The Cursekeeper

What The Hell?

This chapter is rated M for graphic content and abuse.

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"Ya got any threes?" Junior asked his sister as he and others were sitting around a circular table with cards in their hands.

The other kids were busy playing around on their new indoor playground and picnic area.  Wooden structures, a ball pit, ropes, nets, a few trampolines, a jungle gym, hexagonal climbers and slides up to fifty feet were inside the vast room that had originally been one of the smaller ballrooms.

"Go Fish," Aoífe giggled, making Junior groan and draw a card from the deck in the middle.

"Damn it all tah hell," he grumbled before placing the new card in his hand.  "Yer turn, Freya."

The green weredragon looked at her cards with a hum before looking at Hilde.  "Do you have any...kings?"

"Crap!" the little blonde girl shouted before handing Freya two cards.

Freya chuckled as she put the cards in her hand, then she set four king cards down on the table next to her other sets.  "I like this game," Freya remarked happily.

"Of course you do.  You always win," a Mongolian boy named Jochi said.  "I think you're cheating."

Freya stood up and pointed at Jochi.  "You take that back!  I don't cheat!"

Jochi also stood up, almost knocking the table over.  "Yes you do!  You hide extra cards in your scales!"

"No I don't!  The cards are too big for my scales anyway, you stupid jerk!"

As Freya and Jochi started fighting with each other, Freya putting Jochi into a headlock, Junior rolled his eyes and looked at his twin sister.  "I dunna know why we even bother tryin' tah make those two get on," he muttered.

"They'll get on..." she answered, filtering through her cards.  "...eventually."

"Freya!  Jochi!" Aisling, the head nanny, scolded loudly as she marched across the playground floor with a few other adults.  "Ya both stop that right now!"

While Aisling was busy separating the two, Junior saw the ballroom door open a crack.  He tilted his head before setting down his cards and hastily making his way over.  Aoífe followed suit after him.  When the twins made it to the door, Aoífe poked her head out to see a little girl with long, straight black hair and green eyes.

"Oh, hi Olena," she said with a smile.  "Are ya, uh...exploring the house?"  Olena, with a shy expression and not making eye contact, gave a slow nod.  "Would ya like tah come play with us?"

Arthur Junior peeked his head by Aoífe, swallowing hard.  Darrach had just finished putting Olena into a new body a couple weeks ago so he really only saw her once for a brief moment.  According to Aunt Adair, Darrach managed to recreate Olena's body accurately, down to the last strand of DNA.  Since then, however, Olena hadn't bothered to leave the bedroom she'd been given.

Junior wasn't sure how someone could look so pretty even with the sad, shy look on her face.

"I...I guess," Olena mumbled with uncertainty.

Aoífe opened the door more and held out her hand.  "C'mon, then.  Don't be scared."

Olena eyed Aoífe's hand and frowned further before walking by them both cautiously into the play room.  She stared at the jungle gym and all the other structures in the room with wide eyes.  "Oh my goodness," she whispered.

"Yeah, Dad and the gang put this together for us kids," Aoífe remarked with pride.  "I think you'll like it if ya give it a shot."

Olena bit her lip before slowly making her way to one of the swings hanging from the ceiling.  She hesitantly touched it, making it move slightly.  Junior and Aoífe went to her.  "It's a swing," Junior explained.  "Ya sit in it."  Olena nodded before placing herself in the swing, then she grabbed the metal chains and looked at Junior with confusion.  He laughed before going up behind her.  "Hang on," he said before giving her a gentle push.