“Klaus!” mom screamed as I casually poured milk over the raw meat. “You cannot have raw meat with milk! It’s simply outrageous!”
My eating pattern was different from normal people. I ate what I wanted. It wasn’t disturbing eating disorder, it was just me.
“Thelma…” dad said soothingly. “Let him do what he wants… He is still a child.”
“I’m seventeen,” I interjected. “So, I’m technically not a child.”
“Seventeen or not,” mom announced. “You will not have food like this!”
I shrugged as I cut the meat into small pieces and began consuming it, as mom likes to call it. She has always been against my ‘habits’. Like the way I crouched while sitting on a chair. She protested as to why I sat with my feet on the chair. But… It’s not a habit I can break out of. She let out a sigh of frustration and stomped out of the dining room. Dad groaned, gave me own of his looks and followed her. Daily routine
“You know, brethren,” Anna chirped as she walked in, ready for school. “You can pretend to be normal.”
Pretend? Normal? Not my style.
“No, thanks,” I shrugged. “And, brethren is plural. Are you reading the Book of Mormon?”
She gaped at me. “How do you know that? Don’t tell mom or dad! You know how they feel about this.”
I had the meat in my mouth when I nodded, which made the fork bob up and down before finally falling down over the bowl of milk. Mom and Dad were avid atheists.
“You have to change the way you sit,” she suggested. “The whole crouching thing makes you look like Ryuzaki from Death Note.”
“Why are you so obsessed about death?” I asked calmly looking over at my reflection on the smooth finish of the refrigerator.
She opened her mouth to answer but changed it mid-way. “I just am, L.”
“Aren’t you late?” I asked her, my gaze still fixated at my reflection.
She glanced at her watch and shrieked. The next second, she was out the door and inside the car driving to school.
I sighed. ‘Pretending to be normal?’ I thought. ‘Will I be able to go to school then?’
No. Chance.

I tossed and turned as the familiar nightmare took over my unconsciousness.
Run…
All I knew was that I had to run.
I could feel a presence behind me.
Don’t look back…
I was running. I don’t know what from but I knew I just had to.
I was out of breath. Air. I needed air.
“Klaus!” Anna screamed shaking me so hard that I woke up. She had her eyes shut and tears were trailing down her cheeks.
“Hey…” I breathed. “You’re back from school.” What time was it? Four? A nightmare at four pm? Disgusting.
“Klaus?” she stammered and hugged me hard. “Y-y-you were screaming a-a-and the e-e-ntire r-r-oom was sha-shak-shaking, Klaus.”
I did it again.
“Did I scare you, Anna?” I asked comfortingly. “I’m really sorry.”
“J-j-just don’t do that again,” she stammered. “Ever.”
I hugged her back. I scared her. I couldn’t promise that. I couldn’t.
“I’m sorry, Anna” I whispered. “I’m very sorry.”
I really was a monster.

“Klaus Xavier, is it?” he peered down over me. “Do you know why you are here?”
Of course I did. I was the ‘freak’. A home-schooled anti-social ‘freak’ with weird habits.
“Yes, I do, Doctor,” I affirmed.
Mom sent me here after yesterday’s nightmare incident. Anna was in shock. She stared blankly at the walls. Mom feared that I would take the only sane offspring’s sanity and replace it with insanity such as mine. She didn’t need two freaks living in the same house.
“Let me tell you that your condition is not your fault,” he nodded his head. “Some of us are special.”
“Define special,” I questioned. As if he really knew what I am.
His eyes flickered and he scratched his neck. Now would be a good time. I pressed my temple and slowly circled my forefinger around my skin. A sudden buzz of electricity buzzed inside my body. It worked.
'He is abnormal. I don’t want him to be my patient,' I could hear him think. 'Look at the way he is looking at me. His grey eyes… How did I end up like this?'
“Doctor,” I paused. “I don’t think you know what special is, at least in my case.”
I bore into his eyes. 'I’m a predator,' I channeled into his brain. 'Fear me.' I didn’t need any person acting as if they knew me, when they really didn’t.
'Please leave,' He pleaded looking away from my eyes.
“Gladly,” I remarked. His eyes widened with shock as I walked out of his cabin.
Did he read my mind? he thought.
Of course I did.

“I heard you freaked the doctor out as well,” Anna mumbled hugging her legs closer to her. “Brethren, you are amazing.”
“It comes naturally,” I joked. “Are you okay now?”
She looked into my eyes. Our eyes were of the same hue, but hers were warmer and looked human, while mine were cold and ferocious.
“Klaus…,” she began. “Why was the entire room shaking when you were having a bad dream?”
I knew this was coming. What would I tell my curious fifteen year old sister? Nothing. Only the truth would satisfy her.
“Hey, did you hear about -” I started trying to change the topic.
“Don’t change the topic!” she exclaimed her voice rising. “It was freaky! The entire room was shaking! Can you believe it? I was there! I was there watching it! You have to give me some answers!”
Her voice croaked towards the end and tears began forming in her eyes.
“Just tell me,” she pleaded. “I want to help you.”
I got up and placed my palm on top of her head. She was so tiny. So fragile.
“Go to sleep, Anna,” I said.
She didn’t have to know.
The truth would kill her.
If mom couldn’t bear it, how would Anna?

