Allen

We walked up to the doorstep. I saw that Sam was biting her lip, and shaking a little.

"Are you okay?" I asked

"Duh, I'm fine," she didn't sound fine.

"Then open the door."

"Hell no, you do it."

"But it's your house. I don't want to get hexed by something."

She looked at me, and I saw that she was about to cry. "Okay," she said, and slowly reached for the door.

That made me change my mind. I softly nudged her hand out of the way and reached for the doorknob. It caught flame and burned my hand, but I didn't let go. It probably wouldn't have hurt Sam, but just stepping into this house seemed to be painful for her.

I broke the knob and forced the door open. I didn't bust it open and make the door swing, I just broke the handle and opened it softly.

I couldn't even see inside yet. It appeared to be completely black. "We won't be able to see anything until we're inside. I let go of the door, my hand red and raw. She took hold of it and healed it instantly. "Let's go inside." She said, and we walked in together.

Donovan

"I'm sick of this. First, Allen disappears, then Danielle does too. Do you think Allen took her?" Both Jamie and Marissa gave me a stupid look. "That's dumb. If he took her, we'd still be able to smell her. And why would he take her I'd they're best friends?"

What Marissa said sort of makes sense, but I don't care. I just want to put the bastard in his place.

"Let's not forget," Jamie interrupted, "That there was a hex on Danielle's mother. Even though Allen has werewolf powers he'd never be able to do that." We were just sitting in the park, and it was almost night. We could go back to the hotel, but Allen could be in danger right now.

Or he could be a very valuable asset to us.

"We need to find him, and gauge how strong he is," Jamie said, speaking like a wise old trainer. Marissa smiled at this.

"He kicked Donovan's ass so he must be at least on our lev-"

"Shut up," I growled. "God, I hate you."

"I didn't ask to be turned by you, you stupid freak."

"Say another word and I'll-"

The ground erupted between us. It knocked us down and pushed them apart. Jamie stood on the mound of dirt, his eyes glowing orange. "I'm getting really tired of you two arguing." He growled.

Allen

Walking into her house was like turning a light on after your eyes have been adjusting to the darkness for hours. I was blinded immediately. Sam had a strong grip on my right hand, so I was forced to use my left arm to shield my eyes.

"Don't move." I heard a female voice say. When my eyes finally adjusted, it wasn't even bright in the house! We were standing in. Short, but wide hallway, with a very high ceiling. I could see the balcony above, and on the ceiling was a glass chandelier speckled with gold dots and zig zags.

The woman that spoke to us was tall. She had brown hair, and the colors of her eye seemed to be constantly changing from gray to completely white. She had brown hair like Samantha, and she wore all black. She had on a black choker, black earrings shaped like broken hearts and long black gloves. I thought she was wearing a dress, but it was a top and a long skirt, and they both had interesting design choices. The cuts and openings on her outfit were very close to being inappropriate, and she had on long fishnet stockings to match.

I take back what I said earlier because as I stared at her up and down, I noticed she had very long heels on. She wasn't as tall as I thought she was.

"Sam, who is this?" Samantha took a deep breath. "This is my younger sister."

"Why does she look older than you?" I whispered.

"Because of all that damn makeup." She said, louder than I would've expected.

"I have one more question," I told her.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Why does she look like a dominatrix?"

Sam squeezed my hand so hard I heard my bones break.

Sam's sister smiled. "It's about time you got a man, sis. Is he rich? You'd better hope so." Or you'd better lie and say he is."

"Shut up Donna. You know why I'm here."

The smile on Donna's face evaporated.

"How could you... And you know mom just lost Dad!"

"We lost Dad because of the curse!" Sam pleaded. "And the curse is changing, making different things happen. Our Grandad was 128 when he died from the curse. Dad was only 59!"

I wasn't sure I heard that right. 128? 59? I know her family had magic, but it's still hard for me to believe her father died that soon from the curse since her grandfather lived way beyond most people's lifespan.

