Lilly and Billy were twins and they lived a happy life together in their house with their Mother, Father and baby sister
Tabbather. Now, their house was special, and it was special because it was a) so big and b) so old. But it didn’t matter
that the house was old, because Lilly and Billy’s Mother had made the house very modern. They had put; lifts instead of
stairs, laminate flooring, egg chairs, inflatable sofa’s and clocks, (in fact, the one Grandfather clock was a huge
orange inflatable thing!), but, there was one problem with the house. Over the years, the many people who lived in it
had all died at the age of 41.
Now it was either a natural death or a murder. The natural deaths were what occurred the
most, but in 1967 and 1921 murders had been suspected, with a dagger through the heart and a slit through the throat.
All the natural deaths had been of a strange sort, but all the same. The person would get ill before their birthday with
headaches, wheezy throats, and coughs, and then, unfortunately, would die on their birthday. It was always when the clock
struck 6 o’clock.
All the people of the town believed it was a curse. They thought it went like this; There was a being
up the loft, (nobody knew what this being could be) and it had cursed the house so that anyone who lived upon that land
should die by the time they’re 41. If, they’re not dead before 41, the curse shall kill them on their 41st birthday. If
the curse failed in killing the human, then the being from the loft should come down and kill the human with a slit in
the throat and dagger in the heart. This is what the people believed and this is what the humans who entered the house
thought. Some people weren’t warned when they entered the house, some people loved the house too much to move, some
people didn’t believe the curse, and some people moved the day before their 41st birthday.
Billy and Lilly’s Father was awaiting his 41st birthday. The family had been warned of the curse and still didn’t believe
it, so they stayed in the house. When his 41st birthday came, Billy and Lilly, who believed the curse, tried to protect
their Father. Ugine, the Father, thought they were being stupid, and said he didn’t need protecting. Angie, the Mother,
agreed.
"Stop being so silly!" She snapped when Ugine had tripped over Billy and Lilly who were trying to protect him by
crawling around his ankles. "There is not a curse on this house! I refuse to believe it until I see it!" Ugine nodded,
and looked at the children.
"But Dad! Mum!" Billy protested, "We’re only trying to protect you Dad from the curse. We don’t want you to die."
Lilly began to cry. "Dad," She wept, "Dad! We love you! Please just leave the house! Please!"
He sighed, "No, kids, as much as you believe this, you can’t be scared! There’s no such thing as curses! I’m not leaving
the house. Anyway, if I do die, I’ll die knowing you love me." He kissed the kids on the foreheads. "The same goes to you
Tabbatha." And he kissed her too. Tabbatha just giggled and dribbled. "Now come on, which one of these is from you?" He
asked referring to the presents, "Hmm?"
The kids smiled. "This one." Came Billy’s reply. And the family enjoyed the rest of the day.
When 6 o’clock came the whole family had forgotten about the curse, and Billy and Lilly were up in their room and Angie
was in the kitchen clearing away from dinner. Ugine was in the sitting room watching some television.
Suddenly, Ugine saw a shadow on the wall. It was tall and had a dagger and a knife in its hands. As he turned around he saw a huge man
(or woman) in a long black cloak. They were wearing a black cowboy hat that cast a shadow over the face so that you
couldn’t see anything. Ugine didn’t want to.
Suddenly the being swooped the knife at Ugine’s throat. The thing was very
good at being quiet so the rest of the family couldn’t hear a thing. As the knife passed Ugine’s throat without cutting
him, he pulled it out of the hand. He ran to the other end of the room and then swung the knife at the thing’s belly.
It cut a large rip in the clock and now Ugine could see some flesh through it. He tried to get that. Now the thing
dropped the dagger and clutched his tummy.
"You can’t get me that easily!" He (or she) mumbled and picked up the dagger again.
It was all over as quick as a flash. I’ll spare all the gory details. The being lay there, spread on the floor.
There was blood gushing from it’s body.
"What have I done?" Ugine hissed.
Angie came into the room. "Are you ready for supper? I know we’ve just had tea but..."
Ugine interrupted her, "Can’t you see what I’ve done?"
"Honey!" She whined. "Why have you got a knife and a dagger?"
Ugine looked up from the being. "Can’t you see that?" He said, pointing to the thing.
"See what?" She looked down.
"That’s right!" He said. "The being is only seen to one who is being hunted
or hurt by it." He explained to Angie and the kids what he had just done.
"Dad!" Screamed Billy. "You’ve killed the curse! Don’t you remember? The people of the town warned us, ‘The curse
can only be broken by the person it is trying to defeat killing it!’ You’ve killed the curse!"
The family celebrated and ran outside to tell the whole town. The day after the town had a huge party to celebrate a)
Ugine’s birthday and b) the killing of the curse. Everyone was so happy especially Angie who didn’t now have to worry
about her 41st a few years later. ;)
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