CHAPTER THREE
OUTCAST
10:45 IN THE MORNING. DAY 45, YEAR OF THE SINGING DOGS. YEAR 750
Jennifer was different now. No, not just different – not even completely different. She could have been a 100% opposite being now, as far as Melissa Horiek was concerned. Because no matter what happened to the old Jennifer Horiek, the old person-that-should-have-been-her-sister wasn’t there – probably left at the old grave where her sister’s body has been left before the couple hours later when she rose up again…
Even so, it had been exactly two weeks and three days since the day when she first saw her closest, friendliest sister “wake up” again, and the pain was still deep as ever in Melissa. For most people, they would have gotten over it; “Hey,” they would say, “at least she’s still with us, right?” But not with Melissa – because, accordion to the Sham people, compared to all the other people in the little island, she was just as different as Jennifer was to the normal humans.
So, here is the account of Melissa Horiek.
Melissa has always been borne wild and crazy and weird and most of all, a rebel. Definitely a rebel. That way-too excited look in her eyes said it all too well. Even her hair said that out when she was young, like, as though it was shouting, look at me! I’m Melissa’s hair! – though slowly, over the years, it took her mother’s side and straightened up. But still, it always had the redness in it that appeared to be like real embers, embers like the ones in fire. And it was still as sharp as needles at the tips, though not quite as wispy.
Many of her peers see her to be too strong willed and…well, just plain weird for a regular person. Her stance would remind any observer of a soldier ready for battle, her fiery temper like an exploding bomb that could destroy anything within a twenty-meter diameter, and her sudden fits of joy making it seem like firewords were going to be bursting into the sky at any moment. Basically, her emotions were all extremes – but not only that. When she talked to people, they could feel a sense of electricity, too, like the aura of Melissa Horiek was spreading towards them. Melissa didn’t have to try much to be able to cause horrible arguments, and sometimes she simply wasn’t doing anything when someone got terribly offended, even when she only meant well. She broke practically everything in her way, rather accidently; though, her aim, speed, and strength are surprisingly good, surprisingly more like an experienced athelete than anything; however, no sports team would allow her in. Her teachers ignored her, her classmates teased her and constantly bullied her, Cursed Ones around her gave her disturbing looks when she came around, and everyone knew of her, everyone in the billions of populations of Sham, and it wasn’t at all for the good.
Because pretty much everyone knew Melissa Horiek for one reason: she wanted to get out of the island. She wanted to explore the outside world – which, at the time, in the place, was a crime. Even if it doesn’t seem as though it should, it just happened to be. After all, no one dared get off the island for over five hundred years.
Years ago, when Melissa was still accounted as a younger child, she and her fellow toddlers were once told that aliens had come and invaded. No one knew for sure why they did so. Some think that it is because that the humans have developed such an extraordinary and sophisticated society, far beyond the measures of other living organisms in the rest of the universe. They thought that the aliens became envious and took over the entire planet – back then called Earth. The aliens were magical, and they took power over every single person, every single being.
But somehow, that didn’t exactly match the results of what had happened. For some reason, that theory didn’t sound right – though, no one could figure out any other way.
Eventually, the people evolved, evolved into the ones they were in the present – many of them had magical powers within them. But that hasn’t been known to Sham. After all, humans with “extra powers” didn’t really do well with the islanders, considering that they were horribly cursed because of one.
Over a long period of time, the big plates of earth that were once all blocked together broke into many, many pieces. Already when the foreigners came, the so-called ‘continents’ were already broken up, mostly into seven parts in which could almost perfectly fit together as a puzzle piece. Now, if you look at Xetok from the sky, it just looks like a giant had spilled a bunch of pretzel crumbs all over the water.
No one has ever dared to escape their little pretzel crumb ever since the curse. There would be too much ridicule for that. People all over the planet would take advantage of the cursed ones and their relatives, joining forces and taking over the land. They would steal all the resources. Just imagining what the foreigners would do to the ones with Accident would make anyone shudder.
No. No, it was a bad idea indeed.
But still, it wasn’t until the day when Jennifer died when that changed.
Changing the lives of her only alive sister and the rest of the world as well, that is.
“Melissa!! MELISSAAAAA!!!”
Who was that? Melissa grimaced, scowling for the umpteenth time in two minutes.
Jennifer. Of course. Jennifer Horiek, like always.
Melissa hopped off her bed, quickly hiding inside the space of her closet to change into her normal clothes. They weren’t really normal anymore, considering that each and every one of them has fallen into the mud once or twice this week without being washed. Dirt stuck to the knee parts of her jeans like they were actually stitched in; even some of her hair bands were ripped, too. If only they hadn’t fallen out the window that other day… but, no matter.
“Melissa!” screamed the voice again, this time much more pleading, scared, and agitated that it sounded a lot more like she was going to cry. “Could you please hurry up? Please!? I’m almost dying here –”
“You’re not going to die, Jennifer!” Melissa hollered back to the voice. “You’re already dead!”
There was a short silence from downstairs. She wasn’t sure whether that was supposed to be good or bad.
