The Gifted and the Cursed: Super-Kids in Training

          Shawn sighed and looked up at Jared, and wrote some last remaining facts about him down on the paper. “Well, Jared, do you want the good news or the bad news?”

          Jared shook his head and said, “The bad news.”

          Shawn clicked his tongue and replied, “Well, Jared, to make a long story short, you are cursed.”

          Jared couldn’t breath. “Wha--- What do you mean c-c-cursed?” Shawn looked at him in the eye and said, pointing to Jared’s pocket, “That wand that you are holding, belonged to my great-great grandfather. This man…He was…utterly evil. He killed anyone who crossed his path, and when he was finally killed, he put a curse on that wand, saying that anyone who touched the wand…would be cursed for eternity.”

          Jared didn’t breath. “What do you mean?” Tears came to the eleven year old boy’s eyes. “Jared…He will be hunting you down.”

          Tears gushed out of the boy’s eyes, rolling down his cheeks, and splashing down onto his crossed hands. “Who? Who is He?”

          Shawn Snow didn’t reply. He seemed highly interested in the pen he was holding.

          “What I want to know is: Where did you find it?”

          “I-I found it! I found it just where we lined up to get into this camp! Just around a cluster of trees!” Jared exclaimed, still crying in fright.

          Shawn yelped. Jared jumped at this sudden movement. “H-Here? You found it here?”

          Jared slowly nodded.

          “NO! You can’t have! I cast it out of my life! I threw it away in England! Oh my—It is trying to return to me!”

          Shawn let out a moan, and he collapsed on his desk, leaving the frightened boy sitting in the chair, hollering out tears. Jared wiped his eyes, and too afraid to stay in that room, he burst out down the stairs.

          Jared put his foot down, but he put it down on the edge of a stair, and he fell to the steps, rolling down, horribly fast. He couldn’t even see! He felt his body aching, telling his body to stop falling, but he couldn’t defy gravity. Jared tumbled down the huge staircase, hitting his head and rolling head over heels. He crashed into the banister, about on the second floor, and the banister completely broke off, sending Jared flying to the first floor, a twenty-foot drop!

          Jared looked back up and tried to grab onto the banister with both hands, but only his right hand was able to grip it. His left hand couldn’t reach.

          Jared regained his senses, now that he wasn’t spinning upside-down, and heard a big CRASH! He looked down and he saw that light was flashing through the tinted windows. Another CRASH! and he knew that there was a thunderstorm outside.

“Sha—Sha—” Jared tried to say, but he was too terrified to scream for help. Suddenly, Jared heard a door open below him. He looked down, tears streaming out of his eyes, and gasped.

          A man, in a black hood and cloak was standing, just in front of the door. Jared wondered why the man was perfectly dry, because it was raining outside. Jared couldn’t see the man’s face, because it was covered in the shadow of the hood, and he slowly, looked up at the dangling boy.

          The man’s face was still covered in darkness, leaving an eerie feeling in the room.

          “Sha—SHAWN!” Jared screamed, as he looked back up to see if the man had finally noticed that Jared was screaming for help. Jared once more tried to grab onto the banister, but just as he had grabbed it with his left hand, Jared felt something hot on his neck.