Cursed Bloods | Teen Ink

Cursed Bloods

April 23, 2012
By Zelous-Arrow-Shade, bountiful, Utah
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Zelous-Arrow-Shade, Bountiful, Utah
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Favorite Quote:
"life is not how you survive the storm, it is how you dance in the rain" - not sure who wrote it.


Emily stepped out of the cab, handing the cab driver a twenty dollar bill as she did. once out, Emily looked at the small stubborn neighborhood before her, the place she grew up. Emily was twenty five years old, she had left this place right when she turned eighteen, not being able to stand living with her family any longer. Emily was one of five children, the oldest of them. just thinking of her time spent here constantly fighting to get freedom from her parents, exhausted her. her mother died when she was nine, and having no siblings or parents that were still alive, that left only Emily’s dad to take care of her and her siblings. her father was a tough man, a military man. he always demanded perfection and punished her when she did not show it, that was one of the reasons why Emily became a tattoo artist, to anger her father and because she loved it. “but that is all over now” Emily thought with a sad feeling, for she was not just here to visit. a week ago, Emily got a call from her youngest sister still living at home, Ashely. she said that daddy had a heart attack and that he died shortly after. Emily had many problems with her father but she did love him. with a deep breath, Emily slowly walked up to her old house and knocked on the door. the house was the biggest but also the oldest on the street, at least three levels and made in 1956. Emily herself would have sold it many years ago if it belonged to her, it being so old it would be less costly to just get rid of it than to keep it. ”hopefully” Emily thought “i will be able to fix that problem now” with that the door to the house opened, revealing one of her brothers, Nick. Nick was the second oldest of the family, one year younger than Emily. he was tall and muscular, much like their father. his hair was dark brown, his facial expression very unreadable, again much like their father. he was the only one to follow in father’s footsteps and join the military, the only reason he was here right now was because he got special leave time because their father was a very important man, leader of operations in world war three against the English, and now Secretary of defence here in Washington DC, or he was. another reason that made Emily wonder why he never sold the house, he had a lot of money, this place was old and far from where he worked. so why did he keep it, the only reason Emily could think of was because of their mother, this was their mother’s childhood home. “Emily” Nick said as he embraced her in a hug, taking her one luggage back as he did. “how have you been?”, “can’t complain” Emily replied as they started walking upstairs “business is going good at my place” with that Nick gave a smile and led her to her room on the second floor. once in her room, Emily felt very nostalgic. the room was exactly the same as she had left it, almost empty save for a few pictures on the walls, a bed in the corner and a nightstand. Nick placed the bag on the bed and then turned to Emily, “so how are you holding up” Nick asked “Ashely told me that she told you about dad a week ago, you don’t seem to shaken up about it” with that Emily shot nick a glare. “of course i am shaken up” Emily replied “i cried when i heard the news and still feel sad, but you know how father was, it is hard to be to sad after living with the man longer than any of you” with that Nick gave another nod and both of them walked out of the nearly empty room. once out, Emily saw Ben walking down the hall. Ben was the third oldest, he had black hair cut short and was just as tall as Nick. he wore a simple tee shirt and jeans, nothing else. out all Emily’s family, she found Ben to be the most relaxed of all them. never worrying about anything, a free spirit. Ben seemed to be taking the news that father was dead quit well, as Emily assumed he would. although they all loved there father, and never wished him hard or death, he was a very difficult man to be related to. “Emily” Ben said sounding a little tired as he passed them and turned to walk down the stairs “you best get down stairs if you want any hope of getting breakfast today, before Ashely eats it all that is” with that Ben disappeared down the stairs. Emily expressed a smile when Ben was gone, the thought of Ashely amusing her. Ashely was the youngest of them all, reaching the age of seventeen a few weeks ago. Ashely always ate a lot when she could not deal with what ever strong emotion resting within her, the doctors could not explain it but apparently, her metabolism increases dramatically when she is nervous, hence why she eats so much. Emily supposed that father’s unexpected death is what has sent Ashely into one of her eating frenzies. with one more lingering thought on Ashely, Emily and Nick both proceeded downstairs to the kitchen. the house as Emily had remembered, was very nice for being so old. new paint on the walls, stain glass and new windows everywhere, new wooden floors and even new furniture in the rooms and hall. Emily supposed that the only old thing in this house was the house itself. once down the stairs, Emily and Nick both turned to there left and walked straight into the kitchen, being the closest room to them except for the living room. the Kitchen, was exactly as Emily remembered it, all white and clean. there was not a crumb nor speck of dirt anywhere, it was exactly as her father liked it, just how he liked everything, clean and neat. sitting at the counter, with a large sandwich in hand, was Ashely. Ashely was the shortest in the family, reaching burly five feet. she is very thin, having been a cheer leader and a very good gymnast. her brown hair was short for her, her face devoid of make up, which seemed odd to Emily. another odd thing was that she wore simple sweat pants and a tee shirt. Ashely was the fashion master of the family, always wearing really expensive and new cloths, and never wearing the same thing twice. Emily did not think that fathers death would hit her that hard, but she was the last of them still living at home, it had to be the hardest for her. right as Emily and nick walked in, Ashely put down her sandwich and rushed to hug Emily. “its great to see you, Emily” Ashely said once she receded from the hug “its been way to long, you really should visit more”, “yes I should” Emily agreed with a smile. “so how have you been doing, Ashely. with everything that has happened” Emily said causing Ashely smile to lessen a little. “uh, okay i guess” Ashely replied “it is terrible but what can you do, it is not like crying over it bring father back” with that emily was about to say something but stopped when she heard something behind her. “and what are you doing here?” a familiar feminine voice said, Emily turned to see a short dark haired woman standing there, with a angry face. Emily knew who exactly it was when she saw her, Sapheara, the middle child of the family and Emily’s second oldest sister. Sapheara wore a yellow skirt and a simple white shirt, no socks and no shoes. Sapheara had always been daddy’s favorite little girl, always following the orders, always so perfect. “what do you think i am here for, Sapheara” Emily replied sounding sarcastic, “well you best not be here for fathers funeral, for if that would be the case, i would have to ask you to leave for you were not invited” Sapheara finished seeming pleased with herself. “what are you talking about” Emily replied “i was invited, Ashely called me a week ago about it and asked me to come her” Emily finished pointing to ashely. with that Sapheara’s face went bright red with anger. “you did what ashely?” Sapheara said with a angry voice “you called Emily to come when you knew it was one of fathers last wishes, in his Will, for Emily to not come to the house here or funeral” with that Emily felt a little shocked inside. “i was what” Emily said to herself “father did not want me to come, to his own funeral no less” with that a burst of rage ran through Emily. with a grunt of anger, Emily stormed out of the kitchen and headed for the front door. “no Emily” Emily heard Ashely call out behind her ”please don’t go, father wanted you here, he did. he was angry when he wrote that Will”, “Angry” Emily replied bitterly as she slammed opened the front door “father was angry for most of his life”. “yes” Ashely replied as she followed Emily out the door “but i know he wanted you here in a time life this, with us, with your family” life that Emily stopped halfway to the sidewalk and gave a sigh. “i will stay until the day after the funeral, after that i am gone” with that Ashely gave Emily another hug. “thank you, thank you” Ashely kept repeating “you wont regret this”, “i better not” Emily said not knowing what to feel at the present moment.