Probably bad. Melissa sighed. Cursed Ones are so freaking useless, she thought. She didn’t blame them for relying on her all the time, but…did they always have to cling to her neck?
A few silent moments have passed when the minute Melissa escaped from the confinement of the closet, another voice called, screaming her name. “COME DOWNSTAIRS RIGHT NOW!” the voice boomed. Sure as sure, it had to be Stephanie.
She sighed, guilty of what she had said before. Maybe she had hurt Jennifer’s sensitive feelings. “Coming,” she sighed, and opened the door. Her bronze ponytail swished as she closed it, a cool breeze of wind making it ruffle. She liked the feeling; it cooled her neck.
Oh, but for the day in which she could just be alone…
Once she went downstairs, there was pandemonium everywhere she looked. Though, the clamor was good, in a way. Good noise. The sisters were all preparing for the practically legendary holiday celebration taking place at the Ultimate Stadium. It was a thing no one in Sham missed, not even Cursed Ones. Even her sisters never missed a year when they were alive.
It contained the greatest entertainment ever: from gymnastics to exotic animal shows, to little talks on how the entire Sham could be changed by the brand-new technologies invented that year – even if they chances were the scientists were probably going to die before they could finish the project, even Melissa admitted that their ideas were far beyond fantastic. There were going to be amazing music from the Este orchestra, the greatest orchestra in the entire island, and games that everyone was able to play, from games like one would find in an arcade to extraordinary rides that would make one feel as though they were flying like birds, above the capital Rouge, above the blooming countrysides in which one could see all the jumbleberry trees filled with glorious purple splotches, above the bustling cities, above the calm and profiting suburbs…every single inch of Sham they could experience and awe at, except for the sea, in which the show has never presented as far as Melissa was alive (as if anyone in the country would want to see it, regardless). And so forth.
But the most fascinating, most enchanting show was a play from a little, practically anonymous theatre that roamed the capital’s streets playing accordions and singing songs that haven’t been sung in ages, and only they knew the exact rhythm and language of the old ages, in which the songs were written in. They were called the Shagobian Theatre, and besides the rest of the year when they lived with no better a standard than paupers, in the 45th day of the year, they were brought to the Ultimate Stadium – with the most high-standard stage an actor could ever wish for – to do their play, their legendary play that consists of all of them dancing to the rhythm of an ancient song, which told the story of King Frederick was told. The good king of Sham.
Three out of five of the theater crew were Cursed Ones, even though two appeared no more than thirty, to say the least. One deceaced at the age of fourteen, the other twenty-six. And the last one, the smallest one, died when she was merely six years old. She never spoke.
The other two were singers, their voices like angels singing on high and rose-colored canaries singing songs of mercy and love on the top of the highest mountain at dawn. One was nineteen, and the other one was thirteen, appearing only a year older than one of the Cursed Ones. Yet despite the differences in their ages, their names seemed rather close in time: for example, the “fourteen year old” had a name of Sofie; the woman the age of twenty-two had a name of Julietta; the alive teenager was named Anna, the older alive one was Taurus, and the smallest one’s name was Myriad.
Regardless, it was a show that no one in the country would dare miss, lest they want to cope through another 364 days aching for the next ceremony, and no wretched boss would force their employees to stay in their workforce, because they were going to stay there and enjoy, too.
Melissa looked around. She could see each and every one of her sisters smiling like statues of joy, and she herself felt like beaming, too. She secretly hoped that she had many more years to live so that she could enjoy the ceremonies properly; how awful would it be to have to look blankly at the stage, trying to figure things out that otherwise you could be receiving with utmost pleasure. If that was what her sisters were feeling like, then perhaps she felt a little bit sorry for them.
Just then, amidst all the clamor, Stephanie sauntered over towards Melissa, her hair shiny and fluid and wavy and faker than ever. For some reason, it began to remind Melissa of some kind of living creature…
“Melissa!” Stephanie said. She had a slight smile on her face.
“I’m sorry, Jennifer, Steph,” she said. It hadn’t been their fault.
Immediately and without hesitation, a true and genuine Stephanie-like smile filled her face. It seemed all to easy for Melissa to make her oldest sister happy. “That’s okay. Come join us.” Then she took her arm tightly and pulled her into the car. The rest of the sisters followed – or marched – and gave Melissa an uneasy feeling.
The girl clenched her teeth. How could those Cursed Ones be such idiots?
Melissa squirmed, and yanked her arm out of Stephanie’s grasp. She couldn’t bear someone doing that again.
“Hey – Melissa! What are you doing?” Stephanie gasped, as Melissa immediately pulled away from her, her eyes closed tightly. She pulled back with so much force that she crashed into the car next to it.
“Watch what you are doing!” another of her sisters exclaimed, her voice high and squeaky and artificial. Melissa turned around, and almost wished she hadn’t. Pained eyes met her when she did. There would be only one female zombie that like that.
