Daemon of Curses

Chapter 1

Beep beep beep

Cecilia groggily opened her blue green eyes to her 6:00 am alarm. She had to go out and feed all the farm animals in the frosty winter cold. Everyone says that Australia is one of the warmest climates on earth but living on the edge of Kosciusko national park in winter meant snow sleet and freezing air temperatures.

Groaning, she clambered out of her toasty warm bed and managed to climb into her jeans, parka and boots before trudging outside.

When she briskly ran walked back, attempting to prevent her fingers from freezing off, opening the door she was greeted by the beautiful aroma wafting through the air of eggs and bacon.

"Thanks mum", she called as she hung up her jacket.

Suddenly, two balls of energy tackled her to the ground. "Happy Birthday to you,happy birthday to you" the twins screeched at the top of their lungs.

"Shut up you two", Cecilia glared at them. A staring competition was then held but she lost when she giggled at Lucas wiggling his eyebrows. Rosalind, the second twin grabbed her arm and dragged her into the kitchen.

"Present time", she exclaimed eagerly. "Can I open one please", she looked at her older sister with puppy dog eyes. "Hey", shouted Lucas, "I want to open one too".

Cecilia looked to her mum for her answer. "Yeah I suppose so", she grinned at them when she had received the ok.

She received a silver watch, a necklace with a diamanté charm and a new pair of ugg boots.

Later, she hurriedly grabbed her phone as she sprinted out the door. She was going to be late for the bus again. Naturally, with her grace and skill, leapt through the air and somersaulted through before landing on her back. Of course it was the only loose bit of asphalt on her driveway that she had awkwardly tripped over. As she scrambled up and dusted herself off, she felt eyes boring into her back. She swung around and could have sworn that two golden eyes had stared at her through the prickly undergrowth. She blinked and they were gone.

It must have been my imagination, she thought. She spun back round and just caught the bus in time.

Walking into the science lab she embraced the warmth of the heater. She began walking to her seat with her best friend, Anastasia and was received with a happy birthday. The rest of the class picked up the hint and began singing. They were worse than the twins! She exclaimed in her head. The scowled at the rest of her class and attempted to slump lower in her seat.

She was sitting with her group of friends during lunch talking about dresses and boys when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Her head snapped around and she spotted a man half hidden behind a tree outside the school fence. She nudged Anastasia and pointed at him.
"What do you reckon he's doing, he looks kinda stalkerish" Cecilia asked.
Anastasia looked at her confused, "who?"
"That man. Behind the tree".
"There's no one there", Anastasia looked weirded out, "I think your hallucinating"

Cecilia looked back. She could have sworn that there was someone there. But the man had gone.

After school Anastasia tapped her on the shoulder. "you still going tonight".
"To what?"
"To Jason's party of course".
"Oh yeah, Ok, I'll talk to mum".

Waiting on the bus Cecilia looked out the window. There, leaning casually on a snow gum. That man again. As if he could feel her gaze he lifted his head and glanced up. And winked at her. She jolted back in her seat. He couldn't have seen her. The windows were tinted. The bus started up. As it was driving away she looked back. He was gone.