Cursed ✔️

19. The Only Blaze Survivor

"Who's there?" Hannah was terrified but gathered her courage and demanded an answer.

"I asked who's there?"

But no response.

John suddenly felt a chill running through his spine as he felt someone's cold breaths on his neck and a presence behind him. He was too afraid to turn and see who it was.

Hannah could feel that her brother was frozen with fear. She wanted to grab him and Tom and make an escape but she too felt her feet paralyzed.

John gave out a loud shriek that filled the entire house as he felt the dark figure's cold, wet, and pointy teeth burying in his neck.

"John!?" Mr. and Mrs. Jackson came running and switched on the lights of the room. " What happened?"

"Nothing. It was just the show." Hannah tried to change the subject. She didn't want her parents to get worried.

"See! That's why I told you guys to not watch these types of shows at night - especially close to midnight - but you never listen." Mrs. Jackson said in a rough but concerned voice. " Now, go to bed."

"C'mon Tom," Hannah said taking Tom gently by the collar.

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John grunted and rolled over to the other side as his bright blue digital alarm clock rang. His hands searched for the clock on the side table with his eyes still shut. He finally found it and turned off the alarm clock. 6:30 AM displayed on the screen.

"Rise and Shine!" Mrs. Jackson said while pulling the curtains to one side, allowing the early morning sunlight to enter the room. The distant sounds of birds chirping came through the windows along with the morning fresh air.

"5 more minutes, mom. I promise I'll get ready." John pulled over the sheets and said in a deep morning voice.

"Get ready fast or else you'll be late." Mrs. Jackson left the room and went to check up on her daughter.

As always Hannah was fully ready to go. She had even made her bed. According to her, one should never leave their room messy before leaving it as it reflected on our personality and mood throughout the day. She always liked a neat and tidy room and everything in its proper place.

"Kids come down when you're ready. You have 1 hour before the bus leaves. The breakfast is on the table." Mrs. Jackson went downstairs to join her husband for the morning tea.

John got up - still feeling drowsy - and yawned. As much as he wanted to forget, the last night's incident kept coming back to his mind giving him a shiver. He moved his right hand to the back of his neck where the marks of the teeth were still fresh. The pain was sharp and it still hurt. He got up from his bed to get ready for school.

After the two got ready, they came downstairs and sat on the dining chairs where the waffles - which were topped with maple syrup - and fruit salad were kept on the table. Mrs. Jackson always gave their kids a balance of nutrients and not-so-healthy food. She believed that since the kids like junk foods more than veggies and fruits, they should be given liberty to have their favorites once in a while but one should make sure that they do get their share of nutrients too.

The Jacksons were eating their breakfast when suddenly, Hannah's phone rang. Emily's name flashed on the phone screen.

"Hannah!" Her voice resonated with the type of voice when someone yells your name to alarm you of some danger which you were unaware of.

"Good morning to you too? What happened?"

"Quick! Turn on the news!" She sounded more like shocked.

Hannah was addled but took the T.V. remote and began pressing the next button until the news channel appeared.

"-happened today in the early morning at 4:30 am. The residents were fast asleep when their sleep was unexpectedly broken by the sounds of the fire brigades. The firemen were in full swing to douse off the fire. Our reporter Ashley is at the scene. Over to you Ashley - "

"Thanks, Rachael. As you can see, I'm here with Jason, our cameraman in front of the house which is on a blazing fire. The fire crew had been working hard for more than half an hour to douse off the flames. The house belongs to The Willows. Their neighbor saw the flames burning up the whole room through the window engulfing the curtains and the walls which slowly spread to other rooms and immediately called 911 and informed The Willows. In no time, the entire neighborhood gathered and when the firemen turned up, the whole house was engulfed in fire. The family of four was rescued but they are still shaken and in tears. Who wouldn't be though?

Let's talk to the neighbors. What's your name?"

"I'm Susan."

" Hi, Susan. So, what happened in here?"

" I live across the Willows. We were woken up from our sleep when we heard the frantic screams and people shouting for help. We came outside and saw Willow's house completely wrapped up in a blazing inferno. Never in my life, I have seen a fire like this. The flames, the smokes rising up, everything was like a nightmare - that you wish it could be over when you wake up and then, the fire brigades came. "

"Thank you, Susan. We have a firefighter with us. Max, tell us what happened when your team got here."

"Well, I've been in this service for more than 15 years and I can tell you that I've never seen a fire so unprecedented and strange - "

"Strange? How come?"

" Well, when we began to extinguish the fire, it was like the fire was immune to the water. We used the extinguishers too. But it didn't work. We have to do something quickly before the whole house gets destroyed. We were puzzled. But then, after some time, out of nowhere, the water started to work and we were able to extinguish the fire. As you can see, our team is still dousing off a small section that remained now."

"Thank you, Max. Over to you Rachael - "

"Thank you, Ashley. The source of the fire is still unknown though but the most prodigious thing is that everything in the house was destroyed by the fire except for one thing which seemed to be unaffected by the blaze. Our cameraman, Jason captured this image which you can see zoomed-in on the screen. It's an emerald-colored stone. It was as if it was guarded by a shield that protected it from the damage. Not even a single scratch can be seen on it let alone getting burned in the fire. It was the only thing which was unharmed & intact."