Book of Curses

Book of Curses

The Renning Chronicles

Book One

Copyright ©2012 Leah Diane

Cover By: Mystic Cat Designs

July 13, 2012

Demons & Deities Publications

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any mean without prior permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations and events are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Chapter 1

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Ilooked around slowly . My eyes took in every aspect of the place where I stood. It almost sent my body into a confused shock from how gorgeous it all was.  It was an open field full of vibrantly colored flowers of every possible variety. The sun hung high in the clear blue sky, only one or two clouds were visible.

I could hear birds chirping cheerfully, singing their happy songs against the gentle breeze of the wind that carried the scent of fresh air, grass, flowers and water making me take a deep breath. Listening closely enough my ears picked up on the soothing, rushing sound of water nearby and the sound of leaves beginning to rustle in the wind.

I began to move my heavy legs, forcing my body to move forward at a slow pace. My arms stretching forward to let my fingers gingerly pass over the soft, delicate flower petals to feeling their cool smooth surfaces. My lips pulled up into a small smile. Truly, this place was beautiful and peaceful - no; it was magical, and I loved it more than anything I had ever seen.

Then, my peace was abruptly disrupted by a noise behind me. I jumped a little in shock and slight fear, turning around as quickly as I could. Almost as if I was on fast forward. The eerie part about all of this was that there was nothing there. It became still and quiet all around me, like the calm before a storm. The sky grew clouded and dark, the only thing I could think to do was keep still and alert for the slightest sound, or any movement my eyes may catch.

Hello? I called out into the silence, listening as my shaking voice echoed all around me, bouncing off of the trees, hills and rocks making me feel even more alone and confused. The fear heightened, and I could hear my heart beating louder and louder in my ears; my throat had become thick, and it was hard to swallow.

Raine, my entire body tensed up and froze from that one small voice. My heart stilled in fear, and I looked around as fast as I could trying to find where it was coming from but only saw the trees and flowers. Come to us Raine, we're waiting...

Yes Raine, come, I spun around on my heel looking closely at every little thing. I even looked at my feet at one point as I listened to the voice. Then it dawned on me; this one was new. It was a woman's voice and sounded seductive and velvety, like she was trying to seduce anything that was listening to her. Don't you want to come and play? We want you to play with us.

What's wrong Raine? Cat got your tongue? The newest voice echoed around me; it almost sounded like three men talking at once and created an oddly demonic sounding voice, and he was snickering at me. There was a sinister tone to everything it said. I only wanted this to end and was hoping it was just a bad dream. I'd wake up soon.

Or maybe, we've got your tongue! Just then it flew out from the trees in a blurred, quick movement. It grabbed my arms and pulled me to the ground. I could only shriek as I fell.

It had three heads sitting upon its body; the one in the middle was human, but had vibrant yellow eyes, and its skin seemed to be barely attached and hung grotesquely. The second one - on its left shoulder - was a horse, a light-brown chestnut with black eyes that were staring straight at me. The one on the other shoulder was a wolf, a blood-soaked snarling wolf, with bright yellow eyes like the man in the middle; it looked ready to shred me.

I fell back onto my arms and tried to crawl backwards, away from it, as fast as I could. Whimpering a little as he leaned down and smiled in my face. The overwhelming stench of rotting flesh and blood was the first things I noticed about it.

Let me have that tongue mortal. He growled loudly at me. I stayed frozen as he came closer, reaching his armor coated hand up towards me, and he pulled the glove off and revealed a disgusting sight. Decaying flesh and bones were sticking out, with maggots crawling over it. He started to chuckle, reaching closer and closer towards my face.

Then, I woke up.

I SAT UP IN MY BED and pulled my knees up to my body. I was breathing heavily and felt sweat starting to roll down my face and onto my shoulders. My alarm clock was going off loudly next to me, and I could feel the scream that was caught in the back of my throat begging to be let out. I looked down at my hand and slowly let the fist I made ease up, and stretched my fingers. 

Some dream...

