c2 header [https://i.imgur.com/lkLwQUh.png]

Day 1: September 1, 2013, Sunday.

Here I was, leisurely exploring Magnolia. It was such a charming town; one would think this was truly a city because it had the vibe and aura of one. It was bustling with locals and tourists alike. Anywhere I looked, I saw happy and smiling faces, people enjoying themselves, and families walking around together.

"Must be nice..."

To be completely honest, I was jealous. The sight of a complete and happy family prickled my already broken heart.

"Anna, dear. What do you want for dinner tonight?"

"Curry! I want curry, Mama!"

"All right, dear. We'll have curry tonight. Papa, dear. Let's stop by the market to get the ingredients.

"Sure thing, honey. Come on, Anna. I'll carry you on my shoulder!"

"Yes! I can see the world from up here. Papa is amazing!"

As I admiringly watched the wonderful family in front of me, it reminded me of the past when my mom, dad, and I used to go on trips. Mom always brought stuff she made using her favorite orchid flower every time we went on a trip. Varying from bracelets, necklaces, rings, and even flower crowns, I especially loved the necklaces. As for Dad, he taught me a lot of cool stuff, like how to fly a kite, play catch, and hula hoop. Fun fact: I was an expert at hula hooping. Those times were so much fun.

However, as much as I wanted to reminisce about the past when my mom was still alive, unfortunately, it was difficult for me to do so. Because of the extreme shock caused by the incident, my memories of the past, especially of Mom's, were in complete shambles. But there was no use moping about it, it was not like my memories would get magically fixed if I stressed myself over it.

I continued my stroll around Magnolia. I went to check a few local shops and stalls, grabbed a cool drink to take with me, and did some window shopping at a fancy boutique. Naturally, I saved the best for last. I was absolutely looking forward to trying this town's famous signature dish, the Magnolia Skewers. Word on the street was that if you ate this dish even once, you would get addicted to it.

So, I bought some and sat on a bench at the local park. And not going to lie, it tasted fantastic. Describing the taste would take too long, so I would express it using one word: scrumptious.

After letting out a sigh of satisfaction, I blurted out to myself, "That skewer hit the mark. No wonder it's this town's signature dish."

Suddenly, a cute voice from across the bench I was sitting on surprised me. "Are you a tourist? I've never seen anyone besides me enjoy this town's skewer as much as you did!"

I hesitated to answer initially because, as every good parent told their children, "Do not talk to strangers."

But upon closer inspection, the person who talked to me didn't seem too bad. Frankly, she appeared to be completely harmless. Nevertheless, it was better to be safe than sorry. So, I didn't answer and just politely smiled at the blonde-haired girl staring at me with a huge smile.

"Oh my gosh! You're so pretty!" The blonde girl exclaimed happily. As she said that, she stood up and quickly ran to where I was sitting. And needless to say, it was awkward.

"Can I help you with anything?" I asked the girl standing in front of me with a grin on her face.

The girl pouted. "Come on! Don't be so grumpy! It's just that this is the first time I've seen you around, and you don't look like a tourist," she went on.

"So, I got curious about you, and you're just so pretty! Like, so pretty! You also seem to like Magnolia's Skewer, which happened to be my favorite, so—"

This girl, whose name I didn't even know, kept going on and on... So before she talked my ears off, I decided to interrupt.

"So, what's your name?" I asked her while smiling. This proved effective as she stopped talking, her eyes widened, and she appeared delighted.

She held her hand out to me. "I'm Katie! Katie Marsh! Nice to meet you!" The girl said with a big smile.

I know I just said not to talk to strangers, but Katie looked perfectly fine to me. At least that was the feeling I got from interacting with her, and since an opportunity presented itself, I might as well grab it.

I shook Katie's hand and introduced myself. "The name is Nicole, Nicole Fenton. Nice to meet you too, Katie."

"I guess you would do," I whispered to myself.

After exchanging introductions, we sat down and spoke for a while. Katie was a native of Magnolia, born and raised. Coincidentally, we were the same age, both 16.

She almost told me everything about the town: the best places to eat, where to buy clothes, and the talk of the town. Well, I did press her lightly to test her, and she immediately chattered away. I didn't know if Katie just trusted me that much or if she was just carefree and gullible. To be honest, I was slightly worried about this girl. Didn't her parents tell her not to talk to strangers?

But thanks to her, I achieved what I had planned to do. I got useful information about Magnolia from someone native. I didn't want to live in a new place without prior knowledge about it, especially with all those peculiar rumors going around.

As I initially thought, the most obvious problem was the rumored curse, The 13 Plagues, as people called it. This rumor dates back as far as the '60s, at least according to Katie. It started when people suddenly began to vanish without a trace and then inexplicably appeared out of nowhere. Then, a strange illness afflicted the whole town. And worst of all, people started to die.

