Excerpt: Strega

Chapter One
Inheritance

Angela woke up, startled by her mother’s voice shouting, “It’s not a birthright, it’s a curse!”
She sat up in bed, confused. It was still dark outside, why would her mother be yelling, and who would she be yelling at? She went down the hall to her mother’s room and looked in. Mom was sound asleep, her old black and white cat, Mr. Moo, curled in the crook of her leg. He looked at her through half-closed eyes and yawned. Angela backed up, putting a finger to her lips. “Shhh.” She told the cat.

The voice had seemed so real. Must’ve just been a dream, she decided. But what a weird thing to say. Who uses the word birthright, or curse, for that matter? She went to the kitchen and got a glass of milk and a chocolate chip cookie and sat at the table. She scanned her mind for the dream she was having before the voice woke her. It would have been better if she had stayed in bed, in the exact position she was when she woke up. For some reason it was easier to find her dreams if she searched for them that way, but it was too late for that now. She dunked the cookie in the milk and took a bite, then closed her eyes. She was in a house. It was a big house, more of a mansion really, but in the dream, she lived there. She walked toward a grand staircase, covered in dust, and walked slowly up the stairs. As she walked, a feeling of foreboding grew, step by step. She knew there was a room at the top of the stairs that contained something she didn’t want to see.