They entered the old, rustic-like van that would have used to be the color of faded turquoise – with an emphasis on faded – but now was no more than a burnt sepia color with patches of black all over it. There were dents practically everywhere Melissa looked; like a casually-pealed apple, with two lump-like tires stuck on the bottom of the rugged automobile. There was a gaseous smell wafting from the inside, and Melissa was astounded that Stephanie was ready to tow every single eight of them inside this messed-up machine. The car itself was leaning on a dangerous edge, and its very stature was twisted in almost in a serpentine way. On the front of the car, the windshield was awkwardly placed from many times of flying off its place, and numerous, countless cracks were peppered along every inch of it; Melissa feared that it would act more like fragile china than a car’s windshield. The windshield’s wipers had been off decades ago, and the front headlights were damaged beyond belief and recognition.
That was what the Horiek family got for using a beat-up machine found in an ancient dump when Elizabeth and Brett Horiek first married. Whenever the car wasn’t working out, couldn’t even squeak its engine to get the car half going, Mr. Horiek would just jolt it with electricity from some wiry mechanism he invented as a teenager, and perhaps that would get the car going again.
Melissa thought that her whole family was absolute fools for using the vehicle and choosing to use it in the first place.
So she decided not to use it, anyways. After all, it would be her dumb sisters’ fault for getting on the trash. She needn’t worry about it.
“Nah, I’ll just walk there.” Melissa said to Stephanie straight-on. She could definitely walk faster than this; the fastest it would go with all the loading would probably be at the quickest four miles per hour.
Stephanie stared at her a moment, her eyes full of concern. Perhaps it was that Melissa was only a ten year old, only several months into fifth grade that made her doubt.
But then again, Cursed Ones were always concerned, no matter what.
And besides: Melissa wasn’t a little kid anymore.
She put her hand on her older sister’s shoulder – which, of course, was much higher than her own. “It’s okay, I’ll be fine.” She said confidently.
Then, not waiting for their word, she skipped off towards the direction of the Ultimate Stadium. It didn’t surprise her that she was glad of being away from her sisters again.
According to Melissa’s watch, it took her approximately twenty-seven minutes to get to the Stadium, which was supposed to be just seven blocks away, but because of all the traffic – cars, humans, and all – she had to wait so long that she was beginning to doubt being able to get there by sundown at all.
The air was buzzing with fumes from cars, words spoken from many of the other walkers also going to the show, shouts from afar that would usually be drowned out by the screeching and the spurring of cars, but somehow the racket was so loud that it wasn’t impossible for Melissa to drown out the sounds. Animals – pets or wild – were wandering all over the place, some of them as tame as pet pigeons and others resembling part dragons and part slugs rather than something common. The police officers that were monitoring the poles and the traffic seemed to be suffering in vain from not being able to get to the stadium as fast as they can. In fact, the only time when they were allowed to leave their stations would be two hours into the show, in which was terribly painful. They were the only ones at their work primarily because if they weren’t, there would be countless deaths on Main Street.
Nonetheless, Melissa still made it to the stadium about seventeen minutes early; she waited in the humongous crowd in front of the building, all the people of Sham crowding in the gigantic part in front of the huge double-doors. Three years ago, there were about 4,500 people in Sham.
Melissa took a look around. It has been so long since she’s seen this place, she’s almost forgotten how magnificent it was.
Below her feet, below everyone’s feet, were various stones worn by the ages, in which ancient people’s names have been carved in, from the time when the old language was used – which, to this point, is still unknown – to Melissa’s time, when people just happen to carve their names into stones, simply for the fun of it. Seventeen flags stood in a row, flags that resembled that time periods of Sham, stood tall right in the place where the stone ground met grass planes. It was windy today, and the chilly gusts of wind made the flags bristle madly in the air. Clouds above churned like smoke, and they seemed to be getting darker by the moment.
In the center of the lot, there was a little stone fountain carved at the time of their last king, with sides about up to Melissa’s waist, the statues of anonymous, weathering creatures that may have resembled angels at one point holding a great, sponge-looking banner with old language carved into it. Someone had once told her that the banner had said, Erupheus Perul, but now the writing looked more like a toddlers’ scrawl rather than a carver’s hard earned artistic work.
Withered and cracked as the ancient angels were, the statues somehow seemed to be staring at Melissa.
She turned away.
“Melissa! Melissa!” a voice, amid the clamor, shouted.
It was her sisters. Or one of them, at the least; one of them that had the exact same voice structure as the rest of them.
And, as if on cue, the officer at the doubledoor suddenly yanked on the old rope above her, and giant bell tolled throughout the entire rippling crowd, and the doors swung open.
The crowd swarmed in like a mob of bees, and it was all the officers could do not to have everyone simply pile up and get stuck in the entrance; as would be very possible, considering the size of the crowd…
“Come on, let’s go!” Melissa shouted over to her sisters, who were already looking blank and scared like little children. She resisted the urge to scowl; she would already be inside now if she didn’t have to drag them along. So, quite literally, Melissa pulled her sisters towards the entrance, which was still filled with a good number of people, and was suddenly led into a dark tunnel in which there was no lights except the dim candles perched on the walls like misty gargoyles. The whole corridor was filled with the smell of human, and the light-up signs on each wall that said, TAKE CARE OF YOUR CHILDREN reminded Melissa of the danger little children had there. Children three and under were sent to the local preschool, in which they were to play with toys all day until their parents came to pick them up. Eventually, the dark corridor slimmed to the point that everyone was in a single-file line.