Leaning over towards my alarm clock I reached my hand out and shut it off, then turned my iPod on listening as Breaking Benjamin started to fill the room and let my mind wander away from the nightmare I had just faced. My nerves began to calm down some and by the second verse of Evil Angel, I was feeling better and could make myself get ready to bear the cruelness of early mornings.

I flipped my soft red comforter off of my body and let the cold morning air chill my small body, shivering as goose bumps started to spread over my arms and legs. Without missing a beat I turned, put my feet on the chilled wood flooring and made myself stand up as fast as I possibly could.

Pulling down the oversized plain black cotton shirt I had worn to bed, I bounced on my heels a few times before I looked back at my clock and iPod. I realized how late I had slept and started wondering why I hadn't been woken up, then figured Tom and I weren't going to school.

Inhaling deeply, I flew across the cold wooden surface towards my new walk-in closet and opened it up. Shivering one last time I jumped onto the small rug I remembered to throw down before I slept, saving my feet from anymore abuse. I pulled out a pair of light grey jeans and a shirt at random, then taking another deep breath I ran across the floor towards the tiny bathroom that was attached to my bedroom.

The steady beats from the bass coming out of my speakers forewarning me of the 3oh!3 song that was starting to play. It didn't take me long to get dressed as I listened to the music that flowed into the bathroom, putting me in a somewhat cheery mood. I pulled on my tight skinny jeans, smoothing them down out of habit before I pulled on my shirt. I looked at it and smiled, there was no way in hell I was passing up on a day wearing my Darth Vader T-shirt.

I pulled the chain out from under my shirt and looked at the end of it, smiling at the shining griever that hung at the bottom and then looked into the mirror. Sue me, I was a nerd, and I couldn't care less. I pulled out my hair brush and started running it through my dark hair until each tangle was pulled out smoothly.

Running into my bedroom once more I started to sing to the Mindless Self Indulgence song that had begun to start playing through the dock speakers when I walked out. I began to dance around a bit. Catching sight of my black high-tops I went over and grabbed hold of them and sat down on my bed, pulling them on quickly while I let out a short yawn.

Once I finally let my mind start to think rationally, I realized we really weren't going to school today. We weren't able to anyway, even if we wanted to. It was unpacking and cleaning day today, and from the sound of it, I was the only one that was even awake so far.

Shutting off my iPod and pulling it off the dock, I grabbed my headphones and shoved both into my jean pockets. Leaving my bedroom and going out into the box filled living room, slash kitchen we had I saw Tom sitting silently on the counter and looking over at all the boxes, as if he was mentally setting out a chart on how to tackle all of them.

Mom up? I asked him as I walked over and leaned back against the counter he was sitting on tilting my head backward and looking up at his startled face. He nodded his head slowly and then looked back over at the boxes.

I heard her moving in there, so I'd say yeah.

Oh lord, ready yourself for the bitch attack. I muttered frowning deeply before shaking my own head.

Tom chuckled quietly, nodded his own head and then stretched himself a bit. Don't you know it?

Not a moment later, after we had both spoken our piece, my mother's bedroom door opened and Mazy came flying out with her tail wagging happily at the two of us. Tom jumped off the counter, and leaned down to let his hand glide over the soft marble fur as he began to pet her and then say something to her I couldn't hear.

My eyes shifted, and I looked up at my mother catching her cold gaze, I all but gagged when she walked out of her room. Really the woman was as repulsive, in my opinion, as she was cruel. I didn't want a thing to do with her entire existence.

She was wearing a skintight, low cut black shirt that practically showed off her recent plastic surgery upgrade. Her jeans were too tight, and her high heels were too high for any human to try to stand in. Her platinum blonde hair was up in a ponytail and her sunglasses were pulled down over her eyes.

She held her keys in her hand and frowned, pointing a clawed finger at us before she tsk'd at me a few times. I was thrown off guard and just stared at her; God only knew what she was going to go off on me about.

Really wish you'd start dressing like a girl Raine. She sighed deeply, and started to shake her head before rubbing her overly glossed lips together. I'll be home around 7 am. Unpack and fix the place up for me and be useful, OK. Thanks dolls. With that loving comment, she turned on her heels and clicked across the floors surface to the door and left.

