Defiance: Perfect by Nature

Chapter One: Gabriella

Book Two

Chapter One: Gabriella

Gabriella stood in front of her full length mirror, holding a picture of her mother up to compare the difference. Her face wasn’t as pretty, her figure not as pronounced and she didn’t have that light golden glow to her skin that her entire 'immediate' family had. Well, besides her grandparents, who looked just as ordinary as she did because they weren’t actually part of the family in a sense; but they weren’t ever supposed to know that, and they hadn't even seen their own daughter in ten years. Gabriella would often visit them alone during holidays and such, but she had to be mindful of what she said in front of them in case she let something slip that they weren’t meant to know. Which was pretty much everything and was a very tiring practice.

Sighing sadly, Gabriella dropped the photo of her mother on her bed and tossed her light golden brown hair around, trying to see what another style would look like. She hated how, compared to everyone else, her hair seemed to look flat and not even close to shiny, and nothing she did with it changed that for her. It was hard growing up with her family, but it wouldn’t be long until she joined their ranks forever.

“Gabby!” her mother called out from down the stairs, “Can you come down here for a minute?”

Gabriella quickly wiped the heavy makeup she had slathered on her face in hopes of making herself look more beautiful than she felt and left her large room, bouncing down the flight of stairs until she came to a skidding halt in the kitchen; where her mother was putting the milk carton back into the fridge. With her long red hair and bright blue eyes and a figure most men drooled over, Amy was easily the most beautiful woman most people would ever see and it stabbed at Gabby like a knife having to live with her.

“What’s up, mom?” she asked as she sat down, pulling the glass of milk her mother had just poured to her, knowing she hadn’t really poured it for herself. She didn’t need to eat or drink if she didn’t want to, and only usually did it when they were in public or had company over. Which wasn’t very often.

“Well you know your father is leaving for a while in a couple of days so-” she started to say, but Gabriella quickly cut her off.

“So you are going to meet him up in one of your little worlds and have wild, crazy passionate sex for the next forty-eight hours, right? I know the drill mom, this isn’t the first time one of you had to go away for a while.”

“I didn’t raise you to talk like that, young lady!”

“I know, and I am sorry,” the youngster held her hands up in surrender, not wanting yet another lecture. “Before you go I wanted to ask you something. Brian’s parents are letting him have a party tonight to kick off the New World Celebrations, and he invited me. Can I go?”

“Absolutely not, Gabby,” her mother said and flashed her a stern look. “Look sweetie, I know you really like this boy; but you know it can’t last.”

“But mom, I turn eighteen in, like, eight months! You’re right it can’t last, but don’t I deserve the chance to have an actual relationship before my entire world changes?”

Amy sighed and moved around the kitchen table to sit down next to her daughter, a sad look in her eyes as she spoke softly, “Baby, I know it must be tough for you with everything you know, but I can’t let you go to this party; especially if I am not going to be there. It’s just too dangerous, Gabby.”

“Then why do we even live here? In this house, or in this town when we could live in one of the realms you guys all have access to? If you won’t let me have a real human experience then what’s the point of it all?”