SEVEN

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Very light and fast running footsteps pattered through the field followed by rapid heavy ones, desperate to catch up with the owner of the light ones.

The giggles coming from the little girl were so contagious, euphonious and mellifluous as she continued to run through the fields, leaving the man that ran behind her in astonishment.

He had gone to pick up his four year old daughter from school and she had asked him to race her home. He had gladly obliged with the notion of running really slow to meet her toddler steps but the surprise she had just shown him was indeed astonishing.

He had been stunned motionless when she took off running and for a few moments, he stood still and watched her tiny legs as they lightly bounced off the road, running with graceful and utmost speed that he didn't know a small child could possess. Even he, as a kid, didn't have such speed.

He finally snapped out of his trance and ran after her, trying to meet up but we all know he couldn't match up to her light feet. He couldn't help but chuckle in surprise as he continued to watch her and run breathlessly behind her, gazing adoringly and proudly at his daughter.

They finally arrived at the front door of their humble and peaceful abode. The cute little girl halted with a hop before turning back to see her father just arriving behind her while panting heavily.

At the sight of her father, she couldn't contain her giggles, knowing that she had bested her father in the race. She was overjoyed and her facial expression reflected her emotions.

”Papa lost and I won!”. She shouted with another truck of giggles following after.

Her father looked up at her with adoration and fondness and of course astonishment as his mind tried to wrap around what had just happened. Deep in the depths of his steel grey eyes, love swam around passionately as he looked at her from his position–hands resting on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

He faked a hurt expression as he pushed out his bottom lip and batted his eyelashes, trying to imitate her expression whenever she was trying to entice someone into getting what she wanted.

“I can't believe you beat me in the race. Daddy sad”. He dragged the ‘a’ in sad as he whined and wailed jokingly resulting to more giggles from little Alaria as she placed her petite palm over her lips to quieten the sweet, melodious sound. Her doe–eyed face coruscated as her baby pink eyes shined brightly.

Alaria was doe–eyed and her big cute eyes was enough to make a raging bull melt into a puddle of chocolate. This feature, coupled with amazingly pink eyes that always seemed to shine dazzlingly every single time she smiled, was strong enough to melt the whole frost kingdom and that was saying a whole lot.

“Lari sorry”. She spoke after controlling her giggles but she was clearly enjoying her father's reaction as the amusement danced in her eyes. Her father sniffed playfully in reply.

“Does papa want a hug?”. She asked, extending her little hands that still had a bit of baby fat while shining her small and perfectly white set of teeth that seemed to be missing a tooth in the upper part, although that did nothing to taint her beautiful smile.

Her father sniffed again as he nodded his head, still batting his eyelashes and pretending to wipe a fake stray tear. He proceeded to extend his arms as he pulled her small figure in for a bear hug. He breathed in her naturally rose scented body and sighed contentedly, his body sagging in relief.

Ever since she was born, she had had that enticing rose scent, if that was even possible. Maybe it was as a result of the amount of gardening her mother had done while pregnant with Alaria. Her mother was very much in love with flowers, plants, crops, but mostly flowers. She would always say it made her feel free and one with nature. But if it weren't for her true love for gardening, Alaria's mom, Leah and dad, Kim probably wouldn't have met and he was very grateful for that.

Alaria giggled again as she wrapped her tiny arms around her dad's huge figure as he crouched to her level. Although her arms were nowhere as long or as big enough to occupy her dad, he felt very comfortable as the love she had for him radiated strongly through the hug.

She used one hand to stroke his hair soothingly, rubbing it up and down as she used the other hand to pat his back as well. This action of hers made her father hold in a chuckle as even with her small figure, she seemed like a mother lulling her child and it was very cute.

Much to his dismay, she pulled away a bit and looked him in the eyes. He was really enjoying her warm hug and he could've easily fallen asleep if they had stayed that way for longer. She was so soft and delicate. His wife, Leah and daughter, Alaria were the only ones that had such effect on him and he loved them very much.

Her soft, little hand stroked his left cheek lovingly as she continued to study him before she broke into a smile.

“How is papa now? Is papa feeling better?”. She grinned. He hurriedly shook his head and pulled her in for another hug, causing her to release a laugh.

