I watched as they bustled about, barely glancing in my direction. It was as if I didn't exist. A woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties walked up to me with a big fake smile plastered on her rosy face. She was the caretaker and I saw that she was wearing her gray dress. I knew what that meant. Someone was going away. Looking around I saw everyone turn and stare. She bent down and looked into my eyes with her beady little black eyes.
"Listen Cora you and I are going to go for a drive to go and get some ice cream. Doesn't that sound nice? Now come on. We don't want to be late now do we?" She asked, as a stood up. I didn't say anything; instead I turned and packed what little I had. She looked at me in astonishment. Being sixteen I'd seen this play out before. She would say the same thing and then bam they were never seen again. What I was wondering was where was I actually going? Once those kids left she always told us that they had been adopted. But all of those kids were about in the single digits. You see it's extremely hard for older kids in the double digits to get adopted because it's always harder for us. We know that they aren't our real parents and they know that we aren't their real children.
I was the eldest at the orphanage so whenever I had something I usually gave it to the younger kids. She lead me out of the house and into the rain. We only waited a minute or two before a black BMW pulled up in front of us. A tall thin man stepped out and held the door open for me. Slowly I walked over to the car and sat down. Closing the door behind myself, the man soon returned to his seat and started the car. We soon were driving off and I was left to look back at the place that I'd grown up in. I'd been in the same orphanage from the age of five. Ever since my parents were murdered in front of me. I can still hear their screams to this day. Shuddering I looked back ahead at the road and watched as the rain started to pour.
"The Ackermens are a very lovely family. They have a daughter your age, a younger boy around twelve and two boys your age. I know this must be extremely hard for you considering how long you've been in the foster care. I was once adopted myself, but I was only a lad then. It'll be good for you. Don't worry," The man smiled as we pulled up to a two story house. An old house to be exact. That was never a good sign. "Mr. and Mrs. Ackermen are out of town but they wanted you to become acquainted with the house and your new siblings promptly. Have a nice new life," He smiled as he pulled out of the driveway. A fat cat sat mewing at a locked window on the second floor. I saw a faint glow as the window quickly opened and then quickly closed as the cat jumped in. I just stood there trying to calm my breathing.
I could hear music coming from the backyard, and people laughing. Right as I was about to knock a guy about eighteen or so opened the door. Startled I took a step back and tripped. The guy's hand shot out and pulled me back up. His eyes were drooped in a sleepy way as if he hadn't slept in days.
"Whoa looks like someone's had enough to drink," He chuckled, but that's when he noticed the bag. Dusting myself off I looked down at my worn out sneakers and torn jeans. I felt a cold chill even though I was wearing a thick black sweater and the only thing I never gave away. My motorcycle jacket. Looking back I saw that it'd stopped raining and the sun had just set. How long have I been standing here? "Oh wow. They said they were thinking about it but they never said they would. I mean wow and I thought they were probably getting a kid around David's age, but you're what sixteen? Oh by the way I'm Jake, the eldest," Jake smirked as he looked me over. I could tell that we were getting off to a bad start. "And you are?" I snapped back to reality when he asked me that. Before I even got the chance to bolt, a smaller boy with red hair and ears that were a bit too big for him pulled on Jake's sleeve.
"Brad's like really drunk and the last time I saw him he was about to get into a fight. Suze said she didn't care if he got the snot beat out of him. Plus violence only leads to more violence which then leads to a path of destruction and chaos. Oh hi! I didn't see you there," The boy said as he pushed his hair out of his face. Not waiting to say anything I bolted and just ran to the nearest payphone. My hands were shaking violently as I tried dialing his number.
"Yello?" I let out a sigh of relief as he answered. "Cora is that you. Look I can't talk now I'm kinda in the middle of something. Look if you need help just stay where you are and I'll find you. I always do, don't I?" With that he hung up. Doing as he said I slid down to the ground and absently pulled at a frayed string on one of my sleeves. Once that came off I pulled out my sketchbook and pencil. I absently sketched his face. His dark brown hair, his natural tan skin and his almond shaped eyes. But what set him apart from the other guys that I'd met at the orphanage he was the only one that had scars that weren't self-inflicted. More time must have passed then I thought, because he soon walked up to the booth and knocked lightly on the side.
Jumping up I quickly hid the sketch so he wouldn't see. Not until it was finished. Dusting myself off again he watched me with an intense sense of need.
