MMCX

Prolouge

Anna Holder boarded onto the nearly empty county bus, the passengers all clearing out as soon as the doors opened. She smoothed her little black pigtails and sat onto the small, yellow seat, brushing off grime and smoothing out her little black dress, adjusting the small white bow tied around her waist. Her little coffee brown eyes were flitting around the area, a stark contrast to her pale, moon white skin. Her little fingers were flitting around her outfit, trying to perfect what was already perfected. She was nervous.

Right after Anna came her mother and father, plastered smiles on their faces, wearing their nicest clothing, black and white suits and dresses. The father adjusted his ornate silver cufflinks, long, spidery fingers nearly translucent, veins running deep underneath the flour-white skin. The mothers night-black hair was in a tight, black bun, making her sharp cheekbones and pursed lips protrude a bit more. Her hollow black eyes glanced around the filthy bus, petite hands tightening around her leather black handbag. They did not sit down, and looked around in disgust at the life of commoners.

After the mother and father came a boy. He was twitching, his skin paler than the rest, with a mop of black hair. It looked slightly tangled, sweeping onto the brow, where he kept pushing it back. He was too skinny for a boy of age sixteen, too pale for a child who needed to get plenty of sunlight. He was dressed in baggy cargo pants that sagged on his slight build and a slightly torn white t-shirt. Despite the black eyes of the rest of his family, his were deep, dark pools of blue lined with a pearl color so light that when it caught the sun it looked like silver.

"Wayde, come over here with your sister," The mother snapped, and Wayde's hands started twitching so hard he shoved them in the deep pockets of his cargo pants. He walked over, sly as a cat, his large black leather boots not making a sound as they hit the floor. He slinked slowly around the mother and took Anna's left hand side, fingers not leaving his pockets. His sister eyed him nervously as he neared, scooted slightly further to the side of her seat, and then moved her eyes back to the mother and father. "I can't wait for my speech today," She said with a vibrant buoyancy in her voice , "It's all about our town's history. I think I even have it memorized!" Anna had been volunteered by her school to educate the town about their history and promote their fundraiser. Their choice made since. She had perfect grades, was surprisingly mature for a girl at the age of twelve, and never faltered at a chance to make her school proud.

"You will do great at this, hon," The father replied.

"Absolutely perfect," The mother finished.

Wayde said nothing.

Suddenly, the engine of the bus started and jerked off. The perfect family stayed perfectly still, all but Wayde, who was caught off balance and stumbled forwards, barely grazing Anna before he righted himself, putting a boot in front of himself. His eyes widened, and the hands that he had flung out to regain balance started shaking. He clutched them behind his back and slowly backed away from Anna, however, looked up in disgust at Wayde and glared at him. She turned towards her parents and made a show of dusting off her already clean black dress, saying , "Great, he got my dress all dirty. Now when I stand up there everybody will think that I am from some urchin family, one who can't even afford to wear nice, clean clothes to the event of the year."

The mother and father turned towards Wayde, eyes glowing with rage as they landed on him. He shrunk further towards the wall, as though he could make himself invisible. As though he could disappear. His hands and arms were twitching uncontrollably, his jaw clenched, lips quivering. "There he goes again," Anna sighed , "He can't even sit still, nevermind act like a respectable human being. Why did we bring him again, mother?"

The mother's shoulders sagged, and she let out a long, heavy sigh. "People were asking questions, dear. We had to take him to maintain our appearance. This won't become a regular thing, don't worry hon. You'll hardly notice him."