“Papa wants to stay like this forever”. He answered as he held her closer as though she would slip away. She laughed again as she shook her head, rubbing against his shoulder.

“We can't stay like this forever, Papa. Mama is waiting for us. And also, you need to take a shower and rest since I just won you in our race”. She teased with another set of giggles.

His face broke into a proud grin at his smart daughter's wits and teasing remark. He faked a sad frown before pulling away from her. He let his eyes study her expression for a while before they fell to study the ground.

“You're making fun of papa, aren't you?”. He sniffed. “Papa sad, papa very sad”. He mumbled, playfully quivering his lips in attempts to make his act seem more realistic to Alaria.

Her eyebrows drew together and her nose slightly scrunched up unconsciously as she looked intensely at her father, trying to decipher if he was really sad or not.

“Oh papa it's just a race. You don't need to be sad, hmm? I know you lost but people lose most times but if they choose to stick to their failure and not try to make it better by learning from their mistakes, then they are at great loss.

You shouldn't let your past mistakes or failures determine your present actions, they should only make them better and certainly you shouldn't let it get to your future. Besides papa, I would always beat you in every race...”. She chuckled and continued,

“...You're already old”. She let out a full blown laughter as her father stared at her in bewilderment. He couldn't believe that such words had just left the mouth of a four year old. He had always known Alaria was smart, seeing as she was only four yet she was already in second grade but hearing her give advice to him only made her seem older than him and once again, she seemed like the mother and he, the child.

He finally shook his head and grinned. He couldn't believe it. Two surprises in one day. First his four year old daughter had beat him in a race and now she had literally given him a life advice.

“This is unbelievable, Phina. You're four years old and you're so fleet–footed and now, you give really good advices. I mean look at you! You're so tiny, so small”. He ended with a small laugh, still shaking his head.

”Hey, papa! I'm not tiny!”. She huffed as she crossed her small arms over her chest and pouted her lips.

Try picturing how cute this would be; a very little girl putting on little denim shorts with a pink top with ‘Girl Power!’ boldly written in white on it. Her waist length white hair packed into a high ponytail on her head and her teeny–weeny legs were fitted into small pink sandals. And latched onto her back is a cute pink backpack.

Now imagine a girl in those clothes, wearing a frown on her face, her lips pulled together in a pout and her small arms crossing themselves over her chest as she huffed. I assure you, she was damn cute!

“You're not? Really? Then what are you? Big?”. Her father asked in amusement as it was his turn to enjoy every bit of her reaction. He was really trying to stifle his laughter at her failed attempt to conjure an angry expression because she looked rather cute than angry.

“Yes! I'm big. I'm not small and I'm not a baby!”. Her frown deepened when she saw her father's face was beginning to redden as she knew he wanted to make fun of her. He wasn't taking her seriously.

“I’ll report you to mama. She'll punish you well”. She huffed before turning to open the door. She walked in and left it ajar, leaving her father to watch her as she stomped into the house with her arms going every which way.

He finally couldn't hold it in anymore as he burst out laughing, clutching his stomach before rising from his crouched position and entering the house.

“Mama, mama!”. He could hear her shouting.

“...”.

“Mama?”. She walked out of the kitchen and saw her father. She narrowed her big, cute, baby pink eyes at him and turned away, still searching for her mother.

“Mama! Where are you?!”. She shouted again and sighed frustratedly. All you need to know is angry Alaria is frustrated Alaria. They come together, two–in–one. One doesn't come without the other.

Her father chuckled and looked up at the stairs to see Leah, his wife tiptoeing down the stairs. She placed her index finger vertical to her lips as her lips slightly formed an ‘o’ shape, indicating that he shouldn't say anything.

She rolled her eyes and smiled as she took in Alaria's frustrated form kneeling on the floor with her head face down on the couch. Her short arms were placed beside her as her white, spotless little neck was on display. Her back that still carried the cute backpack rose up and down as she breathed gently.

Leah gently tiptoed to her daughter and at once, she let out a battle cry as she began to tickle little Alaria's stomach. Alaria squealed in shock and started laughing uncontrollably as her mother continued to tickle her sides.

