Back in the 1800’s there were two girls of the age 17. One named Amelia Bolyn, and another named Alisa Bolyn. They were twins but they both had very different and distinct features. Amelia has eyes as gray as pebbles on the beach, a smile that melted away hatred at sight. She was tall and thin, with skin as white as freshly fallen snow, Black hair that could almost vanish under the moonlight and lips cherry red. Also, Amelia had something Alisa did not. Amelia had a partner, a young man of 20 names Jonathon Harold. They have been courting for about 6 months and Amelia believes that she is in love. Alisa on the other hand had melted chocolate brown eyes that could look into your soul, her hair could only be described as the color of a brush fire, and she also has a fairer white face with a tiny hint of pink cheeks, especially in the winter. Alisa does not have a partner of her own because of her outspokenness. Both sisters loved to read, draw, laugh, and of course they had a big imagination. They lived in a middle class estate with fine furnishings left from the previous owner. One day while exploring the house they came across a book. Not just any book but a diary. They brushed the dust off the cover and read “Elizabeth Marie Carrington”, with looks of astonishment they both say at the same time, “Who?” Alisa took the book in her arms and ran downstairs to their father. Amelia and Alisa’s mother passed away giving birth to what would have been their little brother. When they showed their father the book he was shocked. Then he told them “Elizabeth Marie Carrington is the previous owner of this house. She is also your mother’s twin sister.” “Mom has a twin sister?” asked Amelia. “Yes” replied their father, “They never spoke much though, Lizzie was a little off. She always kept by herself and didn’t want people around. She wasn’t always like that though. There was a time when she would laugh and sing while playing with you two as babies. I can remember it like yesterday.” After a few moments of reminiscing Amelia finally asked, “Well what happened to her?” Their father was being an unusually protective about this story but after a few moments of looking at the girls he caved in. “Well,” he started, “It all began about 9 years ago, Lizzie was living with her husband, and Joseph I believe was the fellow’s name. Anyhow, they were married for about 15 years and they didn’t have any children of their own. No matter how hard they tried it wouldn’t happen. Finally, when you two were about 8 when she was pregnant. When that had happened she wasn’t herself anymore. She didn’t laugh or barely even speak. About 8 months in she miscarried. Her husband left her, because she couldn’t bear him a child. Well, after a year of mourning this, she moved out here. In fact, the nursery they set up for the baby is actually your room now. Well, about 7 years ago she passed away. Killed herself in this very house. According to doctors, she was with child. No one knows how this could have been. But she was. They almost saved the baby. They said she was in labor when she did it. So somehow her whole pregnancy was kept a secret.” There was what seemed like forever of silence. Then all of a sudden there was a huge CRASH! Behind them a vase had fallen. All three of them look around to see there the vase could have fallen from. No where in sight. Afterwards they just said it was probably the wind and went on their day normal. Alisa wouldn’t let it go. She took the book to her room and started to read;
Dear Diary,
November 18, 1806. Today Joseph and I went walking through the meadows. Oh how the flowers smell out there. We sat in the tall lilies and watched the clouds pass by. It was then that I knew it would be the time to tell him my great news. So, I put my head on his chest and I asked him if he still loved me the same as he did when we were young. He replied, “Lizzie, I would love you the same no matter what.” Then he kissed me. It had to be the most tender kiss he has ever given me. So I took him by the hand and told him I was pregnant. He was so happy that he whisked me into the air and twirled me around like he did when I said yes to marry him. Oh how happy I am today. I just hope the curse isn’t real….
All for now,
Elizabeth
After reading that page from her diary Alisa couldn’t understand why she would kill herself or even be upset. Every day Alisa couldn’t help but to read a few pages from the diary. Then she came across this entry;
Dear Diary,
August 23, 1807. I am writing this from the bottom of my heart because it has brought me so much misery and despair. I miscarried today. One more month and I would have a beautiful baby. Why is god punishing me like this? Why even let me get pregnant if I would not even be able to birth him or her. I had the names all thought out too. If it was a girl I was going to name her Catherine Grace, and a boy James William. I have yet to tell Joseph. I have no idea how he will take such news. Will he cry? Will he still love me? Of course he will. He will always love me, and I will always love him. I guess the curse of my family isn’t real. Either that or things are about to get much worse. Please god, watch over me.
