Ash And Curses

Chapter Two

The alarm buzzed for the umpteenth time and Miley flailed her arms, trying to hit the snooze button. As soon as she opened her eyes, a splitting headache hit her and she groaned in pain. After several minutes of contemplating if she was going to stand up from the bed and head to school or just lay there and cry in loneliness, she finally stood up and dragged her feet to the bathroom. She stared at herself in the mirror; ruffled hair and a swollen lip, this certainly wasn't her. She noticed few white lines which ran from her lower eyelids down her cheeks, she also noticed her eyes were puffy. "Did I cry again?"she muttered as cold water downed on her body.

It took Miley almost thirty minutes to finish her breakfast. After that, she sat down, waiting to hear the horn of Kate Dad's car.
"Oh my God!"she screamed, suddenly remembering the conversation she had with Kate the day before. She grabbed her bag and ran as fast as her leg could carry her.

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Miley was early enough to see the school bus leave the school premises. "Hey, stop!"she yelled as she ran. The bus stopped and she opened the door and entered, breathing heavily. 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒, she thought as she scanned everywhere, looking for Kate. 𝑀𝑎𝑦𝑏𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦, her heart dropped as soon as she saw Kate. Frankie was sitting next to her and there wasn't any empty seat in sight. Kate mouthed an apology.

"Ms Dale, can you please sit down?"Mr Williams asked and Miley nodded. There were two seats left at the back of the bus but, that was where the big boys sat; Andy, James and Bryan, the class bullies. Thanks to Kate, she would have to sit there. She gulped and said a silent prayer as she made her way there.
"Hi Miley Dale"Andy grinned at her and she lowered herself.
"Hi"she said quietly.

She immediately faced the window, quietly humming a song. She could feel a hand touching her hair but she dare not look back.
"Is this your natural hair?"Andy asked and she nodded. It was obvious he was the one touching her extremely long hair. "It's so long"he muttered.

                        ★★★

Miley's eye suddenly opened. It seemed she had fallen asleep. "...and that is the oldest cave. No one has ever been inside so I really can't say what it looks like"she heard Mr Williams say. She looked outside the window and was quick enough to see the cave. It was shaped oddly and had a small opening as an entrance. She could see little but deep holes around it and a few paintings, something about the holes made her shudder and she looked away immediately. "Here we are, the Museum Of Arts And Culture"Mr Williams beamed a smile at them.

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"The Benin Bronzes were used to decorate the royal palace in Benin City, Nigeria, they were created from the thirteenth century onwards, by the Edo people. When a king died, his successor would order that a bronze head be made of his predecessor"Mr Williams said, pointing at a sculpture with pointed nose and a beard. The students nodded and few were jotting. "It looks like a fucking dick cap"Bryan yelled loud enough for almost everyone around him to hear. The students burst into laughter while few people stared at him in disgust. "Bryan!"Mr Williams frowned. "I'm sorry Sir"he apologized, chuckling.

"The plaques show aspects of Benin court life in the sixteenth century, shortly after Europe's first contact with West Africa. The plaques show how the people of Benin perceived the Portuguese traders and their soldiers, with their pointed noses, thin faces and beards and strange clothes"Mr Williams continued. The students chuckled. "Alright, you can walk around and see other statues but do not touch anything"he warned. The students nodded and dispersed.
  Miley walked around mindlessly. Inasmuch as she tried to concentrate, she just couldn't, her mind kept on going to the tiny holes in the cave.
Her eyes suddenly went to the glass box in front of her, in it was a big black book. 𝑹𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝑶𝒇 𝑨𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒔 was boldly written on it. 𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑢𝑚?she said to herself and called the attention of a worker.
"I'm sorry Sir, where did this originate from?"she asked, pointing at the box. "Where did what originate from?"the man raised an eyebrow. Miley opened her mouth to speak but realized the box was empty. 𝐻𝑜𝑤'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒?
"What? There–there was a book here, I swear"she stuttered. "There was a book here ten years ago and it was said to have strong magical powers. It was rumored it appeared here on its own"he frowned. "Magical powers"Miley laughed. "So, where is the book now?"she asked. "It mysteriously disappeared two years ago"he replied before walking away. "Woah"Miley muttered. A hand tapped her and she jerked in shock. It was Kate. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑒. "Are you okay? Your face is white"Kate said. "I'm fine"Miley replied.
"About this morning, I'm really sorry"Kate apologized. "It's fine"Miley smiled. "She really is sorry. She actually kept a seat for you but I took it"Frankie said.
"I said it's fine!"she frowned, slightly raising her voice. She ran a hand through her hair and came in contact with something sticky. "I– I think you've got bubblegum in your hair"Kate muttered, gesticulating. "Eww!"Miley yelled as she tried to yank it off. Her efforts were useless as it was already stuck with her hair. "Andy..."she muttered angrily and glared at him. He flashed a smile at her and winked.
"Be careful, don't drag it that way"Kate said.

"Do not tell me what to do!"Miley yelled at her. "You could have just told Frankie to take another seat, you know? Well, except you never wanted me to stay beside you"Miley said. "What– what're you saying?"Kate asked.
"This–"Miley said, pointing at her hair. "–is all your fault"she continued. "All thanks to you and Frankie, I have to cut my hair"she said and bit her lower lip, trying to fight back her tears. When she realized she couldn't hold it anymore, she turned away and went to a corner to sob.

All through the journey back to school, she didn't sit, neither did she speak to anyone.

                         ★★★

Miley lay on the bed and covered herself with a duvet. She had looked at herself in the mirror when she cut her hair and she wasn't pleased with what she saw. She knew she was going to be the talk of the students the next day and she dreaded it. 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑒, she thought as she closed her eyes, trying to force back the tears that was stinging her eyes.

                       ★★★

She mysteriously saw herself inside an oddly shaped cave. "How did I get here?"she whispered and rubbed her palms around her shoulders. It was cold and empty, well except for the big book in front of her. 𝑹𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝑶𝒇 𝑨𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒔, the front cover read. She made to touch it but a force pulled her back.

"𝐴𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠?"a voice asked .
"What?"
"𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒?"

𝐀𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭:: 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐳𝐞𝐬, 𝐖𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚
𝐖𝐰𝐰.𝐊𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲.𝐨𝐫𝐠