Howls of Cursed Fate

꧁ 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓣𝔀𝓸 ꧂

𝓐 𝓖𝓵𝓲𝓶𝓹𝓼𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓕𝓪𝓽𝓮

I woke up wincing to the sunlight streaming through my window, right into my face. For a moment, I lay there, staring at the ceiling, my mind replaying every detail of the night before. Was it a nightmare? A dream? No.

It was her. The girl with long brown hair and those mesmerizing green eyes.

But instead of the usual relief or excitement that was supposed to follow such a discovery, I felt conflicted. How was I going to find her again? I didn't even know her name. She'd left the club like a ghost, vanishing before I could get a chance to find out.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. Slowly, I needed to figure out where to even start.

Pushing the thoughts aside for now, I rolled out of bed, glancing at the clock. 10:00 AM. Saturday morning.

I could hear the faint sound of footsteps downstairs, probably my little siblings Emma and Jake already up and about.

Stretching my arms, I got dressed in my usual black hoodie and pants, then headed downstairs.

The sound of laughter greeted me as I walked into the living room. My six-year-old sister Emma and seven-year-old brother Jake were sitting cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by toys and snacks. Their eyes lit up when they saw me.

"Morning, monsters," I said, letting my voice drop into a low growl as I crept toward them.

Emma squealed, and Jake immediately jumped to his feet, raising his hands as if to fend me off. "No, Gideon! Don't eat us!" he laughed.

I lunged forward, playfully grabbing them both, pretending to be a big, bad wolf. Emma giggled uncontrollably, her small hands trying to push me away, while Jake bravely attempted to fight me off.

"Alright, alright," I laughed, letting them go and ruffling their hair. "You're safe... for now."

They both collapsed back onto the floor, grinning up at me.

"Where's mom?" I asked.

"Garden," they said in unison and started to laugh.

With a chuckle, I grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, switching it to cartoons. Saturday mornings were sacred in this house—especially for cartoons.

Jake, however, wasn't fully absorbed in the TV yet. He tugged at my hoodie, looking up at me with hopeful eyes. "Gideon, can you fix my Gameboy?"

I let out a long sigh. That old thing had been broken for weeks. "Alright, I'll take a look at it later today," I agreed, trying not to sound too reluctant.

"Yes!" Jake cheered, giving me a victorious fist pump.

"Don't get too excited," I warned. "No promises it'll work again. That thing's ancient."

He nodded eagerly, already satisfied with my answer before turning his attention back to the cartoons.

I sank into the couch, my mind wandering back to the girl from the night before. There had to be a way to find her name faster than my father would find out I've lost her the very same moment of finding.

Maybe Caden could try again from her friend Vivian, when they knew each other a little better. Or maybe fate would work things out for me, but given the fact that she clearly knew who I was and I hadn't remembered her...

For now, I could only focus on the task at hand—keeping the little ones entertained and fixing that blasted Gameboy.

Just as I was finally comfortable on the coach, the front door creaked open, and I heard the familiar heavy footsteps of my dad.