The 13 Plagues was derived from the strange pattern that occurred in the town—a sequence of bizarre phenomena engulfed the town at the start of every month up to the 13th day. At first, weirdly enough, casualties only happened on the 13th day of every month. The first day up to the twelfth, they only consisted of, for lack of a better word, minor casualties. People got hurt and struck down by disease, and the town as a whole plunged into a pit of misfortune. Only on the 13th day would people wind up dead or missing, never to be seen again.

I asked Katie for the specifics, but she only knew the gist and the town's consensus about the strange occurrences. I guess even the town had no idea what was happening or who was behind it. But she did mention that the peculiar pattern had drastically changed over the years. As time passed, significant casualties began to occur on the first to twelfth days as well.

"Do you have any more questions, Nicki?" Katie asked. By the way, she decided to start calling me "Nicki" during our chat.

Before answering, I glanced at my phone to check the time. It was already 6:47 p.m. It was getting pretty late, and I still hadn't checked the school I enrolled in. I had lost track of the time.

"Would you happen to know where Magnolia Academy is?" I asked.

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Katie and I were the same age, so there was a high chance we were also both in the same grade. I figured she might also be attending Magnolia Academy because it was the go-to school in this town.

"Of course! I'm a student there! Will you be going there too, Nicki?" Katie exclaimed.

Bingo. As suspected, she was indeed a student at Magnolia Academy. So, when I told Katie we were going to become schoolmates, she immediately offered to accompany me to the school and show me around. However, since it was a weekend, we could only tour outside the school because it was closed, and no staff members worked on Sundays.

After some time of walking, Katie and I arrived at the academy. It was a sight to behold, as expected from the top school in a famous and prosperous town. It was incredible.

But even the sight of the grand academy didn't stop me from noticing something off. On our way here, the number of people we passed by and saw drastically decreased; the locals still outside were few, and the tourists or non-natives were mainly the ones still out and about. Some stalls and shops around town also started closing, with only a couple still open. Compared to how lively and crowded the town was early in the day, now it suddenly felt desolate; it was kind of ominous.

Katie also started to act differently, her bubbly and contagious happy demeanor was gone. She became more wary, and fear filled her eyes. I was actually surprised by the sudden shift; she was like a different person.

"Here we are, Nicole. Magnolia Academy," Katie declared as she reverted to calling me "Nicole."

"Thanks, Katie. Not calling me Nicki anymore?" I said with a laugh to get a reaction from her and an idea of what was going on.

Katie giggled. "I'm sorry, Nicki... It's just that I was having so much fun with you and lost track of the time. I didn't realize it was this late already. I'm just a bit scared, is all..."

I guessed it already, but Katie's reaction confirmed my suspicions. It was The 13 Plagues curse that was causing Katie and the townspeople to behave strangely.

Since we had accomplished what we came to do, I told Katie it was time to head home. I would admit, I got carried away exploring the town. I guess I was trying to escape, I wanted to keep myself occupied by doing stuff to keep my mind off what happened earlier today. Mainly the woman I saw on the TV while I was hallucinating—Mom.

It had been some time since I last had one, so seeing Mom again, even as a hallucination, distressed me a lot. All my suppressed emotions—stress, anxiety, and fear—suddenly came flooding in all at once. It was very overwhelming.

"Let's go, Katie. I'll walk you home as a thank you for today," I said confidently to relieve Katie of her anxiety.

The sun had set already, and I was not sure how far Katie lived from here and from my house. But I was quite confident that I could take care of myself. Besides, I didn't care about the curse or rumor going around. My hallucinations were more than enough for me, thank you.

As we turned our backs from the academy and started walking home, Katie suddenly grabbed my arm. She yanked so hard that it actually hurt.

I fluttered. "That hurts, Katie, what's wrong—" Before I even finished speaking, I saw Katie staring at something in the distance with her mouth wide open. She was pointing at the academy.

I quickly looked at where Katie was pointing and saw a woman standing behind one of the windows inside the academy building. It was dark, and the distance between us and the woman was far. However, both Katie and I could ascertain what we were staring at, albeit in minor detail.

I looked at Katie, who was clearly bewildered, and decided to lend her a helping hand. "Staff members of this academy are diligent, working even on Sundays? Wow..." I said in jest.

Katie was already anxious before this, so I felt the need to lighten the mood to calm her down.

"Or perhaps that woman is a thief? We need to call the authorities then." This time around, I wasn't joking. I reached for my phone, dialed the number, and put it on the loudspeaker.

"No, Nicole... It's the curse..." Katie mumbled.

I ignored Katie and waited for the authorities to pick up the call while staring at the woman in the window, who, for some reason, was still standing there. For a thief, she was clumsy. Getting caught and exposing yourself to be seen were big mistakes to make as one. But I was no thief, so I haven't got the faintest idea of the "Do's and Don'ts" of one.