"One more week and you can talk. One more week until I can finally hear your voice. Now didn't I say that I'll always find you?" He smirked at me as we walked the lone streets of Carmel California. "Think you can handle that? I mean after what eleven years you haven't uttered a word. Impressive I would've screwed up a long time ago. So where to?" He asked as he started to walk backwards. His eyes were like liquid sapphires that could make anyone, well except for me, melt. Pointing up the hill we both stared in awe at the lights coming from the house. He gave me a small hug as we made our way slowly to the awaiting house. When I mean slowly I mean like snail pace. I just didn't want to go to that place. Not until I knew for certain that I wasn't going to run.
Suze's POV:
"Querida, a girl around your age was just outside the house. But she ran. Do you know her?" Jesse asked as he materialized beside me in the kitchen. Jumping a little I decided to question Sleepy.
"Yo, Jake was there a girl outside around our age?" I asked him as he grabbed a beer from the fridge. Being the best stepsister in the world I snatched the drink from him and drained it down the sink.
"What the! Oh and if you look around there is like well pretty much a lot of girls our age here! Moron," Sleepy said as he thumped me on the head. Which I have to say was painful to say the least considering he thumped my bruise, courtesy of Maria De Silva's husband who offed my somewhat boyfriend Jesse over a hundred and fifty years ago. Yeah that's the somewhat area. Jesse stood by my side with a firm hand on my shoulder.
"Susannah he isn't worth it. Go find David," Jesse whispered in my ear, which sent chills through me. Turning on my heel I bolted up the stairs towards David's room. Last time Jesse had been in Doc's room was when his ex-girlfriend Maria was trying to murder me in my sleep. Which he also laughed for a good amount of time, when I pulled out my various weapons from under Doc's covers.
"David was there a girl around my age outside the front of the house?" I asked, as I opened his door. Eagerly he bounced over to me and tugged on my hand.
"Yeah, but I have better news! I have to the whole party on video tape! So now Brad will get in trouble! Isn't that awesome?" Doc asked, as he messed around on his computer.
"That's pretty awesome Do- David. But what about the girl?" I asked, straddling a chair.
"Oh remember how mom and dad were discussing about adopting a girl. I do believe that the girl was the girl they were going to adopt. But what they don't realize is that she will probably not talk or socialize well considering she knows that they aren't her real parents. She also might show signs of defiance, not to mention violence. She also could have some mental damage from whatever traumatic event happened to her that caused her to be in an orphan. But if I do recall mom and dad said they had a file on her somewhere in their room," Doc said as he stood up and walked out. A minute later he came back with a manila folder with some tabs sticking out of it. Jesse peered over Doc's shoulder as he read the information. Shaking his head I slumped in my chair. "Nothing. Not even her name, but there is a picture of her. See," Doc said as he showed me her picture. She had emerald green eyes, long black hair, ivory skin, and a small X shaped scar under her right eye.
"Was she the girl you saw?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of her. Jesse was doing the same.
"I do believe she was the girl. She's very fast. You should've seen the way she bolted. The odd thing is though she never said anything," Doc trailed off as he got a faraway look in his eyes.
"Querida that mark on her cheek it's familiar somehow…" Jesse murmured as he stared at her picture. Shaking my head I gave Doc a small hug as I went back to my room. Jesse rushed in and started to pet Spike. Seriously that cat gets way more attention from the guy I love then I do! I mean talk about unfair. I mean okay so I've had like a couple of guys ask me out but they all run away because of some spirit that wants them dead or they want me dead. But you know two guys that liked me tried to kill me! Oh and here I am falling in love with you guessed it, a ghost. My love life is really complicated.
Jesse was looking out the window with a ticked off look on his face. That could only mean one thing. Paul finally arrived.
"Suze a guy's here for ya!" Dopey yelled up the steps. His voice was slurred from the many alcoholic beverages he had. Jesse gave me a sad look as he watched me walk down the steps. Paul leaned on the bottom step banister with a smirk plastered on his face.
"What do you want Paul?" I asked letting all the venom I could seep into my words. He was the only person who actually scared me, and that was coming from a mediator.
"Let's see what do I want? Oh I want you to go on a date with me my love," Paul said as he kissed me. On the lips! That's when stuff started to go down. Like well the whole house started to shake and Paul was pushed down on the ground by the kinetic energy of a very angry Jesse. He stormed down the steps and literally pushed Paul out of the house with just a single glare! Talk about awesome. Maybe Jesse was still ticked off about Craig and his pirate remark. But you know he's pretty pissed at Paul and I mean who can blame him? This is the second time he's crashed Brad's party and tried to hit on me. I shot Jesse a look saying that-we-don't-want-another-recap-of-last-time-you-beat-the-snot-out-of-him.
