Chapter Text
My name is Kaya Ariadne McKey.
I am a jinx.
I’m a hard working jinx but that doesn’t make me any less of a jinx then i already am.
Though all of my unluckiness there’s just a small tiny petite little thin hair of hope that I cling onto, that being none of the horrific incidents of misfortune have resulted in my demise…killer!
For example: when I was younger I was playing in my back yard with my stuffie’s and then BAM! Snake comes outa nowhere and starts to wrap around my leg, I run inside to ask my dad to get it off and then another BAM! It bites me! Sends me right to the hospital!
Now this would’ve been maybe a little bit of a minor instance of an unfortunate incident…if it wasn’t for the fact that at that time I had just recovered from a horrible case of pneumonia and almost fell off the roof a week prior.
Even my BIRTHDAY was cursed! I was born on Friday the 13th! On my 3rd birthday there was a thunderstorm so bad it made half of New York lose power, the rain almost made my dad go spinning off of a bridge, and lightning almost struck our car.
And then on my 8th birthday there was a freak flood incident that made both my stepmom and dad go missing from the face of the earth and made me become homeless for a year where I accidentally got the homeless people who took me in arrested. On my birthday.
And THEN I got placed into foster care where the kids were somehow as mean as the parents were. And guess who got put in charge of most of those kids in said foster homes? Me. I did. Kaya McKey did.
Here’s everything you need to know :
I have ADHD and dyslexia. I got a wicked talent for playing dodgeball with death, I love ballet and singing and all the girly stuff, I’m very superstitious, I’m a Gemini,I’m swearing off all romantic mush(even though it’s hard), and I’m here for a good time because I don’t expect it to be a long one.
Anyways enough of the sad tragic backstory that hero’s tend to have, you might’ve expected the strong, heroic, honestly really really pretty protagonist to have her beginning during when she’s strangling a dragon to the ground with her bare hands with everyone chanting ‘Kaya is the best! Kaya is the best!’ But I think I’d be sorry to inform you that my beginning starts at an after school job in a café.
The place was beach themed, due to it almost being summer. There had been about another ten items added to the menu for the season, all being frozen drinks of various coffee varieties. My friend Alejandro had gotten me this job, he used to be my foster brother back at my third foster home before his sister turned eighteen and could legally adopt him.
She was the owner of the cafe, Alejandro had lied to her saying that I was fourteen to get me the gig. She practically hired me on the spot right then and there. I like to think it was because of my charm and character but the lair that is Alejandro would tell you that it was because literally nobody was working there yet and they needed help.
“Hey Kai! You mind cleaning the tables for me? I got a date with Isa tonight! she’s gonna be mad at me if I show up late again!” I could hear the whistle from his braces as he yelled from the counter. I stuck my head out the doorway of the break room after I finished mopping the floor.
“You clean the kitchen yet? Cus I know all to well that the espresso machine is dirty enough to make a roach feel at home.” I say with a small frown of suspicion.
“Ok and can you clean the kitchen- PLEASE! I’ll do your English homework for you!”
I sighed as I dragged the mop and bucket out of the break room and behind the counter. At least I could keep busy, at least it would give me an excuse not to go home.
“Fine Ali- but you’re not completely off the hook! Gotta gimme a Diet Coke and some skittles!”
Alejandro sighed as he rolled his eyes, his shoulders sulking as he took off his apron.
“You are NOT cool Kai! But fine-“ he looked down at his watch in wide eyed horror. “IM GONNA BE LATE-“
I saw him run out the door with a string of Spanish cursing hitting my ears before he threw open the front door and bolted out of there.
I dragged the mop bucket over to the kitchen as I put the mop in, starting with cleaning the counter and the espresso machine. I was singing along to ‘i love you like a love song’ by Selena Gomez, washing my hands as I restocked, refilled, emptied out, and put back everything that I needed to before closing up completely.
And then the most annoying kind of costumer came in.
You know- the kind of person who arrives like 30 minutes before you close, asks for a coffee, and sits there for like two hours? The ones that make every single service person wanna rip their hair out and quit on the spot? Yeh, he was one of those fellas.