“does anyone want to order a pizza?” Emily heard Ashely yell from the kitchen, as she was in the living room. “a pizza?” Emily heard Nick say to Ashely “you have already eaten two large club sandwiches, a blueberry pie, the rest of one half eaten turkey, two bowls of pecan ice cream and five sodas. how could you possibly still be hungry?”, “i have had a hard couple of days” Ashely replied defensively “you know i eat when i am upset” with that Emily heard Nick laugh. “i understand” Nick replied “but you have almost eaten everything we have of food substance in the house, keep on like this and you are going to eat yourself into a coma” with that Emily heard Ashely give a grunt of irritation, causing Emily to smile. Ashely really was a hoot, and despite the circumstances, it was really nice to be home after being gone for so long. at the present moment, Emily was laying down on the sofa, thinking about really nothing at the moment. her family had habit of doing that to her, make her mind blank. they fought constantly and always made everything greater than it seemed, Emily found it easier to do nothing when around her family, to not get sucked into the drama. “hey, emily” Ben asked as he came down the stairs, “what is it?” Emily replied with a yawn as she sat up. “i was cleaning dad’s bedroom just burly and...”, “Wait” Emily said interrupting Ben “you were cleaning?” Emily said in disbelief. Ben shrugged “haha, very funny” Ben replied causing Emily to give a little giggle. “like i was saying” Ben continued “as i was cleaning dad’s room, i found this!” Ben finished as he held up an unusual key. the key looked old and seemed to be made out of pure gold, it had some unusual symbols on it. Emily had never seen a key like that in her life, it was certainly not something her military father would keep. “what do you think it goes to?” ben asked as he looked over the key, “most likely nothing” Emily replied standing up “it was probably something left in the house from mom’s childhood, this house is very old.”. “yeah” Ben said as he looked at Emily “but that doesn’t explain why i found it in dad’s room, or what it goes to.” Emily gave a thoughtful nod to that. “oh will you get out of the Kitchen, Ashely” Emily heard Sapheara say from the kitchen “i think you have eaten enough”, “but i am still hungry!” Ashely replied to Sapheara with a whiny tone. “don’t you talk back to me!” sapheara said, a sudden loud grunt of irritation sounded from the kitchen after that. a moment later, Ashely came stomping into the living room. “so unfair!” Ashely said as she fell onto the sofa “i am almost eighteen, sapheara can’t keep treating me like a baby, its so unfair!. why if i was in her position, i would......” Ashely trailed off as she saw the strange key in Ben’s hands. “were did you find that?” Ashely said as she bolted up right out of her seat, “in dad’s room” Ben replied “do you know what it goes to?” Ashely shook her head excitedly with that. “it goes to a chest in the basement, and old looking chest” Ashely said “dad said it belonged to mom, things from her past. i bugged him about it for so long but he kept telling me that he lost the key.”. “well” Ben said after a moment of thinking “it’s found now, lets go see what’s in that chest” with that both Sapheara and Nick entered the room. “chest?” Sapheara said confused but still sparing a glare for Emily “what Chest?”, Emily gave a sigh and related what happened to Nick and Sapheara. it took a few minutes to get everyone caught up on what was happening and a little longer to get Sapheara in the basement, she had always been afraid of the basement, even when she was little. the basement was exactly as Emily had remembered it, old, large, dark and dusty. it was filled with boxes and random old pieces of furniture, it was like the place filled with Emily’s past, a past she does not want to to much remember. “uh” Ashely said as she came down the stairs after emily “dad really should have cleaned this place, never went in her at all though. it was like he was more scared of it than Sapheara!” Ashely gave a laugh after that, causing Sapheara to give her a glare once she also came down the stairs. “i am not scared of the basement!” Sapheara said stubbornly “i simply think its dark and filthy”, “and scary” AShely added in. “if i thought it was scary” Sapheara started using her stern voice “than i......”, “so where is this chest you told use about, Ashely” Nick said trying to stop the fighting between Ashely and Sapheara before it got out of hand. with that Sapheara cut off what ever she was going to say and looked around the room for a moment. “it should be somewhere around here.....ah!” Ashely said as she pointed to a large brown box, covered in dust. “thats the one” she said still pointing at it, Nick and Ben both gave nods and moved to grab it. despite the combined strength of both Nick and Ben, who were in no means weak, they could only move the box a little bit away from its previous position. “man what is in this thing” Ben said once he and Nick were done moving it, “dad said it was full with things from childhood.”, “things like what” Ben continued “its probably just full with bricks, you know how sentimental mom was, saving everything she could. there probably just a bunch of bricks the fell off the house”. “well” Emily said extending her hand towards Ben “lets find out then shall we”, with that Ben gave a nod and handed emily the key. Emily than bent down and put the key into the chests really oddly shaped keyhole, a shape she did not know. Emily turn the key as much as it would let her, which was five times, and each time the key turned, the box made an odd clicking sound. upon the fifth turn, the latches around the chest that locked it, unlocked. Emily throw open the chest, and was amazed with what she saw. in the box was the most random assortment of junk imaginable, belts, boots, odd clothes and things that Emily had no idea what they were. as soon as the box was open, everyone started rifling through everything. “this is the stuff from mom’s past” Nick said holding an odd looking hat “this is a bunch of junk”, emily was going to mouth a reply of agreement but stopped when she came across small box. inside the box, a large diamond. “now that is what i am talking about!” Ben said gesturing the diamond emily was holding by the box. “have you ever seen a diamond that large?” Nick said as he stared at the pure colorless diamond, “never” Sapheara said “and i work at a jewelry store!”. Emily stared at the diamond for a few more seconds, and then reached to take it out of its case but right as her skin touched the smooth surface of the diamond, something happened. it was like a silent wave pulsed from the diamond, and suddenly the world seemed dark and consciousness vanished from her grip.

