This chapter is slow but it introduces the main character Emliana 'Emily' Gerrack.
~~~ Emily's POV
Humans often have a feeling of invincibility or immortality, but where does that root from? The longevity of the human race? Or perhaps there is something else..
There is no such thing as a normal life, only a life not lived extraordinarily. At one time in my life, I was living "normally". I mean, don't interpret that as me saying that I was "Susie High School". Like numerous people in the world, I was never in that "In-Crowd. But that line has been written more times than I can count. I was not invisible though; I discovered my gifts early on and basked in light that they brought me. I have always been a thinker and most definitely a dreamer. I was a rebel in my own way, but it was indeed subtle.
Like all human beings, my soul searched for something, but perhaps what I was searching for was not quite so cliché. I've never really yearned for the big car and corporate job… I guess I am not really the materialistic type. Anyways, fulfillment was nowhere to be found, (but bear in mind that was only 19 at the time), even in the big city that I lived in.
Many a times, I had these feeling that every day I was just going through the motions. Some people would call that depression, but I think it is being stuck. I am writer, an artist… change is vital to my existence. Little did I know that a tremendous change was coming…
Term had finally ended, and I was all too ready to toss my ridiculously large textbooks aside. I was ready to relax and more importantly, get a bit of writing done. Most of my friends were going off to be camp counselors and missionaries, but though I loved children, I needed space from the rest of the world.
I was not planning to sit around all summer. I was going to visit my friend Antoinette in Texas... Dallas to be exact. I met Antoinette in my public speaking class and we soon became friends. She moved back home the following summer and ever since had been insisting that I come to visit. So I finally gave in and soon enough I was on a plane to Dallas.
When I finally arrived, Antoinette was there waiting for me, with her bright red hair and Southern belle demeanor. What I thought was odd was that she came alone. This was because right after she moved back she had met someone and since then, she had talked about him non-stop. His name was Anders and according to her, he was "quite the charmer". But I brushed off any suspicion by just telling myself that he was probably at work.
Antoinette squealed with delight when she finally spotted me and immediately grabbed the bags out of my hand. In the car, she peppered me with questions about back home in San Diego and if there were any new men in my life. Finally we arrived at her family's house, and she was overjoyed that I was finally going to meet her family. I had this unrealistic idea of what her family would be like. It seemed as if it came straight out of Good Housekeeping. But I was utterly surprised when I actually met them.
I walked into the two-story salmon colored stucco house and found no one close by to greet us. She soon herded me down the hallway and there we found her dad, who was in the kitchen preparing dinner, while the mom was lounging on the couch watching some reruns of 'Golden Girls'.Her dad came over and gave me a bear hug and welcomed me to their home. Her mother was a bit less welcoming. She just looked over the couch, gave me a half smile and went back to what she was doing. As usual Antoinette acted like nothing had happened and just kept on smiling.
Her mom was odd, but so was her dad, They were polar opposites in that the father was very perky( a little too perky) and the mom was much more subdued. I just put it in the back of mind(which was unusual for me) because I knew that Antoinette would never open about it.
Upstairs, in her room, I looked around for pictures of Anders, but found nothing. I finally asked why I had not met Anders yet and why she had no photographs of him. She calmly informed me that I was going to meet him that evening and that he just did not like to have his picture taken. Her answer to my question about the photos of him was perfectly logical but for some reason I still could not let it go….