"Next thing you know, you might die before you hit 40!"

"What do you mean I might die?! There's no way you're escaping the curse either, bitch!" They had gotten closer to each other, way too close. I wasn't sure if they would start pulling hair or throwing fire, so I decided to step in. I grabbed each of them by their shoulder and tried to separate them. The look Donna gave me made me feel like I was trying to disarm a bomb with 4 seconds left. Thankfully, she didn't kill me.

But Samantha was making the situation worse. "I've been reading about the curse Donna," she said calmly. "It's gonna bounce around to torture us as much as possible. We can't even be a hundred percent sure that mom is next. It could be you too."

Donna reacted faster than I could have. She slapped Sam and made her fall back on the floor. "Ha! I knew it!" Samantha cried. "I can see it in your eyes, I can feel it in your anger, you're already next aren't you? Have you told mom that it's you? Have you told mom that our family's name is going to die with you because there's no one else to carry on our name?"

A dark shadow was emanating from Donna, creeping up the walls. The house shuddered, and suddenly, I couldn't breathe by myself. I looked at Donna, think she was choking me but she wasn't. Her eyes started dripping black tears. Black webs started to appear over her skin, and that's when I noticed it. When she inhaled, I inhaled. When she exhaled, so did I. I couldn't control my breathing because she was controlling it. She bit her lip, and black blood started to flow from my lip.

My body was motionless, I was completely rooted to the spot. Samantha looked like this wasn't happening to her, because she was hyperventilating like a maniac, while I was forced to take the same slow, shallow, sickly breaths that Donna was taking. I might as well have been suffocating.

"S... Sam," Donna stammered, through gritted teeth. "Our family name will not die." Then, she chose to look directly at me, and it seemed like I couldn't breathe at all.

"Because we have you." She scattered into the dark, visible wind, and it flew in every direction it could have.

"I'm guessing she's not dead." I helped Sam up. She looked at me. "No, she isn't. But the stuff I said made the curse take her faster."

"Then why did you do it?"

"Because she was damned anyway. Donna is controlled by my mother, and my mother is controlled by avarice. We'd probably have to kill her just to complete my mission."

We walked into the living room, and when I looked up I saw that it wasn't one chandelier, there were dozens of them, all hanging from the ceiling. Why they needed so many was strange to me because the room wasn't as bright as you'd expect.

I looked back down into the living room, which was a dazzling display of white, black, and red.

The couch was long, curved, and white, with black and red pillows. The entire floor was covered in black carpet, but there was a massive decorative red carpet on top of it. It had intricate designs and looked expensive. There was a huge glass table in the center, and it made the whole house come together.

I didn't want to step on anything. I didn't want to sit anywhere. Hell, I felt too poor to even be standing in this house. I had to get a roommate just to afford an apartment. And for all I know, he could be dead right now, which means I might soon be evicted, and subsequently homeless. Because I'd never, ever, for as long as I live, return to my parents' house.

"Damn it, I should have asked Donna if our mother was home." Said Sam, thinking out loud. "If we run into her, we'd have some trouble. We need to go upstairs, that's where all of our bedrooms are."

"Really? How did you ever sneak out?"

As a response, she turned to me, gave me the middle finger, set it on fire, and made her whole arm disappear.

"Ah, magic. I forgot."

"Of course you did." She rolled her eyes.

She stepped on to the first step, and all the chandeliers went off. The fire stopped roaring and I thought I saw something moving in the shadows. I turned all the way around, my back touching Samantha's, and tried to see if I actually saw movement in the darkness.

"LEAVE!" Donna screamed. "The last thing mom wants to see is you!" This time, I heard a growl, so I know something was in the darkness. I kept my guard up, but nothing attacked me.

"Lifting the curse will set us all free! Why can't you realize that?!"

A white light started to light up the room, but it didn't come from the chandeliers. It came from the floor. Suddenly, I could see almost everything in the room, I just couldn't see the details of everything. I looked closely and saw that the thing that was growing at me was short... And humanoid.

