Chapter 1 The first day of vacation
The warm, summer sunlight entered Callisto's bedroom, and it woke him up. For a while, the dark room blinded him, and everything gradually became apparent. He stood up, got out of his room and continued walking towards the dining room where his father, Sebastian, and mother, Dorothy, were sitting on the chairs by the long table filled with delicious foods.
"You're awake. So, how's your first day here, son?" Sebastian asked.
"Pretty good." Callisto sat down on the chair beside the table.
"So, do you want to stroll around and see Mount Octover?" Dorothy asked.
"Yup, I want to climb the mountain and play in the snow at the top."
"No-no!" Sebastian exclaimed.
"Why, dad? Don't you want me to get there?" Callisto asked.
"No, I mean you must not climb to the top of the mountain."
"Why, dad?" Callisto queried.
"You may fall and your legs may break." There's a worried frown on Sebastian's face and a seriousness in his words.
"But dad, I'm not that little anymore," Callisto complained.
"Just follow what your father says, son. It's for your safety too," Dorothy advised.
"For my safety?" Callisto screamed in his mind. "What's that even mean?"
Sebastian stood up and went towards the sink. He washed his hands and got out of the house. His eyes widened and he began to stare at the high mountain that loomed ahead. It's peak is flat and snowy. An obscure scene played in Sebastian's mind. He firmly held his head, and an expression of pain appeared on his face. The world turned dark as he lost consciousness.
As Callisto glimpsed through the window of his room, he saw his father, who was lying on the ground in their yard. His feet abruptly brought him outside. As an instinct, he shouted for help, and his mother went out too.
"Don't worry, darling, everything will be fine," Dorothy said.
The ambulancemen immediately brought Sebastian to the nearest hospital with his wife. Meanwhile, Callisto was struck by panic. He couldn't calm himself, so he used their car to follow his parents to the hospital, and he left his seven-year-old sister alone in their house.
After a few moments, Callisto arrived at the hospital. He asked a nurse if she knew where his father's room was. Eventually, he went towards the room where his mother and father were talking about something. Callisto halted by the door and eavesdropped on his parents' conversation.
"I warned you not to choose this location for your vacation because it will only make your head ache. The doctor told me that you must not think about anything bad, or else, you can't only get this," Dorothy advised.
"Until now, I'm curious about those things that will just suddenly interrupt my mind." Sebastian held Dorothy's hand. "Please tell me anything that happened in the past, so that I will be enlightened."
"Okay, so I'll tell you, but you must take a rest first. Have peace of mind."
Sebastian let go of Dorothy's hand and slightly shook his head. He is discombobulated about everything. He didn't even know his name or that he had a family if the woman beside him hadn't told him. But when it came to the past, he knew nothing. He didn't even know how much he loved Dorothy.
The door cried out, and a handsome boy glimpsed through it. Dorothy looked back and saw her son, who was showing an expression of being worried. Callisto went towards them and sat down on the chair beside his mother.
"Is he just okay?" Callisto asked his mother.
"Don't worry, son, he can't die just because of amnesia," Dorothy replied. "By the way, why did you leave your sister alone in our house, huh?"
"Sorry mother, I'm just worried about him. But because he's just fine, as what you've said, I will go back to our house now." Callisto stood up and attempted to walk out of the room when his mother stopped him.
"Wait son." Dorothy walked towards him.
"Yes, mom?" Callisto was surprised when he received a clasp from his mother.
"Thank you," Dorothy whispered in his ear and cried.
"Oh, come on, don't be overacting."
Dorothy eventually let go of Callisto, who also hurriedly went out of the hospital. He got inside the car and drove back home. As he drives on, there's an ugly girl whom Callisto thinks is insane because she won't get out of his way. So, Callisto got out of his car and started going towards her.
"Are you crazy?" Callisto asked in a mad manner.
The girl didn't say anything and didn't move either. Callisto heard the sounds of the horns of the cars behind them. But however he begged the ugly girl to get out of the way, she just cried and was determined to commit suicide. Callisto can do nothing but carry the girl and bring her with him.
After a few moments of being lulled, they could almost reach the house when the girl cried out again, like a hungry infant who's searching for her mother's breasts. Callisto stopped the car and brought her out.
"Sucks! Can you stop that piercing sound?" Callisto complained and turned to leave, but after five steps towards his car, he finally heard the girl's normal voice, but it still sounded abnormal after all.
