A Light Without Dark

What

-SEVERAL MONTHS LATER-

They simply called were "E."
She got mad when they used her full name
She never used any of their names.
She believed it was the "nice" thing to do.

There were many odd things about her. For one, she hated the outdoors. She also never wanted to show her face. She found a black mouth mask in one of the draws in the dressers of the guest room. Once she figured out how to put it on she never wanted to take it off.

The man began to teach the girl to read and write. He thought if she could communicate better, they'd get more answers. But they'd have to start with basics. And it wouldn't happen over night.

When presented with letters the only thing she knew was how to spell her name. She didn't understand any other combinations or what the meant.

Today she was practicing spelling with the names of animals. The man said the names with a presented picture, and she wrote them down.

"Cat." C-A-T
"Dog." D-O-G
"Fox." She stared at him for a second.
F-O-X

They continued with basics and the man gradually made the words harder.

"Zebra." Z-E-B-R-A
"Horse." H-O-R-S-E
"Monkey." M-O-N-K-E-Y
"Person." P-E-R-S-U-N

"Close," the man said, showing her the correct spelling.

She looked at the presented picture of a human, and then wrote down on the paper, "are you a person?"

"Yes...I am," said the man, not expecting the question. "And so are you."

The girl shook her head.

Stunned, the man asked, "Then what are you?"

The girl looked at the man for a long time. The man didn't know why, but he held her stare. Suddenly, the girl's strong amber eyes flashed purple, faded to red, then back to the yellowish color. It was so fast. The man didn't even blink.

E then pulled off the mask and mouthed sentence the man didn't expect from her. What did you see.

He didn't know how to answer. But he did see something beyond the little flash in her eyes. An entity he felt he should fear. Strong. Powerful. He was afraid because he didn't understand it. Then it hit him.

"That's what you are?" He whispered, barely audible.

The girl only stared.

"You-you need to leave."

She closed her eyes and nodded. Then she looked at him again. They're all afraid.

"Who's they?" The man growing curious asked.

Look away.

"Who are they?"

Please look away.

"Why are you suddenly speaking to me?!"

Look away.

"YOU'VE BEEN LYING ALL THIS TIME YOU DAMNED GIRL!"

With tears in her eyes she mouthed to him slowly, you don't understand sir. Look away.

Frustrated and angry, he put his head in his hands and took a breath.