The Curse - Book 1 (Completed)

Chapter 13: The Misfortune Teller

​Yasmine enters her home and leaves her old maroon mid-heel shoes besides the trailer door. She hears glass clicking noises in the kitchen and a pleasant smell of tea fills her nostrils.

​"Hey, Mom."

​Yasmine smiles seeing her daughter making tea in front of the stove. "Victoria, darling. Are you done packing?"

​"Mhm," she sips, "Have you done everything you needed to?"

​"Yes. We should leave around 5 am," Yasmine says.

​She picks up the tea pot. "You want some?"

​"Sure," Yasmine smiles and pours herself some tea. "You'll like Croatia. I promise," she says sipping. "They have a national park called Plitvice Lakes and it is the most beautiful place on earth. You'll see!"

​She nods. "Have you been?"

​Yasmine licks her lips. "Yes, sure."

​"I'd prefer Italy, but..." she shrugs and takes another sip of her tea.

​"Italy...yes. The country of romance and food. Purest form of hedonism," Yasmine twists her lips in sadness, "They have a lot of history, the Italians...a lot of wars," she says and looks away absentmindedly.

​"You sound like you've lived there..." she raises an eyebrow, "have you?"

​Yasmine flinches. She hesitates, but at last nods. "Many bad memories I carry from there," she says dismissively. "But they have great coffee," she raises an eyebrow. "I wish you made some for me instead of this tea. Wouldn't hurt to show some empathy to the elderly," she teases.

​"Oh, please. Look at you, you're in full power. Don't try to make me feel bad by convincing me you're old," she twists her lips in annoyance and turns to lay her empty cup in the sink.

​Yasmine frowns. "Did your hair grow longer?" she reaches her hand out to touch it.

​"Did it?" she runs her fresh painted fingernails rashly through her hair. "I haven't noticed," she says dismissively and opens the tap to wash her cup.

​Yasmine stiffs. Good grief, she thinks. Could it be... A million volts go through her body. "Is he here?" she whispers.

​"Who?"

​"Stop playing games, Scarlett."

​She closes the tap and an evil laughter cuts through the air as Sophia turns to face her. "Well, hello Giovanna. It's been a while," she says, emotionless.

​Yasmine's throat stiffens. "Can't say I missed you."

​"You're losing your touches..." Sophia says as she walks to the left and pulls a drawer out. It contains cutlery, and she runs her finger down one of the wooden-handle knives with teeth. "Took you long enough to realize it was me."

​"What have you done with my daughter?"

​Sophia ignores her question. "Must be my beautiful shiny hair that gave me away..." she grins widely, provocatively.

​"If you must know...it was both your grooming and the fact you washed that cup immediately...like a soldier."

​Sophia clenches her teeth subtly. Then she rolls her eyes. "Oh, well, zero points for your upbringing skills. Now if only you could afford some food, maybe you wouldn't be the world's worst mom..." The provocative smile is back on. "Did you tell them?"

​Yasmine looks impassive. "You know I can't."

​"Oops," she suppresses a smile. "Guess I forgot that little detail."