“M–ma–mamaaaa... S–st–sto–pp... Ple–lee–aseee... Ahhhhh”. She pleaded in between her laughter as tears built at the corners of her eyes from laughing too hard.

Her mother and father joined in the laughter as they watched her squealing and squirming figure on the couch before all of a sudden, they heard a loud crash. Their eyes widened as Kim walked towards the kitchen and looked through the window. Leah grabbed Alaria's hand and followed after.

When they got there, they saw that two trees had fallen down in the field surrounding their home. Leah and Kim chuckled as they looked back at Alaria's sheepish look. Her powers had been activated due to the excessive laughter from being tickled.

“I’m sorry”. She mumbled, her eyes trained on the marble tiles that decorated their floor.

“Oh it's fine, honey. Now tell me, why were you angry when you walked in?”. Her mother asked as she crouched to her level. Alaria's face instantly shot up as she glared at her father before looking back at her mother. This action not going unnoticed by her mother as both her parents tried to stifle their laughter.

They looked at each other with amused expressions before focusing on Alaria. Their exchange was oblivious to Alaria as she narrated everything to her mother.

Leah chuckled when Alaria told her that she had won her father in their race, making Alaria smile while Kim only rolled his eyes in reply.

He stood behind them as he watched his wife and daughter communicating. Alaria was enthusiastically explaining what had happened to her mother and Leah gave her rapt, undivided attention while occasionally dropping remarks or releasing chuckles when Alaria makes a funny face or says something.

He couldn't help the huge smile that dominated his face as he gazed at his family lovingly. He loved his family so much and he had never had a cause to regret ever marrying Leah or giving birth to Alaria.

Every single day of his life, he would thank the gods for giving him such lovely family and he always vowed to protect them with everything he has. He wouldn't let even a strand of hair to be hurt on their heads.

He loved his family very much and he had no intention of ever breaking the promise he made to keep them safe.

When he finally snapped out of his trance, he looked up and saw his wife and daughter both looking at him intently. Both their arms were folded across their chests as Alaria's frown and pout returned to her face and Leah's face was graced with the same expression.

When he continued to look at them confusedly, Leah raised one of her eyebrows in question before sighing.

“Kim, why would you call my baby Phina, small and tiny. She won you in the race, didn't she?”. She asked with a teasing smile. She's definitely going to be teasing him with that fact for a long long time.

“That proves she's definitely big and she's no longer a baby, are you, sweetie?”. She turned to ask Alaria who shook her head vigorously.

“No I'm not. I'm definitely not a baby. Papa is the crybaby for being sad that I beat him in the race”. She retorted smartly.

“Exactly papa. You're the crybaby. Now I want you to apologise to my beautiful Phina here for calling her a baby which she clearly isn't”. Leah ended with a sardonic smile.

Kim let his eyes move between his wife and his daughter as he watched them. All three looked at each other as silence stretched in the room.

“Come on, hurry up, papa. Apologise now if you don't want me to PUNISH you”. She said again with a smirk as she emphasised on the word ‘punish’.

Kim finally gave in and sighed.

“Fine, baby. I'm sorry Phina. You most definitely aren't a baby. You're already a grown up and you even bested me in the race. Congratulations baby”. He apologised as he knelt down in front of her with a sincere smile on his face.

Alaria looked deeply at him before she broke into a smile and hugged her father tightly. A huge smile made its way to Leah's face as she watched her daughter and husband reconcile.

She knew Alaria could never stay mad at someone for as long as an hour but she enjoyed listening to her daughter rant about random things. It gave her a glimpse of what was running through her daughter's innocent mind and it made her very happy that her daughter could share things with her without being coerced at all. She loved her family very much and she would do anything just for them.

“So we're cool?”. Kim asked his daughter as they pulled away from each other. Alaria nodded in reply and smiled at her dad.

“If we are, then hmm...”. He lightly tapped his right cheek, indicating that she should give him a kiss there on his cheek. She giggled before she gladly obliged. Her lips felt really soft against her father's cheeks as he smiled and pecked her cheeks as well, making her giggle even more

“Hey! What about me? Don't I deserve a kiss?”. Leah asked as she pouted a little, putting on a sulky face. Alaria let out a giggle as Kim lifted her to her mother's height in order to kiss her.