“Now, stay with me,” Melissa hissed back towards her sisters, who were still as immobile as stone; walking down the hallway like stiff robots. The rest of the people quieted down, too; the darkness seemed to have taken its toll on them. Now the only thing in the hallway was the sound of footsteps and murmuring.
After several minutes a dim light glowed at the end of the tunnel, making everyone anxious. The dim light grew brighter, and then, soon, a huge chorus of noise rang from it.
Suddenly, the tunnel opened, and out they were in the theater. The theater of the Ultimate Stadium.
From the entrance, one could see just about all of Sham’s four thousand-some people, near or on the clean, shining velvet seats with shining and polished dark wood upholding them. From afar, it appeared like a giant dragon with red scales along with numerous little creatures that were making such a joyful noise that it could almost make the people deaf. From above, there were beautiful crystal chandeliers, at least twenty of them, and walls that were painted entirely of silver. The stage’s curtains were closed, being completely of dark purple with delicate laces at the bottom.
This was the most beautiful place in all of Sham.
When they sat there, taking their seats at the very back row (in which that was nearly the only space left to sit at), Melissa was in at the very left of all her eight sisters. Her mother and father were not there yet, being that the traffic was so unbearably slow. It went in this order: Andrea (the third), Nora (the second), Jennifer (the eighth), Emm (seventh), Gabi (sixth), Alice (fifth), Stephanie (oldest), and Tiffany. Not that it really mattered; they were all whispering to each other and hissing and acting like little girls like they should. And when Melissa sat down, there were still six more seats to the left; except The Cursed Girls were so stuck into the spots that they weren’t dare move. So Melissa used the six other seats as footrests, and relaxed.
Not that it really mattered; they were all whispering to each other and hissing and acting like little girls like they should.
Like all normal zombie girls should.
Melissa sighed. She knew she should be used to this by now. She knew it.
This is what all girls have to live through she thought, trying to reassure herself. Was it working?
But then why was it so hard?
Sooner than later, Melissa’s parents came: first her mother, than her father. They were still in their rather ragged work clothes, wrapped in tattered scarves and hats, but sunny enthusiasm lit their eyes as they came by their sisters. Their Cursed daughters cheerfully screamed hello and ran to hug their parents as though they have never seen them in centuries; Melissa merely waved and felt as though she was the only normal one left in the family.
The moment her parents took their seats, along with her sisters, the show started.
It started with the animal exhibition, which was terrifying; wild cats nearly swallowing up its masters’ head, dragon-like creatures that Melissa has seen earlier on the streets pouncing on little children in the front rows and wouldn’t be able to get off because they were so excruciatingly sticky – even if the children were done no harm. But all this time Melissa, as surprised as she was, merely sat their and was quickly filled with ennui. She had seem practically the exact same thing before; why hadn’t the performers showed them something more interesting?
As much as it surprised her, Melissa was already bored. And the other exhibitions – the games, the technology, the storytelling – all of it, zoomed by right before her eyes, and she didn’t even crack a smile or sprout a tear.
She layed her head back and almost thought of taking a nap.
Suddenly, out of the midst of all of it, Melissa had a question. “Andrea,” she asked, timid, because she knew what she did in the garage probably didn’t fare well with her sisters.
Her sister, pale and chalky skinned as the rest of the Cursed Ones are, had short and curly fiery red hair that had gradually turned a tangy shade of orange over time. She was the petite type; naturally moving along with the flow and either that but hiding underneath tables just to get out of sight. But since she was the third oldest sister in the family, her shy personality was entwined with the slightest bit of arrogance and bossiness. She still wasn’t paying attention to Melissa, though. Her head was still faced 100% on the rest of her sisters, easily blocking out the sounds of the rest of the world, giggling and happily twittering with them.
So Melissa gently tapped her shoulder. Andrea turned around.
“Yes?” she fluttered, eyes turning wide.
“Um… I need to ask you a question.” She felt oddly uncomfortable about this.
“Yes?” Andrea waited.
There was a pause. Finally, looking up from her hands, Melissa looked straight into her cursed sister’s pale blue eyes. It didn’t’ take much effort to go beyond the fear that she automatically felt. By default, this wasn’t very hard.
“I was wondering…when will this stupid show end?” she yawned uncontrollably. “I mean, I’m already bored. Aren’t you?”
She was hoping she would get a similar reaction from her sister as she did from herself, but somehow, she got the exact opposite.
Andrea stared at her, completely silent, completely unmoving.
“I…I don’t know,” she said. Her face scrunched up, like she was going to cry. She turned to her sisters then, and Melissa immediately regretted asking the question.
“Tiffany! Yvon!” she cried out, her voice already cracking with tears. Several people from the lower rows turned around to glare at them, but Andrea didn’t seen to notice the slightest bit. “Melissa-Melissa said something utterly preposterous!”
