Curse of Tolken | ONC 2022 | co-writer @sassy-weirdo

(1.1) El

Part I

I sighed as the warm sprinkles of water fell on my naked body. Showers had always been my go-to after a long day of studying, and today was no different.

Except for one fact—A celebration was being held!

Mom and Dad had finally given in and told me a little about myself earlier that day. My powers to be specific.

I had had magical powers ever since I could remember. It was like a dark substance that lived inside me. The source wasn't just something I could use like a possession. It was alive. This power came out at unseemly times with its wispy, shadow-like figures spewing out of me. It gave me strength, but it also controlled itself. It made sure to send the message— I did not hold the reins, the darkness did. That thing did what it wanted whenever it wanted to.

Even after being blessed with "amazing gifts", as my parents called them, I had no idea where they came from. Or where I came from, for that matter.

My parents had said they found a small toddler— me —right outside the back door of that very house, crying on my knees, clutching a silver chain necklace with a symbol on the medal hanging from it. I will never forget that symbol. I saw it everyday when I placed the chain over my head and let it dangle from my neck. I would never forget that silver cross with the shining golden circle stuck to it from behind.

Though I was a misfit in almost every way, I had found a home here. It was the only home I really knew. So, I would rather not dwell on what my life could have been but rather, what my life was. Even though it would have probably been much better than this life, stuck in this tower of a house, with no friends except for my family's unusual housemates, hiding my true abilities in fear of being rejected here, too.

But, who knew? I could have been in a test tube before I was saved and dropped by the house. This could very well have been the best life I could have ever had.

It was clear that I was the only magical person in the world. Well, besides for one other that I knew of. And possibly two more. The problem was that I didn't know why we had those powers or how we got them. But, I would soon know. The answers were in London with my parents' contact.

I sighed again, this time not out of relief but out of despair as I heard a child's voice yelling outside the bathroom door, 'El! Come on! I gotta go!'

After I finished showering, I reached out to grab the blue towel on the rack only to grasp the cold metal. I cursed, knowing what would happen next. I stuck my head out beyond the shower curtain, trying to pin the location of the towel. I was looking straight at the towel rack, but I knew it wasn't there because I saw a blue blur in the corner of my eye. It was floating. Well, not floating exactly. More like a shadowy hand was holding it. A shadowy hand coming out of me.

I mentally groaned. Every time. Every time I was immersed in water, that happened. The natural source of water activated something in me. Every shower, that happened. I could not explain it and I could not control it. The water just sparked something in me that, therefore, made me involuntarily use my unknown powers.

Just as I was trying to reach the towel (though, I had tried to make the hand disappear with my will before that but, to no avail)  that was just out of reach, the bathroom door slammed open. All I could do was yell, 'Damn it, Fabien!' and think, Drop, before the boy sauntered in like he owned the place.

Sure enough, the towel dropped as I commanded and the smoky hand dissipated back into my body. I sighed for the third time in that shower, partly out of relief and partly out of exasperation.