She grabbed her mother's shoulder as she gave her a big kiss on each cheek while Kim pecked his wife's lips, making Alaria squeal.

“Ahh! Mama, papa, kissing!”. She squealed as she covered her eyes, causing her parents to laugh at her reaction.

Kim put her down as he stretched his muscles while releasing a tired yawn.

”I need to take a shower and rest a bit before dinner. That race is starting to take on toll on me”. Another yawn escaped from his lips yet again as he made his way towards the stairs but not before pecking the cheeks of his wife and daughter.

As he walked towards the stairs, he heard his wife and daughter giggling and he couldn't help but think they were up to something mischievous. He decided not to look back as he kept walking until he heard rapidly approaching footsteps.

He turned around, wondering what was going on but to his surprise, he saw his wife and daughter running towards him like raging bulls do when they spot the colour red. His eyes widened as they both let out a simultaneous battle cry. He had no time to react before he was tackled to the ground.

Before he could open his eyes, Alaria already sat comfortably on his torso as Leah sat on his legs and as he began to take in what had just happened, he felt small and soft hands tickling his sides and he couldn't hold in his laughter as he wiggled on the floor.

Leah and Alaria joined in the laughter as they watched Kim wiggle like an earthworm on the marble tiles. They all laughed together as one big, happy family, their melodious voices reverberating through the entire house.

°  °  °  °  °

Ring Ring Ring

She blinked back to reality from memory lane as the sound of the breakfast bell echoed through the entire camp. She looked around and saw she was seated on the floor in her bedroom with her legs crossed beneath her body. She sighed and got off the floor, preparing to make her way to the cafeteria.

It had been a week since she joined the camp and she had only visited the cafeteria twice the previous week. Through her countless sufferings which also included starvation, she had trained herself to stay for days without food. When she had first started, she went three days without food and the consequences had been severe but she didn't back down.

She went on for five days, then seven days. She would've gone longer until she started to experience severe stomach aches and one night as she wrenched in pain, clutching tightly to her stomach in hopes to ease the pain, she began to cough out blood and her blood splatters on the floor were the last things she saw before she slipped into unconsciousness.

When she woke up, immediately she was severely punished for attempting to commit suicide and she was warned to never do it again but after that day, she continued to do it and over the years she was able to master it. She could go a week and a half without any meal but here in the camp, she had decided to eat at most, twice a week.

The first time she had eaten from the cafeteria, she had taken a huge risk because there was a chance of being poisoned but seeing as she was still alive, it could either mean the poison wasn't potent enough or they still had a use of her. 

She dusted her clothes and wore her boots. She had returned to her room to freshen up after the morning exercises before heading to the cafeteria. 

She looked at herself and sighed expressionlessly. Her clothes were almost completely faded and the jeans had multiple tears here and there but she had no choice, she had nothing else to wear.

She walked out of her room and made her way towards the cafeteria, her mind drifting back to the memory of when she was four years old and she and her father had raced home from school.

Just like every other memory of her parents she had, they were sweet, filled with love but also filled immensely with pain. 

Back then, on that day, if they had told them that a year later, such tragedy would befall them, they all would've probably laughed it off, saying it was rubbish. But it happened and that drastic event was what made her the demon she was today.

She couldn't help but ponder on the reason why she was cursed with such destructive powers. If only she had been born with the ability to foretell, then maybe, just maybe all of these would have been prevented.

All the people she had murdered and killed without mercy. All the families she had deprived of happiness and only replaced them with grief, all of the pain she had put people through and the ones she had gone through herself. The innocent life she had not given a chance to see the world, her innocent and kind-hearted parents, everything would have been avoided.

If only she wasn't born, if only she didn't exist, everything would be in balance. But it has already happened. The world was already cursed by her very existence. Both humanity and the supernatural world were already being plagued by her very breath and this was her curse.

This is the burden she has to bear. And she would not rest until she has gotten rid of the curse that plagues the world. She would not relent until the very breath of the being that plagues the Earth is ceased.

She would not rest until she ceases to exist. She would definitely find a way. She was determined and she would make sure it happens at all cost.

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