The other sisters gasped in horror, as though they already knew what she had said.
“What did she say?” Emm asked, immediately leaning towards Andrea to hear the great news.
Andrea sniffed soberly. “She said she was bored of this show!”
“Bored?”
“Melissa! How dare you!”” exclaimed Jennifer, sitting right in the middle of the sisters. She had lipstick smeared all over her face, quiet literally. She looked at her little sister as though she had done a horrible act of crime.
“I can’t believe you would say such a horrible thing!” Nora added. She also had makeup on, too.
“Proposterous!” Alice squealed, and looked at Melissa as though she was a slimy piece of bug rather than her little sister. “Simply preposterous!”
“Melissa, does this have anything to do with you going out of this island?” Stephanie said then. She leaned forward, her gorgeous hair slipping off her shoulder and sweeping towards the ground, like a wave of night. She was completely serious.
Melissa scrunched up her face, and felt her face get red. How could they make such generalizations like that? She thought furiously.
They were all staring at her, ganging up on her.
Those stupid Cursed Ones, Melissa thought. Why am I even related to them?
“I just said that this thing was boring, doesn’t mean that I want to get off of this stupid island, you dumbos!” she snapped at them.
She thought that that would take care of them, but apparently, instead of silence as she had been anticipating, that only made them even madder.
The Cursed Ones gasped, and leaned away from Melissa. They murmured some comments to each other, except for Stephanie, who was completely silent and steaming.
“Dumbos?” She snarled back. She flipped her hair, and the hatred in her eyes was surprisingly deep. “First you purposely damage our car, not to mention leave us and walk by yourself! Second, you made poor Andy fall to tears, and third-”
“I did not damage the car! In fact, it hardly isn’t a car anymore! If I didn’t that to a real car, it wouldn’t have even shaken! Only idiots like you would ride in such a rickety-shack like that dump-”
Stephanie stomped her feet, and made a noise through her close mouth that might have been a scream. By now both of them have gotten so mad that they forgot about the rest of the audience below them; and by now they have both stood up. Their parents were looking at both Melissa and Stephanie in horror, but that was the only thing they did; neither of them bothered to stop the argument. Melissa only gave them a flipping glance; of course they were never going to do anything about the argument. They were too cowardly to do so; afraid of their own children, their own eight daughters that outnumbered them by many, and their own spinelessness, of course. “Oh, now you insult us, and you insult your very parents-”
“I’m not insulting my parents, you dumb head! I’m just saying that the dump of a car we have e wouldn’t be able to wheeze another breath if we are towing eight dead teenagers and two grown adults into it every single day-”
“You idiot! You don’t know anything other than yourself!” Stephanie fired back, and without warning, she stomped over and pushed Melissa. With a huff, Melissa backed off a few steps, and had to balance herself before she fell down completely.
But just when Melissa was going to get her revenge, a hand was placed on her sister’s shoulder. A hand that, certainly, did not belong to any of her sisters.
“Whoa there! Are you two alright?” said a cheerful male voice. Stephanie turned around, and almost blushed herself red.
There, right behind her, was an adolescent boy about her age, holding a rather long and complex device behind him in an old sack, and a cheerful smile on his face. Melissa examined him; his hair, being rather long and smooth for a boy, was partially hidden under a floppy olive green hat. His eyes were a light and clear blue, and his hands were long and gloved.
“Hey,” he said, his voice in a whisper. “we came here late today – my fellow friends and I. So sorry for the inconvenience. Is it okay…if you don’t mind…that if we sit at those empty space over there?” he pointed at the six empty chairs that Melissa has used as footrests before.
Stephanie blushed further, and kept her face down. Her shiny black hair fluttered down. “Why, of course!” She exclaimed happily – in a whisper, of course. “We would love you to sit there.”
“By the way,” he said, which another smile. “My name is Taurus.” Then he gestured towards the rest of the people following him, dressed similar as him, in which Melissa hadn’t noticed before. “And these are my friends.”
Melissa suddenly gasped. “Y-you’re the Shagobian Theatre?” she choked out.
The guy smiled wider, revealing laser-white teeth. “That’s right.” He whispered.
The crew followed him towards the empty seats, in which they sat in, leaving two empty seats next to Melissa. Stephanie continuously casted lustful looks towards Taurus, but then shot a look at Melissa, which said, We’ll talk about this later.
Melissa laid back, feeling exhausted. She looked around at the entire stadium, feeling rather uneasy.
The theater seemed to be filled completely to the brim, literally.
All this time, she thinks, all these five hundred years sailors have sailed from shore to shore on other countries, forever exploring and learning. How come they haven’t even found us? It cannot be possible. It just can’t.
She frowned, perturbed by her thought.
It wasn’t as if Melissa hadn’t ever tried to escape before. She had always dreamed of sailing across the planet, finally getting away from that little confined space area she was glued to forever. Just to take a tiny little step in that seemingly harmless water…
Ugh! What a temptation! Melissa squirmed in her seat again.
Just a touch. Just a teeny weenie touch…
Oh! If only she could go!
