The Light In The Shadows (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter Four

Raelynn's POV:

I took a deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut as I trudged into the school building with Uncle Ry. It looked nice enough. It also looked like a school for rich kids. Great, I thought. All the kids here are gonna be spoiled little brats. I had decided to wear a nice dress that wasn't too fancy and didn't make it obvious that I was rich. Uncle Ry insisted on carrying my backpack, and I was pretty sure I was the only kid who wasn't carrying their backpack themselves, so that was also great. Looking around, I noticed that the other kids were wearing nice, expensive clothes that looked extremely uncomfortable. I scoffed, that's so pointless, you should be comfortable in your clothes. Just because they were expensive, doesn't mean you had to show them off. Even though Uncle Ry could buy me as many costly clothes as I wanted, I always refused to let him buy me any. I didn't like showing others that I had more money than them. That was just stupid and cocky.

I looked at the ground when I saw other kids' parents carrying them into the school, laughing, kissing their kids' foreheads, hugging them goodbye. I know, I know, I had Uncle Ry and he gave me as much love as my parents ever would have, maybe even more than that. But it still hurt not to have ever met my father or barely remembering anything about my mother. I still remembered her beautiful black hair and her sweet, loving smile right before she passed away. I always wondered how anyone could be so happy when they knew they were going to die. It was unfair. She couldn't hold on for me. She just left me. My father left me. And then, my uncle killed my grandmother, the woman who loved me as if I were her own child. The only person in the world who never let me feel the absence of a mother, no not just any mother, my mother. It was all my fault. I could have stopped Uncle Marcellus. But I was just in a closet, cowering, listening to their conversation. I was a coward. I could have helped my Avia. I could have saved her. I could have--

"Lynn? Lynn? You okay there, honey?" I heard Uncle Ry's voice. I looked up. A tear that I hadn't known was forming slid down my cheek. "Oh, Lynn," he whispered, crouching down next to me. We were in the middle of an empty hallway. "Sweetheart, what's wrong? Are you still nervous?" When I didn't answer and looked down again, he added, "I promise, if you don't like it here, I will take you back. In fact, if you want, we can leave right now."

I looked back up at him and then shook my head, wiping my tears. I would stay here and be strong, even if I didn't like it. My Avia would have wanted me to be strong and have a normal childhood, or at least as close as I could get to one. Even if they talked down to me like I was some other three year old who had a brain the size of a walnut. Besides, I didn't want to tell Uncle Ry the real reason why I was crying. I didn't want him to worry about me. He kissed my forehead and stood up, holding out his giant hand for me. I put my way smaller hand in his, and then we started walking back toward the class I was supposed to go to. I fiddled with the hem of my dress and fidgeted. When we were right outside the classroom, I could hear the chatter of all of my new classmates as they got settled into their seats.

I wish my mom were here with me, she would tell me what to do. I knew that my father was human, but I still had the more dominant characteristics of the fae. For example, my enhanced senses. I could see, smell, and hear better than Uncle Ry and any other normal human. I could control light and I'd noticed that when I was happy, the weather always seemed to be sunny and bright. When I was upset, it seemed to be dark and cloudy, and if I was mad, there would always be a raging thunderstorm. Uncle Ry knew about those abilities of mine, and since he's a scientist he studied my powers. He'd helped me learn how to control them quite a bit, but the weather always matched my mood, no matter how hard I tried to stop it from doing so. At the moment, it was partly sunny, as if I had some hope. Maybe I would find friends. Maybe the other kids wouldn't think of me as a freak. Maybe I would stay strong and make my Avia proud. I smiled a little at that thought, and squeezed Uncle Ry's hand. He looked down at me and smiled back.