Broken Genes

Chapter one

I stand in the small clearing on the outskirts of the village. It has snowed relentlessly these past few days and I now stand in a thick blanket of snow which comes up to my ankles, but what else can you expect on the twelfth of December. Maybe it will be a white Christmas. It is standing here that I start to think.

Winter has always been my favourite season. I never seem to get cold so I have no reason not to be outside. I love the pure beauty that happens when the white settles on the earth. It is like all you trouble disappear and you are suddenly a blank sheet ready for the colours to be laid on you when spring then summer and finally autumn come.

I think for a long while, the cold air clearing my head.

I am suddenly broken from my trance when I feel a thump hit my back. I turn around just in time to see Jase trying to regain his idea of a normal looking pose after chucking a large snowball in my direction. He gives me an innocent look like he doesn't know what happened. I throw a quick smirk in his direction before I swoop down, gather snow with a quick sweep of my hand and throw the compact ball straight at his red flushed face. It is a direct hit. I probably threw it with a little more force than necessary causing Jase to stagger back a few steps before falling flat on his back. I have always been strong but that never meant I could control that strength. Jase raises his head trying to shake of the impact of my snowball. Then his eyes slowly rest on my worried looking face before he burst out laughing. I slowly start to laugh as well, my first reaction of panic fading as we laugh more and more.

Jase is the only person that has never questioned me, he has always just accepted that I am not what today passes as normal. I have never been very good around people, I always feel as though I don't belong. However, when I am around Jase, I feel at home. I guess you could call him my best friend.

Just as we start to calm ourselves down, I begin to move towards Jase to go help him up, when I am reaching out my hand, I slip on a piece of ice and find myself lying on my back next to him. We both just burst out laughing again. We lay there for a good ten minutes before being able to stand up. When we do get up we both realise it is probably time to be getting back. We both start down the old path which is rarely visible normally, let alone with all this snow. That's why I like it here because, nobody but Jase and I know where it is.

Slowly the small town of Spring Valley, Ohio comes into view. We walk done it to the main pathway down the road towards the housing area. We pass the old church and the graveyard, then we pass by the grocery store and Jase goes in to say hello to his dad. I have never really had a friend like Jase before so it is nice to get to know his family. As we walk in to the shop, a blast of hot air hits me and the air feels stuffy. I suddenly long to be out of the shop and back out in the cold. Jase, however, breaths in a sigh of relief as we walk in. Maybe it was colder than I thought.

"Oh hello boys!" Jase's dad booms from behind the small counter in the back left of the store. He is a large man and has a tendency to act a bit like a skyscraper. He is around fifty three but looks much older, with deep wrinkles set in his face and beady little rat eyes that never know quite where to look. He is nothing like Jase. Jase is strong and well built. He is quite tall yet not intimidating and is always happy.

"Hiya dad" Jase replies.

I give Jase's dad a warm smile, nod and say politely, "hello Mr. Blackley".

"Please Seb, call me Harry" he says, trying not to make eye contact. Unlike Jase, the other people around here, including Harry, think I am 'not quite right'. However I kind of like it that way, people are never bothering me as long as I don't bother them.

"Could we grab a drink?" Jase asks and in reply Harry nods once and gets back to his counter. Jase and I both move our selves over to the cool section and grab a coke each. Then we make our way to the door. Just before we leave, Harry yells, "Bye Jason, bye Sebastian".

Both Jase and I groan at the sound of our full names. But we reply all the same. When we reach Jase's house we say bye to each other as always and I make my way to my own home. I step over the potholes and make my way down the steep slope. I eventually reach my house. It is old and boring but it the best I can get and it has the fantastic characteristic of being very far from the rest of the village, on the outskirt of a deep forest.

As I approach the door I draw my key from my trousers and unlock the door. Once inside I dump my coat on the hanger and go into my room. It is here that I live - alone.

I had originally lived in an orphanage a few miles away. It was there I spent my life. I had been abandoned at the age of five and the orphanage took me in. When I was 13 I ran away, I couldn't take another moment in that controlling hell hole. All the kids used to call me a freak and I have always had a short temper. Once I left, I changed my name and headed to the next small place I could find. That place was here.

I have no memory of my life before the orphanage. No matter how hard I try, it is like those little memories have been lost forever. Even now at the age of 15, my 16th birthday approaching I can remember most, except those tiny five years of my life.

I push myself up onto my cage of a bed and get out my books, other than Jase, these are my only friends. The pages of endless knowledge. There is always more to learn, to feel, to experience. I live in my books. They offer so much more than life does, I guess that is what I am, more of a story than a human.

As I sit, I realise just how exhausted I am, despite this, I pick up my favourite book, lie down and start to read.

Just as I get settled in to my book, I hear a knock at the door. My heart jumps, nobody comes here, nobody even knows where it is except Jase and he is intelligent enough to stay away from this old dump. I get up with a creak from my bed in protest of the sudden movement. I make my way slowly to the door. Despite my large body structure I am good at not making a sound. I near the door and place my hand on the doorknob, I twist it until I hear the click of the block sliding out of place. I swing the door open and all I can see from the doorway is just how dark it is. It must have got dark quickly. Then I realise it isn't even that dark at all, but there is something blocking all the light from the door way, It is a tall, dark looming figure, with black, pit like eyes. I stagger back my mouth hanging open. The figure steps in letting some light flood in, that's when I see its face. The figure is oddly beautiful but in a menacing way. He raises his head, sets his eyes on me, smirks and draws something from his belt. It is long and glowing red like red hot metal. He steps forward once again, more of a stride this time, and everything goes black.