THE SLUMBERING CURSE IN THE BLOOD

In a small house in a peaceful suburb, sunlight streamed through the window frame, and little Yura Ellington woke up in her tiny bed, welcoming a new day just like any other.

Yura got out of bed and groomed her appearance before heading to school. Her long black hair is always styled in two side buns, framing her small round face and sparkling big eyes. She lives with her single mother and has a simple life in a small house.

Mrs. Ellington has a small tailor shop not far from her house. Every morning, she would make breakfast and prepare lunch for her before she went to work. Yura's father passed away when she was very young. Yura has almost no memories of him, and whenever she wants to ask her mother to learn more about him, her mother's eyes show a deep sadness. After those instances, Yura no longer asked about her father.

After eating, she quickly kissed her mother on the cheek to thank her for the meal, then picked up her backpack and went to school.

"Be careful, my dear," her mother said gently with a warm gaze.

She stepped out of the gate, unaware that something strange was waiting for her. As she walked past the fence covered in vines, she heard a weak cry, so faint it sounded like the wind. Stopping, she discovered a white pigeon trapped among the tangled vines. One of its wings was stained with dark red blood.

Yura carefully untangled it from the mess of wires. When she saw its wing was injured, she reached out to touch it as if to comfort, but a miracle happened - the wound quickly closed up. In just a few brief seconds, it was completely healed as if it had never existed. The injured wing suddenly stirred and flapped, soaring into the sky, leaving Yura standing there, a feeling of deep suspicion rising within her.

But soon, she remembered that she still needed to go to school, and she quickly moved on.

At school, while she was walking up the stairs, three male students passed by. One of them suddenly yanked her bun, causing one side to come loose. The group of male students seemed to dislike her two-bun hairstyle, saying it looked like something a kindergarten child would wear. The three of them burst into laughter, turned around, stuck out their tongues to tease her before running away. Yura, annoyed, tied her hair back and muttered under her breath:

"Sooner or later, they will tumble down the stairs if they keep turning around without looking where they're going."

As soon as the words ended, a scream echoed. The three boys tripped over each other, rolling down several steps in front of Yura's astonished gaze. She looked around in confusion, and from the nearby window, she spotted the white pigeon again-still the same one. At that moment, it seemed to be staring at her, like a pet waiting for a compliment for helping her take revenge. It stood there for a brief moment, then flapped its wings and flew away.

That day in class, she had an important test. Everything went very smoothly because her academic performance had always been very good, and tests had never been difficult for her. Until a sudden gust of wind swept into the classroom, a gust too strong, and it blew Yura's test out the window, leaving her and Ms. Wallace bewildered.

"I think you should pick it up as soon as possible before something worse happens, I'll wait for you," Ms. Wallace said. Ms. Wallace said.

Panicked, she hurriedly ran down to the schoolyard to look for it. But even though she searched every corner of the schoolyard, she still couldn't find her test anywhere.

Disappointed, Yura returned to the classroom, mentally preparing to ask the teacher for a retake of the test. But when she just returned to the classroom, she suddenly saw her test neatly placed on her desk. The edge of the paper still bore a small imprint-looking like a bird's footprint. Although she didn't know what had happened and how her test could have come back here, she was sure these strange occurrences were related to that bird.

Fortunately, the teacher was still there. Yura hurriedly took her test paper and handed it to Ms. Wallace. Ms. Wallace took it, raised an eyebrow, and placed it into the stack of papers she was holding. Yura still looked at her with worried eyes:

"You won't make me retake the test, right, teacher?"

"Of course not." Ms. Wallace smiled: "I believe you won't cheat while going to collect that test."

Unlike other students, Yura doesn't need such tricks to cheat on tests, but her grades always top the class.

Returning home, Yura couldn't stop thinking about that strange bird. When she returned home, her mother gently asked:

"My dear daughter, is something wrong with you?"

"There's nothing, Mom," Yura replied, but her eyes were still full of worry. "It's just... there are some really strange things, Mom."

"Oh?" What's going on?"

"There are a few things that happened in a miraculous way, as if by magic."

Hearing this, her mother's gentle face suddenly became worried, but just a little worried, she quickly regained her composure and gentleness: "In this world, there is no such thing as magic; you should have been mature enough to understand that by now."

Her mother smiled gently. "Come on, go to your room to change and then come down for dinner."

Obeying her mother, Yura stepped into the bathroom. But just as she was about to take off her uniform, the lights in the room suddenly went out. The darkness enveloped her, and a feeling of unease crept into her heart.

She softly called:

"Mom?" Joking like that is not funny at all?"

No response.

Stepping out of the room, Yura looked around in confusion. But there was no one around, the silence was so profound that Yura swallowed hard, she only saw the white pigeon, the same bird as before. This time, it is perched on her bookshelf.

Determined not to let it fly away again, she slammed the window shut and moved closer. All day today, its image kept appearing in her mind, and now, she could no longer ignore it. But when she reached out her hand, the pigeon didn't run away. Instead, it flapped its wings and flew towards her bed. And then, right before her eyes, it transformed.

A blinding light radiated, accompanied by a thick mist in the air. From a tiny creature, it transformed into a girl - a young lady around Yura's age, with long, snow-white hair, round, bright eyes like an angel. She was petite in a simple white dress, adorned with sparkling crystals.

The girl sat cross-legged on Yura's bed, tilting her head and looking at her with curious eyes.

And then, she spoke gently, as pure as the wind rustling through the branches:

"Why do you want to catch me?"

In that moment, Yura's eyes widened in amazement, marking the beginning of a journey Yura had never imagined.