The Seventh Curse Bearer

TWO: The Second Life

One thousand years; I had layed in the abyss of nothing but darkness and nothingness , a place where there was neither solace nor chaos, a place where there was neither thirst, hunger nor fulfilment, a place I lay in wait of my second chance to come, but the wait was worth it. Night had faded at the peak of dawn's approach and I was reborn. My mother lay on a mattress in the small four walled bedroom apartment she shared with her husband and eldest daughter. There was laughter, tears of happiness as the family rejoiced my birth, then weeping as my mother passed away. Leaving this world, leaving her infant before she was able to comprehend a mother's love. She died leaving her husband with two daughters, orphaned. They named me, the new born Nancy. I had possessed that very name in my past life. My life as the new Nancy was quickly starting to become the same as my previous life; while some called me a gift from the other realms, others called me a devil, while my own father perceived me to be a demon.

“This is no child of mine!" He would always say to his relatives. "Every time when I'm alone with her in the house, I always experience some strange things and it has to do with this wretched girl! This witch! Get out of my site you demon child!" He would always yell when I was around. This life time had been less cruel to me and I was determined to end the curse for there was no way I was willing to continue on this never-ending path. The party of continuous reincarnation. At the age twenty-one, I set out for the city to pursue myself. I knew my destiny was fast approaching, death was my fate and this fate was my destiny!

"Why you got to leave now Nancy, you mean this town has nothing to offer you? Don't worry about father, I will protect you from him, it's ok. " My sister insisted.

"It's really not that Kimberly, I love father with all my heart even though all he wants is to hurt me, but Kim, I have a life as well, I have dreams, I have this feeling that if I don't pursue my dreams, I might perish along with them. I want to go out there and be the best version of myself." I told her as I hugged her. She was now weeping struggling to come to terms with my leaving. My bags were already packed and we stood by the gate while Kimberly did her best to stop me from leaving.

"Kimberly, I want to start my life afresh, I want to live a life where people do not gossip about me every now and then calling me the freak who can move things with her mind or calling me names like demon.... I want to live my life not having people call me a witch." I wept.

“Nancy, I promise this won't go on forever. You won't have to live like this, this town has all the potential to make your dreams a real1tv2ity. All you need is to give it, your self and us a chance. Please! Think about it.”

“Kim, I have to go.” I left her kneeling by the gates crying at my departure as if someone had passed away. I was leaving forever, though I promised her to would call her. I would miss her; I would miss father as well just as much as I missed all my father from my previous life.

The city had so much to offer. Getting there was like a mile stone, a goal I had set for my self to reach. I had saved up for this all my life. I stood in the middle of the empty road and and screamed at the top of my lungs. "I made it, i am free, i am free." An angry man came out of his shop. "Would you please shut up miss?" He shouted.

I did not care, it was only a few minutes later that I realized my life was in danger but it was too late. A car came speeding in my direction and the next thing i knew I was lying on the ground, in pain, hurt and wounded badly. A crowd had gathered.

"Are you ok, miss?" A voice revealing a lot of apprehension echoed in my right ear, the only ear that was still able to hear, the other was bleeding. I looked up in vain, I was barely able to move. His face was handsome, so much that I forgot my pain. His green eyes enticed me. Never before had I ever seen such handsomeness. He patted my head as a gesture of comfort. "It ok miss, stay were you are don't try to move until the paramedics get here." What mostly washed over me was the embarrassment of knowing I had been hit by a car. I had been that careless. I passed out.

The last thing I had remembered was waking up in the hospital phasing in and out of consciousness every now and then. My body felt so heavy, so did my head. There were drips on both of my arms. "Quick, get the Lucas device" one of the doctors shouted. " Please, doctor you have to save her, " the voice of the same man from the accident scene achoed in the same room. "Listen Mr, only patients and staff members are allowed in the in the ER, please wait out side. Dont worry we are going to take good care of your wife." He insisted in a hurry.

"Um, listen doctor, she is really not my wife, its just that she's in this horrible state because of me."

"It's ok sir, we are doing our best to save her, please wait out side" the doctor replied him.

"Doctor she's losing consciousness. Her heart rate is dropping really fast!" One of the nurses yelled.

