Authors Note
I hope this chapter lives up to the great feedback I've been getting though it is still setting a tone. I swear, next chapter there will be legitimate dialogue and longer. Thanks guys for sticking with me or coming aboard! :) Oh! And read my updated profile, because you'll find a change in my name.
Life isn't a fairytale. There are no ogres or elves in the woods behind a girl's house. Her fairy godmother doesn't exist. The prince doesn't come. Magic isn't everywhere in fact it's nowhere. A girl has to make her own magic, make her own luck, and decide her own fate. Magic can't do it for her.
Unless of course her name happens to be Isabella Aurelia Raleigh middle daughter of Frederick Adam Raleigh and Cornelia Rose Bernadette, in which case she, like me, would know a lot about magic.
My parents blame themselves for my curse. They won't admit it, but they give me sad looks during meals or when we pass, which is rarely in such a large estate. According to them, it's all because they hired a maid named Eva, only a couple of months before my birth.
According to sources she was quiet, but polite and a quick reliable worker. In those short months she fell in love with a gardener named Vincent and they planned to run off together. My parents weren't amused, but agreed on one condition. They asked if the two could at least stay until they found replacements for them. Eva and Vincent denied the offer and made plans to leave in a day or so.
The whole thing would have been forgotten if Vincent hadn't decided to steal some money before leaving. My parents called the authorities and they caught the couple trying to make change for ferry tickets miles away. Instead of demanding time in jail after getting the money back my parents settled by having them both work the dirtier jobs of the mansion for a little while. By then the replacement for Eva had arrived. Leona was a dark haired woman with stunning beauty and Vincent couldn't resist her charm. To feel better about herself, Leona obeyed every rule and took on all the extra chores when told to. In the mean while Leona and Vincent kept the relationship in secret until the day when Vincent and Eva were allowed to leave the estate.
Vincent said a last goodbye to Leona, vowing to come back for her, but Eva overheard. My eldest sister Celia tells me, Eva let out a scream and ran off through the gardens. All the servants and even my siblings were sent to look for her while my father detained Vincent and Leona. Eventually Eva was found hanging from the chandelier in the back dining hall, the one used only once a year for Christmas. Vincent was horrified and came too late to the realization that Eva was his true love and that Leona was just a temptress.
Leona tried to convince him to forget her and to go on with life, but he wouldn't do anything she told him. He did however leave, only to be found two days later in a river. My parents were horrified and couldn't help but to scold Leona for bringing on this trouble and ordered her to carry on with her duties. During that time all the other servants, who had learned to love her and stop ordering her about, lost all respect for her and they resumed being mean. She too finally had enough, but before she left the estate she put a curse on the most innocent thing around, me, the newborn baby.
She vowed that I'd have to do everything I was told to just like she had done and that if I was like her, it'd all amount to nothing.
The worst part is, Leona's still out there. I know this. I can feel it. When the clock chimes at each hour all I can think of is Leona out there, free. The hours turn into days, days to weeks, weeks to months, and months to years. Sixteen long years spent obeying anyone and everyone.
One day I'll break the curses once and for all. Yes, the multiple ones, all are resting on me, and poor me not knowing how to make them rest for good. All I know is that I must find Leona. I must reunite the spirits of Eva and Vincent. I must find the Key to happiness. And I will do this all for myself.