"You sucks! Why didn't you just let me die?" She exclaimed.
Those words made Callisto look back and grab the girl's shoulder. It was firm, and that could make her tears drip with some pain, but not the one caused by him. What he did next was, perhaps, the explanation why he didn't let her die on that riotous road. His lips took the wrong path, and where it went made the girl curious.
Without anything else, the girl pushed Callisto away, but not too far, just at the front of her, still lulled, looking at each other's eyes, which sparkled with curiosity. Seconds elapsed, and the ugly girl collapsed...
Callisto came back to earth and found himself standing by the girl who was lying on the ground. He lowered his knees and checked if she was still breathing, and found out that he was lucky. Callisto drove the car with the strange, out of consciousness, girl who looked pitiable to him.
The car eventually stopped at the front of a massive, lonely house that looked like a castle, standing on the contrasty earth surrounded by high mountains. It was Callisto's grandparents' house. His grandparents gave it to his father before they died, especially since Sebastian was the only child among them.
Meanwhile, the strange girl woke up, and she immediately chided Callisto. She's thinking that he wants to do something wrong with her, but that's absolutely not in his vocabulary.
"F*ck! What are you going to bring me here?" The girl asked.
Callisto was lulled. He wonders if what was the reason why he brought a strange girl into his house. He couldn't think clearly, but his eyes stayed on her face, which was filled with sweat, dust, pollution, and tears. The girl scratched her head and turned to leave when Callisto said something.
"Hey, wait!" Callisto exclaimed.
"Why?" The girl turned back, but continued stepping backward.
"Have you eaten? And please don't get yourself struck by those cars!"
"And who are you to ask me that? Are you my boyfriend?"
"No, I'm just a concerned citizen. And don't you see that you can do many things with your life? Why do you want to end it here?"
"That's not your business anymore, so don't interfere." She continued walking.
"If that's what you want. By the way, I'm Callisto."
The girl didn't mind him, who was eager to get to know her; she just continued walking until she disappeared from Callisto's eyes.
"Who is she?" Ruth (Callisto's younger sister) asked.
"Nothing. Just a new friend of mine," Callisto replied.
"Will you invite her to play with us? Please?"
"She's busy, so we shall not bother her. Just play with me, baby girl." Callisto carried his sister and went towards their house.
On the other hand, the strange, ugly, abnormal, and a bit insane girl can't forget what happened. She couldn't believe that a handsome boy would stop her from committing suicide. Would that boy still show his face to her if she didn't want to die? Perhaps not, she thought, because she's ugly.
"Oh Stalin, where did you go?" Linley (her friend) asked. "Your mother is searching for you. You will be scolded by her again, for sure."
"I just strolled around, and do you know what happened?"
"No?" Linley sounded askance.
"I met a handsome boy. As in, he's so handsome. He has short bronze hair, bronze eyes, high eyelashes, pinkish lips, etcetera, etcetera."
"Wake up, my friend. Ask the mirror first before you talk about that."
"Linley? But he's not just handsome. He... kissed... me."
Linley chuckled at her friend. "That's just hunger. You must go now."
After a few moments, Linley took a different path from Stalin, who eventually reached her house, and what happened next could be one of the reasons why she wanted those cars to run over her. Stalin's mother is a grim woman who could slap her face a hundred times!
Stalin lowered her knees on the rugged floor. "Mother, mother, please forgive me! I will never do that again!" She implored.
"You don't even have a job to buy your own needs, then you'll also make me pay for your funeral, huh?" The woman scowled.
Stalin was lulled. She finally realized that nobody cared for her since her father was accused of stealing and then died. But she also knew that no matter how many tears flowed from her eyes, nothing would change.
"Now go to your room, because the dusk has gathered!" She commanded.
"Wait, mother, wait!" Stalin cried. "I don't want to be alone!" She screamed, but it was too late because a powerful force, like a million magnets, drew her inside her bedroom. The door boomed, and she couldn't go out lest the sun show.
"It was a curse that Stalin could only go out of their house during the daytime, and when dusk came, she could do nothing against the strong force that was pulling and imprisoning her inside her bedroom. And that's simply the exact reason why she wanted to die, because she couldn't do many things in her life if there was something limiting her."
Tears run down Stalin's face while punching the door, but however she did it, she only got pain and her eyes were out of tears. It was the heartless goddess, she remembered, her mother told her that she was the one who cursed her.
