A family curse passed from generation to generation to the eldest and the youngest has made it's way to the present time. Ezekiel, the heir to Singston Corp., a company that has been in the family for generations since it was first established one hundred and fifty years ago.

The country they live in is at war at the present time, making it pertinent that Ezekiel be ready to take over his father's job. The Queen and King seem bent on winning the war even though they have nothing in there favor. If Ezekiel cannot comply to the strict rules the company will be passed down to the middle child, Damien.

Essentially the hope of the country rests in this family.



Name: Ezekiel
Age: 20
Curse: change into a specific animal whenever feeling a certain emotion. For Ezekiel this would be extreme joy or excitement.

There have been two who have broken this curse, always the eldest. They must fall in love with someone who is pure at heart and who returns the love unconditionally.

(Ugh, I am horrible at starting, so please bear with me. I hope this is okay.)

Pure of heart. What could be an exact definition of that? Merely an opinion, rather than something that could be pinpointed.
For some people, she could have been considered the very word pure.

Her name was Verona Byers. She was prominent, but not too noticeable among the community.
She was however, a beautiful girl. Inside, and out.

She upheld blond hair, that was slightly sloppy at its ends, deep brown eyes, and a tiny and fragile figure; she was only about five foot two.
She had moles lightly sprinkled around her body, looking almost as if hand-placed there, due to area.
Her favorite, was above the right side of her slightly pouty lips, that was less than a centimeter above her mouth.

Her personality seemed just as flawless.
She was almost always happy, and had been a well behaved child who always minded their manners.
Verona was outgoing, and often a bit childish at times, but most say that was an endearing quality.


Walking down the silent streets of the night, Verona found herself basking in the slight breeze. It was not surprising to see her strolling around, just to be outdoors. Though for this night she was alone, which was a slight bit unusual, no one looked twice to guess or judge her decisions..

((It's fine but the name Verona seems to be a good allusion to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet))

As any usual night Ezekiel had spent the night out with a few friends at a certain place his family owned. They let him have a few drinks as usual and he ended up being slightly tipsy, the only way he thought to prevent him from excitement and escape from the curse he despised with his entire being.

He had a slightly smug look on his face as he was walking, his friends seemed to have gone somewhere else or to have gone home at least for he was alone on the street.

It wasn't uncommon for him to be out alone. He often did this to get his mind off the fact that he was the heir to his father's company.

His dark brown hair was presently flipped to the side, a style his father detested but a few women he know adored. It led to his ultimate arrogance and habit of expecting people to like him without actually getting to know them.

Ezekiel was different from his father though. His eyes were a stunning blue that contrasted the color of his hair. In addition he had his mother's hands since they were more delicate which brought him to enjoy the piano though he avoided it due to his emotional reaction to it.

A few people on the street waved at him due to the fact he was so easily recognized but then shrank away when he didn't return the friendly hello.

(He he, I know. X3)

Exploration was something new here for Verona. She knew this place better than anyone, like the back of her hand, or the roses from the family garden that she picked daily.

So, as if to break her traditional habit, she thought she'd take a new route; she rarely walked it.
It was a very dark street, like the kind that only the moon had the ability to light up, and it was also quiet.
But knowing Verona, the quiet wouldn't last long.

Turning down the next side street to her left she began to hum to herself one of her favorite musical pieces, skipping along to the beat kept in her head.

Suddenly thrust into another well-lit main street, Verona found herself amongst the citizens she knew and loved, one or two of them waving a gesture to someone unfamiliar to her.

'Hmm,' she thought. 'I've never seen him before.. He must be one of those Singston boys.'

She had after all, never seen much of them.

Ezekiel noticed the girl walking down the street but he ignored her at first, absorbed with his own fascination of himself. He did a double take since he'd never seen her before, then again he didn't know everyone in this town.

There was something strange about her that bothered him though and a shiver ran down his spine.
He reached into his pocket automatically but found he didn't have anything in it he growled slightly at himself.

He normally kept something in his pocket to help him stay calm in unusual situations like this.
He was worried now because he was started to feel a bit too excited for his tastes.

"Hey Ezekiel Singston," a void called him and he turned to see one of the shop owners was closing up. "Haven't seen you in these parts for a while."

Ezekiel was trying to put a name to the face now but he was never good at keeping track of people he rarely saw. He paused though when he realized that this man had done a lot of business with his father.

"Ah, Aldous Bran," Ezekiel said. "It's nice to see you but I must be on my way."

