Garnet or Garnets Curse

was the name Victor Dragos.
    “So,” I said, “anyone can have a locket engraved however they please.”
    “Oh you are a true Dragos. We are not easily led astray,” he said, as he popped open the locket revealing a tiny picture of Auntie and on the other side a woman that looked like the painting of my mother.
    “How do I know you did not steal the locket from my father?” I asked.
    “I am a lot of things Garnet, but I am not a thief,” he replied.
    “No, Garnet, he is not a thief. He is your father and my brother,” came a voice from behind me. I turned quickly to see Charles standing in the hall.
    “Why don’t we all go in and have a seat,” Charles said calmly. “It is time you know the truth, Garnet.”
    I was to learn that my father had been hiding in the west chamber since my Auntie died. Slowly the pieces of the puzzle were revealed.
    My father’s family were believers of the curse of Aurochs , but my father thought it only nonsense. My Auntie and Uncle Charles never married to avoid parenting the seventh-generation child. My father married freely and was happy when he learned he was to be a father. The old superstition never crossed his mind until the curse raised its ugly head.
    Convinced now that the Chronicles of the Dragos were true, my brokenhearted father went back to Moldavia. He was a rich man and many things could be bought with riches, including those of the supernatural. He offered a large prize to any man, woman, priest, prophet, witch or sorcerer who could break Aurochs’ curse of the seventh generation. For 21 long years he had searched, but he had yet to find the answer.
    My father had denied my existence to all. Charles assumed a new name and came to France to protect me and manage the estate. If they could hide me long enough perhaps Aurochs’ curse would die. With Auntie’s sudden death, they could only pray that it was God, not the will of Aurochs.
    I had accepted that my father was dead. Finding out he was alive should have been a joyous discovery. The joy was overshadowed by the knowledge that the very blood in my veins was cursed from the day of my birth. I was overwhelmed with fear and disbelief.
    I looked at the two men sitting across from me. Yes, it was plain to see they were brothers. At that very moment I felt like my whole life had been a lie. I shuddered to think what secrets were still left untold.
    “Father,” I spoke up. Hearing the word “father” sounded odd to my ears. “What is expected of me?” I asked, bravely.
    He rubbed his eyes as if he was thinking deeply. He had just begun to speak when we heard a scream. Charles jumped from his seat and took off for the main house. I followed him.
    As soon as we stepped into the main house, we saw the cook lying motionless at the foot of the steps. Charles bent down by her side to check her pulse. He shook his head. “She is dead.”
    I heard screaming again. It was loud and mournful. It was coming against my will from my own throat. I collapsed to the floor weeping. I wept for Ellen, for Auntie and for myself. All of this was a terrible nightmare and I wanted to wake up.
    My screams brought my father out of hiding. When he saw Ellen lying dead, he knew the reason for my screaming. He stooped down, lifted me off the hard marble floor and helped me to a chair. By that time, all the servants were standing by watching.
    Charles tried to lift Ellen off the floor, but she was too heavy. He looked around the room. “Will someone please help me carry her to the sofa in the front room?” he asked. The servants stood frozen, so my father did the duty.
    Once the body was out of sight, Harriet helped me up the stairs to my room. “Her fatness is the very reason she is dead!” Harriet said angrily. “I told her yesterday, she best be careful running up and down those steps. With a fat belly like hers, she could not even see her feet.”
    Harriet opened my bedroom door and I walked in and sat down at the desk. She began to turn back my bed. I heard her mumble, “Things like this come in threes.”
    “What do you mean by that?” I asked, but she did not answer.
    “So, I see your father has returned,” she said, speaking in a fake cheery voice.
    “Yes,” I said, trying to study her face. “Did you know him before?”
    “Of course, he is my cousin, just like Ellen was my cousin.”
    “Cousin!” I said alarmed.
    Yes, I think it is two times removed or something of the sort,” she said, looking puzzled by