Dangerous Species

Pilot

I was adopted at the age of seven, but I still remember the time in my adoption houses:

"Weird!"

"Freak!"

" Waste of space!"

These were some names that some of the children nicknamed me in temporary homes... All this because of my slightly different appearance:

I pale, very pale, without even a flushed cheek... And in case anyone suggested I go to the sun and get some tan, it'd get a nice "I have mortal allergy to the sun!". Yes, I had what seemed like one of the most serious reactions to the sun that doctors have ever seen, because fifteen minutes in the sun was enough for me to almost die.

In contrast to my white pale skin, I had a very dark hair that was always messy... Even the cuts were made by me, seven years old me. You can already imagine the results!

Still, there were my eyes. They were not brown, blue, green or even reddish like certain albino children, were blood-colored, large and penetrating, that shone in a red that frightened people.

And to top it off, I had my thinness... I looked like a malnourished child: just bone, weak and with brittle hair! But it wasn't because I wasn't hungry. I was always hungry, but had had a hard time eating! Look, I have tried, but it was impossible with my teeth that were always hurting! The doctors said it's normal to lose milk teeth at that age, but even when my teeth fell out, the new ones continued to hurt even more.

Besides, I don't know why, but I hated eating. Yes, it makes me the strangest person in the world, but pizza, hamburger, cake all seemed to give me a little nausea and often made me spend hours in the restroom. The only things I liked to eat was practically raw meat and finely chopped radishes, but it was pretty tricky to have that in temporary homes.

And that's how I spent the first seven years of my life. Being played from home to home and without any friends or someone to talk to, even the heads of shelters that I had contact seemed to have a certain fear to talk to me, even encouraged my transfer, as if they were going to catch some disease ....

Yes, disease, that's what they said I had, a systemic syndrome that was still a research object, which affected the intestine, teeth, eyes and skin. But no one went deep, the temporary shelters didn't have that money to spend on me and every extra exam was almost a primary reason to move me to a shelter further away, with more unwanted children.

That sounds like a sad story about a poor sick orphan, doesn't it? Relax, you can cry, I'il let you! But what if I told you that all this was left behind...?

My amazing turnaround began with the Watson's visiting the shelter, they were a couple of elderly, already retired, and who really wanted to spend what they had left of life, loving a child ... So, they went after the child who seemed to need the most care there: the skinny, pale, sick-looking boy!

Honestly, I could only think that they had probably done something really bad in the past, and were trying to redeem themselves by giving me a family, but when, in a few days, they decided to adopt me, I didn't complain and went, in a mixture of suspicion and appreciation, to live in southern Canada, in their house on the edge of the forest.

A rustic residence made of wood and with an immense garden that blended with the local vegetation.

Mrs. Watson always served me almost raw meat and Mr. Watson even planted radishes in the back of the yard! The two decided that, because of my problem with the sun, I should study at home and hired a tutor for me! He was Mr. Watson's nephew, a very nice guy named Gustave who loved advanced calculus. With time, I was gaining weight and even muscles, I was really very good at mathematics and finally had a family ...!