As I pondered to myself if the woman was truly a thief, the ringing on my phone suddenly stopped. And an eerie laughter can now be heard coming from it.

Katie and I were both stunned; we immediately looked at my phone screen. To our horror, the woman at the window we stared at earlier was now bizarrely on the screen. If I were to put it in a way that was easier to understand, it would be as though the woman was magically transported into my phone, allowing us to see her more clearly. It was a familiar face.

The terrifying event made Katie let out a blood-curdling scream. All the pent-up fear she was holding in was released in an instant. And I totally understood her; I was also feeling quite spooked myself.

Katie grabbed my hand and then dragged me away from the academy. "Let's get out of here, Nicole!" A panicked Katie cried out.

While Katie was pulling me to who knows where, I looked back at the academy and saw the woman still standing at the window. I also quickly peeked at my phone to confirm if she was still there, but she wasn't there anymore.

Nonetheless, I recognized that woman; it was someone I always saw in my hallucinations. My mom.

I must be hallucinating again, but if that was the case, how come Katie was also able to see her? Katie also heard the laughter coming from my phone. Was Katie right that this was the work of the "curse"? The 13 Plagues? What was going on?

After a few minutes of running that felt like an eternity, Katie and I stopped at the park where we met earlier.

"Are you all right, Katie?" I said while panting.

"No! I'm not fine! What the heck was that?" A breathless and exhausted Katie yelled.

I didn't want to let out more than was needed, so I didn't tell Katie about my mom. She insisted it was the curse, but I believed otherwise. I just went along with it to end this topic. It was a sensitive matter for me that I didn't want to talk about.

After we both calmed down, I asked Katie where she lived, and lo and behold, we lived close by. And since I was a woman of her word, I walked her home.

"Thank you for walking me home, Nicole... Please be careful on your way home, okay? Here's my number, give me a call if anything happens," said a teary and grateful Katie.

After exchanging contact information, I waved goodbye to Katie and started walking home. I checked my phone, and it was back to its normal state. I took note of the time as well; it was already past 8:00 p.m. My dad would surely chew me out for being out so late. The worst part of all, I wasn't able to get him the energy drinks he asked me to grab for him. I was in trouble for sure.

Upon entering our house, I immediately yelled, "I'm so sorry, Dad!" in anticipation of my dad's imminent wrath. But to my surprise, no one was home.

"Dad!" I yelled multiple times as I searched the entire house for him.

After looking around for a few minutes to no avail, I checked my phone to see if Dad had left me a message about where he was going. When nothing was there, I decided to call him. This was out of character of him, he would never leave the house without telling me where he was going. And he was working on a new book; he would typically be in his study and writing at a rapid pace by now.

While waiting for my dad to pick up, I heard a ringing inside the house. I followed it closely, and the ringing led me to my dad's study. It seemed like my dad didn't bring his phone with him, as I pointed out earlier—another odd behavior from Dad.

I picked up the phone to end the call, and when the call screen closed, the last application or tab my dad used popped out. It was a conversation with someone named Henry.

Poking my nose at other people's business wasn't my style, and especially since it was my dad's, I decided not to prod and put his phone away. But inadvertently, I was able to read some of the messages before setting the phone aside. And one message stood out from the rest and sent a shiver down my spine.

"Mom came to this town before the incident...?" I said dumbfoundedly.

The message that stood out was the one where my dad was asking, or should I say, demanding Henry to tell him if my mom really came to this town before the incident. And to my surprise, she did. The Henry guy confirmed it with my dad. So, he must have gone out to meet with Henry to talk about it in person and in more detail. That explained why he was not at home, he was probably out all day because his book progress was nonexistent. His laptop's screen only showed a blank, empty page.

Usually, I wouldn't mind if my dad kept a few secrets from me. Personal space, privacy, and all. But this was an exception. This was about Mom, and I couldn't even begin to comprehend why he hid this from me. Now I started to wonder what other things my dad was hiding from me. I had so many questions with no answers available.

With a heavy heart, I put my dad's phone back where it was. Feeling sluggish and tired, I went to bed, but I was afraid to go to sleep. I hadn't had any hallucinations for some time now, and then suddenly, I hallucinated twice today. And with the way things were going, it was inevitable that I would see her again in my sleep.

I didn't know what triggered or caused it, but it has been a while since the last. I wasn't prepared for it at all this time around. I was caught off guard, and now I was afraid.

But the fatigue from running around town earlier and the toll of my hallucinations made it hard for me to remain awake. And soon enough, I fell asleep.

"Ol...i...via... I finally found you!"

A frightening scream woke me up, and I dreamed about her again.

I tried to calm myself down, but tears started falling from my eyes. They wouldn't stop. I sobbed and shed tears all night as I thought of her.

"Mom..."

(To be continued.)

Nicole END [https://i.imgur.com/uqGGlas.png]

Katie [https://i.imgur.com/vvNXoqv.png]