The sensation was nearly alive; clawing at her chest, longing to get out. For a moment Melissa pictured it as some kind of wild monster, much like the ones in the forest where she runs through to school.
That wild and seemingly crazy dream has been a part of her ever since the day she’s been born. And not just because her parents has told her about that always told story of how they became cursed – no, not that at all.
It was because she hated being confined. Hated it. Sure, you could call it claustrophobia. Melissa just calls it normal – because being caged up like this is just not normal. It’s wrong. It’s like being a slave, in one case, and quite right (though most of the people of Sham wouldn’t even think of it that way, let alone believe it.).
Melissa couldn’t help herself. It was like feeling weak, very weak, to her. To be forever chained to the curse that would haunt her until the day of her Accident, and then she would nonstop having to repeat her life over and over again, never being able to see the outside world, always being a dumb prisoner to this island –
“Hey, Lissy!” cried a shrill voice, immediately making her jump. If you count sort of bouncing in your seat a jump. Since nearly half of the people in the audience were short-hearing and, well, cursed, Melissa’s sister’s voice didn’t’ seem to perturb anyone except for the tiny baby in the downer row, who cried like a siren until the mother shoved a pacifier into his mouth. Even then, though, it didn’t even seem like the elder snoring on the left of Melissa even heard it.
Melissa turned around. She had no idea who that was. Well, how could she, anyways? They were all beginning to sound the same, the scary thing was.
Oh, if only…they could be themselves again! Melissa shuddered. What would she be like when she had her Accident? Would she even remember her past life?
Melissa blinked, and then saw who it was, in spite of the darkness. The stage crew was turning off the lights. Act 1 was over.
Gabi’s face looked frightened even now. Melissa softened the look on her face. “We don’t want people finding out about us,” she whispered. “What would they do to us? Don’t you know – when that witch queen cursed us, we are forever without magical powers. Just like the humans before the invasion have been. They could practically do whatever they want – it’s dangerous, Lissy, believe me!”
The Cursed Ones were always a bit too paranoid, but for good reasons. Without that, they probably wouldn’t have survived. But then again, no matter what happens to them, they’ll just keep going on existing. Right now Gabi looked downright frightened.
Melissa sighed. She could practically see the condensation of it in the cold weather; she resisted the urge to start playing with it. It reminded her of a dragon.
It wasn’t as if Melissa just ran off the island, though. If she could, she would have jumped in the water. She could simply imagined the fluid coolness of it, the tender way the waves would lick her skin and gently buoy her along, like gliding in the air, enjoying the openness of freedom that sent her heart soaring…
But no. If she could do that, if she was even capable of doing that, she would have been dreaming of that a long time ago. Dreaming constantly of something she has experienced once and always wishing to experience again.
Because of the many of mutated Earthling animals that morphed magically along with the humans into new forms, you would never know what kind of creature lived behind each shrub or each tree. Okay, well, it wasn’t like people had no clue what was going to stalk behind them. If that even had a clue if they were going to come home that night. They didn’t really need to be on their guard all the time. They did know – for each island, that is – which kind of creature lived where. It’s just that they have changed a lot. A lot.
So, because it has been this way for who knows how many years, the people learned how to tame them (for a period of time, at least). They learned how to communicate. There were several species of creatures in their village that were tame enough to even talk.
They learned to care about the people of Sham – in this case, the city in which Melissa lived in was called Este. They learned to love the children.
So the adults at the time of Melissa told the creatures to take good care of her and make sure she didn’t run off like she planned to so many times. They were powerful, too – if they weren’t, then Melissa might not have such a hard time. But one way or the other, she would be caught. And then she would be sent back to her home, where she belonged.
However, it was only when Jennifer had…deceaced that her problem has become even worse than ever.
Now, she would rather die than never get off the island.
From her peripheral vision, the littlest girl – Myriad – of the crew was the closest one sitting next to her. Suddenly, Myriad flashed Melissa a look – an ominous look – and then turned around again, appearing to be watching the shows just like everyone else.
And then she, and the rest of the crew, was gone.
Countless number of shows started, and ended– all of which Melissa was dreaming about her time at sea. She didn’t even remember an ounce of the story in which was told in such a dramatic way on the stage that it led practrically everyone down to tears. It was all just a blur behind her eyes: the colorfulness, the high and lively music that made people long to dance. At the end, when all the audience started clapping wildly for the cast and the play, the lights turned on. Her sisters stood up too, and the finally, Melissa’s eyes snapped back to reality.
She looked up. They were all clapping, the noise so humongous that it sounded more like a humongous thunderstorm rather than claps.
I should join them she thought, reluctantly standing up from her place and joining the clap. Suddenly she wanted to lie down and yawn. Her eyelids felt heavy, and the stuff outside her eyes was all fuzzy and nondescript. She felt sleepy. She felt tired. The rapid and sudden blood flow that raced down from her head to her toes would make anyone feel uncoordinated.
“Melissa? Melissa?” she heard a voice. A gentle finger tapped her shoulders. Melissa reluctantly opened her eyes. They felt like they tons. “Yeah?” she asked. It was Stephanie, she realized. In the mug of her sight, she could actually make out her wavy and wavy black hair. Besides, no one was as tall as Stephanie.
