Phoenix Awakening

Chapter One

   The last of the winter snow was melting along the sides of roads and on the lawns of homes in Fair Bay, Illinois, as spring approached. The air has not yet reached its warmest temperature, but it is no longer bitterly cold.

With each passing day, trees were gaining their leaves again and flowers were coming into bloom. Children are out in lightweight jackets, no longer in need of the warmth provided by their winter coats.

In Fair Bay, there is rarely any crime and the neighborhoods are usually quiet and safe. With white fences and plants in the front yard, each house in this town is almost identical.

Then theres this house down at the end of Green Street, whose white fence is no longer white but has faded and cracked. Despite its poor condition, the two-story house serves its purpose as a home. A family of three lived inside the house at the end of Green Street.

The entire community knew this family and how different they were, especially the child. The family included a mother named Theresa, and a father named Dave. Only one child was born to the couple, a girl named Saylor.

Everyone knew of Saylors peculiar behavior. The temper she displayed was worse than that of the other kids in the town, and as she aged throughout the years, it only grew worse.

   In third grade, another girl made the comment that Saylor looked nothing like her parents and that they more than likely adopted her.

The little girl left that day with burns on her arm. It wasn't entirely incorrect of her to mention that Saylor didn't look like her parents, and in fact, as the years went on, Saylor noticed it more and more.

While her mother was honey blonde and had baby blue eyes and porcelain skin, her father had jet black hair and green eyes with a light tan complexion.

She was the complete opposite, with ivory skin and freckles strewn across both cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Her copper hair was waist-length, straight, thick, and coarse, and her eyes were striking amber.

As they would have dinner, she couldn't help but analyze her parents facial features. Saylor would note every little detail she could see, from the insignificant speck of green in her mother's eyes to the crookedness of her fathers nose.

Keeping those details in her thoughts, she would stand in front of the mirror in her bathroom, comparing herself to her parents. Sometimes she would believe what that girl said all those years ago about her being adopted.

Saylor would usually brush it off and tell herself that if her parents adopted her, they wouldn't have newborn pictures of her. Yet, the thought of possibly not actually being Theresa and Daves daughter lingered in her mind for some days.

Saylor was aware of how other people felt about her. She knew she wasn't the best-behaved kid back in elementary, which led to the parents of her classmates always being wary when they see her.

If Saylor was walking down the sidewalk, while another person was walking the other way, theyd simply press themselves against the wall of whatever building was closest to them. As a response, Saylor rolled her eyes and scoffed every time this would happen.

Saylor thought it was immature for grown adults to shy away from a seventeen-year-old. She was basically still a child, yet adults were terrified of her.

   They'd whisper to others about her and how to protect the town from her anger issues was to have Saylor locked up in a mental institute far away from Fair Bay.

She understood she had a terrible temper, but shes learned to control it throughout the years. Sure, it took a lot of accidents to get it under wraps.

One time Theresa wouldn't buy Saylor a doll from the store that she really wanted. So, like any other kid at that age, she started crying and whining, but when she would grab her mothers arms to tug them while she begged for the doll, she would leave burn marks.

But at least shes gotten better at control, right?

Her parents noticed burn marks would appear on whatever Saylor would touch when she would be angry. Of course, they knew the real reason behind it. They would make up stories about how they received those burns when someone asked about them.

   Theresa and Dave couldnt risk their secret getting out. They would have to choose between going to prison or dying.

Calling for help from the people that gave Saylor to them was the last thing on their minds. They were specifically told not to contact the lab unless Saylor got too out of hand for them.

   Dave and Theresa weren't sure what they were signing up for, they just wanted the money. Money is all they thought about when a man approached with the offer of raising a special baby.

Theresa loved the idea at first, not being able to have her own. But once Saylor burned things, Theresa became nervous. Dis-likeness followed the nerves.

   She couldn't wait until she didn't have to take care of Saylor. It was fun as it lasted, but now its just a disappointing chore.

Dave hated the idea of raising a baby. He didn't think he was father material to do that. Once Dave laid his green eyes on the baby girl in the scientists arms, his heart won him over.

   He grew attached to her as she grew, but once the anger shone through, he grew annoyed and angry with himself for being sucked into this experiment.

Now seventeen years later, here they are still stuck with the burden of their lives. They both have yet to understand what is so special about Saylor. All they've seen from her was horrible tantrums and disobedience.

   Dave and Theresa wish they could turn back time and decline that damn offer, but its too late now. All they can do is wait.