Tell me again - Are you certain she's our mother? I asked Tom, hoping he'd say we were someone else's children, but frowned, knowing it was only a wish that would never be real.

Same DNA, sadly. Tom replied to me and then stood up slowly, setting a hand on my shoulder.  Let's get started...

WE MANAGED TO WORK our asses off all morning, unpacking and organizing things. Hanging pictures and plugging in everything that we got our hands on. By the time it was two in the afternoon we were practically done and lounged around on the leather sofa, not caring if we scratched it up or not.

Tom plugged in his new game console and flipped around until he found the right game. He popped in the disc and then started playing, completely absorbed in the world of the game. I picked up my laptop and opened it up, scrolling around and checking my emails. I replied to a few before opening Youtube and looked around, trying to find something to listen to or watch.

What do you plan on doing for dinner? I asked aloud, not really knowing if I'd get an answer from Tom or not.

Ramen? He said distractedly.

Sounds good to me.

Christie may come over tomorrow.

That's fine. I smiled to him. I did like her; she was a good friend, though I thought, it was awkward between the two of them still. Alright so, we're going to be too smart at school...

How? He paused in his game, looked over at me, and had the most confused expression on his face that I'd ever seen.

They're about three years behind on like, everything. I said, frowning a little as I started to explain looking up at my twin brothers face. Say's so on this shit I motioned to our online course calendar and shook my head.

Great. He rolled his eyes as he leaned over and started scanning the course calendar. Guess it'll be prank school for me, sadly. Well, I say we see who's the better gamer here, and play all night!

You're on bro. I said to him, as I snatched up the second controller, turned it on and waited for him to start the game back up for us to play.

WITH US, IT DOESN'T take much to entertain us for the day, or the night for that matter. We ended up playing the game until around midnight may be oneish. I came out the winner twice, since I knew how to beat his ass as any character I played. When he started calling me a cheater, we both decided it was time to call it a night.

I slept peacefully and dreamlessly that night, and ended up waking up before my alarm even went off to warn me I had to get myself ready for school. I got dressed, did my hair and makeup, then waited until I heard my mom go into her room before I decided to walk out and had to roll my eyes at that. Some parent she was, two seventeen-year olds in the house, and she didn't care what we did, as long as we pretended we were dead. That's how she had been for almost thirteen years, if not longer. 

Tom walked out a few minutes later, yawning and scratching at his head of blonde hair. He slung his bag over his shoulder, and then nudged me to get my attention. I picked up my own bag as he started to push me towards the door, and followed him out and away from the house and our mother.

We both took our time, not caring if either of us were late or not. What could they do to us?

Suspend us? Give us in-school detention? Like any of that would even work.

I pressed my nails into my arm, scratching at the flesh a bit as I waited for the light to change from red to green so that our side was clear, and we could run across. It really was too early, and I couldn't stand just waiting around here; it was starting to make me impatient. I wanted to get across the street already.

Tom made a strange noise for a moment, and then I realized he was clearing his throat and doing it rather loudly before looking at me and speaking slowly, as if he was choosing his words carefully. So, did they wake you up last night?

Who?

Mom had some guy over... They were practically laughing as loud as possible for an hour or so.

Oh... No, I never woke up.

Good, I had to go and scream at them, so I could sleep. He chuckled, before rolling his eyes and sliding his fingers through his hair.

Mom's just become extremely stupid... I miss our old mom, the one that was there when dad was alive. You know? I looked down as I spoke, shaking my head slowly as I thought back. Then I looked forward trying to ignore the sadness I felt over it.

Yeah, I miss her too sis. Tom slowly slid his arm around my shoulder to pat it a few times before letting out a small laugh again, looking down at me strangely. At least we didn't change though.

That's true enough; I'd have to kill you if you changed. I frowned deeply at him until my face started to hurt from it and then just tried to look as seriously as I could at him. Lost our mother, don't need to lose my only living family now.

Oh please, like you'd ever lose me. He rolled his eyes at my statement, and patted my head a few times.  I'm your twin; it's impossible for me to change without you knowing. We practically feed off each other's emotions half the time.