Forever,
Elizabeth
Alisa wanted to know more about the family curse, from her room where she kept quietly she walked down the hall to the library where books have been kept about the family for generations. The whole house had a chilly winter breeze running through it. When she came upon the brown wooden doors she opened them quietly, knowing fully that the doors squeaked and her sister and father are in bed. She lit about 16 candles spread vastly around the room and focused on the long night ahead. After many books and wax drippings along the tables they sat upon she found what she was looking for. Apparently back in 1753 one of Alisa’s ancestors was cursed for not wanting to marry a certain person. The curse was that when the right time came a woman of natural blood would have twin girls. One of the girls would go off and have a prosperous life and have twin girls of her own. The other would be destined to not bearing any children and if she dared try a most horrible fate would become of her. Alisa had the thought in her head that her mother had been drawn a lucky card of fate when she birthed Amelia and myself. She wondered if her grandmother knew about the curse before her mother and aunt was born. Alisa got to thinking and looking back at our blood line ever since 1795 girls were always birthed first. Intriguing. She finally fell asleep on a chair in the library and awoke to the sound of her sister talking to her. “Alisa? Alisa? Are you awake? You need to get up, we have chores to do.” Said Amelia standing above her sister. Alisa got up from her resting place and finally got to her chores. By noon or so Alisa realized something was wrong. The air was still, the horses we not around in the pasture as usual. Also, that there were a lot of clouds this particular day. Alisa could not hear a sound. Not the birds chirping, or even the creaking of the house. Not a sound. After several moments which seemed like an eternity a violent wind kicked her off her feet, making her land in a pile of wood that she was clearing. Thus, banging her head. Alisa was unconscious. When she awoke she realized she was inside on the brown couch in the living room. Her father rushed to her “What happened to you? Amelia went out to help you with the wood and she found you on the ground bleeding from you head. Thank god the bleeding stopped and the swelling is going down.” He said as he stroked her wet, sticky hair from her face. “I was so worried about you, you have been out for about 38 hours now. Here,” He hands her a bowl. “Eat this soup. You need something to eat. Amelia wouldn’t leave your side… But you are okay now. That’s all that matters.” Alisa looked around dizzily and said “Last I remember there were no wind and no sound then all of a sudden a wind knocked me flat on my back.” She reached up to touch the bandage on her head. “Ouch, that really hurt.” Amelia looks at her sister in worriment. “Have you been reading lately sister?” “Why yes I have. I read most every day. Why do you ask?” Amelia understands now. “No reason. You need your rest now. Go dream.” But dream Alisa did not. She had a nightmare of an unborn set of twins and a black smoke chocking them in the womb. She woke up drenched in sweat, screaming at the top of her lungs. Amelia was the first to bolt in the room and immediately jumped on her sister’s bed and hugged her tightly as she cried. Amelia did not leave Alisa’s side that night or the next day. When they were grooming the horses Amelia finally asked, “You need to stop reading the diary.” “Why?” Alisa asked. “Because Alisa! The cruse is real! Everything you read is real and I don’t want that to happen to us.” “Amelia, there hasn’t been anything in the diary about the relationship between mom and Aunt Elizabeth.” Amelia looks down as if embarrassed “Yes, not yet. I’ve have read the diaries before my dear sister… I don’t want this happening to us. We are twin girls of the age 17. Exactly as old as mom and Aunt Elizabeth were when things started getting weird. There are more diary’s… I have found them in the abandoned nursery. Trust me Alisa, do not go looking for them and just stop reading the diary you hold possession over before it takes over you.” Puzzled Alisa asks “What do you mean possession over me? I am still the same person I have always been.” Amelia comes closer and whispers as if someone is listening in on them, “Do you think we are the only Boyln girls to keep a diary of our lives. Every single ancestor dating all the way back to 1753. Every blood trail has at least one girl. One girl who happens to also be the first born. There has been 1 other incident of the cruse besides Elizabeth. Grandma’s Great Grandma was a twin, she got delt the lucky hand. In our family Alisa, only one twin can live.” Alisa looks into her sister’s gray eyes and she sees something she has never seen before. Fear. “I am not going to leave you.” Amelia looks down at the dirt and says in a trembling manor. “It’s not you I am worried about sister… I’m pregnant.” Alisa, shocked at what she has just heard rushed to her sisters trembling body. “How can this happen? Why did you give yourself away like that sister?” Amelia just smiled and said “Jonathon has asked me to marry him. I said yes. I wanted to wait for all this weirdness to blow over before I told father or you.” “Well then,” Alisa said with a half-hearted grin. “I guess we are going to have to beat this curse by diving head into it. I really do wish though that we could have at least read the journals over and gotten a clue what we are up against.” They both went back to their chores and later that night Amelia told their father and he