"Morning little one. Wanted to make sure if you are awake or not." Tress said as she opened the door. "This might be a very silly question but do you happen to know why we are getting older?"
Sylvia gasped she heard those words. She had no idea that her grandma would ask that kind of question out of blue. Sylvia nodded her head and explained that she had a dream yesterday of her guardian angel and explained that a mysterious ghost girl told her to do this. Tress placed her hand behind her back and drifted her eyes to the side.
"I see. So this is the curse you talked about. I guess that would explain this." Tress said out loud and asked Sylvia to take a look at the main room. "You see. This is the second day I wake up and see this mess. Like I like my dishes washed but this is ridiculous."
Sylvia had to put her two hands on her face as the kitchen was a mess. Like a scene from reality TV stretching to the living room. All sorts of all dirty dishes, stains and a lot of different trashbag were litering the floor. Tress explained that even her car had somehow gotten worse like from the family car to a small car you could find at the used car dealership. Tress could only shake her head as she added the fact that Mary seemed to be only one who didn't know what was happening. Tress couldn't sleep well last night as she had missed two years of her life in an instant.
"So what's this curse about?" Tress asked sternly from Sylvia.
"Umm, I don't know. I just know that I used to live with my mom in this small hut in middle of nowhere and now I'm suddenly living with you." Sylvia explained.
"A small hut...? That must have been the trailer park at the edge of Glendale." Tress explained. "My mom, Old Granny Matilda, lived there or she still lives there. She's your great-grandmother who long time ago distanced our family as... well I think we shouldn't go to in that much detail today. Maybe we should give her a visit?"
Sylvia agreed that they should visit her and after a quick drive they arrived at the similar looking park which felt nostalgic to Sylvia. Lot's of cars and small srectangle buildings stacked side by side.
"What are you doing here?" A woman in her forties asked as she spat a chewing tobacco on the ground.
"Mom!?" Tress gasped.
"Yeah. Breathing and livin'." The woman spat again. "Who's the little kid you're with? Another child of yours?"
"No mom. She's my my granddaughter Sylvia." Tress explained.
"Oh dear lord. Have mercy on our family. The curse has claimed another victim once more!" Matilda raised her fist on the sky.
"That's we were going to talk about. We've contained the curse and it's now inside me." Tress explained to her mother Matilda.
"That so? Come inside and I pour us some coffee while we can talk." Matilda said as she opened her trailer home.
After a while all three of them sat on very cheap looking plastic chairs and begun to discuss about the curse in detail. Tress let Sylvia to explain her dreams and her own experience while Tress detailed what she had encountered after two nights.
"Ah yes. The infamous 'Devil's curse'. It has been claiming many people for decades but I've heard that there was only one survivor who got rid of it." Matilda explained. "That woman's name was Bertha Perkins who had a son two decades ago... Either she or her son is responsible for your ache."
"Grandma Matilda, tell us what does this 'Devil's curse' do?" Sylvia asked.
"Aye. What I read from Perkins's book that the curse grants the hexer one wish. That wish let's them change or modify someone how they really want. Meaning you are forced to live how ever they choose." Matilda explained as she lit her pipe. "It wants to spread it's dark tendrilds everywhere and that way cause mayhem to the world. The deeper it gets the darker the wishes can get. Turning even the most innocent people into monsters."
"What happens when the curse passes down?" Tress asked as she hold her chest.
"All the people once curse have to live with it's consequences. With enough passes the curse might even disappeared or reappear depending on the circumstances. All I know that Bertha claims to still have hers and would never released the beast sleeping inside her." Matilda explained as she cleaned her used pipe.
Tress and Sylvia gave Matilda a big hug and thanked for the information.
"If there's any-" Tress begun her sentence.
"Kid. If you have 20 to spare. It would really come in handy." Matilda coughed.
"Sure... Mother..." Tress said and handed her the 20 dollar bill from her wallet.
Now more determined Tress and Sylvia had one goal. To search for Bertha Perkins and find a way to return everything back normal before it was too late. Tress driving towards the noon's traffic while Sylvia sat on the backseat.