I was hauled into darkness. I thought I had lost. I thought I had also failed the test in this lifetime, I thought I was going to die. I was only 21 years old. I was in this realm of absolute darkness, silent but somber. The abyss I would be stuck in until my next rebirth. It would be nothing but torture. Though this time was different, out of no were in the distance, he appeared. One in the form of an felidae deity. He drew closer and I saw him in full view. How he was exactly like those statues my fathers' village had on their shrines. He sat valiant with his mane covering half his face. His dark brown skin glowed in the darkness. His neck pieces dangled from his neck and I shuddered in fear when I drew nearer to get a clearer view. His necklace was made out of human skulls and bones. His skin was made of metal and dried human skins. His fur was real animal fur. His mane was like that of a lion. He carried a metal spear that was so long it could have matched his body. I was deeply disturbed that I drew back not knowing were to run or hide as I was in utter darkness. "What are you? " I asked in a timid tone and he spoke to me.

"I am the bearer of the flesh, blood and bones of past felidae beings that lived before you."he said in a chilling tone

" Now that the curse has been broken I shall be clean" I was so confused I din't understand what he meant.

He then changed and his skin was blue , his necklaces and bracelets changed. His mane glowed. I understood what he meant. I was dirty because I bore the curse of the bearers. I inherited this curse from my father and even though I was hated because of it, it wasnt my fault. The curse of the bearers means that I bore past sins of felidae beings who existed and I was unclean that is why I saw the felidae deity as it was. "They say you see your self in a felidae deity." My father had told me but I had not understood what he meant. Now I did. Now knew I was clean and the curse had been lifted.

"You no longer bear the sins of your fore fathers youngling. It is time to be the true felidae that you are.

I felt so much valiance within him, the spirit of a warrior.

" Your time for freedom has come. You have learned your lesson in this life time, that life is not about selfishness and sin, that life is not about others but life is about...life. By caring about your self and wanting to be the best version you can be you have set your self free from this curse." He said.

"Go and live your life to the fullest because this is your last life!." He slowly waved in my direction as I felt my self falling and I felt my self fall back into my body.

"She is' back, she is awake! I heard the doctor say in a state of relief. I had survived. That is how I got to know about the felidae curse. I was the seventh to possess this curse and I remembered that's is how my father rejected me. He knew I was the seventh cursed one and If I had not left the clan they going to kill me. they were planning a feast, a traditional ceremony to purge the clan because I had been in it, i had been amongst them. I felt betrayed. Lore had it. There were six others before me who possessed this ancient curse. I was the seventh incarnation. I blew off the thought. I did not want to start my new city life with rage and sadness in my heart. I chose to keep my past life in the past.

"We thought we'd lost you," he said to me as I lay there struggling with my blurry vision. At this point in this state, pain was my worst enemy. I forced a smile. A lot of tears streamed down the sides of my pale cheeks, I felt them warm. The pain was that much. I was given sedatives to cope with the pain. I would be out most of the time during this agonizing slow process called healing. A time where my dreams would plague me with nightmares as I lay unsettled in that hospital roomS teams of the past, dreams of my death and rebirth and my accident.Dreams that haunted my presence so much that i hated sleep. The awful nightmares slowly turned into nice dreams as I recovered slowly. My heart and mind were at ease and I was no longer in fear.

* * *

I went into a deep slumber and when I woke up, there was no one in the room. I was all alone. Although I still felt a little unease, most of my pain had subsided. I was on a heavy dose of strong pain killers so i still felt a little drowsy despite sleeping most of the time. I noticed a plaster on my right leg. Tears were brought to my eyes not over the fact that I was hurt and in pain but over the fact that I had been lucky enough to survive this horrific car crash. Mostly they were tears of shame and embarrassment. Next to me lay a bouquet of flowers. Red roses and a rosy pink card printed in black and white ink, 'get well soon. I smiled to my self as I remembered the man. He must have done this. I struggled to grab the card off the mini table but to no avail. My arms felt heavy and they failed me. I had no idea I was this weak. I remembered I had not really eaten for days.Not that I even knew what day it was since I had spent most of my time asleep. My left leg lay suspended by a support tool in front of me as I lay on the gurney.

