Chapter 2

July 08

Dear Diary. I am in hell.

No, I am not exaggerating just because I am Sick. I have never felt like this before.

It started at the morning. I was bloated & nauseous since sunrise.

The house has been busy preparing for a guest's arrival. Nobody paid attention to me even when I said that I was feeling prickling sensation on my face & my Stomach hurt.

"You are just constipated," aunt had told me ,"How many times had I told you to eat your bananas ?"

Ugh. Seriously.

Nobody cared. Nobody trusted me. But I had a foreboding feeling.

I felt miserable.

Gratel was out of town today.

The mayor is taking his son to visit multiple asylums and Gratel can choose the nicest one to stay in.

Aunt did not let me in the dining room in fear that I would ruin the decorations.

But how else was I supposed to go to Kitchen?

Crawl on the walls?

Ofcoure .

Ofcourse I did that.

I am getting old.

I realise that I no long have the energy to the swing from one window to another.

My fingers don't fit in the holes anymore. I had to borrow the strength of the mango tree beside window.

The tree has been my friend longest time.

By long,I mean,since birth.

As I have climbed on the brunch with the tiny-stick picture Gratel had drawn yesterday, I saw a wagon had pulled infront of the gate.

I must say the wagon is the most beautiful thing I had seen in a while.

It was white with golden rims & what looked like golden & Silver flowers all over it.

There was a sunken feeling inside my stomach .

Were they here ?

Did they come to take Isabel away?

And then a fairy came down.

She wore beautiful blue hat, her golden hair was in a bun pinned with a decoration which looked like a silver butterfly.

When she looked up at me, she had beautiful green eyes.

My heart beat louder because either I was in love or I was scared that the Fairy was going to tattle about me to aunt.

She just smiled

Aunt had come out to greet her,

" How nice of you to finally show up at own doorstep, little lady?"

"Thank fully the heaven has helped me today, with a good health," the fairy had said," Is Miss Isabella inside?"

"Waiting for you for hours!"

Aunt lied. I knew that Isablel had woke up late today.

I sensed something in her voice. Aunt talks like that when she attends the evening party of Morris.

I must tell you, aunt absolutely hates the Morris.

I wanted to know about what they were talking about.

Honestly as long as the fairy don't tattle me to aunt, I was going to do fine.

Suddenly I felt a chill run through my spine, as if the attic ghost was looking at me.

I looked at the wagon, instinctively. The driver had not noticed me.

He was pulling the horses away. I supposed that the wagon would come back later to pick the fairy. God forbids she stays

at our house tonight. The female guests always get shoved into my room.

Then I noticed the blue eyes. By blue, I do not mean the shiny blue of the autumn sky. It was like the sky after the sunset in a rainy day, like deep sea at just before the sunrise .

I could suddenly feel all kinds of new pain on my body like I was getting and possessed.

There was a sharp pain in my abdomen.

I could not look away from the grim reaper who was sitting in the flower- Carriage of the fairy.

I felt that I had seen them before. All the reason I had yet burnt brighter .

I could never let Isabel get married .

Honestly, I knew that I was going to be a hell .

Today. I was sick, we had guests , even Fred was at home since it was Saturday.

I even met the grim reaper.

I knew today was going to be bad. But it turned out straight hell.

No, it was not that I died and ended up in hell.

But if I had to imagine how hell would look like. I would say it would be like today but put in a loop , over and over for a long time .

For fourteen years, of life, this was a my day I wished would never come back.

And my nightmare started when I heard the fairy & my aunt talking over tea.

"Miss Isabella is always so caring , I feel like she must have siblings ," the fairy was saying .

" No ,Isabella is only daughter of my dear late brother , that is why we have raised her preciously !"

That was how it was.

Aunt has told me that I must say that I am a distant cousin of my own sister .

Since I had a bad reputation. Isabel's marriage prospect might go down if people find out that we were closely related.

"Oh, there is Frederick ,"aunt had laughed out, "I forget about him all the time. Frederick is like her own brother. Isabel loves him a lot. Frederick come & Sit beside your beloved sister ."

Fred always looks scared of Isabel.

I saw him flinch as Isabel brushed her hair with her fingers.

Atleast he was in the family portrait.

I mean, I would be choking in anxiety if I had to sit there & talk .But still my stomach churned.

Aunt might be right.

Maybe I was really constipated.