“oh, my head!” Emily said once she started to wake, pain choking her brain with every breath she took. with a struggled effort, she managed to open her eyes and sit up. scattered around Emily, all looking the same as she felt, were her brothers and sisters. watching them groan as they struggled to awake fully, Emily looked at their mothers box in front of her and discovered it, closed. the lid was locked tight and the key was missing, and everything they had taken out of it, including the diamond, was either gone or most likely back in the box. “uuuh, what happened?” Ben said once he was on his feet, and rubbing his neck. “not one clue!” Emily said as she also stood, brushing the dust off her cloths. “where’s all of mom’s old things?” Ashley said sounding confused, “well” Nick said seriously “I would assume that we were robbed!” with that concern appeared on everyone’s faces and they all rushed up stairs, to see if anything else was missing or out of place. looking around the whole house, Emily nor her family found a single thing out of place, the doors and windows were even still locked. during their search, Emily felt a most unusual feeling, something that she did not feel before they all lost consciousness. it was a hard to describe feeling to Emily but if she had to put words to it, they would be “a balloon ready to pop!”. every part of her felt bloated and tight, but she looked no different from what she could tell from her reflection she saw in the kitchens marble counter tops. added to that, Emily also felt thin, light, weightless. she felt like she had not eaten if seven days, and from the growling noises her stomach made, she was starting to think that it was the truth.