“One large black coffee.” He said as he slid over a five. “Please.”
I grumbled but forced a smile as i looked at him.
“Sir we’re gonna be closing in 30-“
“I’ll be quick don’t worry!”
I got out a large cup and a sharpie.
“And what would be the name for the order?”
“Mr. Tunes.”
It was between dyslexia and me severely wanting to close before I missed my bus but I think the latter is most likely the reason I gave him the most horrible, butchered, spelling of his last name possible. I sighed heavily as I got the coffee hot and ready, pouring it into his cup and pressing the lid on tightly.
“Order for Mr. Tunes!”
He grabbed the black coffee, saying a quick ‘thank you’ before sitting near the window, he wasn’t even drinking the black coffee- which was weird. He was just- looking out of the window.
The man had a black beard with black hair, a blue button up shirt that faded to white, black pants, and blue sunglasses that sat upon his head. He was tanned like he just went surfing with piercing sea green eyes that I’d say- were even creepier then my own. And trust me- my eyes are a creepily bright green.
He filled the café with a pleasant beachy smell, and looked built like you couldn’t believe. Probably a rich guy too honestly.
But that didn’t matter because one second he was there- and the next second he was gone.
How-
Never mind that- uhhhh TIMESKIP! Cus I’m telling the story!
After I was done cleaning the kitchen and wiping down windows and cleaning all the tables off, I saw something…a necklace. A fancy necklace.
It had pearls so shiny you could see your reflection in them with a real gold seashell charm too! It was just- left on the table! I wanted to find the guy but he had already ran out the place like I had the flu. I looked down at the necklace in my hands as I rolled them around slightly.
So I did the good thing and totally stole the necklace. It legit went against all my morals of “you have to work hard to get what you want and that’s the only way. No funny business Kai life is hard and it’s gonna take everything away from you so you gotta work harder.” But it just felt like I had to take it. To wear it around my neck for safekeeping. It felt dirty around my neck despite the clean pearls, like it was digging into my skin metaphorically.
But still, my fingers somehow didn’t have the strength to pull it off.
…
I went up to the phone, calling my foster mom to pick me up. I didn’t wanna inconvenience Alejandro’s sister who was too busy trying to file taxes or whatever-
I heard the woman on the other line screaming at me. I pulled the phone away from my ear as I flinched at her words- something something ‘ungrateful brat’ something something ‘Lucky I don’t go over there and drag you by the hair’ and all that jazz.
She hung up with a harsh scream at the end of the call, I hung the phone back up on the wall as I pressed my head to the white paint and sighed. Taking off my apron and hat as I hung them up in the break room.
I got my bag as I waited outside of the café, my head hung down in shame as I braced myself for yelling and screaming. I clenched my hands around the straps as I hung my shoulders low, my energy being utterly drained from the day.
I saw a rusty silver car drive up to the café, a woman glaring daggers at me though the window as I got into the passengers seat. Shutting my eyes as I prepared for screaming.
But screaming never came.
‘Must be wasted’ I thought to myself as I saw her eyes though the rear view mirror. Suddenly i didn’t feel safe because now she was wasted, and driving.
I clicked my seatbelt in, clutching onto it for dear life as she drove. I avoided looking at her, I felt sick to my stomach. I never wished Lola had been sober more than I did at that moment.
After a couple sharp turns, speeding wayyy above the speed limit, and a ton of swerving later, we arrived at the holy grail of awful homes.
….
I followed Lola upstairs to the apartment, the door unlocked and opened, I could hear the sound of my foster siblings get more and more quiet with each step. Lola plopped herself on the couch, pointing at me with a long, red fingernail to go to my little orphan Annie room.
I looked at the other girls as i slumped onto my bottom bunk, I sighed as my hands hit my face and slowly pulled down.
“Kaya-kaya what happened!?”
“Should’ve never gotten that job.”
“Oh she’s pissed now.”
