The Memories of Lena Hughs

5

I flip through the pages of the books I have stacked on the table. I sit in the library resting my head on my hand. I have to study for latin final but I can't focus. I can't stop replaying the memories from last night in my head. Normally, they are not that bad. Normally, they don't bother me. Last night was different. It's not fair. It's not fair that I have memories like this, and I have to endure them, but other people don't. The other kids are normal. The other kids have loving parents that they get to go home to on the weekends. Parents...

I slam my book shut and flig it across the library. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

"Are you okay?" a voice saids. I look up. It's a girl with curly black hair. It's piled on the top of her head in a messy bun. She has dark skin and dark brown eyes. She is taller than I am; maybe 5'6 or 5'7. She looks about the same age as me: maybe 18. The way she stands makes me think she is way younger. I have attended this school since I was eight and I have never seen this girl in my life.

"Who the hell are you?" I ask.

"Oh. Umm, I'm new. My name is Deseray." She holds out her hand for me to shake. I look at it and raise my eyebrows. I twirl my pencil around between my fingers and tilt my head at her. She retracts her hand.

"How old are you?" I ask with curiosity in my voice. She pulls out the chair across from the table and sits down. She smooths her tan suede skirt.

"16. You?" She replies with a returning question but I can tell this is just niceties.

"Why aren't you in class? I ask, staring her in the eyes. I am confused as to why my usual hostility hasn't deterred her at all. In fact, she doesn't seem to notice.

"I was adopted so I didn't know I had powers until now. Dr. Katz is starting with private lessons tomorrow since I don't know how to use them at all. Until then, I just get to explore." She smiles. I nod and look at the table. "What's your name?" She asks, trying to fill the awkward silence. I look her up and down for a moment, trying to decide whether or not to trust her. "You can trust me. Deseray Phillips is my full name. I'm a witch." She saids before I can decide. Her smile is sweet, genuine. I decide to return her smile.

"Lena."

"So, how long have you been attending the Katz Boarding School?" I don't understand why she is so sweet, so kind.

"Since I was eight. It's a great school."

"It seems like it. I miss my parents though." She pauses a moment and looks down. "Do you ever miss your parents?" She looks me in the eye. I freeze. I can't think of any words to say. I make the decision to trust her. I decide that I like her. I decide that I will show her the real me before the rumors reach her and she doesn't trust me anymore. "Hello?" She waves a hand in front of my face. I stand up and walk over to the restricted section. I thumb through the books. "Oh, we're not supposed to touch those. Dr. Katz said it was for decoration only. He said that touching them could ruin them because they are so old." She stands right behind my left shoulder. I kneel down and thumb through the bottom shelf. "Hello? I said we aren't supposed to touch those. You are going to get us in trouble!" She grabs my wrist. I yank my arm out of her grasp and give her a touch-me-again-and-I-will-kill-you look. I pull a large dusty book off the shelf.

"Sit." I point to the table. She nervously sits in the wooden chair. I drop the book onto the table in front of her. "Open it." I say.

"We are not supposed to-"

"Open it." I say again. "Trust me." I give her a small smile. She blows off the dust and carefully lifts the cover. "Ellis Hughs: The Great Evil'' She reads. She flips to the table of contents. "I don't get it." She looks up at me. "Why are you showing me a book of fairytales?"

"Fairytales?" I laugh. She looks confused. "Honey," I put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Fairytales have happy endings. This is my life." She tilts her head. "Lena Hughs." I nod towards the book. "That's my name." I add. "And that," I flip to the title page. "is my father." She takes a deep breath.

"I've heard of the Hughs family. My mom used to tell me stories about them. I never thought they were real." She said with aw in her voice. I pull a chair up next to her and sit.

"What do you remember about those stories?" I ask.

"Well," She looks at the ceiling, deep in thought. "The Hughs family, they were the first vampires, right?"

"That's right." I nod.

"There was Ellis, Alora, Henry, and Marshall. They were the Hughs siblings." She pauses and looks at me for confirmation.

"Yes, but there were actually six Hughs siblings. Andrew died of yellow fever when they were kids. Camille is the oldest. She was taken away though because of the Hughs curse."

"The Hughs curse?"

"Each first born Hughs is like, extra powerful. They were afraid of her power, so they sent her away." She nods with understanding.

"They were vampires though, how did Ellis have a kid? I didn't think vampires could procreate."

"That's a long story." I laugh. "My mom was the Silver Wolf Alpha, Drea Koef."

"Wow. So that makes you a werewolf, witch and a vampire. Wait, but you're also a first born Hughs. So that makes you super powerful. Woah." She talks super fast. I can tell she is excited.

"Actually, I have to die to become a vampire and luckily for me, I haven't died yet." She looks at me with a big smile on her face. I was about to continue, but Griffin comes fast walking around the corner. He spots me and walks over.

"We need to talk."