The Forest's Edge

The Picture

  I stare at the bronze-framed family picture glaring at me from its place on the wall. It seems to laugh at me. You're no good. Look how different you are from your so-called family. It's right. I am different. My dark complexion and black hair are starkly different from Mum's angelic blonde hair and delicate features. Dad and I seem a little closer with darker hair, but his is more of a chocolate brown, and mine is more the-kid-you-don't-want-your-kid-to-be-friends-with black.

  My younger brothers and sister are also in the picture. Kieran and I are one year and a day apart, which makes him almost 16 now. He was named for Mum's brother who was killed in a witch war. He's well suited to the name with his handsome features and muscular build. He and I have never gotten along well. He's tried the old "you're adopted" trick on me for years. Only, it's not a trick. I don't fit in this family and I know I never will.

  After Kieran is Peter. He's 13 and looks like a slightly smaller version of Kieran. Anyone would believe they're twins. Peter and I don't talk much. We live together on the basis of "I don't bother you, you don't bother me."

  My final sibling is Cora, who is near and dear to me. She, like everyone else in my family, has my mother's features, but she doesn't treat me like an outcast. She's 11, but she has wisdom beyond her years.

  I look deeper into the picture frame, trying to find the liquid green I see so often in my siblings' eyes. It appears the camera can't catch it. Mum's told all us children that we are whets, witches who haven't received their Gifts yet. She also told Cora, Peter, and Kieran that they are Half-Bloods, witches of mixed witch and fain blood. When I asked about me, who I was, she simply said "I'll tell you when you're older." 

  Kieran thinks I'm a Half-Code, like Nathan in the stories Mum tells us of the witch war. I tell him that I would be proud to be like Nathan, proud to be half Black, proud to bring balance to Blacks and Whites. Usually, he spits at me and calls me a dirty Black, but once he told me to eat Mum's heart. I beat him up after that.

  "Edge. Edge!" Mum says. I turn behind me, only now realizing how long I've been staring at the picture. Mum sighs. "Come with me. There's something we need to talk about."