Watching this man a bit more, she knew. He was most certainly one of those Singston boys; they were all gaudy. Verona however, didn't know just how many of them there were, considering she really hadn't seen any of the Singston family up till now.

Keeping her distance for a moment, she paused at a small fruit stand, picking up an apple while holding her eyes to Ezekiel. Subconsciously, she dropped the apple and picked up another while pretending to be remotely interested in the produce set before her.
Deciding it'd be better to introduce herself than stare at him, Verona dropped her apple, and made her way towards him and Aldous.

Now Aldous she knew. Her father was once his friend many years ago, but power corrupts you could say, even if you don't have much of it.

"Aldous, she said suddenly interrupting the conversation. Smiling widely at him, then Ezekiel, she nodded.
"I don't seem to recognize you.. Are you one of the Singston children?"

Ezekiel had noticed her picking over the apples and felt her gaze on him. He didn't feel the least bit uncomfortable due to the fact he was used to being stared at by nearly everyone he passed.

He became frustrated though when she came and interrupted his exit. The alcohol was starting to get to him and his mood was beginning to turn foul, which was much better than being excited.

"Of course I am," he said in a slightly snappish tone. "What do you think I am? One of the common folk that roam the streets begging for money? In fact I am the eldest and will inherit the company as soon as my father passes away."

He had a prideful expression on his face like he knew that he would be glorified to some extent. Aldous, as always, seemed to be in awe of him though it was put on most of the time since he saw what it did to your pride and how it created such arrogance.

"Yes... ummm... Verona?" he said. "This is the great Ezekiel Singston. Eldest in the family and soon to inherit the family's company."

((wow my own character kind of annoys me))

Verona could feel the hostility in his voice.. Apparently, she had broken up something more than a usual conversation between two people, but no matter.
It seemed as she would try to fix anything, so she wouldn't get her mood ruined by something as simple as a bad attitude like Ezekiel's.

"I can see that," she commented, her voice like thousands of tiny chimes in the wind.
"Well-" she continued "-I am Verona Byers."
Pulling her hands from behind her back, her smile remained as she held her right hand out, ready to be shook.

But noticing his hesitation of even doing so, she retracted her hand, and gave a small curtsy, her light pink summer dress twisting ruffles in her hands.

"I don't see you around these parts much, are you familiar with this area?"

Folding her hands together behind her back again, she smiled politely, waiting for his most likely unscrupulous response.

(He won't be so bad later.)

Ezekiel looked at her hand as he was reached out. He was hesitant to shake it and when it was taken back he smirked slightly. How dare she even think of touching someone that should be considered royalty and possibly even a god.

"I am quite familiar with this area," he answered not bowing as was normal for him to do when a lady curtsied in front of him. "I must admit that half the time I'm down here I'm fairly occupied."

He could remember the last time he was down here, barely though due to the fact he'd been so drunk he had to be half-carried to Aldous' shop where he'd spent the night until he could get a limo to drive him home from the back door.

He straight him self again although he was starting to get a headache and this girl was becoming a nuisance to him. He shifted slightly as if to leave before ending the conversation.

"Well Miss Byers," he said. "I have to leave, my father should want to talk to me tonight."

He turned after that and walked away, raising a hand to wave good bye to Aldous.

((Oh I know. I just have to get something where he's forced to actually be nice to her and get to know her since he's used to shallow relationships and friendships))

When he didn't bow, Verona felt insulted almost.
Why was he going out of his to be rude to her?
Usually, people loved her, and followed her, and men seemed drawn to this eighteen year old wonder.
But was he rejecting her..?

Puffing out her bottom lip as he bid Aldous farewell, she stood in the dim lights of the street, shocked.

"Aldous," she asked as Ezekiel walked away. "Is he always so...arrogant, or maybe the word is rude? Why is he like that?"

Verona watched him walking off, as if this were any other normal conversation that he'd had with anyone, like it was nothing new. Like having pretty young girls near him made his blood boil.
His pessimistic attitude made her quiver.
Though he was rich, and quite attractive, that gave him no reason to act in such a manner.

(Good idea.)

"Ah you haven't heard the rumors then," Aldous said in a bit kinder manner. "Supposedly there's a curse on that family though we've gotten no evidence that it's true. Usually the cursed one avoids a certain emotion that causes the effects of the curse."

As Aldous spoke Ezekiel seemed to be having a bit of a rough time actually walking. After almost running into a light post he walked into another bar that wasn't too far away.

His stature was less confident now and he felt himself shaking slightly. A pretty girl, he'd been rude to a pretty girl. It was for his own good though. He shrugged it off as he sat down on a stool and ordered a Long Island Ice Tea.

