#ʾ˓PROLOGUE↝ the girl !¡
On the first day of October, 1984, forty-three women around the world simultaneously gave birth.Sir Reginald Hargreeves, eccentric billionaire and playboy adventurerNone of the women showed any prior signs of pregnancy.Sir Reginald Hargreeves, eccentric billionaire and playboy adventurer, made it his personal mission to find and adopt as many of these children as possible.He got seven of them.But what happened to the rest?The coastal breeze carried the tang of salt and the sound of crashing waves against the weathered cliffs, painting a scene of raw beauty and eternal serenity by the sea. Amidst this picturesque backdrop stood a house, where a teenage girl wept in pain as her family surrounded her, clutching bloodied cloths in hand."Hang on sweetie, you're doing great" a weary mother wiped her daughter's tears.
"Just a little more!" exclaimed the old lady, her shawl stained with blood from her hands as she assisted with the girl's childbirth. Soon, the room echoed with the cries of both the newborn baby and the girl.
"What a lovely little girl," the old lady cooed to the young child. "You're a lively one, aren't you?" she whispered, smiling warmly at the baby.
"I'm still not ready for a child yet... Why is this happening to me?" the girl's cries grew louder."A curse! That's what that is! It just came out of nowhere, how could that possibly happen?" an exasperated mother argued, while comforting her exhausted daughter."She must be a blessing given to us! How dare you call a young innocent child a curse!" the old lady argued. The mother was about to retort when something caught her eye, making her scream in shock and terror."L-Look at its hands!" the terrified mother pointed at the young child. The old lady followed her gaze and saw the child's hand, translucent as if made of water. Slowly, she reached out her hand to touch it, and it reacted as if touching water. "A curse! A curse, I tell you! We need to get rid of it."
"Nonsense!" the old lady argued, holding the child tighter. "How could you have a heart to get rid of a child?" the old lady shouted in exasperation."Then who will take care of her?! we barely have food to eat, how could we possibly accommodate a baby! and her hands just now...that's!..." the mother fuming with anger raising her voice"Then I'll take care of her! I'll do whatever I can!" the old lady retorted"fine! But don't come running back to us when you both are dying from starvation." the mother turned her back on the two and proceeded to clean up her daughter.the old lady shook her head and massaged her temple from the stress. The baby is crying loudly as if feeling the hurt the mother just displayed "oh dear me, don't cry young one" the old lady hummed a tune to calm down the girl. "Your name will be Adira, you need to grow up strong, okay?" She smiled warmly again, and for the first time, the baby smiled brightly. It made the old lady love her more.