The Beast Beneath The Bluff

Chapter Three

Tabitha woke up early the next day, and although she yawned and rubbed her eyes tiredly, her body itself was full of a strange kind of energy, and she found herself wanting to go back to the bluff. She didn't like ending things off as they did last night with Goch, she needed to apologize to him.

But first, she had to go to school.

Tabitha liked school in the beginning, but after Chelsea and those girls began bullying her and driving away all her friends, school became less and less like a place of learning and more and more like a hellhole that she was forced to spend most of her day at. Her village was poor and could only afford one school house that was forced to be shared by both boys and girls, so they had to tweak the schedules and give girls less time at school than boys. At first, Tabitha hated that system, but soon she learned to embrace it. The less time at school with those girls, the better.

As usual, Callan walked her. Since her home was isolated, even more so than other houses in her village, the walk to school was an easy half an hour walk. The company shared with Callan was much, much worse than the time spent with those girls.

"Remember, just because we're siblings doesn't mean I can be seen with the likes of you," Callan told her harshly without looking down. His gaze was dead set on the path ahead of them and he kept an arms length of space between them. "I'll walk you to the apple tree and that's it. You walk the rest of the way."

The old apple tree, huh? That was the halfway mark between their home and the school, and every time Callan left her there, she felt much, much more vulnerable and alone. So every day for the past two years, she asked him the same question, "Brother, why won't you walk me further? I'm scared."

And every time he would answer, "Grow up, pansy."

Tabitha had a feeling that asking him that question time and time again would only tire her out, and as the old apple tree finally came to view, she turned to her brother and asked him a different question, "Brother, why do you hate me so much?"

This time, Callan did look down at her, and he was scowling. "Because you're a damn bloody annoyance, that's why," he answered harshly, and Tabitha's heart cracked painfully.

"Is there nothing I can do to make you like me?" she asked him.

She didn't mean to get her hopes up, but having a good relationship with her brother was the only thing she ever longed for. At some point, when she was very young, she remembered his smile. The memory was blurry from her age, but she always kept its members alive within her heart. He was once loving to her, he was once protective over her. He used to carry her in his arms and hum lullabies to her whenever she cried. He always told her things were going to be okay. But that was before dad left, when his and mum's arguments were Tabitha's surrogate lullabies.

Then one day, dad never came home, and everything changed. The kind, caring older brother Callan once was no longer existed. From that point on, he was always so mean to her, constantly bullying her and putting her down. She just wanted to know why. She just wanted to know what could possibly be done to make him like her somewhat. A smile every now and then would be nice.

But he didn't smile, and he didn't entertain her with an answer. The moment they were under that old tree, he turned heel and walked home, never once sparing her a glance. Tabitha just stood there under that tree, watching him go.

Why did her brother hate her? Why did her dad walk out on them? Those were the questions that have been plaguing Tabitha's mind ever since she could walk. She had a suspicion in the back of her mind, but she never bothered entertaining it. After all she already knew Callan blamed her for their father leaving. There was no point in dwelling.