((fyi Long Island Ice Tea is not iced tea it's a mix of vodka, tequila, rum, gin, triple sec, and a splash of coca-cola.))

(oh my God. X3)

"Hm, a curse..?"

Verona was most certainly not aware of this. Everyone she had talked to had failed to tell her about a curse. It's not like she always talked about them, but as popular as the family was, they often came up in household conversation.
A curse with emotional discomfort then...
That must have been difficult to cope with, considering there were so many emotions to worry about.

Watching his unsteady walk into yet another bar, Verona found herself giggle, "Aww, he shouldn't do that to himself.. It's not good for him."

Skipping along towards the bar, she felt obliged to pull him out of the bottle, and towards his home maybe, if he'd go with her that was.

((this is going to be interesting))

"Good luck with that," Aldous commented as she left.

Nearly everyone in the city knew that Ezekiel was basically always drinking to get away from something. He sat at the bar not really paying attention to anything and when the bar tender put the drink in front of him he took a drink.

It went down smoother than he remembered and the glass was half-empty when he put it down again. The glass was tall though and not as skinny as he should be and he was starting to feel the effects.

"Lovely place ya got here," he slurred slightly. "Not as good as the last one I went to. Why they had tapestries... oh wait that's my house."

He hiccuped slightly and the bar tender started to slide down towards where the phone was. If Ezekiel drank anymore it might be a good idea to inform is parents that he may need someone to take him home.

Stepping through the doors of the bar, Verona found herself immediately overcome by a large puff of smoke, straight into her face.

Coughing slightly, she waved her hand in front of her face, heading towards the counter. She spotted him, raising his glass into the air, obviously impaired to a bad degree.
"Hey sweetheart," a man garbled at Verona, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, and walking her to a table that was crowded by men.
The man knew Verona, his name was Mayhen. He used to be "in love with her" as he once had told people, but apparently the drink could take its tole on the most respectable of men, including Mayhen.

Shrugging out of his grip, Verona pushed her way back towards the counter where Ezekiel sat.
Plopping onto the stool next to him she smiled brightly at the bartender who was also an acquaintance of hers, then turned to Ezekiel.
"Hi," she chimed happily while taking his nearly empty glass. Taking a small sip, she wrinkled her nose in distaste; it was quite strong.

Ezekiel was stunned when she actually took a sip of his beverage. He laughed when she wrinkled her nose and took the glass away from her a took a drink. He sighed slightly, staring at the counter and tracing a circle with his finger.

"What are you doing in here?" he slurred. "I thought you would be at home studying for that big final Veronica. Always complaining about how much work you have to do and ditching me at the bar as usual."

He shrugged slightly not realizing who he was talking to. The bartender was smirking slightly as he watched the charade but didn't do anything to stop Ezekiel since he usually brought amusement around the place.

A good story actually was what came from Ezekiel most of the time and it ended up in the paper whenever he showed up here. It'd be bad did anything tonight.

Giggling suddenly, Verona took the glass from him again.
"No silly," she said smiling. "I'm Verona. Verona Byers, you silly goose."

Holding the glass up to the light, she examined it, then set it on her left, away from Ezekiel. He was by far out of control with his drinking apparently. So much so that he didn't even know who he was talking to.

"I think you don't need anymore to drink," she stated while nudging him slightly. "How about some water?"

Nodding to bartender, she beckoned him for water.
After all, being so cheerful all the time was hard work, she needed food and drink too.

Upon receiving her water, she took a small sip, then slid the glass Ezekiel's way.
"There you go," she chimed. "Much better."

"Silly goose?" Ezekiel repeated. "And who's Verona? I think that's a place isn't it."

He shrugged slightly and reached for his glass. When it wasn't there he looked around for it. When he saw it he reached for it again but it was out of his reach and he grumbled slightly.

When the glass of water was placed in from of him he took a sip and slide it away towards Verona. He hated it when people pulled that trick on him and he was getting cranky, all the better though.

He slid off the bar stool and before he could get a proper balance he collapsed. He placed a hand against the floor looking quite confused as to what had just happened.

"My my, hello floor," he slurred. "It's nice to meet you again. I haven't see you for a while. Are you dirty?"

Upon him rejecting the water, Verona frowned as he attempted to stand.
Jumping off of her stool, she giggled, and pulled his body to hers as she sat in the floor.
She had balanced Ezekiel's head upon her right shoulder, while she had her left arm across his back.