You're awake ma'am? I gazed to my left in the direction of the entrance door, the doctor had peeped in to the room. He walked in slowly addressing me while reading something from his clip board then he stood next to me. "Mrs Alnilam. I am glad you have a woken. You were involved in a car accident and you suffered many fractures including your arm, a few of your ribs, fractures to your left leg, your and damages to your left ear. You've undergone a few surgeries to correct errors in the past few weeks. But I sure must tell you, you surviving this was a miracle. "

But you sure are gonna be ok.

Mrs Alnilam? I was sure it was a mistake. "Sorry doctor, actually, my name is Nancy Agrivah not Mrs Alnilam." I could have been engrossed in correcting the doctor's bold mistake, but at that very moment my concerns were based on the fact that I was now half a deaf person. Was I going to live? Because even though I was under medication I was in pain, I couldn't move a limb. I was distraught. "Doctor will I be able to ever hear again?"

He seemed to understand my concern seeing the look of distress on my face. "Listen ma'am , I can't tell you anything as of now but I am sure with the right treatment you will be cured. We are doing our best ma'am. That seemed to give me a little bit of hope. "Doctor but you should know that as of now i don't have much money on me"

. He smiled, "do not worry ma'am your husband already covered all your medical costs. In fact he brought you here himself."

My husband? "Sorry doctor. I'm not married." I said.

"But the man who brought you here claimed to be your husband. He signed your medical forms as your husband so I thought so. must I say, he deeply took care of you well and due to your injuries he was afraid you wouldn't make it. I must apologize," ....before he could finish his sentence. Some one had come in. We both gazed in the direction of the door, and there he stood. The man who had stolen my heart in a moment. The man who had taken pain away just by the kind look in his eyes. He looked at me in concern and relief. I'm guessing he wasn't expecting me to be awake yet. I was charmed by his handsome looks. Oh speak of the devil. Your husband is here Mrs Alnilam.

"You're awake!" He rushed nearer to me as I blushed in embarrassment. "Tell me, how do you feel? Is she ok doctor?"

"Don't worry sir" the doctor said. "She is a fighter, she made it and she's doing fine." He smiled at him leaving the room. " I'll give you two some time alone like you asked but keep I kind she has to take rest in two hours."

He gazed at me and sat next to me holding my hand. I was feeling extra shy at that moment. I wanted to turn the other way to run because I coud not bear his deeply unsettling presence. Unsettling in a positive way. His presence unsettled a rampant storm of emotions that lay dormant within me. I was deeply in love with this stranger, one can call it love at first site. I could not bear to see the compassion he had for me in his kind looking eyes. I could feel his aura, I smelled his unique scent. My unsettling past life had taught me lessons one can never learn enough in a whole life time alone. To me, family meant nothing. Being raised by a cruel witch mother who taught me nothing but the ways of evil to finding a father who abandoned me only to learn he never even wanted me was quite an experience. Living in that harem brought so much sad memories even in this life time. These memories were etched in my heart, frozen and still vivid in my mind like mortal wounds. The way I was subdued to a sultan's wishes like I did not matter. The way I was violated like my body did not matter as well. Having to deal with low self esteem that came from a life of a s*****y. This very man, Cain... I felt I could trust. His presence was enough to calm me and heal all my wounds of the heart. The pain in my body might have been horrible but the aching in my heart had subsided.

"What's your name?" He smiled.

"Nancy, Nancy Agrivah." I 'replied slowly in a shallow and strained voice. I did not want him to know I was in pain. Talking was a pain to me. Every time I opened my mouth to say a word, I would feel sharp pains across My chest, caused by my broken ribs. Even breathing was hard but I simply did not want him to think he was bothering me

"Nice to meet you Nancy. You can call me Cain."

We're do you come from? do you have anybody I .can contact so i can inform him or her about your condition."

"No." I lied. I did not want my father or sister to know about my accident and that I had been hospitalized. My sister would worry a lot, and my father would deem me unworthy of my own independence. I have nobody in this city or any were else. He looked puzzled. You don't have any family?

"No." I replied.

"Oh ok. Where do you stay? Are you from this city?"

I'm still new to the city, it's my first time." I told him. "I came from very far." I said. I wanted to apologize for causing the accident.

"Listen Nancy, I'm sorry for hitting you with my car, you're in this awful condition because of me," he said at last. I was amazed by his kind gestures. We chatted a bit, to get to know one another a little bit more. Cain came to visit me in the hospital many more times as I made an audacious speedy recovery which shocked doctors and nurses.

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