Zinnia Moonbloom : Beauties quest beyond.

Awakening the Heart's Fire

All my life I'd been spoiled rotten, I've gotten what other kids desired and my beauty knows no bounds. it all started to make sense back in 2nd grade when I noticed I could see things people couldn't. I could tell some other kids never saw me for who I really was, only seeing the beauty I was portraying on the outside. There was this one boy who seemed to see me differently, his name was Orion. I could tell he was gay, not in a gay radar way I just weirdly knew when we first met. I decided to stay out of the way and not take advantage of my beauty, I observed the way people talked and the psychology behind it all. Mr D. told me, " beauty is a spectrum, and not something exclusive to some. ". But of course, I didn't know that before I came to the camp. It was all normal to me, the romance. Throughout the year's it didn't make sense to me. why is everyone always obsessed with me? Why me?

It was 4th period and it was French class. It was one of the only classes I was really interested in other than biology and I did really well in it. It was like the words would just click in my brain. the bell had rung and everyone was gathering their stuff to get to next period. I walked out of the classroom into the crowded hallways when I saw Orion getting bullied by the same group of people that always seemed to pick on him. Orion could hold his own weight but he definitely couldn't withstand bullying.

I could make out all their faces from afar, it was the same boys. It was Silas, Zion and a couple of other guys on the soccer team. I didn't wanna get my hair dirty or my make up but I had to stand up for Orion. I walked up and all the eyes moved to me as usual. I noticed that Silas never really seemed attracted to me like the others. " take a picture, it'll last longer. " I said, looking at the boys. Some of them looked like they were drooling and the others tried to seem "cool" around me. " let my friend go. " I spat out, he let go of Orion as fast as you could blink. Orion cowards behind me, I sigh but before I could speak; I was cut off. " what's a pretty girl like you doing hanging out with that.. fag. " Silas said, his voice deep in desire. " well maybe if you payed attention to this pretty girl then you would know that we're best friends, " I said, turning around to face Orion. " come on Orion, let's go to our next class. "

we walked away before the boy could spit out another nonsense of a sentence. Orion seemed sad as we walked away, he spoke; his voice quiet. " sorry, I shouldn't have gotten you involved in that. " Orion did this all the time, always apologizing for things that aren't his fault, I sighed. " you're lucky they didn't mess up my hair, I just brushed it- " I joked, getting a little laugh from Orion. We'd been best friends for as long as I could remember and he's been over to my house more than I could even count. For some reason he never let me come over, he said his dad doesn't like girls over and I just shrugged it off because I didn't wanna bring up any trauma he has.

the rest of the day was normal, I received many compliments on my outfit and my hair. People got books and lunch for me, some even gave me their shoes. I know, it's weird. At the end of the day, I stuffed all the stuff I gotten into my book bag as Orion waited by my locker anxiously. He was never usually this anxious and he always was happy when it was the end of the day because we go back to my house and play video games or do each other's hair. I looked over at Orion while I was struggling to zip up my book bag. " what's wrong ori? You seem nervous. " he dismissed my thought, " everything's fine, just wanna get out of here. " I could notice he was looking down the now empty hallway.

everyone had left school by this point and it was like the place was empty other than some students staying after. There was a person at the end of the hallway, standing, staring. This was usual for me and I thought it was just another one of those stalkers. I finished zipping up my book bag and threw it over my shoulders. I look back over at Orion and he takes my arm, dragging me away from my still open locker. " what are you doing?! " I said, pushing away. " we have to go, now! " he said, I didn't wanna listen to him but I saw how afraid he was and I could tell this wasn't a silly joke. I ran back to my locker and closed it, putting my lock back on it. I turned around to look at the end of the hallway, it was empty. It was an eerie feeling, something I hadn't felt.

me and orion rushed through the hallways, I tried my best to keep up with Orion even though I was wearing platforms. Orion was moving pretty slow too because they said he has some kind of birth defect in his legs. We both were basically jogging down the hallway at this point. we took a sharp turn, coming face to face with whatever beast that was standing before us. the hallway was dim but I could see its tall figure under the light fixture. " this way! ". Orion said, he didn't seem to be surprised about it, he just seemed scared. He took my arm and we ran the other way.

I heard a clicking sound and then loud footsteps trailing from behind us. my heart sank. I had never ever heard this sound before and it was terrifying. As it echoed through the halls of the high school, my pace increased. I didn't know what was following us and I didn't wanna find out. we managed to make it too the exit, the sign illuminating the hallway as we hit the door with a loud clicking noise as the exit door flung open. we both were at a mutual agreement that we had to go, not wasting time to walk through the courtyard and say our goodbyes, he rushed past everyone and into the usual cab my dad called for me everyday. the guy inside seemed concerned because we were alarmed. Orion looked at him from the backseat. " go! It's an emergency! "

as the man took the car out of park, I looked over at the exit that we escaped from. I saw it, standing, staring. Whatever it was, it knew we got away. But i knew it was gonna come back. I look into my bag and make sure everything is still there, my hairbrush, my perfume, my hair clips. the vibe in the car was tense, me and Orion didn't say a word the whole ride. I was confused, why was Orion so calm? Why didn't he seem as in shock as I did?

we arrived at my house, I noticed that there were more cars outside than usual. I thought that maybe my dad was just having a business meeting. Me and Orion got out of the car and Orion seemed to be walking faster and more urgent than me. I was confused but managed to keep up as we walked inside my house. Most people call me rich because my house is huge, it's got 2 wings. Most people when they make fun of me they say I'm like bell from beauty and the beast. Orion led me straight to my dad's office. When we walked in, there was people that I haven't seen before standing in there. I felt like I was interrupting something important.

"Is this the girl? she's beautiful. " a man spoke, my dad looked at him with a death stare. my dad waved over to his chair. " come sit zinnia, we need to talk. " I was confused but I went over and sat down in the chair. Orion walked over and standing next to one of the man. the man were sitting and standing and there was a good amount to overpower everyone in the room, it was intimidating. my dad spoke again, his voice was sympathetic. " Zinnia, my only daughter. I've been hiding a big secret from you and I don't even know where to start, so I'll let you figure it out on your own. " I looked around the room, kinda concerned for my safety. My dad continued, " I wanna send you to this new camp, it's newly built and there's a lot of kids there just like you. " I knew I didn't have a choice and then this whole situation made much more sense. " is that why all the men are here? To take me even if I say no? " I wanted to be mad at my dad but I barely even knew him to begin with, what would I be leaving behind anyway.

before my dad could speak, an alarms sounded throughout the building. It was our security alarm. The same pit in my stomach from when I was at the school formed again, I knew it was that thing. the men seemed scared and they knew they had to act quickly, they grabbed me by the arms. I squirmed. " what's going on? Dad?! " I tried to fight back as they injected me with some kind of medicine, my vision went blurry and soon cut out completely.