Stephanie looked worried. Melissa opened her eyes wider. “Melissa, I need to talk to you.”
Stephanie went ahead, towards the lighted-up stairs. Even they were elegant – made of glass and swirly and graceful as they were. Melissa felt like they could crack at any moment. Her oldest sister tugged impatiently at her hands. “You’ll see later,” she noted. Then she went down the stairs.
Melissa sighed, and followed her down there.
At the end of the long and seemingly everlasting staircase she found Steph standing at the corner of the lobby room. Whoa, she thought. This place is a lot more like a mansion than anything else.
But she had no time to marvel. When she saw her sister tap her feet impatiently, she immediately leaped to action.
Once she came towards Stephanie, she skidded to a stop about three feet away.
Awkward silence.
“Uh…so, Stephanie? What did you want to tell me?” Melissa said, feeling a bit uneasy.
Stephanie’s face was stern and serious. Her eyebrows were pulled up, and her eyes looked like they were about to cry – a sight Melissa has barely ever seen in her entire life.
What could make Stephanie’s face cry was an enormous mystery to her.
“Melissa, I’ve got to tell you something.” She said.
“What is that?” Why is she continuing the suspension?
“You know what I mean. Escaping the island, going off into the world, leaving us, going away from your parents and your family and all you know – except off this known and sane country, into the middle of nowhere.” Her voice turned hard.
Melissa resisted the urge to sink away. She was strong enough. But what the heck; Stephie didn’t even know half of what she had dreamed of. “There’s more than it to that,” she mumbled.
She didn’t like the feeling of mumbling; it made her feel weak.
Stephanie, nonetheless, gave her a weak smile. But it faded quickly. “It’s wrong, Melissa – trust me on this one, it’s dead wrong. I don’t think anyone could make such a big mistake as that one. No one that comes out ever gets back in. I just know it. Everyone knows it, Melissa – please. It’s so obvious. Besides, you’re only ten. You deserve to live much longer than that.”
Stephanie has begun to shake her shoulders now. She was that desperate.
How does she know whoever comes out doesn’t go back in? Melissa thought. But Stephanie had a good point. After all, her parents said the exact same thing, too.
“But it’s not the same as that,” Melissa said. She gently tried to pry off Stephanie’s strong fingers. Was it really that hard to get an 18-some girl to let go of you? “I mean, yeah, you do have a point there.” Melissa gulped, trying to see what her sister has meant. All the opportunities. How does she know? How does she know that if one gets out, there would be no cure to the curse? How does she know?
“Yeah, like what?”
“You haven’t included the fact about freedom.” Oh, freedom! She could feel it already. “And the fact that you never know if…there are cures to things, Stephanie! Curse or not, there are. If we go out and explore the world we have not seen for a billion decades, maybe we could finally solve things – find solution to the problems that even this plentiful island has no answers for. Just to think, Stephie. Maybe we might even find something to reverse the curse, you know, like once and for all.”
“What are you blabbering about?!” Stephanie groaned. She looked up so much she appeared to be rolling her eyes. She began combing Melissa’s hair so vigorously it almost was in a greedy way. Greedy.
“Huh?”
“You know that’s an impossible situation, Lissy. Heavens knows where you got that ridiculous idea.” She rolled her eyes again. “Besides, we have our own solutions. Making a good life before you get your disastrous Accident. More clubs for the Cursed Ones to join, more technology…”
Technology? Melissa was puzzled. They haven’t had hardly the least bit of technology since the day the witch has cursed them all. Plus, it hardly had to do with anything.
“Besides, Melissa,” Stephanie continued. Was Melissa’s head, or did she seem to have a little bit of snob woven into it? “Besides, we don’t’ need the outside world. We’ve got our cozy little universe right here. Right now. Safe and cozy, protective and not like anyone’s going to find out.”
Melissa suddenly was hyperaware of the fact that she was being hugged. Bear hugged. Bear hugged by Stephanie, which wasn’t really a good sign, considering how fastidiously strong she was.
Melissa squirmed, but accepted the gesture. “I think…that’s the problem, Steph,” she gasped. Steph still hasn’t looked down. “Aren’t you kind of tired of the cage? The bars and all? Haven’t you ever thought of…?” Stephanie is rocking back and forth, Melissa noted, “…of getting free?”
That stopped Stephanie short. The hug turned a sour and rocky edge. Melissa was sure she had suffocated for a moment.
They were like that for the longest moment. Melissa swore it was ten hours. Or maybe even twenty. Or maybe even fifty.
She just let the silence drone on, the darkness continue, and felt herself sink into the tranquility that put her heart at a rest…a peaceful, wonderful rest that she suddenly craved more than anything else…
She was not sure how she could still breathe – only that they were staring at the wall forever and ever and ever.
And then she realized it. She remembered, recalling a little tale her mother had told her six years ago when Stephanie has not yet turned into a Cursed One and she was merely seven years old. She could hardly remember it now; it was so muggy, and she was doing something else at the same time right then. But somehow, the memory repeated itself in the same distinction, as clear as day, as precise as if it had only been yesterday.