She could hear the hammered men around her laughing and snorting as she sat in the quite grotesque floor, with the Singston kid in her lap pretty much.

Stroking his the back of his head with her right hand, she sighed, "Could someone please help me get him home?"

(sorry it's so short.. O.o)

((It's fine. I wrote this during the thing my parents just forced me to go to))

Ezekiel was a bit confused when he looked up at Verona. He immediately crawled away, trying to force back the feeling of excitement that was rising within.
He managed, with a slight struggle, to get back onto the stool. He quickly drank the rest of the Long Island Ice Tea and seemed to be satisfied for a moment. He fell forward a second later.

The bartender by this time had called his younger sister, Maria, the other one that had the curse, to get assistance with the slight nuisance known as Ezekiel.

"Well Miss," the bartender said. "You'll have someone to come help you in a few minutes. She's known to help get him out of places like this when he's a bit drunk."

Ezekiel had groaned at that point before trying to stand up again. He was only slightly determined to leave now. He was leaning against the bar for support and he noticed Verona again.

"Hey pretty lady," he slurred when he saw Verona. "How about you order me a nice glass of rum and coke."

He laughed slightly before falling to the floor again. He fell so that it was easy for him just to lean against the bar.

"Thanks," Verona commented to the bartender as she observed Ezekiel's behavior.

Well, she thought. So he does think I'm pretty...

After Ezekiel fell again, Verona simply sat next to him on the floor, talking to him about mindless non-sense. And after a moment of his not responding, Verona gave up, and tried to help him off of the floor,"C'mon now... You can't walk right now, so you should at least stop trying..."

Pulling him up, she managed to get him halfway onto a stool before he slid back off.

"Oh! Can someone help me with him please, he's quite heavy."

Verona didn't even want to think of the way her hair, and dress would look after all of this mess, and all because she wanted to help...

(Oh my! That doesn't sound fun.)

((washed my hands at least three times in the bathroom to waste time))

Ezekiel was barely aware of what was happening and when he was on the ground again he felt more comfortable. He shifted slightly so that he was hugging the stool's leg and looked like he was sleeping.

It was a moment later when an fairly well dressed sixteen year old strode into the bar. A few of the guys seemed to be interested but the driver that was with her looked a bit too threatening to make her even approachable.

"Ezekiel," Maria said sharply when she reached him. "How many times have I told you not to come here and have those disgusting drinks."

She hadn't noticed Verona but at that point she did. She smiled slightly in a friendly way before motioning to Ezekiel for some help carrying him out.

"My name is Maria," she said as she started to drag Ezekiel towards the door. "I'm the drunk man's sister."

(Haha, that's something I'd do.)

Laughing a little bit, Verona courtesied," I'm Verona, the girl whose kept your drunk brother from trying to crawl out of the door."

Following them outside of the bar, Verona giggled,"Now, he had far too much to drink, so beware of any vomiting he may do in your car."

Waving after Ezekiel and Maria, she sighed. Well, at least she was there to help. That is, if you could even consider what she'd done helping. But it appeared as though she had never the less.

After they left her, Verona began the brief walk back towards her home, humming to herself as she passed all of the regular shops and attractions; proud.

((sorry if the post is short))

Maria just nodded to Verona when she spoke and once they got in the car she sat as far away from Ezekiel as possible. She looked displeased at the moment for having talked to that girl. She couldn't imagine what her father would think of that action.

Ezekiel seemed to be passed out at the present moment and was mumbling something about getting a new movie or going to electronics store and buying something to waste his time with.

(It's fine.I'ma add a timeskip, is that okay? If not, we can just pick up before the skip.)

The next morning, Verona felt refreshed, and clean again. Her dress however, had to be tossed out; apparently she'd sat in a small puddle of beer...

It wasn't very early, but it was cool outside, so she had decided upon a small and lightweight jacket, and then dashed from her estate.
She'd planned to visit Ezekiel, no matter how bad his hangover was.

Verona began out into the town, asking the occasional man sweeping his store-front where to find the Singston house. Pinpointing a location, she began on her way, with some sort of medicine for ones head at hand.

((time skip's fine))

Ezekiel groaned slightly as one of the maids opened the curtains to his luxurious bedroom. He rolled over, not really wanting to have the sun glaring down on him.

He could barely remember what happened the night before but he remembered a girl he'd seen. He froze slightly and looked to his side and when he found no one there he relaxed.

"Sweet relief," he said to himself. "Wonder where they girl is though, she needs to be repaid for making sure I didn't die, whatever I was doing."