Breaking the Curse

Chapter 13

The Prince burst into the old temple, his boots echoing off the stone floor. The Witch, a wizened old woman with a wild mane of gray hair, looked up from her work in alarm.

"What happened?" the Prince demanded.

"The thing," the Witch said, her voice trembling. "It mutated early."

"Is it the boy?" the Prince asked.

"No, your highness," the Witch said. "It's another child. And we're missing one from the cage. We think it ate him."

The Prince's eyes widened. "So it can eat people now?"

"Yes, your highness," the Witch said.

The Prince smiled. "Perfect. That means I won't have to worry about disposing of the bodies after it kills Lon Nol and his goons."

"But your highness," the Witch said. "The independent day is two weeks away. I need more time."

"No," the Prince said. "I need it ready by the full moon. That's two days from now. If it's not ready, I'll have your head."

The Witch paled. "Yes, your highness."

The Prince turned and strode out of the temple, leaving the Witch alone with her fears.

-__-

Back at Miles and Ellis's house, the family is having breakfast together. Miles and his brother Ellis sit next to each other, and his sister Adeline sits right next to his younger sister Monika.

With the sound from the TV still playing in the living room.

"Slow down, Ellis. That's disgusting," said Adeline.

"Do a lot of studying last night?" Ellis asked his big sister, with a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, actually, I did," Adeline replied.

"What was your test on again? Human anatomy?" Ellis joked and Miles suddenly burst out laughing too while their parents were now confused about what Ellis really meant.

Adeline tried to kick Ellis's legs to make him stop asking questions that could lead to her sneaking out of her room last night.

"Hey, that hurt! What the hell!!!" Ellis shouted back at his sister.

"Hey, what's going on?" Their mom asked.

"Nothing, Mom," Ellis and Adeline both replied at the same time.

"Hurry up, you three. You're all late for school," their dad said while taking another bite of his chicken fried.

"Yes, Father," the three replied.

Meanwhile, at the town Middle school, several dozen students of various middle school ages were now entering through the main school door, chatting and standing in the hallway, as most typical middle school students did in the morning.

In that crowd of young students was Alice walking alongside her new friend, V, quizzing her for an upcoming test. Alice was reading from a history book while V was holding a novel book in her hand.

"When was Angkor Wat start its construction?" Alice asked.

"Ahh, 1116 C.E., I think," V replied.

"That's correct. Okay, next question. When did the Kingdom of Cambodia get independence from France?" Alice asked again.

"Ahh, wait wait... November 9th, 1953?"

"NO! It's April 29th, 1953! It's two weeks from now! Come on, catch up V!" Alice teased her new friend.

"What? I read it last time it said November 9th, 1953," V replied in confusion.

"No! It never said November 9th! November 9th, 1953 is when the monarchy was abolished!" Alice explained.

"Oh right right... sorry," V replied.

As they continued walking, Alice noticed that V looked pale and distracted. She seemed off, not like herself or something.

"Are you okay? What's wrong? You can talk to me V," Alice asked.

"No it's nothing... let's go, we're late for class," V replied. From that response, Alice knew that something was not right with V and she started to wonder why.

Not far away from the middle school's building was the high school's building. In Lakewood High, the atmosphere was not that different from the middle school.

Naty was walking with Adeline, also quizzing her for an upcoming test. Adeline was reading from a chemistry book to try to prepare for her upcoming test.

"When alpha particles go through the gold foil, they become..." Naty asked Adeline, who was walking alongside her, on their way to their French class.

"Unoccupied space," Adeline responded.

"When alpha particles go through the gold foil, they become..."

"Unoccupied space, again," Adeline replied in confusion.

"Wrong! The right answer is a molecule that can–" Naty was interrupted by Micheal, who grabbed the flashcard away from her hand.

Micheal pushed his girlfriend, Adeline against the wall, making Naty, who stood between them, feel very uncomfortable.

"I don't know... I think you've studied enough, Adeline," Micheal said.

"Micheal, give Naty back her flashcard. We need to study," Adeline said in her cute voice.

"I'm telling you, you know this. Don't worry. Now, on to more important matters. My dad has left town on a conference and my mom's gone with him, 'cause, you know, she doesn't trust him," Micheal said. Naty wondered what that question had to do with anything, but Adeline had no idea what her boyfriend was talking about.

"One chance in a million," Nathan, one of Micheal's friends, said.

"So are you in?" Micheal asked Adeline, who had no idea what her boyfriend was talking about.

"In for what?" Adeline asked.

"No parents? Big house?" Chloe said.

"A party?"

"Ding, ding, ding!" Chloe added.

"It's Tuesday, I can't have a party on Tuesday," Adeline explains.

"It's Tuesday! Oh, my God, the Teacher's pet can't go party on Tuesday." Nathan mocks Adeline which causes Micheal to slap his friend hard on the back.

"Knock it out, Nathan," Micheal says, looking straight into his rude friend's eye.

"Come on. It'll be low-key. It'll just be us. What do you say? Are you in or are you out?" Micheal added, still trying to convince his girlfriend to come.

"Umm, I don't know, Micheal." Adeline hesitated.

"Oh, God, look at you right now, Adeline. You no fun to hang around." Chloe says and laughs with her boyfriend Nathan again.