The Cursed Child

Chapter Two

The ride home was extremely quiet. There was no way she would go to school after having such a wild morning. Penny stared out the window the entire ride home and I made it clear to not even say anything to her because I was at a loss for words. I just discovered that I was bulletproof without a vest so you could imagine that I was confused, shocked, and on the to having a full blown panic attack but I needed to be calm for her. 

I pulled the car into the familiar driveway and watched as Penny quickly got out. I got out behind her and slammed the door shut before locking it. I awkwardly unlocked the front door and pushed it open as Penny walked inside of the house and marched right towards the stairs. I prepared to walk to the kitchen to prepare myself a snack or a drink to help take my mind off of what happened maybe two hours ago but Penny had other things in mind. 

"How long have you known?" She asked as she stood in the middle of the stairs and stared at me with an angry expression on her face. 

I sighed. "Known what?" 

She scoffed. "Don't play stupid with me! How long have you known that you were a mutant?" She asked yet I could hear the venom and disgust in the word mutant. 

"Are you serious?" I asked. 

"Extremely!" She exclaimed as she made her way down the steps. "What you did was nowhere near human! There's only one way to explain it. You're a mutant!" 

"I saved your life!" I yelled. 

"You did and I sincerely and honestly thank you for that but you couldn't possibly think what happened didn't happen?" She replied. 

"I do not know how to explain it." 

"You're a mutant." She mumbled. 

We both stood there in silence for two minutes neither of us daring to say something during the entire 120 seconds of awkward and uncomfortable silence. 

Finally, she sighed and smacked her hand across her face. "Do you not know how serious this is? We've been living with a mutant since forever! This is illegal as well!" 

I rolled my eyes and began making my way back towards the kitchen as I originally planned. "You're overdoing it." 

"I'm not! You're a mutant, Journee! You've been here with us since forever ago. If - excuse me - when people find out what you truly are, they'll stick you in a lab and use you as a test animal then send you back to your country with your kind while you're hanging on to life by a thread then they'll send us to jail for sneaking a mutant and sheltering it." 

"Sneaking? Sheltering? I breathe just like everyone else, I bleed just like everyone else, I feel pain just like everyone else!" I exclaimed 

Penny sighed heavily. "We need to discover what more you can do so we can at least attempt to hide what abilities you do have. If we continue to hide them then you'll be able to stay here. You've made it this far!" 

I grabbed a bottle of tequila and prepared to pour it but Penny grabbed the bottle quickly. "There will be no underage drinking." 

"Thanks Mom." 

Penny gasped. "What if you're the lost princess that Chase was telling us about?" 

I laughed. "You're really pushing it!" 

"Think about it! A mutant princess has been missing for years and then you're here? There's no mutants here other than yourself!" 

"You do not know that." 

"You were adopted!" 

"Can we please not do this? Drop it!" I exclaimed. We both jumped at the sound of thunder. Penny stood up and walk over to the window and stared out it as the dark clouds complimented the sky. 

"What if..." she trailed off. 

"What?" 

"You and Chase had that argument and the beautiful sunlight disappeared and was replaced with stormy weather which ruined my workout." She mumbled. 

"Okay?"

"You and I are having a wild discussion and you get worked up then the sun disappears again and suddenly it is about to storm." She explained. "It's you!" 

"What are you talking about?" 

"Your emotions are linked to the weather! Whenever you're happy, the weather is nice. Whenever your pissed, it storms!" 

I stared at Penny for a few seconds as she stood there with a look of realization and shock on her face. I placed my hand over my mouth before bursting into a full blown laugh. Penny crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently. I placed my hands up in defense and continued to laugh. 

"I'm sorry but that's impossible!"  

"Do you really want to go there with me about what's possible and what is not?" She asked. 

I sighed. "Okay so you may have me on the whole me being a mutant thing but the weather being connected to me is just overall pushing it." 

"If it's pushing it then how come the grey clouds are gone and the sun is shining again." She said. I turned around quickly and was shocked to see that she was right. It seemed as if I tornado was on the way just a few minutes ago and now the dark clouds had been replaced with the beaming sun. 

"This changed as soon as you laughed by the way." Penny whispered causing me to jump. I hadn't realized that she had managed to come around the counter and stand behind me while I looked out of the window. "I'm right. You're feelings are connected to the weather." 

"You think my mutation abilities is weather manipulation?" I asked. 

She stood there for a second before I smile spread across her face. "I said I felt that your feelings were connected to the weather. I never said you could manipulate the weather but let's see shall we?" 

"How?" 

"Weather manipulation means you could form an type of storms. Thunderstorms, Hurricanes, Tornados, or Tsunamis!" Penny explained. 

"I am not about to go out here and create any of those knowing it can damage and kill people! I don't even know how to make it happen!"

"Don't you understand?" She asked. "You make it happen by your emotions." 

"Overthinking as usual." I said as I rolled my eyes and walked away from her. 

"We'll see." She grabbed a knife and tossed it towards me. I quickly moved away as the knife landed directly in the wall. 

"Penny!" I exclaimed. As soon as I angrily yelled her name, thunder roared. I turned to look at her as she stood in the same spot except she nodded her head slowly and smiled at me like a psychopath. 

"Bulletproof, Quick reflexes and weather manipulation." She announced. 

"You could've killed me!" I shouted. 

"Are you immortal? Let's test that out!" She excitedly yelled. 

"Stay away from me!" 

