Death, Chapter One Ginger Jordan
Dash Pearson wasn’t lucky in life, and, according to his grandma, he never would be. His death would only serve to prove this. According to his grandma, his lack of luck was all thanks to the family curse. The shadowy being had haunted the youngest member of the family line for generations, a position Dash currently had the “honor” of holding. For his whole life, he saw the curse that haunted his home as well as the ghosts that wandered the streets of southern Louisiana. Due to this sight, he lost many hours of sleep and all but one friend. As a young child, he often spoke about the curse, worrying his mother and repelling the other kids at school. No one wanted to be friends with the weird kid that saw ghosts. The only adult that didn’t treat him like a pariah was his grandma, who always told him tales of the supernatural.
She claimed that a member of their family stole from a voodoo queen many generations ago, and, in return, she cursed the family. Throughout the generations, the curse brought the family nothing but misfortune, and the youngest member always fared the worst. Many Pearsons of the past were said to have gone mad or died from mysterious or tragic deaths, and this included his sister. His immediate family felt the burden of the curse. His parents were consistently laid off from work, and unhappy accidents were commonplace in their home. The curse was confined to their house and it couldn’t touch him, but Dash knew it was only a matter of time before it found a way to end him, too. Most days, he tried to avoid thinking about such matters, but, on this particular day, the subject of ghosts and hauntings was all the rave. It was Dash’s least favorite day of the year: Halloween. In the past years, he spent this day at his best friend’s house nestled comfortably on the couch watching cartoons, but this year was different. This year, he was stuck at school helping with the trunk-or-treat. It was the price he paid for his track scholarship.
His parents were thrilled when they read the letter inviting him to attend Laveau Private School, a prestigious private high school near his home. Only the richest, smartest, or most talented kids were accepted here, and he somehow made it without asking. At first, he wasn’t going to accept the scholarship, since that would mean leaving his only friend at the time, Walter, behind. Knowing that Dash was going to refuse the scholarship on his account, Walter uncharacteristically studied hard and was accepted on an academic scholarship. No one in their eighth grade class believed it until he paraded the acceptance letter around. Walter’s acceptance sealed the deal, and they were both officially enrolled.
While Dash did make one friend from the track team, he hated the school. It was impossible to shake the feeling of being an outsider. The school was kept in immaculate condition and boasted Queen Anne Architecture. While Dash and Walter walked, the other students arrived in shiny new cars wearing their crisp, freshly pressed uniforms. Dash and Walter had purchased their uniforms from a secondhand store, 13
