Chapter 1
“Freak. Look at her go, thinks she can just get away.”
“I know. Why is she even bothering to show up? She knows what we’ll do. Oh, look she’s running away.”
“Eh, come on Marne, tomorrow’s another day. Let’s go, Daddy’s got the Jag. We’ll deal with the freak of nature later.”
“I can’t stand that girl. Jen, why is she even bothering? She’ll never be normal. She’ll never be one of us.”
“Girl, let’s get outta here before her crazy father sees us. Man, that guy is terrifying.”
“You’re right; tomorrow we’ll really make her pay for showing her face.”
The girls retreated back the opposite direction clinking their stiletto heals as the sound dissipated in the distance. There was rustling from tree bushes and heavy breathing coming from the corner of the block.
Amelia Samuels ducked behind the burgundy fence in complete and utter terror. Her rather enlarged eyes squeezed shut and she breathed in fresh oxygen. Things were slightly less tense; for now that is. No matter what she did they just wouldn’t stop. Jennifer Willis and Marne Sandstorm were the culprits that were used to tormenting people that didn’t belong to their elk. Simple mean girl tactics they learned in high school that apparently hadn’t left. If you were not with them, you definitely were against them. Not that they had any other side. Amelia feared for her life every time she went outside. It was like vicious cycle that just would not see an end.
Amelia wiped the tears that numbly fell from her eyes. Nothing was good enough anymore. Self-mutilation was how she dealt with it. She slid up her sleeve tracing with her fingertips the scars that illuminated her wrist trailing down to the crease of her elbow. The other wrist held roughly the same amount of lashes. Seeing the image just increased the flow of her tears. She didn’t know any other way. If only she wasn’t like this. Her life would be so… she’d give anything to be mundane. Boring and just plain. But she was different. There was no denying it anymore. She hated her eyes; the golden, pale yellow eyes that would glow every time she became agitated; overwhelmed. In pain. She couldn’t control when they would change. They just had a mind of their own that was unbridled. There wasn’t any way she could hone or bundle this. It drove her mad and sick when she tried.
She had tired everything to be rid of it. Everything. But nothing had sufficed and she was left with the most dangerous option. She had wanted another life. She was born wrong. So many times she wished for another chance. But nobody ever gave her one. Maybe the alternative will make it better. At least bring some peace of mind; maybe just peace in general.
Amelia’s head jerked abruptly. Her senses kicking into overdrive. She overheard her father screaming again in slandered slurs before the busted, flimsy screen door swung open. His voice bellowed out another rank order and all she could think about was not being in his path. She hunched her shoulders and changed her hiding position immediately. The house was rusty and creaked all over. There was no mistaking the poverty covering the impression. The world would judge it as a shack, more like a barn you stored old shed tools in. You could hear footsteps trotting around the premises from miles away.
The dank and dirt-covered streets of the suburbs didn’t help the situation. You couldn’t walk anywhere without shards of glass bottles of Jim Beam smashed on every side walk. You can’t help what you were born into, or where. Amelia had known this and believed it every second of her existence. It was just unbelievable how long of it she endured. It wasn’t everybody else. Nothing about her day-to-day encounters compared with the normal college student who still lived at home. She tried to drift away as much as she could, but no matter what, people reminded her where she belonged. And it wasn’t in New York of all places.
She always thought she was alone. But in the back of her mind, she questioned the reason behind it all. It was somewhere else. She didn’t know where nor had she a clue. Nothing remotely good ever happened to her in recent years and she was beginning to accept herself for what she is. Who she is. She truly believed this was how she was going to suffer, but it would be a matter of time until she really did something about it. The deep cuts made her feel something strained. Something other than the pain and the outcast that was so embolden from the day she was born. Her mother couldn’t handle it; she ran from her when she found out and her father, well, the only reason he stuck around was the money. Amelia and her father had been living off of the government since her father had been fired from his job at the lumberyard. He was strictly blue collar but it didn’t last long; especially with his being a staunch and religious alcoholic. He started to drink even more after he had lost his war pension not long after they dropped him from lumber payroll.
Amelia was his only source of surviving. He put up with her being different so authorities won’t take her away and do all sorts of vile experiments on her. You could chalk that up to his caring about her well-being, but it wasn’t the case one bit. He needed her to foot the bill, pay for his liquor, and provide whatever they needed to live on. He used her, whatever she was to benefit his needs. He knew what she was but he didn’t care. He treated her just like anyone else who knew and saw her. Like an alien. Someone foreign, who wasn’t from around here. He abused her mentally as well as physically until her eyes had stopped changing. When she screamed for him to stop, he’d backhand her cheek without blinking and retreat back to his favorite chair. She’d always remember to close them since then to avoid reminding him. So she always hide behind her sunglasses. She always sat in the back of classroom so the teacher won’t request she remove them. She had to hide. She thought of the home consequences if she didn’t keep it a secret.
Amelia shuddered from all the memories she couldn’t let go of. Was it time to finally end it? She licked her chapped lips and closed her eyes. Her fists balled up in fury. She took a deep breath and snuck out through the small hole in the fence. It was loosened since they moved and it practically fell off every time she escaped. But she always came back. Why did she?
“It’s time to finally end this. I have to.” She whispered into the sky.
Her words deceived her true emotions. She didn’t want any of this, but it was the only way sadly.
Hoping maybe, for a small prayer. The sound of inevitability was too strong. Who would care? She had no angels on her side.
