A Reincarnated Curse: The Beginning

Chapter 1

Alex

Yet again, this dream haunted me every year. On this same day, I watch myself chasing this beautiful woman. I was running at a normal speed, as to not alarm her. Her beautiful hair, the color of sunlight, swaying in the wind behind her. Normally, I do not know I am dreaming, but this year I do. The entire town knows this woman to be evil; But as I watch her playfully running in front of me I see an angel. I have always known that I am the reincarnation of my past life.

It has all but been shoved down my throat since a was a kid. Though, as a vampire, I age differently. I have been eighteen for what seems like decades. I saw her turn back laughing towards me with knowing eyes. She knew if I wanted to, I could be there in a split second. As her eyes met mine I could not help myself. Seeing those bright green eyes look into mine it made my heart skip a beat.

She knew she had this effect on me. I ran as fast as I could softly speaking her name in her ear as I wrapped my arms around her. We laughed as we rolled together on the ground. “Why would you do that?” She asked, as she pulled herself up and dusted off the dirt and grass from her dress. “Why would I not do that?” I responded.

As she was walking away toward the town, I grabbed her arm. “Where are you going upset like that?”

“Anywhere, so long as it is away from you”, she said playfully. As she looked at me, I felt the love she had for me. It was an intense feeling. She was about 5’9, as she came up to my chest. Her sun-colored hair blew in the wind releasing her intoxicating scent. It drove me insane. I was like a horny little kid who just hit puberty.

I wanted to do any and everything to her. I wanted to touch her, to kiss her, to feel her…I wanted to taste her. I have never drunk from anyone but even as the thought came to my mind I felt like that was not the case for my dream self.

Her green eyes burned through me, looking into my soul. This intensity should have made me run away, but instead the look she gave me was as if she knew my deepest darkest secrets. It was as if she knew all the good and bad about me and accepted me in spite of it all.

I wrapped my arms around her as I grabbed her face and, ever so gently, kissed her. I could hear her heart racing, which excited me. She pushed me away playfully and ran to her home. Right before she went inside, she looked back towards me, I called out “Goodnight Katerina” and she gave me a simple smile.

I jolted towards my castle and just as I saw it in front of me I felt a stabbing pain in my heart, and I knew something was wrong. I could feel her fear. I just left her, and she was fine. She was home, and I knew she had spelled her home. What could have happened in mere seconds? I felt myself unable to think straight I ran as fast as I could in the direction I knew she was.

I was trying to fight my way through the crowd that seemed to gather around the center. I did not want to hurt the townspeople but as I felt her fear and they were the last thing I was worried about. I started throwing people out of my way as I was stopped from moving. I was lifted in the air and I knew he was doing this.

“Well, what do we have here?” He spoke as I turned my attention to see his face.

“Raphael! You snake! What have you done with her!?” I yelled as he looked at me with a menacing smile on his face. Without her power he was nothing and he knew it. If I got my hands on him I would break his neck.

“A snake am I? It seems our definitions of the word snake seems to differ.” He spoke as he held his hand in the air. He brought his other hand in the air and I saw the amulet. He was going to kill me with her magic. How ironic.

“All of this and you don’t even love her! Why!?” I asked as I continued to feel her fear and for a moment a different feeling. She was angry. As strong as I was, as menacingly frightening I could be, when I felt her anger it struck fear in even me.

“I don’t love her, you are correct. Without her, though, I cannot rightfully take the throne and be accepted as the true king. I love Lorraine, but she loves you too! I cannot win for losing. If it were not for her annoying ass sister Narcissa, I would not have even been able to pull this little rouse off. At least with Katerina, I will be king and your equal. Besides, she is so beautiful, and has really grown since we were children. Her childbearing hips make me think we will have plenty of heirs to the throne.”

As he spoke the last part I found myself able to almost break free from his grasp. To hear him speak about her in that manner set a fire inside of me that I could not explain. “If I can’t have who I want, then I’ll be damned if you do!” He said as a smirk appeared on his face.

“She will never love you and she will never accept you as her lover nor her equal! Without her magic, you have no power against me… or anyone for that matter.” I said as I laughed at the thought. “You are insignificant and weak! You are nothing!” I knew before I said it, that, I should not have.

He started mumbling incantations as he looked at me with such hatred, I thought I would burst into flames, and through the Gratu amulet a light appeared and shot through me. I knew I was dying and hated myself for not being able to protect her. I felt her pain, her anger, and her fear and there was nothing I could do. I thought to myself; Of all the ways to die, if loving her caused my demise I would gladly accept this fate one hundred times over.

Waking up in a sweat I realized it happened again. That dream, you would think it was something I would dread. It was the one thing I looked forward to every year. On that day I would dream of her. I would hug her, feel her warmth, and see her beautiful face as her eyes peered int mine. Her face was burned into my memories. I was in love with a woman I have not met in this life.

