"How unlucky a family can be?" Lucy asks. It is of course a rhetorical question and nobody present shows any interest in answering that question.
All my cousins are gathered in my room today. I did not call any of them. I am not very close to any of them except Lucy.
Anne is here with an excuse of helping Lucy and pushing her wheelchair.
Alec is here to watch over the girls because the adults are not at home.
Bianca and Benjamin, the twins of the family, have shamelessly declared that they want to hear everything from me because it is a 'family matter'.
The first thing Oksana said when she entered my room was, "I still don't get it, why were you even chosen? I am surprised that you have messed up everything."
Josh sneered in response, "The malnourished freak has shattered your dream. How tragic!" It caused Dan to burst into laughter.
And it made me wonder, How many of these people would miss me if I die?
Now, after thirty minutes of small talk and eye rolls, Lucy finally comes to the point. "I have always known that this family cursed. I just didn't think of human sacrifices."
At that moment, we hear somebody clearing their throat. Our eyes fall on the door where our new housemaid stands, holding a tray filled with snacks and soft drinks.
"Who asked for that?" I ask bitterly.
"I did. If I am going to have to sit in this horrid environment, I need something to keep myself busy."
I glare at Oksana and say, "I wouldn't mind if you leave."
"what is wrong with the environment?" asks Daniel.
"All this talk of misfortune and human sacrifices... like this room was not weird enough, now we have more morbid topics to talk about."
"This room has always been like this," Bianca says. She takes a sip from her bottle of cola and winces. we all narrow our eyes at her.
She is very right. This room has had this decor for the past hundred years, maybe even more. They have changed a few pieces of furniture, added a flatscreen tv, and set up wireless connections as time passed, but it still gives the creeps to the newcomers. There is heavy wooden furniture showcasing Victorian styles, big floor-to-ceiling windows, and a huge mirror that one of my great-great grandfathers bought in an auction.
The fun doesn't end there. This room was given to me when I turned thirteen because I was the special one. Now that I think about it, they had chosen me a long time ago.
"So," Benjamin clears his throat dramatically and addresses me, "Are you going to spill or not?"
Suddenly everybody stops talking. Bianca puts down her bottle of cola, and elbows her twin for being so abrupt. I run my glance over all their faces and sigh. "Do I have to?"
"Yes," Oksana yells. The rest just deliver a mix of muffled excuses.
"I want to know what made you so special that even though I am older, smarter, healthier and much prettier than you, they chose you."
I drop myself on my bed and stare at the ceiling. Since I was twelve, I have devoted my life to investigating Aunt Josette. I don't think I have ever done something excellent, or showed my interest in being the chosen one. "Maybe it's my lack of personality!"
"You have a personality, it's just dry." Anne says, "Not that I am trying to be rude or bully you. It's more of an observation. Unless you are writing some odd horror story, or drawing something in your journal, you are pretty—"
"She gets it," Lucy interjects. She is still playing the role of a protective step-sister. I smile to myself and continue staring at the roof. There are pretty murals on the roof, and a bunch of Renaissance-style images telling a fairytale.
"I don't know what to say or how much. Is it even right to share what happened there? None of the women before me shared anything with us."
Alec speaks to me directly, which is a new. He has never talked to me directly before. I frown at him. "Do you remember who went with her the last time?"
"Aunt Charlotte," Alec says. "It was around twenty-seven years ago. She was older than you. I think twenty-five or something. When she returned, her hair was a mess, and her skin was filled with bruises. It looked like she had come back from a fucking orgy or something. When she finally recovered, Grandmother gave her the keys to this mansion."
"How do you know all this? you weren't even born then," Lucy exclaims.
"James told me." Alec shrugs.
"Jamie Mathison? Is it true that he fucked Aunt Charlotte?" Bianca earns a glare from her twin. However, we all want to know. Jamie Mathison is the son of a family friend, a could of years younger than Aunt Charlotte, quite striking and filthy rich.
"Obviously he didn't tell me that, but I think they had something between them. Coming back to the pressing topic, what happened to you that night and who were the men who have been visiting our house?"
I shift uncomfortably. "I don't remember much, but whatever happened to the previous aunties, that didn't happen to me. I think some kind of ritual was planned, but it failed. That is why he came to see me." After a small pause, I add, "His name is Orion. Aunt Josette took me to a manor, a lot like ours, but it was darker and colder, and there were these men. They were all brothers, Orion was one of them."
"So you're telling me that all the aunties were, at some point of time in their life, presented to a bunch of men?" Anne asks tersely.
"To what end?" Oksana sits straight and looks at me as if I have grown another pair of eyes.
I clear my throat and watch each of their faces. They look anxious, curious, even fearful. They deserve to know the truth. I do not hate my family, but I did hate the information that for centuries women had been sacrificed and nobody stood up against it. It is complicated, I think. I cannot hate my father who has always been indifferent towards me, I cannot hate my grandfather who has a strange, somewhat cold way of showing affection, I cannot hate any of my uncles too, despite their vices.
"I will tell you what Aunt Josette told me, but if you take any stupid step or start babbling in front of the elders, I will deny everything and make sure that you are punished." I glare at all of my cousins and continue. "Our family has a curse. To minimize the effect women are sent for a ritual. When they return they bring good fortune. Hence they are given the role of the matriarch and the biggest share of the property."
"what's the point? Most of these women were unmarried and had no children of their own. Those who had were discredited for different reasons. Think of Aunt Charlotte's daughter Paulina. She was removed from the family tree for being an illegitimate child."
We all look at Alec. He has brought up something that I did not consider until now. Lucy voices my thought aptly, saying, "This means Franny, you will have to be very careful when you decide to make a baby."
I don't tell her about my worry. I don't think I will ever get involved with a normal man, or date like normal teenagers ever again.