Bringer of Bad Luck

Chapter 3

After what had happened to Naomi, all the students and teachers, excluding Crimson, miraculously became malignant. In addition persons became fatally ill with unknown viruses and diseases. Though they did not become sick to the point of mental deterioration like Naomi did, the infected were all in critical states.

By the time Crimson was five years old and it was time for her to graduate, the number of students attending the school had considerably dwindled, but those who remained loyal to the school, the entire populace, had scars tattooed on some part of their bodies.

Nevertheless, Crimson graduated, and with her exit, those suffering persons began to show minor improvements.

Even though he hadn't voiced what he had observed, Crimson's father, being the dedicated dad that he was, had noticed quite a lot. Out of all the times he'd been to Crimson's school, whether it had been for a 'parent-teacher's meeting' or some other event, not once had he seen a child even attempt to mingle with his daughter. All his efforts at giving his daughter a chance to make a friend on her own had come to naught. 

He didn't miss the wary eyes of the school population that always followed Crimson's every move whenever she was in the vicinity.

Though he'd picked up on a lot, he still couldn't figure out why they acted that way towards her, sure she was mute for the time being, but to him, she was the epitome of cuteness, though he did admit to himself that he had some parental bias to his opinion, but still, he couldn't understand why they didn't give her a proper chance in her social life by at least becoming a little more than an acquaintance. Without a second thought, he could clearly see that his daughter was a stranger to those he'd put his hopes in.

Was it the unusual color of her eyes, or did they actually try to get to know her but she gave them her signature cold shoulder with an even colder stare to accompany it?  

He knew it would be difficult for Crimson to make friends, so he didn't say anything. But as she couldn't adapt to life in a school with other children, Crimson's father had decided to get her home schooled. All she would have to do was know how to write, and that she did. Despite her cold demeanor to everyone, including her father, she did anything he asked of her without question, she did everything but speak and change her blank expression.

Along with a home tutor, even though Crimson was only five years of age, her father also began to teach her to play the violin, it was the one instrument that he wanted her to learn from him. To him, his daughter's cuteness had increased ten-fold, he claimed it was the most adorable thing he'd ever seen; her tiny fingers sometimes struggling to grab hold of strings on the violin.

The 'curse' Crimson had cast on the preschool soon apparently became ineffective in her absence as the preschool eventually bounced back from the lack of students and the serious illnesses that the populace had fallen prey to, however, unfortunately for the visitors and inhabitants of Crimson's household, the 'curse' followed her home. When she went to school, nothing happened at home, but now that she was being home schooled, those at her house were being affected, that is, everyone but her father. On the other hand, the two maids her father had hired were affected. However, they only suffered minor mishaps, not to the point where they could point fingers and say that something was 'haunting' the house, but in such a frequency that anyone would think that it wasn't normal for such things to happen daily. Either way though, they couldn't say it was all Crimson's fault because she was barely ever in the presence of the two.

Then, there was the unfortunate home tutor.

In the beginning, the teacher was tormented by incurable migraines, however, she did her best to ignore them and carried on with her job as usual. To her, the little red-eyed girl may have been an eerie soul, but the job paid quite well and she couldn't afford to lose the job, so she constantly ignored her discomfort when dealing with the girl and she was as ignorant as possible to her undesirable headaches.

Finally, one day, when she, Miss Duncan, had come to give Crimson her lesson, her life was drastically changed.

As usual, she went up to Crimson's room, and when she entered, like any other day, Crimson was sitting in the same chair she always did during her tutoring. 

As Miss Duncan stepped into the room she had a strange feeling, it was like the eerie feeling she always had whenever she was in Crimson's presence, however, this time, the feeling was heavier. It was as though she shouldn't have been there, she needed to have a breath of fresh air. In her gut, she wanted to find a hole to crawl into, even though Crimson wasn't even looking her way, she had the urge to walk back out the way she had just come from. However, Miss Duncan was a proud and stubborn lady. She did have financial issues, but no matter what, she would walk, head held high, and would show that even without too many luxuries, she had a high IQ.

Being the stubborn woman she was and thinking of the wad of cash she would lose if she high tailed out of the place, she wore her usual proud expression and put her worries on the back burner. With a lot of mental encouragement, she finally gave a forced smile to Crimson who had finally acknowledged her presence. She knew her smile would never be returned, but it was about the only thing that could momentarily ease her anxieties. That morning though, Miss Duncan had not been plagued by her migraines, so her smile, at least to her, didn't feel as forced as she initially thought it would be, and with that knowledge, she sighed deeply, releasing a breath of relief. She'd always made it through the lessons with the little girl when she was suffering, but now, without a headache, she was sure she could handle the few hours she would be there, even if she felt even more uncomfortable than usual.

Confidence quickly took root in her heart and mind, her tight smile transformed into a little smirk which she tried to suppress as Crimson watched her approach in the corner of her eye.

Unluckily for Miss Duncan, she should've listened to her conscience, she should have taken proper note of the chill that had bolted up her spine when she'd entered the room. She should have forgotten the money, throw away her pride, for it was her pride that didn't allow her to leave right after she'd just arrived, her thirst for money and her headstrong ways had been her demise.

Crimson looked at the woman as she neared with the same icy coolness she gave all others, and then when Miss Duncan was several feet from where Crimson sat, she copied Naomi.

She fell, but unlike Naomi, she gave out a blood curdling scream.