The Amaryllis Curse

Chapter 1

(Note: any and all comments throughout the story by readers are welcome as I am a new writer and would love some constructive criticism :) )

The air was dark and cold in my room, the air seeming to be sucked dry as my anxiety rose. What was this? Why did everything die around me?

I sat on my bedroom floor holding a bird that had flown in through my open window. It lay still and cold now in my trembling hands as I cried. "Momma! Papa!" I cried out.

The darkness seemed to create it's own black and red vines around the rooms objects, coming from my bare feet that touched the floor.

A loud and resounding thud slammed my door as my father broke through it. My parents rushed in, mouths open with shock as they ran to me, my mother hugging me close.

As my anxiety calmed, so did the darkness. It all seemed to dissipate as I looked at the bird again. Explaining the events, my mother stood up and headed out of the room to go to the study.

My father took the bird and placed it in a small shoebox, as he then took it outside. He then returned holding a pair of gloves.

"Gloves?"

"They will help. And these too." He said holding a pair of matching black flats. "Out of sight."

"Out of mind." I finished as I put on the gloves and shoes.

The gloves did help me. I could touch animals now, and no darkness came anymore. Years passed, and I was living what I knew to be a normal life, going to school and home routinely.

I didn't have many friends, mainly because I looked so different from my parents, that people didn't believe I was really theirs.

My hair was black, and my eyes a mix of red and green. My mother said it was due to the flower she had given me, that it made me unique. I never saw it that way though. I always was the laughing stock at my school for the gloves and my appearance.

Today was my 16th birthday, and I was going to make the best of it. "Hikari you're going to be late!" my mother called from the kitchen as I was brushing my hair.

I looked in the mirror, my eyes seeming to glow back at me. I pulled my hair into a ponytail, it's waist-length still reaching my mid-back even when I put it up. With an audible sigh, I walked out of the bedroom already in my school uniform.

A white blouse and red skirt, a bow on my chest area with a pin showing our school mascot, a red dragon.

"I'm never late mom, I arrive when I want." I said with a small smile as I grabbed my brown lunch bag off of the table. Miyako gave a small frown as she shook her head.

At that moment, my father burst into the room. "I found it! The gardener in town had it, he said he was keeping it but I paid a fair price for it. The jeweler next door thought I was a bit odd in my request for a pendant, but agreed to my request." Hina said in a huff. He took off his jacket and hung it on the rack as he walked over to us.

I tilted my head.

My mother looked slightly shocked. "You mean...you found it? But I thought it didn't have a pair? The book never mentioned that." She said.

"It does have a pair. And, if my theory is correct, it will keep her powers in check."

I looked at his hand, which was clasped tightly around something. He opened his hand to show a necklace, in which the pendant was a deep crimson, showing a flower inside of it, also crimson. It seemed to glow ever so slightly when I grabbed it from his hand and put it around my neck.

"I thought that's why I wore the gloves?" I asked in slight confusion.

"Well....they work to a degree but...remember last month at the dinner?" My mother said softly.

My mind flashed back quickly to that nightmare. We were having dinner as usual but in the local restaurant. I was so anxious about my finals in school, that I couldn't hold back my powers.

The room lost power and the air became almost non-existent with the poisonous toxin of the flower in my blood. My mother immediately got us outside and home, freeing the restaurant and returning it to normal.

Just thinking about it gave me anxiety. The kitchen's lights dimmed a bit as my mother touched my shoulder. "Hikari, it will be fi—"

I waved my arm, knocking her hand off of me. "You always say that! You always say it will be fine but it never is. Look I'm late for school, I have to go." With my sharp words, I walked out of the house, slamming the door behind me.

"Wait Hikari!" Miyako said as she reached out her hand. Hina touched her shoulder.

"She will be fine. The necklace and the gloves should keep her safe." He said as he looked to the door.

"But we don't know that for sure."