But that did not mean that I could skip Gratel's homework. I did not want to disppoint him.

So I went to the kitchen to poke holes into the rice-bags with a stick.

I would like to mention it was not easy fo imagine my would-be-in-law as a bag of rice.

But we do have to practice on something.

"What is the Rat doing here?"

Annoyed ,I looked up.

Surely, Fred the freak had the nerve to follow me here.

If you are ask me , I think that the solo mission of Fred was to torment me.

We were both getting homeschooled until oneday even aunt realised that she had to send Fred to a boarding school to end my suffering.

That was 'after' Fred had me stuck inside a a barrel with a dozen of frogs & his pet snake.

Aunt fed that snake to our chicken at farm.

Fred is still hot about it on me.

"Did you just come here without

asking permission from Isabel?," I mentioned his weak point. I also know that he is too much of a coward to actually talk to Isabel," I hope Isabel likes it when I mention it to her later ."

I fell against the rice bag & my stick broke into two.

Fred the freak had shoved me to the floor.

The pain in my stomach was increasing. I had an odd feeling that my groin was in pain too. I just did not want to admit it since I was so embarrassed about it.

I felt anxious but mad.

Usually I would just let it go but I stood up, "Like a very good gentleman, freak!"

"Why do I need to be a gentleman to a Rat?" he shoved my forehead with his index finger "Peasant!"

"Says the one living in OUR house."

Fred froze.

I knew that it was wrong to say this.

Isabel would be disappointed & Aunt would be Sad if they had heard me .

But I was feeling recklessly angry.

And it was true.

This house was my father's. After our parents died, our widow aunt moved in here with her children.

The rumouse has it that her in-laws did not give anything to her.

Even the food on the table & Fred's school fees everything came from the land my father owns & the pension he had after his retirement.

"You still don't get it, do you?," Fred came so close that I could even smell garlic in his breath, "You don't own ANYTHING here. My mother is taking everything away for us. Look, your holy, high-hose Sister, even Isabel is getting married to earn the money so that I can get in a medical school like my brother "

I took in a shaky breath.

"You can beg or you can get sold like your Sister," Fred smiled,"Atleast, Isabella is bringing so much money, I wonder if you will be worth few coins after throwing two chickens with you, quack! quack!"

Now that I think about it Chickens don't quack quack. The ducks do.

Stupid Fred.

"You are just like a leech then," I whistled, "You & your mother."

I saw Fred's face going red .He took a step back ,looking around for something to throw at me. He yanked a rice bag but could not lift it.

The next thing he picked up was a peeler from the table. The cook was out entertaining the guest. He threw it at me.

But his throw was terrible since he seemed blind in anger.

It fell for away from me and I laughed out.

That triggered him off more.

He straight kicked me hard.

I felt the air choked out from my stomach & then I hit my head on the floor.

There was a long silence.

"What is happening?,"aunt called out.

I could have tried to get up. But I felt tired so I kept my eyes shut.

For a few moments it was hard to breath.

"Oh my god! "I heard the cook's voice, "What is happening here?"

"She is not getting up ,"Fred sounded like he was crying ," Why is she not getting up? This is stupid!"Even in this situation , Fred made it sound like it was my fault .

I could feel the cook picking me up, her loud voice was annoying. She shouted asking for help as if there was a murder.

I felt the wind on my face when aunt entered the situation.

The things started breaking & glasses shattered on the floor. Fred sounded like he was begging for his life as aunt went through him. It took few seconds but Fred was already

a lost cause after aunt was done with him.

"Anne! Anne! Can you hear me?", her voice sounded so horrifying that I felt like if I did not answer she was going to beat me too.

I opened my eyes & was immediately nauseous. I threw up on my white night gown. I wanted to apologise for my clothes, but sompone shoved a cold towel on my face.

I could not breath again. I tried to tell my beating heart that It is not that bad and I will be alright .

"Blood ," Fred looked at me with absolute horror .Yes. I could see that his lips were bleeding and there were blood on his teeth but he pointed at me.

I looked up down. The smell of iron & salt hit my nose. A sticky red fine river was running down my legs. It made me wonder if was stabbed.

Did Fred slab me?

" Blood," I told aunt.

Maybe people were night. Gratel was actually cursed.

I stared at the stick man figure

he had drawn on the paper .

He did tell me to think that I was stabbing someone when stab the rice-bag.

And now I am pouring out blood.

I have been cursed .