Half-Breed

Chapter Five

******* 35 Years Later ******

I sat in my bedroom, staring out of my window. It was dawn; the pink sky reflected off of my tanned skin, it illuminated my black hair. The grass below me was becoming lighter and more noticeable as the sun slowly came up. The squirrels came out of their tree holes, and scurried across the branches to other trees. Nature was a beautiful thing to watch in the early morning, but what made me happier was that it was my 16th birthday. My mother and father, Melody and Erik, would not be awake yet. They liked to sleep through to early morning. It was strange, most of my friend’s parents are up before them, but my parents seemed different. Actually, I seemed different to everyone. I could smell scents from a mile away and I could see clearly in the dark. They all called me unique. I learned to accept that I wasn't a freak, but I was actually unique. My friends would always so that I was lucky to have such great senses, but sometimes I regretted what I was born with. I can smell the scent of blood very powerfully as well, that's what scared me the most. I was drawn to scent, but I was able to control my actions, and I would walk in the opposite direction to distract myself. I knew that was weird, maybe I’m actually a freak, and my friends think that too, but their too nice to say it. I looked down at the grass which had become visible and bright green. Behind me, I heard my bedroom door open. I turned around to see who was interrupting my thoughts. My mother stood at the door, her green eyes staring at me her black hair scruffy, because she had just woken up, but also beautiful. My mother was extremely beautiful, and some people say I get my looks from her. I looked at her closely and compared myself to her. I guess I do. I have her hair, her eyes and her facial structure. I smiled as I realised I complimented myself. I never compliment myself. I am a shy girl, with no self-esteem. I was raised to not talk to strangers and older people. From my parent’s teachings, I never talked to strangers or older people, so I grew up being shy.

"Lyric, honey, what's wrong?" My mother looked concerned. She always worries about me, why I do not know. She has crazy fantasies that I would be stalked, or that someone will come into my room in the middle of the night and take me away. I think something happened to her when she was a child. "Nothing mother, it's just that I am 16 today, and I feel alone...” I stared at the ground. Mother sighed and walked over to me. She put her arm around me, and hugged me tight. I felt her hand started to pet my hair, calming me down. "Honey, you're never going to be alone. Your father and I will always be here for you." She was right. They would always be here for me. They've never made me upset and they have always consoled me when someone else upset me. I snuggled in her embrace, while she still petted my hair. We both heard my father yawn as he was awaking. We pushed each other back, and smiled. Father came out of his bedroom and looked at us both. He stood in my doorway with a questioning look on his face. I realised that I had his skin colour, that's about it. We looked nothing a like, but we had the same sense of humour and the same interests. We were like best friends. My mother walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek. They looked each other in the eyes, passionately. I knew they were deeply in love. I was jealous of their love. If I could find someone to love, that'd be great right now. "What's wrong Lyric?" He looked at me, concerned as my mother was. I knew they loved me both, and were worried about my happiness. Mother looked at him and shook her head. Some sort of sign language between them. My father dropped it, and walked down stairs with my mother. I was left alone again.

Alone. Most of my life I had been alone in school. Primary school and middle school was hard. I had no friends, I was failing subjects and I was close to suicide. My parents were the only supportive people I knew. They said one day, everyone will grow up and realise I was a great person. I didn't believe them. Everyone was against me because I was a small kid, "We've got to pick on the small kid because you're different from us. You will never be a big kid compared to us!" they would always say. I never quite understood why they picked on because I was small. When I was about 10, I had a huge growth spurt, and they began to pick on me less. They still brought up that I used to be small, but they finally got over that fact. I moved to high school then next year, and I made some friends. They were troublemakers, but they accepted me for who I was. They didn't know my past; it was a new start for me. I slowly became happier and I was more outgoing, but I still did not talk to strangers. One night, my group of friends and I went to a park in the middle of the night. We planned to smoke weed behind an old hollow tree we had found. We were smoking for an hour, when my instincts kicked in. I smelled blood in the distance. I was drawn to it, consumed by it, so I got up and walked away from my friends. My instincts lead me to an old man, lying on the ground beneath a tree. I could sense someone was near, but I could not see anyone. I looked down at the man, to see him surrounded by a pool of his own blood. I let out a silent scream in horror, trying not to attract the killer back. I started to shuffle away from the dead man, but I bumped into someone behind me. I jumped forward, and turned around. A huge man stood in front of me, huge teeth and bright red eyes. He smiled at me, revealing more huge teeth. "Hi there little girl!" He said excitedly. I said nothing, just moved back slowly. "You not going to talk?" I shook my head. I was brought up never to talk to strangers. He smiled at me, and moved closer. I was pushed up against the tree stump. He continued to walk closer, and smelled my scent in. He eyes widened with surprise, and he ran off. I stood at the stump, crying in shock. I sank down to the ground and cried more. I gathered myself together, stood up, and walked away from the scene and back to my friends.