walking up the stairs to the second level, Ben paused and leaned on the stair railing. a massive heat wave washed over him, and suddenly he felt like he had an unbearable fever. he could feel sweat rolling down his face, focus leaving his grasp. with a few deep breaths, Ben walked the last couple of steps up the stairs and went straight to the bathroom to splash water in his face.

stepping outside, into the backyard, Sapheara wrapped her arms around herself as she suddenly felt extremely cold. at first she thought it was the wind, but once a few minutes past and no such similar breeze passed through the air, she became unsure what was causing her body to freeze. it was odd, but sapheara could never remember being this cold before, she had been sick many times and had many colds, but nothing like this. her body was shivering uncontrollably, her nose was starting to drop snot, her teeth were shaking and hitting each other so much that they were actually making a chattering sound. “it.. must.. be... some... bug... that... is.. going.. around!” Sapheara said to herself, stuttering and shivering with every word. “that... stupid... , Emily!” Sapheara continued “she.. probably.. was.... the... one.. who.. made.. me... sick, bringing.. home.. germs... from.. that... ratty... little... place.. she... lives... in!” with that Sapheara rushed back inside, hoping to warm herself up.

sitting down on the sofa, Nick exhaled a long sigh. he could not explain it, but his body felt extremely tired. it was not the normal kind of tired however, it was more like his body just did not want to move any more, like every step he took or any move he made, was an unnatural thing. his muscles also felt stiff, and his mind very uninterested in anything. pushing away thoughts of himself, Nick made a yawn and proceeded in the only task which seemed acceptable to him at the moment, doing nothing.

Ashely looked around her room and through her things with a new sense of energy, she felt like she could run thirty miles and still have energy to do a little dance at the end. “it must have been the sandwich i ate!” Ashely thought as she made sure nothing was taken from her room “or possible the soda, they did taste kind of funny!” shrugging off those thoughts, Ashely walked out of the room. almost right as she passed the door frame, Ashely two odd feelings. the first was a feeling of hunger, but that was not too different from how she usually felt. the other feeling was a need to eat, or at least chew, everything around her. it was a most confusing thing, something she had never felt before. she wanted to chew on the wooden door behind her, she wanted to lick the paint on the walls, she even wanted to take a few bites out of herself. “my juicy juicy self!” Ashely thought, and then shook her head sideways. “okay!” Ashely said to herself “that was one of the weirdest things i have ever thought about myself!” with that Ashely paused and noticed a trickle of drool sliding down her chin. wiping it away with the corner of her hand, she rushed downstairs, to find something to eat. she was really, really, really hungry.


walking into the living room, at almost the same time as everyone else, Emily stared in confusion at her brother and sisters. Ben seemed to have trouble standing, and sweat covered his face. Ashely seemed full of energy, her very body seemed to flinch every couple of seconds. Sapheara stood shivering, her skin looking pale. nick, looking and acting the most normal of the group, just not for himself. he sat on the sofa, every bit of him looking still, even his chest burly moved when he breathed. that was nothing like Nick, he always had to be doing something, and never does he just laze around. from the confused looks on the others faces, they noticed what Emily did. “something... is... not... right!” Sapheara said, stuttering and shivering the whole time she spoke. “why.. is... it... so... cold?”, “Cold?” Ben said breathing hard and sounding a little woozy “its freaking hot, i could cook an egg on my forehead right now with how hot it is!”. “i don’t know why you two are complaining about the temperature!” Nick said in a very relaxed sounding voice “things could not be more perfect, just sit down! take a load off!”, “okay!” Ashely suddenly said in a loud and accelerated voice “i need some food now! come on, some one tell me where some more food is! there is nothing more in the kitchen. come on, please. oh you people are no help at all!” with that Ashely stormed out of the room and into the kitchen, never gave anyone so much as a chance to answer her odd question. the usual behavior of Ashely made everyone pause for a moment, and look at themselves, Emily included. although she did not feel hot, cold, starving, or extremely relaxed, she did feel something. “um.......” Emily said feeling unbalanced “i need some fresh air! maybe all go to the gym or something!” with that everyone else murmured similar comment in order to leave the room. “i.. am... going.... to... take... a.. hot.. bath!” said Sapheara in her shiver voice, as she ran upstairs. “the pool for me!” Ben said as he walked towards the back door, drifting side to side as he did. the only person who did not say a thing, was Nick, who seemed to zonked out to even speak. grabbing a set of keys on one of the living room tables, Emily walked out side, got into the car parked onto the driveway, not knowing if it was Nick’s, Ben’s, or Sapheara, but also not caring either. Turning on the car, Emily drove out of the driveway and onto the street, the car making a screeching noise as she drove away.



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