color from orange to blue. I watched mesmerized.

"Okay," he said quietly, "we're ready to begin."

We sat opposite each other the fire burning in the tin that lay between them.

"You have to get rid of all your fear when you're casting a curse. Learn to control them. You'll find that as you cast a curse, your worst memories return to you, and you won't be able too. Your greatest fear will play out in your mind, and you will have to repress them."

"But I can't even cast curses yet."

"That's what this is for," he pointed at the flames that where dancing furiously, "This is called pyriss Put your hand over it."

"What!"

"Just do it. You won't get hurt, I promise."

I gingerly held out her hand. I could feel the heat radiating from the fire, every nerve in my body was loudly protesting what I was about to do. And then a funny thing happen. I had prepared myself for the burning pain that had been expected, however when I knew my hand was in the flame, Ifelt nothing. It felt a bit tingly and electric, but besides that, it felt like empty air.

I opened my eyes which had been tightly shut, and stared at my hand. It was completely unharmed. No burns or even marks were on my skin.

"See, nothing happened" A voice said into my ear. I jumped, I had not noticed he had moved closer to me. He put his hand in the flame too, his fingers brushed against mine. The place he had touched left a tingling feeling on my skin.

Moving in slow rhythmic movements, Megumi began to pour a thick waxy substance over the fire. The small blue flames became a big white fire, engulfing my entire arm, but I still felt no pain.

"Quickly," he said, "Think of a fear."

I was completely unprepared for this. I wanted to get up and run out of this room, out of this house, back home. Yet, I wanted to stay and see what would happen.

Just do it, I thought. I breathed deeply and thought. And it was not very hard for all my fears to come pouring out…