“Katerina…” I said aloud as I sat up in my bed. Did I say her name? I felt as if I was being watched and knew. “Lorraine, I tell you every year, you can’t be here on this night.” I spoke as she let her spell go and appeared in front of me. She had tears streaming from her face. I hated to hurt her, but I could not help it. I did not ask for this. I will admit I enjoy the dream more than I should, but these feelings are not even mine.

“You expect me to just stay away while you have visions of your past love? While you reach for her in your sleep? While you call out to her in real life? While you cry for her!?” She asked as she stood in front of me with tears flowing. Cry for her? Call out to her? Was I calling out to her? I thought to myself as I pulled my hand up to my eyes. Sure enough, there were tears. She had a powerful effect on me, and I could not do anything about it.

“Lorraine,” I said as I motioned for her to come to my bed. “I am so sorry for hurting you, I didn’t ask for any of this.” I said as I looked into her eyes. Her eyes were like the ocean. They were so beautiful and vast.

As soon as I looked into her eyes Katerina’s piercing green eyes that seemed to search my soul popped into my mind. I rubbed my eyes to get the vision out of my head. Lorraine was not the kindest girl in the world, and she was not the most patient, but there was more to her than meets the eye. At first she wanted the title of queen, by my side, but as time passed I believe she came to love me. I care about her, but for some reason I just cannot feel more than general feelings of human decency for her.

Her hair was a smooth chocolatey brown color. It was long and streamed down her back like velvet. As soon as I went to touch her hair, to comfort her, the vision of Katerina’s long, wavy, sun colored hair came to mind. I dropped my hand and realized I felt guilty having her here while I thought of another girl.

“She will be here soon…” Lorraine said in a questioning tone.

“I heard; Veronica is supposed to go get her. Narcissa told my mother yesterday at lunch.”

“What are you going to do? Also, why does Narcissa have such a relationship with your mother!? It’s weird! Doesn’t she have a thing for Raphael?”

“I really don’t know. As for her thing for that snake everyone in school knows she does.”

She looked at me playfully and placed her hand on my chest as she traced her fingers down my chest. The only problem was every time I close my eyes, Katerina’s face appears. I pulled her hand away and said, “Not tonight.”

She looked at me angrily and stood as she glared at me. It was as if she was stabbing me with them. “Oh yeah, that’s right, I’m not her!” She yelled.

“It’s not…” I trailed off not wanting to lie to her. That was exactly it. I cared about Lorraine, but I did not love her, not even close. This night, every year, Katerina is all I can ever think about. Even if I have not met her in this life, my soul yearned for her. It would be different when I finally met her. I could show Lorraine that nothing will change. Regardless of that damn curse.

“I can’t believe you!?” She raised her voice at me. She was going to wake my parents if she had not already and I shot her an angry glare.

“Just go! You are going to wake my parents. We will talk about this tomorrow!” I said as I stood motioning for her to leave out of the door. She was angry and I knew it but right now I just needed to be in my thoughts. She left and, finally, I was alone.

I sat on my bed lying back and closed my eyes. Her image came to my mind as clear as in the dream and I let out one more word before drifting off to sleep. “Katerina.”

Katerina

“Katerina wake up! We have a lot of birthday stuff to do today.” Looking over to the alarm clock I saw it was 7 in the morning. “Mom! Is it really necessary to get up at the c***k of dawn?” I called down to my mother as I pulled a pillow on top of my head. I then remembered what happened the night before as I pulled my head out from under the pillow. I was floating above my bed.

Had that been a part of the dream as well? The guy in my dream, why did I suddenly feel closer to him as if I knew him. It was a dream, that is all. It could not have been real, people do not float in mid-air, or at all for that matter.

Getting out of bed, my alarm clock started going off. “Oh my God! Shut up!” As I spoke and reached for the snooze button, the clock slung off of my nightstand and against the wall. I instantly stood from my bed and onto my feet, baffled by what just happened. Did I do that? Does this mean the dream could hold some truth in it?

Immediately after the thought I brushed it off as if it were nothing. It must have just fallen, and I imagined the entire thing. Though the mere thought of it actually happening scared me to the point where I did not even look in the direction of the clock. If I had and it was truly across the room, I would then have to admit I was crazy. There could be no other explanation.

“Mom I have to go to the mall, I promised Amanda and John that I would meet them there when I woke up today.” I called down to my mom.

“Well, I guess that will be okay, but first I need you to go to the garage and bring me the basket by the door if you don’t mind.”

“Okay, but I have to hurry the bus will be at the bus stop any minute now.” As I ran to the garage and opened the door I froze. “MOM?!” Turning around, my mom was standing in the hallway with keys jingling. “NO WAY! Are you, oh my God, SERIOUSLY?”