That's when I saw her. Her face drained of all color, which was saying something considering she was so pale. Plus she was my new sister. Same scar and everything. The problem was she wasn't staring at Paul on the ground or even me for that matter she was staring directly at Jesse. I could see mixed emotions fill her eyes as she took a small step back. But she couldn't go anywhere because a guy was right behind her holding what I thought was her bag. He looked down at her with loving eyes as he whispered something in her ear. I saw Sleepy struggle to get everyone out of the house.
He stopped and yelled, "Mom and dad are on their way home! Now! Everyone get out of my house!" The guy from before raised his eyebrow and cleared his throat very loudly. Literally everyone fell silent. You could hear a pin drop if you wanted to.
"The guy said that you all need to leave, so the door is right here. Have a nice night," He smiled. He had a slight Spanish or southern accent. It could make any girl melt. Jesse looked at the guy and girl as everyone started to leave. "First clean up your messes. Then you can leave." He added. The way his voice came out it was soothing like a suggestion but everyone knew it was a command. To my surprise no objected and soon the house was clean and back to normal. Everyone had left except for the guy and the girl. Her hair was by her waist and her eyes were so intent that you felt as if she saw into your soul.
"Dude, thank you so much. Oh hey it's you. I was wondering when you were coming back. Brad, David, Suze get over here!" Sleepy yelled the last part. Doc was right behind me on the steps and Dopey was sober enough to register her. Paul was still here and he didn't plan on leaving.
"No problem. I just wanted to make sure Cora was taken care of. I'm Damon by the way. Oh and you there you don't seem to belong here so why don't you leave," Damon smiled at Paul. Paul just smirked at him as he stood up.
"Make me," Paul said as he got in Damon's face. Cora got in between them. She glared at Paul so intently that he backed away. Her green eyes seemed to glow. Jesse even flinched. She still never said a word.
"Go now before I do make you, shifter," Damon whispered that part lowly so that only Paul heard, but I caught that one word. Damon knew he was a shifter, did that mean he could see Jesse? What about Cora? Damon looked over at me and gave me a sweet smile. He knew. He had to.
Paul sauntered out of the house like a dog that had just been beaten. Sleepy laughed along with Jesse even though he couldn't hear him. I laughed a little under my breath. I snapped to attention when I heard a car door slam and then Damon moved right as the door slammed open. My mother and Andy walked in surprised to see that the house was still intact.
"Susie," My mother said as she hugged me tightly. Only she could call me that. Andy examined the boys and that's when they noticed Cora and Damon. My mom just ran up to her and gave her a big bear hug. I saw that Cora immediately tensed as mom tried to sooth her hair or just plain hug her. She still never said a word.
"Hello, you must Mr. and Mrs. Ackermen. I'm Damon and this is Cora. Cora and I have been friends for about eleven years and I was wondering if I could stay with her for the week until she got settled in. If that was all right with you," Damon smiled. I knew he had just smiled his way into Andy and my mother's heart.
"Yes of course I understand. This must be very rough for you Cora. We welcome you to our family with open arms. Make yourself comfortable. Cora and Damon Suze will show you to your rooms. Now if you'll excuse us we have to unpack. My mother finally let go of poor Cora and followed Andy to their bedroom. I gestured for them to follow me up the stairs. Jesse just watched them and Cora took a wide berth to make sure she didn't bump into Jesse. He watched her with curiosity. She just stared at him and made sure not to say anything. Jesse reached out and lightly grazed her scar. Damon put himself in between Jesse and Cora, which I thought was quite suspicious. Damon just flashed me a 100-watt smile, like nothing was happening.
I gestured towards two empty rooms and was just about to walk away when Damon spoke up.
"It's nice to meet you Susannah and your comrade Hector 'Jesse' de Silva. I can understand that you have many questions and as I stay here this week I'll teach how to be a shifter. A shifter on the good side. Not the side that your friend Paul has chosen. Cora and I are shifters but tonight I'm afraid Cora and I are far too tired to chat so for now I wish the best of luck. My fellow shifter and mediator." With that he turned around and ushered Cora into the other room and then disappeared into his own room. Jesse and I just stood there slack jawed at what had just happened.