I groaned in displeasure as the girls kept on talking to me, i wanted nothing more then to sink into my bed and never come back up, my heart was heavy with everything that had happened and my mind felt like it was going in circles. One of the girls reached out to touch my sleeve, holding her stuffed rabbit in her hand as she pouted.
“Kaya…what’s the thing on your neck?”
I looked at the little girl named olive, with curly hair put into twin puffs and her night dress going down to the floor, and it also just being a baggy men’s t-shirt. I held up the necklace from my neck showed it off to the other girls. They all looked in amazement as the small seashell charm glowed in their pupils.
“It was a gift…from a guy at the café”
I whispered the lie to the girls as I hunched over from my spot. “It’s basically glowing!” I dropped the necklace, letting it fall back onto my neck.
“Time for bed you dorks!” I said as I watched the other girls get into their beds, the older ones were already fast asleep by then. Olive tugged on my sleeve as I went to my beat up school bag, her big eyes looked at me with sorrow.
“Are you gonna go away again? I don’t want you to go away again” Olive tilted her head, with a small pout coming to her lip.
“I-…I won’t be gone for long ok? Just going to a friends house. If Lola asks for me you know what to say right?”
Olive nodded. “You’re stuck in the bathroom with awful food poisoning.”
“Gross…but good.” I tucked the little girl back into bed, kissing her on her forehead before quietly unzipping my beat up, purple backpack, and looking inside to check that everything was there. A map, crappy compass, tape, two pairs of clothes-and then i stopped.
There were two bronze flashlights, i didn’t remember putting flashlights in my bag? Was I being stupid? I shook my head and zipped the back pack back up, I was sure I had everything I could or would need to escape. But the hard part was just getting started.
I dropped my purple backpack near the window that lead to the fire escape before I heard what could only be described as a painful, wicked, grumbling voice.
“What do you think you’re doing?” A voice from the couch slurred out at me as I opened the fridge. “Nothing Lola, just go back to sleep.” I rolled my eyes and chugged the rest of the punch in the fridge, wiping my face and putting the carton in the trash before I saw a sticky note on the trashcan.
I couldn’t read that well due to my dyslexia, but I could’ve sworn it made out a :”two better…strike torch…twice…monster” when I read it.
‘Weird thing to have on a sticky note’ I thought. ‘Did someone horribly write a hiku or-‘ my thinking was cut off by claws.
“You aren’t going anywhere. Ever.” Suddenly, Lola was more evil looking than usual. Bright yellow eyes, scales all over, dragon like wings- I could hardly process what I was looking at before she struck again. I threw anything I could find at her, a wooden spoon did nothing, a magazine did nothing, a fork did nothing. I was running out of things to throw at that point, I dove out of the way to the hallway with the rooms as i grabbed my things and unzipped my backpack. The two flashlights caught my eye like they did when I first opened my bag. I quickly pulled them out, but before I could do anything, Lola was behind me with a fury in her eyes.
“You good for nothing half blood! All I did for you was work work work and YOU-“ she leaned in uncomfortably close to my face, her breath smelled like pain,death, and tuna. “All you did was make everything around you WORSE! YOU KILLED YOUR OWN FATHER!”
With shaken hands I held out the two flashlights in front of me, hoping that the light would blind her so just maybe I could make a run for it, But shaky hands makes you click things more then once.
I double clicked the two flashlights by accident, resulting in two, huge, bronze swords in each of my hands. Lola stepped back slightly, looking at me with even more hatred then the last glare.
“How did you get those-“ she flew towards me, knocking pictures off the wall and the vase of dead flowers off the shaker table near the tv.
I swung blindly as she came towards me, shutting my eyes tightly as I felt the sharp edge of it hit something and slide right though. I expected a body to be lying on the carpet, I expected a lot of gory stuff- and to be trialed for murder- but to my surprise, she was gone.
There Lola was. Still sleeping on the couch, this time with a bottle of red wine in her hands and a string of saliva running down her cheek.
I looked at her the way someone would look at a ghost, my heart pounded in my chest as I double clicked the flashlights back and zipped my bag back up. ‘What on earth just happened?’ Was the last thought on my mind before walking out of the apartment and quietly pulling the door shut.