“Melissa?” Her mom asked.
“Yes?” Melissa continued doodling at the back of her notebook. Flowers, stars, hearts….then she drew a big circle around them and put a big slash across, sketching a blue elephant instead.
“Did you know that the Cursed Ones can make someone lose their memory and forget the time, making them stuck like that as long as they want?
Melissa could have jumped seventeen feet high if her sister was not gripping onto her.
So that was what she was doing. Erasing her memory.
But before she could even work up a gasp, the practically solid color of hot pink appeared at the corner of the stairs. At once she was sure it was Alice; she had recently died her originally pale brown hair to pink weeks ago. Before Emm also had the exact same shade of hair simply because they were identical twins; but now she had a strange color on her hair, too. Electric blue.
“HEY! What’s taken’ you, peoples!” Alice howled. There were hardly any more people on the stairs now. Alice looked like a walking talking disco ball from afar. “Get up here! Everyone’s been WAITIN’ for you, you know!?!?!?”
We both jumped at the sound of Alice’s screech. Seconds before, everything was so silent she could have dropped a pin and they both would go deaf.
Alice’s calling. Here was her chance to escape.
“Get off of me,” she said, trying to shove Stephanie with all the strength she had. Reluctantly, her sister parted. All her memories flooded back to her in a wave. She shook her head, and looked back at her sister. Stephanie was still just standing there, her eyes blank and sorrowful, her arms still in a let-go position.
“That was for your own good,” she said, her voice as stern as ever.
“Yeah, well, I don’t need your help.” Melissa replied as she started the stairs. Alice was already tapping her way up there. “I’ve got enough things in my mind already.”
With that, she raced up the stairs, going faster than she ever planned on and as fast as she could.
She could feel tears bubbling down her eyelids then; and for once, she didn’t stop them. She just pounded on, wishing that this would all be over, and that, hopefully, no stupid human would see her-
“Hey, Melissa! What are you doing her right now?” a male voice said, which was dimly familiar.
Melissa opened her tear-driven eyes, and almost screamed to death.
The boy laughed, and suddenly she realized it was Taurus. He was just as he looked before.
He pulled a hand up. “Relax, girl.” He laughed heartily. “I was just asking.
Melissa kept panting and staring at him, completely unsure of what to say. Slowly, and silently, the others filtered in.
“Taurus?” Stephanie’s voice rang from below. She looked up, and stepped up the stairs. “What…what are you doing here?”
Taurus laughed again, and put his hand on Stephanie’s shoulder. “Good to see you again, hey, Steph?”
“Hey,” Melissa started, realizing something. “How did you know my name?”
Suddenly, the rest of the crew turned and stare at her harshly. She immediately quieted down, feeling strangely uneasy inside.
The rest of the crew…looked different than they had before. More pale, with darker rings underneath their eyes and their irises almost colorless. They seemed to be hulking over, as though the light from behind them were making them cripple.
Anonymous sounds hissed from one of their mouths, which were almost completely covered in scarves, until Taurus abruptly sung a hand towards the tall girl – who was closest to him – and the sound stopped.
He cast a friendly look at Melissa, said, “Oh, I know lots of things, kiddo.”
“I was just wonderihg…” Stephanie said, pausing. She looked down. “Um…would you ever like to go out some time…for dinner, or something…”
Melissa nearly jumped out of her skins. What?! She thought. Stephanie never asked someone to a date the first time they met! She only asked them after several weeks; she was that cautious.
But she was absolutely sure this was her first time meeting Taurus.
Taurus laughed again, a loud, almost cayote-like laugh that sent shivers down Melissa’s spine.
“Certainly,” he said, and abruptly Stephanie jumped over and kissed him.
Just then, one of the crew members raised her hands, the look on her face ominous. “We better be going now.” She said monotonously. “We will be late.”
Taurus laughed again. “Certainly,” he repeated through laughter, and laughed his way out, with the rest of the crew following him.
Yet just when the last one, the shortest one – Myriad – was out the door, she took another glance at Melissa, and suddenly her face was full of shock.
She pointed at Melissa.
“You…” she stuttered. She gulped. “I know you. I…I haven’t seen you for ages…” she gulped again, her eyes taking a misty look. “Where have you been all this time? Where?”
“What?” Melissa started. She was sure she has never seen this little girl before. “I’m sure you’re mistaken or something. I’ve never seen you before.”
Myriad then shook her head, frowning.
“But I swear…” she whispered.
She took another step out the door, and when she turned around to look at Melissa again, and opened her eyes –
Her eyes were completely white. Iris, and all.
“I didn’t think he had any offspring…” she whispered, her voice suddenly turning on an inhuman edge. “…perhaps I have been mistaken…”
And then in a swift movement, she was gone.
Melissa and Stephanie just stood their, staring at the door.
After what felt like an eternity later, Stephanie took Melissa’s hand. “Come on, Lissy,” she whispered. “Let’s go home now.