“Happy birthday baby girl.” My mom said laughingly, as I ran up to her and hugged her as tight as I possibly could. “Now what were you saying about a bus you needed to catch? I mean, if you want you can ride the bus and I’ll just hang these keys up.” My mom said as she dangled the keys in front of me.

“Ha-ha very funny,” I responded back mockingly. Grabbing the keys, I ran up to the car. My dream car, it was a brand new Mustang GT. It was black in color and the inside had black leather with red, outlining the threads and crevices.

Driving to the mall I could barely think of anything accept the dream and the incident that happened this morning. Even though I am driving my dream car, I could not let anything else enter my mind. It was draining enough just thinking of the dream, the guy, the fact that I apparently float in my sleep and let us not forget slinging the alarm clock without touching it. I pulled up to the mall, both, Amanda, and John were waiting for me.

Could I confide in them about my dream, about floating, or about the alarm clock? Would they think I was crazy, or just making it up? I decided not to say anything. My entire life I had never floated. What I had gone through and experienced every single birthday of my life since before I could remember, was have that dream. Like clockwork, at twelve midnight, I would wake up drenched in sweat, fear, and confusion. Yet and still, I had never told anyone about the dream except Amanda.

“Look who it is, fashionably late as always. Please tell me this is real, and I am not dreaming.” Amanda said as she ran her hands along the side of the car. Amanda was about five foot nothing, long black hair, the bluest of blue eyes with freckles. Absolutely stunning but she never saw herself in that light. I met Amanda in Kindergarten and we have been inseparable ever since. I told Amanda everything, but could I trust that Amanda wouldn’t immediately suggest that I seek help for my obvious loss of sanity?

“Wow, super nice! What engine does it have? How fast does it go? This is so cool!” John was a car buff; he wanted to become a mechanic one day and open his own shop right here in town. He was about 6 feet tall, a good medium when it came to complexion and he was very handsome as well. He had brown hair cut into a fade with a little bit of hair in his face and big brown eyes. He had a really deep voice and yet he was the quietest guy I knew. I met John in the third grade and introduced him into mine and Amanda’s circle.

“It’s not a dream, happy birthday to me. As far as car talk, you lost me after, wow super nice.” I do not know anything about cars. I just really like the way it looks, more so than other cars.

Walking into the mall I could not shake the feeling of being watched or followed even. Just as we made it to the arcade, I heard it again, “Katerina”. I turned around looking behind me. It sounded like he was behind me, but more than likely just in my head. “Did you guys call for me?” I asked, hoping John would tell me that he had.

“No, I am trying to get some coins, so we can play.” John said as he looked at me with confusion.

Still looking around searching, I started to think I was really going crazy. Maybe I was just replaying the dream in my mind. That had to be it. After the dream and the floating then the alarm clock and now hearing voices, maybe I was losing it after all.

“I got the coins, who wants to take me on in air hockey?” John said as he approached Amanda and me. He was ridiculously competitive. Playing against him in any sport, game or contest was just a waste of time. If he did not win, he would convince you to keep playing until he had the upper hand. It was almost not fun anymore after losing to him even just once.

“Not me, Amanda, that’s all you.” Normally I would be all for playing but tonight I just felt off. I could not shake the feeling of being watched. As they played I felt like someone was watching me. We had been here all day, but it seemed as if time had stopped. I got the same feeling I had when I heard the voice.

It should have been creepy, but it felt mildly comforting. Looking around I noticed a woman across the room staring at me. The woman was average height and blonde hair like mine. She actually favored me in looks, except I was mildly taller. She was staring at me intently, as if to tell me something. Then it hit me. The dream, the woman to my right tied to the pole.

“No, that’s impossible.” I said allowed to myself just barely above a whisper. The blonde hair, the same expression as the woman in the dream, her face, even her eyes. The same emerald green as my own. How was this possible? Maybe I have seen her before. Maybe I was just making excuses for my obvious insanity.

Immediately I turned around acting as if I had not just seen that the woman saw I was looking back at me. Walking rather fast, I did not even stop to explain to Amanda or John. “I have to go; I’ll text you guys later!” I yelled, as I hurriedly walked out of the arcade. As I was walking to my car, I had all these questions swirling around in my mind. How could I have a dream about a woman I never met?

Why was the woman staring at me so intently? Why in the world did she look almost identical to me? Was it a hallucination? I mean, I was pretty much losing my mind since midnight. Weirdest birthday EVER. Walking by the cars trying to find my new baby, I beeped for it and all at once every single car within the parking lot, it seemed, that had an alarm started to go off.

“Katerina!” Why was I still hearing the voice?

“What do you want!?” I yelled as I started picking up the pace.

I started to run to the cars. I went with my gut and ran right up to my car. Fumbling the keys in my hand, I went to unlock the door.

“I have missed you so very much!” Dropping the keys, I let out a scream and jumped backwards turning around and just as it started, every car in the parking lot stopped going off all at once. It was the woman standing in front of me, she was not a hallucination, she was very much real.