Prologue
There are times when I wake up at night and cast a wary glance out my window. My room lit only by the moon and the stars on the best of nights. I wish as hard as anyone's ever wished before that I could just leave this place and all the memories of it behind and go somewhere, anywhere, other than here. I wish to go somewhere peaceful and warmed by love, and by passion. I wish to go where no one is judged and no one is rejected for simply being themselves. I wish to go away. I wish to be free and to simply live without worrying about being killed or disappointing everyone around me. Somewhere I don't have to keep up appearances, and I can just exist within myself for as long as I want. I wish to go somewhere that I can call home. I want for nothing more than to love and be loved. I wish for things I cannot have. Things that they all take for granted.
That's when I crash back to reality and realize that, no matter how hard I beg and plead and wish, nothing is ever going to change. I am never going to get out of this place; I am never going to be free. I am bound to this life simply because I was born… albeit a little differently than most others. It's not like I have control over the way I was born. It's not like I chose to be ostracized; who in their right mind would choose such a thing? It hurts being thrust from society, and because of what? Because my eyes glow amber, bright as any fire? Because strange things happen when I'm around? How utterly ridiculous that seems. It's not as if I have control over fate. I am the same as they are. I am still human, am I not? I still feel pain and hunger, cold and fear. I still possess compassion, love and anger. No, I am exactly the same as them, and that is why they fear me. Why they shove me away and lock me up when they don't want to think of me.
Now, as I sit by the window watching the rain drip down the glass, I yearn to take action. To make the changes happen and to pave the way for a future of my making. Courage bubbles up within me and I can no longer contain it. Tonight I shall initiate my rebellion, tonight I shall throw myself into the fire and see what comes of it. Tonight I shall feel the rain for the first time, see the sky at dawn and run. Tonight I make my stand, and the outcome depends solely on the choices I make. Tonight, the darkness is mine, and if I should arise victorious I shall make it mine for all eternity and nothing will ever stop me again. I will never again be chained, shackled, and treated like a slave, beaten and subjugated. Like the mighty phoenix, I shall rise from the ashes, born anew. I shall spread my wings and take flight.