“We can’t let him stay here,” mom insisted. “We can’t. Carter you saw what he did to Anna. You saw it. Poor girl can’t even eat or sleep.”
Mom and dad were talking as if I wasn’t there. Nothing new.
“Are you happy now?” mom shrieked. “Are you? Are you happy to see your sister like this? Tell me!”
My existence was acknowledged. What a surprise.
“Thelma…” dad tried soothing her. “Calm down.”
Mom calmed down but as soon as her eyes met mine she tensed up again.
“Look at him, Carter! Just look at him! Look at the way he is sitting! Is that even normal?” she started shrieking. Again. “He’s not our kid, Carter. I’m sure of it. He can’t be. He’s not ours. He’s seventeen. He can live alone. Just tell him to go. Let him free. Please. Carter. I can’t live with this monster. I just can’t. Carter.”
I shrugged as I mixed garlic paste with ice cream. The spoon bent. Mom and dad noticed that. I didn’t care. I dipped my forefinger into the mixture and started mixing it.
“Klaus!” she shrieked making my earlobes throb. “What did you just do? I saw that! Carter, tell him! You are not supposed to do that in front of other people! You are not supposed to do that! What would others think if they saw you bending the spoon like that? Carter, do something.”
“Son…” Dad began. He was always the sweet one. Always.
“I never,” I interrupted, “thought of you both as ‘other people’.”
Mom gaped. “You make me sick, Klaus. Don’t you care what other people think of you?” she jeered.
“You care about others too much, Mom,” I shrugged as I licked the ice cream. “I don’t have to.”
“‘Mom’? Did you just call me ‘Mom’?” she laughed bitterly. “Only Anna can call me that. Not you.”
If I said it didn’t hurt, it would be a lie. That hurt. A lot.
“Thelma, we don’t have to aggravate the situation,” dad coaxed mom to calm down. “He’s just so young.”
“He’s young in monster-land,” she sneered. “Not here!”
“Thelma, you’re crossing the lin-”
“Crossing what? I crossed the line the day I married you! It was the biggest mistake of my life!” she shrieked.
That did it. If you mess with my dad, you are just as well dead to me. Literally dead.
“Thelma, you shou-” Dad began. “Klaus! Control yourself!”
Too late. I could feel it rising. I couldn’t stop it.
I could feel the electricity spark within me. It was growing. Rapidly.
My muscles expanded. I grew a feet taller.
My fangs emerged. I knew my eyes had grown silver.
“Carter?” mom asked slowly. “What’s going on?”
My body grew and my shirt ripped apart.
My hair grew by two inches. My fingernails became claws.
“Thelma, run!” dad screamed. “Take Anna along with you! I’ll take care of it.”
My vision improved. I could see each and every molecule.
The world was different this way. It was more beautiful.
“Klaus, I need you to calm down,” he said slowly.
I could smell blood.
The smell was strong.
Someone had died.
It wasn’t a human.
I glanced towards my hand.
It was between dad’s stomach.
He spluttered out blood into my face.
“I love you, son,” he croaked. “And I forgive you.”
No. This is not real. This can’t be.
A smiled formed in his face.
His eyes closed.
His heartbeat stopped.

I killed my dad. I killed my own father. I killed him. I’m a murderer. I’m a monster.
“Klaus?” Anna smiled. She was scared of me. Mom didn’t even face me since that day. “It’s going to be okay.”
I nodded. I looked at my hands. How can these hands kill the one man I loved? How?
“I’ll go on head, ’kay?” she smiled again. “You come by later.”
I didn’t have to go through this. I didn’t have to. How can I show myself at his funeral?
I couldn’t. I have to run. I didn’t need any belongings.
I leapt through the window, the sun glistening as if to greet me into a new world.
“Klaus!” Anna screamed. “Don’t go!”
I glanced back at her but kept running. If I remained there, I could kill both of them. I can’t live with the guilt of killing my entire family. I was a monster.
I didn’t belong anywhere.

