The Curse

The Box

But what was this? Wasn't she dead already? How could she hear voices? Jillian could hear someone calling her name . Was she hearing things? Definitely not. She couldn't possibly imagine someone shaking her . Wait.......
With a sudden impulse, she opened her eyes . She was perspiring heavily, and breathing really fast . Then it struck her - it was all a dream! She heaved a sigh of relief and sat up. She saw Filip sitting in front of her , his eyebrows furrowed in worry . " What happened?" he asked softly, " You were screaming and shaking like anything. What's the matter?" He handed her a glass of water . Gulping it all down, Jillian took some deep breaths. She was so relieved at being alive that she threw her arms around Filip . Tears streamed down her face . " I.....It was a dream..........A horrible one" she stuttered . Filip patted her on the back and stroked her hair . Jillian rested her head on his shoulders . She was still a bit shaky . It was all silent for quite sometime after that. Finally Filip spoke. " Are you OK now?"

Jillian nodded . " Let's go downstairs . I don't want to stay up here alone ," she mumbled looking at the clock on the mantelpiece. It was 6:30 PM . "Gosh , I have been sleeping for a long time," she said to herself as she dressed . As she splashed water on her face and looked into the mirror, she thought about the dream . She had never ever had a dream as frightening as that one . And that was something because Jillian rarely got frightened , strong as she was . But things began to cloud up in her head as she pondered about the dream, so she let it go . She went downstairs, bracing herself to be taunted by Jackson . But strangely enough, he was extra sweet to her and offered to tune in to her favourite show . Jillian felt guilty having teased him earlier during the day . Filip was down in the kitchen , preparing dinner . Jillian went over to help him . He looked really flustered as he rummaged through the recipe book . Jillian offered to help.

FIlip nodded, but none of them were sure about their cooking . Finally Filip got an idea. "Tell you what Jill, let's just order something . Anthony, John and Sophie are coming over and I really don't want them to know about my terrible culinary skills," he said, chuckling .
Just then , somebody rang the doorbell. Jillian could hear Jackson open the door and ushering in John. With a huge smile on her face, she dashed into the living room. She had thought about a lot to say to John , but all she could manage then was a Hi and a smile . Eventually, Anthony and Sophie also arrived . They decided on watching a horror movie. The sky was rumbling and it had started to rain cats and dogs - the perfect atmosphere for some horror!

Midway through the movie, Jillian couldn't find her phone . "Are you sure you brought it downstairs? I haven't seen your phone since evening," Jackson called out as Jillian kept rummaging the couch . "I'll just go and check in my room," she sighed and went upstairs . She had left her phone on her bed . Laughing at her own silliness, she prepared to lock the door . As she did so, she noticed something lying on the floor. What was it? She picked it up. It was a very old key. But she couldn't think where it had come from . "Jill did you find your phone?" Filip hollered from below . "Yep, coming," said Jillian, bringing the key along with her . "Hey , this key was lying outside my room. Is it yours?" she asked her brother , showing him the key . Anthony took a look at the key and became excited . Strange!

"Dude, could it be the key to that box of yours?" he said, almost smacking Filip in the heat of the moment . " It might be," said Filip looking thoughtful, " But it was specifically written on the box not to open it."

"Oh come on!" exclaimed Jackson indignantly, "Seriously, what could happen?"

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" said Jillian as she observed the box," It's not written anywhere that we are prohibited from opening the box." "What???!! But I saw - It.. it was written on the bottom of the box," Filip cried out . He took the box from her hand. But no - nothing was written . Filip was puzzled . " Bro, if you were trying to scare us , then you have failed miserably," said Jillian bitterly . "But you two saw the writing didn't you ?" said Filip looking at Anthony and Jackson . " Well, you never showed us the writing, did you? We technically didn't see it," said Anthony apologetically . Jackson nodded , signifying that he agreed with Anthony . " Well I never!" exclaimed Filip as Jillian took the box and tried to open it. It was really tight , but she finally managed to turn the lock . As she opened it , she was taken aback - The box emitted a ghastly green light . It was so bright , that everyone closed their eyes . Suddenly there was a flash, and the lights went away . The room was engulfed in darkness . Everyone was speechless. Finally Sophie spoke . " What the hell happened just now?"

" I don't know . We lost electricity . I guess we shouldn't have opened that box after all," said Jackson sheepishly, looking at Filip. "Darn, there goes my plan of playing spin-the-bottle," said Jillian looking annoyed," My plans are ruined!"

Little did she know that their lives were going to be ruined in the course of just a few hours.