was very pleased. From there things were happening fast. For precautions Amelia was asked not to do so much around the yard and to stay inside and always have someone watching over her. About 4 months into her pregnancy everything was running smoothly and they and thought maybe the curse would skip them. But one night Amelia woke up with a pain in her stomach that felt like nothing she could have imagined. Amelia was screaming so loud that Alisa could hear her from across the house and ran to her room in just her nightgown. Their father went to get the doctor and Jonathon. Around 3 hours later the pain finally stopped and the doctor concluded that she almost had a miscarriage. Amelia got very freighted and asked her sister “Could this really be happening to me? Why is this happening to me?” Tears welling up in her eyes all Alisa could say is “I do not know Amelia, all I know is that I am not going to let anything of the sort happen to you.” After that night Alisa slept in the same bed as Amelia because she kept waking up with nightmares and with Alisa right there she felt safe. When Amelia got to be 8 months pregnant she fell into a great depression. She did not smile as she used to, her pebble eyes turned to stone and her skin looked as if all the life has been sucked out of her. She did not have enough strength to get out of her bed. She was very big though, the doctor came to visit and check up on Amelia and said “ Ms. Boyln, I have had this suspicion since about 4 months in, I think you may be having twins, which is very normal for your family line, your mother was a twin.” Amelia started bursting out in a crazily motion of chaos “I cannot be having twins! No! I refuse to have these monsters!” on that note Amelia jumps off the bed and starts running towards the door. “What is going on with her?!” Jonathon, the doctor, and their father all yell. “The Boyln curse. I think she has been reading the diary’s again. I just have no possible hint to where they could be.” Then Alisa remembers where Amelia said she found them in the first place and she runs down the hall to the abandoned nursery, when in the room she quickly looks around and asked herself “Where would I hide a diary?” Alisa ponders for a moment realizing that her time I going to be cut short. “YES! Of course, on the bookshelf.” In the other room of the nursery there is a bookshelf with doors on it, Alisa swings open the doors and inside she sees a stack of diary’s. She grabs the one on top and quickly turns to the book marked page. It is an entry from her mother
“I cannot save my dear sister Elizabeth, I can only wish her the best knowing she and her children will be in heaven, I only wish my daughters will not have to endure the same pain I have had to watching my only sister slowly wither away. If only there was a way to save her.”
The next entry is from after Aunt Elizabeth committed suicide
“Diary, my beloved sister and her children are with the lord now, I knew I could never save her but I could have saved her children. I know the truth how she was pregnant. I know the truth behind her being dead right now. The truth is her husband came back. He came back for her about a year ago. He stayed in the house with her for about 6 months. Loving her, caring for her, being everything she wished him to be. Then, he told her the truth that he had gotten remarried and had 2 children now. They got in a fight and he left. I left my family for 2 and half months when this happened. My sister needed me so I was there. She was not herself for the whole time I was there. Day after day she looked more pale. More lifeless. In terms she looked like she had already passed. She did not smile, laugh, she barely talked to me. Finally I questioned her about it. She started screaming and left the house so I left back to my family. 15 days later I received word that she was found hanging from the balcony by a neighbor. Diary, I can never get the thought that I could have saved her.. But in my heart I know I couldn’t have even if I tried.”
Alisa realized she would not make the same mistake as her mother. She would try to help. Alisa slammed the book down on the floor and ran outside in the direction of which the others were heading. She found them all at the barn. Amelia on the top getting ready to jump. Alisa screamed "No Amelia don't do it!" Amelia just turned her head to the sky and yelled in a deep terrifying voice "No! You cannot help me now Alisa! The curse has taken its toll! I will end up like Aunt Elizabeth!" "No!," Alisa Yelled, "You cannot leave me, I will mot let you leave. I love you!" Alisa knew it was too late though. She had been taken over by the curse and there was no turning back by now. The sweet, caring, loving Amelia she once knew was gone. Amelia cried aloud "I love you Alisa." "I love you too Amelia." A split second later Amelia jumped. Alisa ran to her and took Amelia in her arms. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you, I wish it were me instead of you." Alisa kissed Amelia's forehead and that was the end. One year later and a lot has changed. Alisa finally found someone to love. His name is James William. They have been married for about 4 months. They both are standing in front of Amelia's tombstone with Jonathon. They may not have been married yet and she may be gone but he is still in love with her. As the sun sets on the pasture James and Alisa are enjoying the particularly warm winter day. They are talking about maybe moving into the city for James’s work when Alisa says "I need to tell you something.." "Yes?" James says. Alisa looks straight into his eyes and says... "I'm pregnant"......

The End