‘How long are you going to hide?’ I cussed tossing more wood into the fire.
I was truly despicable. I was in the forest. Building a hut in one day wasn’t hard. I stole food supplies from the nearest supermarket seven miles away. Survival is the most important thing.
I spat on the ground. I disgust myself. How could I even think of survival when I killed my father?
“Klaus?” a female voice called out. Instantly I moved towards her and placed my arm against the creature’s throat.
“It’s me, brethren,” she stuttered. “Anna.”
I growled and let her out of my grasp.
“How did you find me?” I roared. I knew my fangs were drawn out. I couldn’t transform back to my human form. I didn’t even know if this change was temporary or permanent. The only person whom I could ask was dead.
“I followed your scent,” she replied. “It wasn’t that hard, brethren.”
She couldn’t have followed my scent unless…
“That’s impossible,” I denied. “Mom checked you for the monster gene, there was none.”
“I tampered with the results,” she admitted. “That wasn’t hard as well.”
“Then why weren’t you like me at home?” I queried. “Why don’t you have habits like mine?”
“Do you remember when I told you that you could pretend to be normal?” she asked. “That’s what I do. Pretend. Since, I’m the second child of a human and a Gaian, I can control my hormones and rage factor.”
“Gaians?” I asked. “What do you mean by that?”
“Mom and Dad didn’t tell you?” she sighed. “Sit down first. It’s going to be a long one.”
She sat on the log beside the fire and I followed her.
“Klaus, I can understand why Mom didn’t tell you what you’re supposed to know,” she started. “She wanted to protect you. She loves you but she doesn’t know how to show it.”
“And how do you know things that I’m supposed to know, Anna?” I growled.
“I’m not a threat, Klaus,” she scoffed. “You can stop baring your fangs and growling.”
“Haven’t gotten used to it,” I growled. She raised her eyebrows and tilted her head to say, ‘Seriously?’.
“Go on,” I urged.
She picked up a stick and drew a circle. Then, she cut the circle into two. One side she wrote the letter ‘H’ and the other, the letter ‘G’.
“H is for humans and G is for Gaians,” she explained. “Before I begin I would like you to know that Mom didn’t know I inherited Dad’s gene. Dad knew. We made a pact that we would never let Mom know about me. It would kill her. And once Gaians make a pact, you can’t come out of it. If you’re about to break the pact it would be like your soul is ripped from you. You would suffer for a week. And you would wish for death, but you won’t be able to die.”
She sighed and looked into my eyes. Her eyes looked different now. It looked like mine.
“This world is filled with two races: - Humans and Gaians. Gaians live in extreme secrecy and only a handful live in this planet. There are about five major Gaian covens: Frary representing Fire, Wreth representing Water, Ayr representing Air, Gryn representing Gaia and Spyrt representing Spirit.
“We’re from the Erth, a coven filled with half-humans and half-Gaians. Dad was a Gaian, he belonged to Spyrt and Spyrt is actually an off-shoot from the spirit energy of this planet. Before you ask me whether we are aliens, I’ll tell you: We are aliens.”
My mouth hung open in shock. She couldn’t be speaking the truth.
“I can’t lie, Klaus,” she spoke as if she read my mind. “I can read your mind. Gaians belonging to the Spyrt coven can read minds but can’t lie.
How come she knows so much?
“If you’re wondering how come I know so much about this, the answer is Dad used to send me thought waves. He made me see our world. Klaus, it’s beautiful.”
This was too much to take in.
“I’m sorry if it’s too much to take in,” she apologized. “But I can’t control my reading abilities. I haven’t been trained.”
“Then what about my monster-like tendencies?” I questioned her. “I bet that isn’t normal.”
“That’s a side effect,” she answered. “When Gaians and Humans produce an offspring, the animal instinct of the humans overpowers the logical instinct of the Gaians. Gaians are logical and mystical. When it’s mixed with the animal and emotional instinct, the result is what we would call, a mix between a werewolf and a vampyre.
“If you disregard the Twilight series and all other vampyre pop-culture, the Vampyre is a very emotional clan. They’re the ones who started the ‘emo’ culture. You can see the similarities between a vampyre and an emo. Both love black, and unlike the popular belief, vampyre drink their own blood. The cut-marks on their wrists make them look emo.
“So technically, you inherited more of mom’s genes rather than dad’s genes. That is the reason why you have weird eating habits, sitting habits and rage, when once evoked is impossible to extinguish.”
My fifteen year old sister is telling me this? She has grown.
Anna beamed. And suddenly her face was gripped with terror.
“Klaus!” she shrieked. “Behind you!”

“Calm,” a voice enunciated. A sudden calmness filled over me.
“Sire, are these the ones?” a squeaky voice asked. “One looks like he’s from the Spyrt and well, the other, looks human, Sire.”
I turned around to attack but a tall figure side-stepped me and was standing in front of Anna, pinching her hair as if to test its silkiness. He had silver hair and tiny purple eyes.
“A human reader?” he hissed with his snake-like tongue sliding out of his mouth. He sniffed the air around her. “A Halfling?” he chuckled.
“Don’t touch her!” I growled. He dismissively held up his hands.
“Mate?” he asked as he twirled around me. “No. A Krynsmn… How interesting.”
‘What does he mean?’ I sent Anna.

‘Krynsmn means Kinsmen, that is, sibling,’ she replied. ‘He’s a Wreth, as in Water. He can foresee and manipulate the feelings of those younger to him up to a certain extent.”
Suddenly he bent down on his knee. “Forgive me for invading your personal space,” he spoke with respect. “But it is you both who I was searching for and I must take you back to Gaia.”
“Sire, are you sure?” the squeaky voice asked. “She looks… human.”
“Are you doubting my foresight?” the silver-haired man spoke sharply. “They are the ones. I’m sure of it. I give you my oath on the Last Atlantan’s blood that these two are the ones.”
“I don’t doubt your foresight, Sire,” the squeaky voice withdrew. This silver-haired man must be someone of authority.
‘I can’t read his mind,’ Anna sent. ‘I can read the squeaky voice’s thoughts.’
“Come with us, Halflings,” he announced. “Let us travel to Gaia.”