Adam sat looking at the rose. It glistened almost, in its glass container. All he had to do to break the curse was to get someone to fall in love with him. Easy, girls were always in love with him at school, moping after him... but he used his looks for that, now... well who knew what someone would think of him when he looked like this. Definitely not love. And then there was the other part, he had to fall in love too, he had only ever been in love with Kairos, and he had promised himself he would never love again. And he was stubborn enough to keep that promise to himself.
"Just let him go ok?"
"Now Jack, do you really think that's how it works? You think you have the..." She paused then spat "power" with contempt, "to get me to release your son?"
She stepped closer to the middle aged man. Her black hair began to whip around her face and her eyes grew to a cold icy blue. He stepped back involuntarily. "Please I didn't mean that..."
Kairos stepped back a sweet smile on her face, "See Jack, that's why we came up with the deal, because you are terrified of me, I kept my side and now it is your turn to keep yours!" And with another stifling breeze she was gone. Jack Smith sat on the sofa with his head in his hands.
"What have I done?"
"Calla darling, come and sit in here with us... Daniel could you give us a few minutes?" Calla walked into the kitchen to be greeted by her mother and Gran not cooking but sitting around the table.
"Sure..." Daniel said, walking out, looking as surprised as Calla felt. She sat down warily on one of the wooden chairs.
"Look, Mum, I'm sorry I was late but..."
"That isn't what this about darling," her Mum interrupted. She smiled fondly at Calla then glanced at her own mother.
"This is a lot more serious," Calla's Gran started, Calla's Mum placed her hand over her daughter's and stroked her red curls with the other, "this has been going on for generations..." her Gran continued.
Five minutes later Calla ran upstairs, tears streaming down her face. She began to throw clothes into an old rucksack. She didn't even look at what she was grabbing, she just chucked in the things nearest to hand. In five minutes her whole life had been torn apart, five short minutes and nothing she knew about herself or her family was true. Or that's how it felt now.
She grabbed her duffel coat, even though it was way to warm, and roughly pulled on her woolly hat, squashing her curls to her head and leaving the rest that trailed down her back to bulge against her coat.
"Calla-Rose! Wait, please," her Gran and Mum were waiting in the hall.
"No, I have to leave so I will, don't worry I'll go where you told me to, but don't expect me to break this curse, because I won't, because I promise you now, I shall never fall in love, I loved you, my family, and look how that turned out!" She shouted, and with that, leaving her mother in tears and her Gran looking sad she ran from her childhood house.
Kairos sat back against the velvet back of her throne. Never before had it gone so smoothly. Nothing was going to get in the way this time, this time she would complete her mission. She waved her hand and the mirror image of the pretty sixteen year old running down the street cleared. It was all too easy.