My Middle School Curse

Chapter 3: The Stone

I was sleeping happily, sighing contentedly. They were the usual silly Brandon daydreams. Suddenly I heard a strange noise. My eyes shot open. What was that? I heard it again. I felt a shiver down my spine. Feeling brave, I slowly got out of my sleeping bag, trying not to make any noise. I grabbed my hoodie, to maybe calm my shivers, and tiptoed out of the room. I followed the weird sound until I realized that the sound came from outside. I was ready to slap myself. Getting all worked up for nothing because it was probably Nikki's cat, Pablo, or even her dog Fifi. Still, I went outside and found myself in the middle of her backyard looking around. Pablo and Fifi were nowhere to be found. Glad I brought my hoodie, because it was cold outside, I started to get back into the house. I saw something shine in the corner of my eye. I hurried to the spot to check out what was shining. The closer I got, the louder the noises seemed, and I could swear I could feel it's vibrations. I looked down and saw a tiny thin purple force field around a shiny crystal stone that was making weird noises. I shivered, and I was tempted to run and flee. The force field descended and there was only me and a shiny stone. The stone was pretty. I could use it for a necklace, or give it to mom for a present. I felt the stone tug me towards it.

"This looks like Sasha's lucky stone..." I felt tears prickle my eyes. Sasha was gone. And she would never be back. Finally, the stone's temptation gave in, and I picked the stone up in my hand to see what I could do with it. Suddenly, the purple force field blinked on again, only this time, It was surrounding me. This forcefield was different. There were purple flames surrounding me. I screamed. I tried to let go of the stone, but it was stuck to my hand.

"HELP! HELP!" I shouted, unsure who would hear me, if they could. I didn't know what to do. The flames seemed to get closer to me and I hurried to somehow back up. I felt a sharp pain on my foot, when I realized I wasn't wearing any shoes, and that I just stepped on a jagged rock. I waved my arms around in circular motions to keep my balance. I started to scream for help again, but I felt my eyes roll up in my head and I fainted.

The last thing I saw was Lily and Nicky coming out from the back door, and the fire instantly stopped. I could swear I heard Lily scream desperately:

"LIZZIE! NO!" As I lost conscience...

Next thing I knew, I woke up quietly. I could hear Nikki and Lily whispering about something. Where was I? What happened? As I slowly gained conscience, I tried to open my eyes. Bright white. The light was nearly blinding, much brighter than I was used to. I squinted my eyes, trying to get accustomed to this bright room as I looked around to figure out where I was.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

I suddenly noticed that there were tubes in my arms, hospital machines everywhere, like I had surgery. I was in the hospital. What happened? How did I get here? As my view and hearing focused, I could just make out what they were saying...

"You got here much faster than Mr. Greatstone. What do you know about this? I saw your face. or maybe..."asked Nikki talking around 100 miles per hour., even while whispering.

"Calm down Nikki."Lily interrupted.

"You and I both know that what happened was nothing normal. It was like magic! And I know you know something! That forcefield and flames were there!" Nikki continued

"Listen, I know a legend. It's called caragalisess. It happened a long time ago. A shiny crystal rock comes down with forcefield, as we saw from Lizzie. That rock is called a caragaliss. This rock gives you a terrible curse permanently unless you break the spell. I think the legend is true, but we need to get her out of the hospital as soon as possible to test her'' explained Lily urgently. I couldn't hear much more of their conversation. I waited two minutes until I heard Nikki talk.

"Will that happen to Lizzie? I can't believe that I called the ambulance! Or even her parents! They will surely band me to be at least 100 miles away from her! Hey! Let's call a police! A witch!!" replied Nikki, whispering louder.

"No! It's okay! Good thing you called the ambulance. The doctor said that Lizzie's ankle is sprained? Remember? Plus, she fainted." Lily whispered back. This was enough. I thought.

"Where am I?" I asked, trying to sound as I just woke up.

"She's awake! Don't say ANYthing!" Lily whispered. I acted like I didn't hear that when Lily said louder: "You're awake! You're at the hospital right now. It's okay, just a sprained ankle. They checked your head, because you fell."

"Lizzie! Don't ya ever get out in the middle of the night again! Is it okay to hug you?" She asked with her arms open. As I nodded, I felt a sharp pain in my forehead. I sucked my breath in sharply. As soon as Nikki pulled away from the hug, I massaged my head.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked.

"Just a headache, that's all." I tried to reassure them, concerned from their glances that they kept stealing from each other.

"What's that thing on her forehead? She didn't get any surgery yet." Nikki whispered to Lily. Still in front of me, I roll my eyes. I stop midroll.

"Wait what thing on my face?" I looked through the nearest thing that worked as a mirror and looked through. A scar! Right across one side of my forehead! It looked so much like black stitches. Lily's face turned unto a worried look just as my parents and Max entered the room.

"Oh honey! How did you go from The Stone Museum to Nicole's house?" my mom asked. Oups! I mean mother. Nikki cringed at her real name, and Dad's face paled. Mother started scolding me and Dad when my stomach growled. Overprotective mother instinct came over: "Are you okay? Do you need water? Hungry? Cold? Too warm? Do you have a fever? Does your ankle feel alright? Does your head hurt? Pinches?" and she kept, firing answers one after another, without giving me the chance to respond.

"Mother I am alright, but I'm absolutely starving." I replied in my old accent as soon as she gave me the chance to say something. I stopped using my accent once I came to my new school, and Mother doesn't have a clue.

"Are you still going to get those emoji school supplies, or a ugly mask for your ugly face?"Max whispered to me in his awful accent.

"I'm not" I started.

"Max!" Mother scolded.

"Oh! I do have jelly beans. Do you want some?"

"Well... I guess I could have the jellybeans." I said cautiously and surprised that he would be so generous. Usually, he wouldn't let anyone put their finger on his candy. Maybe being in hospital gives him a reason to be nice to me. I glanced suspiciously at him.

"Here" Max gave me a clear plastic bag with his jelly beans from his short's pockets. Then I quickly remembered those were toilet seat touched jellybeans from a brother's short pocket.

"You know, I think I'll pass." I quickly said. Just then a doctor came in.

-"Well she is free to go after she gets tested, we have no information on how this happened and how she fainted, so this must be an order we must absolutely figure out." the doctor said. "Can somebody tell me how and why she fainted?"

- "Uh... Yes. She was at a sleepover in Mrs. and Mr. Fellinger's house on Branding Avenue, when Elizabeth went outside while we were sleeping, so I went to check on her just in time to see her faint."Lily said.

-"Strange..." the doctor said. "Do either of you have a connection with Sasha Greatstone?" A pause...

"Actually, she was my older sister." I replied.

"And my best friend." Lily said. Really? I thought. I didn't know that they were friends.

"Hmm." the doctor said. "This seems like a similar symptom from when Sasha came over to this hospital several years ago. I know that you guys did go to several hospitals. She should be free to go, as long as she doesn't put much pressure on her ankle." The doctor continued talking to my parents while Nikki and Lily kept whispering to each other. I didn't need to eavesdrop to know that something was seriously wrong.