"Oh! Don't be so dramatic!" She started. "We are only testing everything out. It is best to know what all you can do so you can learn how to control it!" 

"I've controlled it for years. We were just fine!" 

"That's the point. There's something setting you off to make you suddenly gain your abilities like this." Penny pointed out. 

"Now you're talking!" 

"What if The King is stepping down and your powers are coming in because it's your turn to rule?" 

"I am not a princess!" I said through gritted teeth. 

"The princess was cursed too." Penny revealed. We stood in the kitchen in silence. 

"There's nothing cursed about me though." I whispered. 

"We don't know that but from the looks of it you're not cursed which is basically the only reason why I would not consider you the lost princess but everything else lines up," She replied. 

"We should call it a day." 

Penny laughed. "The day hasn't even started plus we still have something to discover. Do you remember anything odd about your childhood?" 

I stood there for a second to think before shaking my head. "I don't recall anything odd happening during my childhood besides seeing Chase draw himself a six pack during elementary days." 

Penny grabbed my arm and ran out of the kitchen. We ran upstairs until we were in her room. She grabbed the purple laptop that sat on her dresser before sitting on her huge black and purple bed. I followed her and sat down as she pulled up google and began searching about the lost princess. 

"This!" She exclaimed as she pointed at the screen. 

"What does it say?" 

"Princess Raine also known as The Lost Princess or The Cursed Child was a member of the Runne Royal Family and first in line to the throne. She would have become the first Queen ruler by birth right upon her coronation." Penny read. 

"First queen ruler by birth right? This means that all of the other queens only had the title by marriage. Runne has been ruled by men since forever?" 

"Pretty much." Penny agreed. "It does say that in 2010, women were able to rule but there were most boys born and when they had kids they'd rule. Princess Raine was iconic from her birth." 

"Very." 

"Princess Raine was born on March 23, 2011 and disappeared on the night of May 3rd back the same year. She has been announced deceased since 2013. However, the child's body has never been found." 

"That's crazy." 

"Don't you understand? This really helps me out with you being the lost child!" 

"How?" 

"It is 2030. The baby would be 19 by now. You're 19!" 

"My birthday is also on April 2nd. We have different birthdays." 

Penny scoffed. "They didn't know your birthday so they gave you one which leads us to the next thing. Mom said that there were no records of you. There was no birth certificate, no social security card, or anything on you. It was as if you fell from the sky and landed directly at an adoption agency. They gave you everything." 

"I am not the princess so please stop trying to force this narrative." I said before standing up and preparing to exit her bedroom. Penny stood up. 

"I know this is crazy but you have to see that there could be a possibility that what I'm saying is true." 

"How would we even find out?" 

"Going there." 

"Absolutely not." 

"Why?" She whined. 

"You're not even allowed to go there. There's a barrier that only mutants are able to get through." I corrected. Penny sighed before throwing herself back onto her huge bed. 

“Is this a sign that we should leave it alone?” She asked. 

“Yes!” I exclaimed. Penny rolled over and looked at me sadly before nodding her head. I sighed in relief before giving her a soft smile and a thumbs up. I heard her head drop and a sigh come from her as I left her bedroom. I closed the door before leaning against it and sighing. 

Despite the fact that I told her we should drop the entire thing, I couldn’t help but feel more invested in knowing about my life before being adopted. I felt like the part of me that had been locked away was finally being unleashed and I wanted answers. However, I was afraid — afraid what could happen to me and the people I have grown to love and call my family. 

“I cannot believe I’m doing this.” I mumbled to myself before standing up and opening the door to Penny’s room. She stood only a few feet away from the door and had a look of shock written across her face as I stood there. I sighed before speaking. “Fine! We can continue this thing but keep this between us and us only!” 

Penny screamed before running over and wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You won’t regret this!” 

“Yeah okay.” 

“I promise to leave this between us too!”

“Penny? Journee? Is that you?” I heard someone call. We turned around and ran downstairs only to be greeted with our mom and Chase. I looked at the clock and realized that time had ran by. 

“Hi Mom!” We said in unison. She immediately wrapped her arms around us both. 

“I received the text from Penny earlier. Are you two okay?” She asked. 

“We’re fine!” 

“They’ll be fine. Stop treating them like children.” Chase said as he rolled his eyes and grabbed an orange from the bowl that sat in the middle of the table. 

“Chase!” She scolded. “Don’t start!” 

“I’m only saying that they’re fine!” 

“Can you just not saying anything at all? She’s just worried!” I replied. 

Chase stared at me for a while before laughing. “I have no idea who you’re talking to.” 

“I’m talking to you. Chase, all you do is sit back and talk s**t every single day and I’m sick of it! We could’ve died today and the least you could do is just say that you’re glad we’re okay. We are your siblings!” 

“You are in no way related to me!” 

“What have I ever done to you for you to be so cruel towards me?” I shot back. 

“You exist!” 

“Your excuse is bullshit and you know it!” I yelled. 

“f**k off and go back to where you came from!” 

“I hate you!” I screamed. I didn’t realize that I had got so worked up until I punched the wall which sent my entire fist straight through it. My mom and Penny gasped as they stared at me while Chase looked at me with wide eyes. 

“Let’s get you upstairs.” Penny said as she placed her hands on my shoulders and prepared to lead me out of the kitchen. “It looks like it’s about to storm as well.” 

“You’re gonna need me one day and I will not be there for you. I will never be there for you, Chase.” I said before storming out of the kitchen and upstairs as Penny followed behind me.