Bloodlines

I: Eleven

El groaned as her alarm clock, which she had been staring at for the last few minutes, changed to read the dreaded 6:00. 'Do I really need to get up?' She mumbled. Today was Monday, and she had foolishly stayed up until midnight last night to text her new boyfriend. 'Stop it, talking to yourself is the first sign of madness,' she reminded herself aloud.

Knowing she couldn't dodge the morning any longer, she crawled out of bed, getting caught in a tangle of duvet and ending up on the floor, wrapped like a mummy. She rolled around a bit to de-tangle herself, only knocking over her lamp and getting even more stuck. Sighing, she lay there in defeat.

El's blue-green eyes gazed unfocused at the ceiling, partially obscured by her jet black hair, which fell in messy waves to her collarbone, as she hadn't bothered to straighten it the day before. Her day was instead spent sleeping and texting; she needed her precious rest for the next day.

She acted very old for a ten-year-old, as people never failed to remind her- plastering herself in expensive makeup, straightening her hair, texting her friends, taking selfies- she was often called spoilt, and it didn't bother her at all as long as she got what she wanted (which she always did).

She lay there until a realisation hit her; she wasn't ten anymore. It was her birthday! 'Oh, how did I forget?!' She squealed, and, finding herself de-tangled as if by magic, she darted downstairs to open her mounds of presents.

As she had expected, her parents, Mr and Mrs Swan, were sat on the sofa, watching the television and chatting underneath a large, pink happy birthday banner. 'Happy birthday!' They chorused when they saw her enter the room. Hardly listening, El scanned the room eagerly and spotted a mountainous load of gifts next to the sofa. Hawklike, she swooped down on them and began tearing at the carefully wrapped paper.

'I'm eleven, I'm eleven, I'm eleven,' was all that could be heard that day as El ran around in her new dress and makeup. Full of energy, she entered the living room, a huge grin stretching over her face. 'I'm eleven, I'm eleven, I'm eleven,' she sang as she plonked herself onto the sofa, swinging her legs violently. 'I'm eleven! What's for lun —' she stopped when she saw her parents, still and gazing through the window.

'Umm... Mum? Dad?' She called, disgruntled; the attention was supposed to be on her,  not the window, especially today. Mrs Swan, having snapped out of her reverie, jumped and turned.

'Oh, Eliza, it's only you,' she said, seemingly relieved.

'Um it's El actually, and who else would it be?' She asked, looking suspiciously at her mother.

'I —' her mother began, but El never learnt what she was going to say; the attention had just been brought back to the window by a sharp tap.

'Wha — AN OWL!' She screeched, as she rushed to open the window. Fiddling with the latch, she noticed something attached to the bird. 'What's that on it's foot?' She said in disgust, jumping back from the window as if it had some contagious disease. 'If it's something dead, it's not coming anywhere near me,' she said, narrowing her eyes at the owl.

The family stared in stunned silence at the handsome tawny outside their window, the bird looking back expectantly. Minutes passed. All that could be heard was the slow breathing of the three in the house, until an indignant hoot caused them to jump. Mr Swan shot the owl a look before stepping forwards hesitantly and reaching for the half-undone latch on the window.

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Thank you for reading chapter 1!
Comment chapter 1 opinions pleaseee
Chapter 2 will be coming soon so keep an eye out :3