Not my fault I can tell when you're pissed off. I told him, sticking out my tongue for a split second. Or upset. I added after thinking about it.

Yeah, sometimes I wish we couldn't do that. He snorted rather loudly at me, before smiling a little. Makes it too easy to know if a guy fucks with you, and I'm sick of beating in heads.

Then stop beating them in, and just tell them to back off. I arched one of my eyebrows as I looked my brother over, shrugging my shoulders at him and sighing a little.

Right... So, how're you taking the move?

It's OK for now... I miss everyone though, you know.

Of course, I know you do; I miss them too Ray.

I nodded towards him absentmindedly, and then charged across the street as fast as my short legs could possibly let me move as the light finally changed colors. I could hear Tom's matching stomp's across the hard top ground before ending up beside me on the sidewalk once more, as we started off towards our new school. What fun this'd be, more of the same-old studies we took back at our prep school, and more teachers insisting we're stupid for being bored with it.

Geez, can't we just skip? I asked loudly, sounding as miserable as I possibly could.

I wish, see you at the end of the day?

See ya then. I said, as upset as I possibly could. I started off towards the front doors of the already barren looking, run down old school that our classes were going to be held in. Yeah, this was a total let down compared to the last school we were at. Class was probably starting already, and I seriously couldn't even be bothered to care. It was only roll call so, whatever; no one ever pays attention to that stupidity anyway.

WHEN THE KING, SO TO say, of Mount Olympus, Zeus - The God of Lightning - saw that his brother, Hades, was a threat to himself and the other Gods of Mount Olympus, such as..? Mr. Rayson paused for a long moment, letting his eyes wander over the class of thirty students who didn't bother to even try to answer. This included me. Anyone?

Nyx Goddess of the Night, Artemis Goddess of the Hunt and or Moon. I muttered under my breath, as I kept working at my doodles in my notebook, it was just loud enough though that he heard me and gave me a rather dirty look for even speaking.

Miss. Renning, how nice of you to volunteer for us; care to list six, since you seem to know so much? He asked in a cruel voice as he looked at me, I noticed the all too visible glare across his pale face. His beady eyes were staring straight at me, and for his benefit I decided, what the hell. 

Letting out a soft, but rather loud sigh, I pulled myself up in my seat so that I was sitting up in a straight position, and began to list off more Gods for him so that he would be happy with his sad teaching life. Poseidon the God of the sea, Apollo God of music and light, Aphrodite Goddess of love and beauty, Ares the war God, Hera Goddess of the hearth, and Athena Goddess of war.

Mr. Rayson straightened himself and pushed his glasses up on his face. I swear he cursed under his breath, there was a hint of disappointment on his face that disappeared as quickly as it came, to be swapped with his nasty glare as he grunted and walked back towards his white board while pulling out a black marker.

Starting to write on the board, I noticed quickly that he was listing each God that I had managed to list for him. Yes, those are a few Gods and Goddess’ anyone else want to name any? He turned back around looking at the entire class. His disappointment only grew from the silence in the room.

I smiled to myself, leaning back in my seat once more and returned to my doodling. I didn't much care for this class, or the one before it, or for that matter, any of the classes we had to take here. We had already studied these subjects; it was boring, and the teachers were too stuck up for their own good. The only thing they were going to teach was attitude 101.

The doodle in my margin slowly became a picture as I ignored the lecture that our teacher was now continuing with about the Gods, I studied the Gods when I was bored. I was sure I knew twice as much as he did about them, so I really didn't have it in me to be bothered with his lecture.

I watched my drawing as it became a girl, I brushed my black hair from my face and kept drawing; a circle here, dot there, stroke here, and bam... I had a drawing that even I didn't understand, but I thought it was gorgeous. One of my best, sitting in front of my face, staring straight at me.

It was an Angel, or well looked like one at least. She was beautiful with long wings that came from her back; a cascade of glossy hair tumbled down her shoulders towards her small waist. Her body was clothed in a dress that really didn't cover much more than what was needed.

A tight smile was pulled across