I would've moved closer to it, but I heard Sam gasp. I turned around, and the black, cursed Donna had grabbed her by her throat and was hovering in the air. "Don't you see, Sam?" Donna's voice was cracking.

"The damage that's been done isn't enough. We will still pay penance for our crimes." Lifting the curse will probably take our powers away." Donna's cries were so emotional I felt it in my soul.

"What would you rather have, your powers, or your life?" Sam asked her. Donna choked back a sob. "What's the difference? I'm on the verge of losing both."

"Let me go!"

"No!"

"Mother is hurting! This house, our belongings, this gives her phone of mind! This is her happy place!"

"No Donna! This house is the reason we're cursed! This house is the reason Dad died! It's the reason you can't find a man!"

The white light stopped.

The humanoid creature disappeared.

The chandeliers turned back on. The fireplace started.

Donna threw Samantha onto the glass table. It shattered, and Donna disappeared again.

I ran towards Samantha's lifeless body.

"Please be okay," I whispered, "Please be okay."

She opened her eyes and smiled at me.

"Help me up." I didn't just offer her my hand this time. I put my left arm under her back and my right arm under her legs. I picked her up, and I carried her up the steps. "I'm a terrible bodyguard. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Without you, I wouldn't have made it to the front door."

I felt like she was talking about more than just beating the fake people. I think she needed emotional support to make it this far.

"Which room? I asked as I got up the steps. "The one on the left," Sam told me. I let go of her legs for a second to open the door. I nudged it the rest of the way with my foot. Inside, there was an old woman, with tears falling down her face. She had a big white vanity mirror on her dresser, and she was currently trying on different necklaces. I stopped at the door and watched her. It didn't seem like she noticed me.

After she tried on a few necklaces she put her hands up to her face and cried. Sam whispered for me to put her down. I did it immediately, and I noticed I felt something wet. "Did she piss herself?" I thought. I looked at my hands and saw they were streaked with blood. "The glass," I realized. She must've gotten cut somewhere. I looked at her as she walked over to her mother. Her back was wet, damp with the red substance. It was so much you couldn't even pinpoint where her wound was. She had a small limp, but otherwise, she didn't seem that hurt.

"Momma, please listen to-"

"I know baby I know." Her mother's voice was filled with sadness, even more than Donna's.

"You were right," her mother continued. "You've always been right." Her mother opened up the drawer again, shuffled her hand through all of the jewelry, and slammed it, so hard that the vanity mirror cracked. When she opened it again, there was just one necklace.

A pretty silver necklace with a pendant on the end. The pendant was a glass barrel, with silver designs on the top and bottom. It looked like it could be opened.

Her mother handed it to her. "There's no reason to hold on to all the material objects in this world. We can't take anything with us, but we cherish, we should pass on to those we love, and keep those memories alive."

Samantha started crying too. "Most people never realize the truth about the curse until it's their time to go."

"It's okay baby." She said as she pulled Sam close to her. "I'm happier this way. At least I did realize it, unlike your father. He was greedy all the way to his grave. But I still love him."

Samantha cried more, and Donna materialized out of nowhere. She ran to them and hugged them tightly. I felt left out, so I moved closer, but I didn't join in.

"Okay, are you ready?" Sam's mother asked.

"Yeah." Sam stood up and walked past me. Donna pushed me towards her a little, and I almost hit her, but when I turned around, she smiled. I guess she wanted me to be with Samantha.

Samantha

"This is it. I'm finally going to free us." I thought as I walked forward. I made a huge mirror materialize in front of us. Donna, Allen, and my mother were all in the corner by the mirror. I looked back, still crying, but smiling too, and got ready to put the necklace on my neck. The only thing in this house, that wasn't created by magic. A symbol of my great grandfather's love for my great-grandmother.

I was about to clasp it around my neck when a hand touched my shoulder.

"Now now, baby girl. Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"