A Portrait Dream | ✔

6

Shout out all the 5.556% of the Australian readers, you're support means the world to me, thank you!

Harry

"What was the curse..."

"It was said that Valeria cursed of endless pain, my grandmother said and I quote,

'Henceforth, only girls will hold the magic in their blood, when the seventh girl rises, our legacy will come to end, along with her life, the firstborn girl's power will be the starting of the doom and the seventh will end it, until that day, you shall endure endless pain'.

Just like she cursed, Alessia gave birth to a daughter, her name was Halina, loved her like Valeria loved her, and died when her daughter was three, she was the firstborn, and the doom Valerie promised inaugurated.

Halina was unlike her mother, raised by the maids of the household, she was a sweet girl, she helped everyone but the curse gave her endless pain, trials, and hardship at every turn of her life. When she acknowledged her powers, she hid them from the outside world and used them only to help people discreetly.

When I was born, I was the sixth in line but my mother was pregnant two years after I was born, it was unlike our legacy, our ancestors only had one child and they were only daughters, my grandmother was happy that the curse has ended but my mother miscarried her second daughter, we all thought my unborn sister was the seventh born and the curse has finally come to an end.

I was happy, when I was nineteen, I married and conceived Aini, when the doctor announced that the baby was a girl, I was worried but I was relieved that the curse has ended so I stayed away from Aini most of the time, hoping that my endless pain won't affect her.

Certainly, I was wrong." she concluded.

She started lighting each of the asserted candles one by one.

Her story was a lot to take in, it took me a minute to wrap my head around all the information, when I did a sudden bad feeling in the gut started to grow and I panicked, I asked her, "tell me Aini is not the seventh born please."

She looked at me sadly and said pitifully, "I wish she wasn't."

Her statement made my world crumble into pieces and I felt the room spin slowly around me. my visions perpetually started fading into blackness and felt a hand placed on my shoulders, "Zara?" I asked, my voice breaking in the end. 

I knew it was Zara, I looked at Leila and she nodded her head confirming it was indeed Zara. My head still spun and I was pulled to the sofa. I uttered slowly, "Zara..." she linked her hand with mine.

Zara was feeling the same dread, she loves Aini too.

"Saving Aini only to lose her to an absurd curse?" I muttered perplexed at the situation. Zara patted my hand, she was trying to communicate, but I couldn't hear anything so I looked at Leila for help.

"I don't know Ze, but we have no idea what this curse is about, all of us have lived a long life, with hardship, yes but still it's a long time, maybe Aini will die at eighty and stop the lineage, we could only hope but first we need to save her, the rest can wait," Leila answer to an unheard question of Zara but the message was clear.

Maybe she was right, Aini can still have a long life, but from what Leila said, her life will be full of trials and pain but I dared not to say my thoughts aloud, first let us find A, and then, I will stay by her side and support her with all her trails, protect her from the curse but first, we should save Aini.

"When we find Aini, I would like to marry her," I confessed to the ladies, this seemed like the best decision, "after marriage, I would be able to stay with A forever and be the protective husband, Leila please say its fine," I begged.

A tear slipped through Leila's face and she said, "it is more than fine Harry," came near me and gave a small hug, I felt another pair of arms snaking around my shoulders and I knew Zara approve my notion, that made me happy. 

"let's get the show on the road" I declared the ladies, the candles lit on their own.

"Thank you, Zara!" Leila responded to the spot next to me and I understood it was her work. 

Leila sat inside the circle with her eyes closed, a picture of Aini in front of her and she called for her daughter slowly, "Aini... Aini..."  But nothing happened. The process continued for another hour with no luck, nothing moved nor appeared, there was no trace of A. 

Leila wanted to do this in A's place, she claimed that this place holds so much of Aini's aura and it will be easy to call upon Aini to respond, the whole time Leila called, it looked anything but easy. She went still for a moment, the candles flickered and went off completely, instantly the living room went dark and Leila yelled at Ze.

"Why did you do that? Are you crazy? I was trying to look at my daughter!"

"What happened?" I asked quickly.

Leila glared at the spot opposite her inside the circle and answered angrily, pointing at the spot Ze supposed sat at, "she destroyed it, she pulled me out of it when I was so close to communicating with Aini, I saw Harry, I saw her, she was lying on a bed and when I went closer to touch her, she pulled me out it by putting the candles off," she accused.

"Why did you do it Ze?" I asked frustrated, "this is our chance to find where A is, what are you doing?" I turned angry every passing minute. I have no idea what Zara is telling us but Leila listened to her carefully, her anger dissipating while she listened, she turned to me in panic and uttered one word that created my mind to thrash in red hot anger, 

"Avyanna..."

A/N

Word count - 1050 (excluding A/N)