The Horror In Me

The door slowly creaks open as half a face peeks through. "Pssst..." the face whispers. No response was given. "Psssssssssssst..." still no response was given. "You realise that I can see you, right?" Said the face as the door opened fully to reveal a tiny brunet boy with brown eyes and freckles. Sporting sweatpants and a loosely fit black t-shirt, he had his long hair tied back into a ponytail. I took a second to examine him, he wore his prescribed glasses and favorite Christmas socks like any other weekend, and his smile seemed to warm the entire room. "I am going to need you to exist less in my room, brother." I replied. "Come along then, father has returned and he says he has something to show us," He said before dashing back into the hallway. I stood and glanced at my mirror to make sure my appearance was decent before I left my room. My short blonde hair was a mess and I debated whether it was a wise decision to leave the room wearing shorts and a tank top. I came to the conclusion that father would appreciate how comfortable I felt in his presence. I walked into the short hallway. It was blinding suddenly being invited into so much white. The halls were large with multiple lights filling every crevice in the room. Staring back at the double doors, I noticed a new pair of boots. Indeed, father had returned from whatever excursion he was sent on, but for some reason it brought me no joy. "Alissa!" Said a hoarse voice from the opposite end of the hallway just shortly before I found myself wrapped by his muscular arms. He was a short blonde-haired man, as hairy as they come. My little brother often made fun of him for the odd coincidence of his name and appearance. He had a new tan look to his skin which I assumed was from all the hours of working out in the sun. He raised me slightly off the ground as his grasps grew tighter on me. "Hello father, I see you still believe I'm short enough for you to carry." I said in a slightly annoyed tone. In my defense he did this everytime he came back from work. I was taller than him, by 3 centimeters to be exact. He stood at 179cm(5,9ft), and me at 182cm(6ft). Father made it a habit to remind me that my physique was mostly inherited from my mother. Tall, slim, fit and with blue eyes. We shared a lot of qualities and early memories of my childhood confirmed so. I was glad to have inherited from her rather than father. The thought that I could have been a short and bulky girl rather than me now haunted me. "I got you and Arthur presents. I know you're going to love them. Come along now." He said after releasing me to my feet. He led the way into a large kitchen where two small boxes lay on a small kitchen island. Arthur was seated on the opposite side of me and father looking odd. I couldn't pinpoint the emotion but it seemed quite negative. We approached table. "Arthur, you first," he said. Arthur began to excitedly cut the tape keeping the contents within. As he opened it, his face slowly turned from that of indifference to confusion as he picked up what seemed to be a small vial filled with red liquid. "Father, please tell me that this isn't blood." He said in a slightly disgusted tone. "It is blood. Good eyes, but the difference with this blood is in its composition, my boy. Look closer." He said. Arthur examined the contents of the vial closely just before asking, "Is that... gold in the blood?" "Excellent, that right there is the blood of an Ancient." He said proudly. "Since you are both soon to be hunters like myself, I thought it to be a good idea for both of you to start exploring what you may encounter before you do. Ability users, or "Ancients" as we refer to them, tend to have one thing in common, regardless of abilities. Their blood seems to contain specks of a gold-like substance. Where these originate from and how they work, we have no clue." I found myself taking a closer look at the vial as well as I was both curious and horrified. It did have specks of gold in it, but rather than that what horrified me was where he obtained the blood. I decided not to pursue the argument, it was always a losing fight with him. "Who did you kill for this blood?!" My brother shouted instead, as if he had read my mind. The look on my father's face turned dark. "Are you still worried about the morality of our work? It's not their fault they were born this way, but we have to do what must be done to keep order. Is that what you want? To have them running freely causing chaos. With every ancient you spare, the blood they spill, that is blood on your hands son." My brother backed down now looking defeated. Feeling the dark mood in the room, I quickly nudged my father into opening mine. "Right, Alissa, it's your turn. I put a lot of thought into this one especially," he said excitedly as he slid the box towards me. I found it odd how quickly his moods could change. I ripped the tape off and opened the box. Picking up what seemed to be a golden necklace. "It was your mother's. I had it made right before..." We already knew the story. My little brother and I didn't share mothers. My mother had died soon after I was born and his mother met the same fate. "It's pretty, thank you father, but why only now?" I asked. After all the years of asking about her, I assumed I had known every detail. "Because it is not a normal necklace. It heats up as ancient blood approaches it. Meaning that it'll tell you whether you're near your next kill or not," he said in an excited tone. It shocked me how working in such environments could change such a loving man. He spoke as if killing other humans was synonymous with deer hunting, but then again, he would claim that they weren't human. "Think of it as a good luck charm. Mommy is always watching over you." I examined the gold before placing it around my neck. "Thank you father, I promise to keep it safe." Arthur, still silent, stood in his seat. "Well, thank you father, for the gifts, we will cherish them." He said before exiting to his own room. Father and I looked down at his opened box to find that he had left the vial. Father sighed before walking towards the door. "Are you leaving for work already?" I asked. "No dear, but I do need to prepare for my next hunt. I'm going out for supplies." He said as he slid his boots on before disappearing behind the door. He was clearly saddened about how my brother was so unwilling to carry the mantle passed down in our family though I could not blame him. Killing people for being born with something we feared felt wrong. We heard the history of how they damaged the world. How we tried to accept their abilities at first but they turned on us, killed us. We had to protect what was ours but it just felt... wrong. Arthur was kind, abundantly so. No matter how I tried I could just never be him. Especially considering what we've been through. Everytime I brought up the topic of our mothers he avoided it. Not as though he were protecting him, as though he were protecting me. After some thought, I decided to leave the house to my brother. Family was an upsetting topic which I needed to cleanse my mind of. Without informing him, I left for the beach opposite our building. It was late afternoon. Walking through the large double doors and crossing the road, I went to the beach opposite of our home. I decided to take my stroll west of the shoreline as I took the scenery in. It was a quiet area, full of little homes and beach houses. I stopped slightly in front of a rental shop/food bar. There was a little bench which gave a perfect view of the sunset, which I hoped could clear my mind. I sat and watched, clenching the necklace I now had. "Nothing has been the same without you..." I saw the tiny speck of land out in the distance from the sea-line. I watched as surfers and families slowly left the beach. It was quiet, no matter how many times I had seen it I could never get over the city. I was looking at Cape Town. I was looking at my new home. It was midday as I stood with my elbows resting on the countertop of my shop. Susan slowly approached from the beach. She stood at 220cm(7,2ft), easily towering over anyone she encountered. A large woman with dirt-colored hair and green eyes, a muscular body which, if seen from behind, would have you questioning whether you were seeing an actual human being. The tattoos extending from her lower arm, into her full body swimsuit and all the way up to her neck made her all the more intimidating. "ROSE! PASS ME MY DRINK!" She shouted from the distance away she was. Sitting across from me was the girl she was referring to. A small Asian woman with black hair and brown eyes which, from a distance, you would think to be black. She had a ponytail which she wore in a tight messy bun and glasses tilted slightly downwards. She wore loose jeans and a large sweater, which seemed odd considering the smoldering heat outside, but she remained adamant on covering as much skin as she possibly could. She gave a sigh before looking up from her phone and towards the beach to give a response. "We're only a few meters away, is it necessary for you to always be this loud?" She said. She seemed annoyed at the fact that Susan had called her and I knew why. "I swear the sun is someday going to wipe the white off my black." Susan said. A horrible mixed ethnicity joke that she made too often, to the point that it became easy to predict when she was going to use it. "I swear the sun is someday going to wipe the white off my black." said a deep voice mockingly, to the right of Rose. "If you became any more dark skin you would look like a grizzly bear. Believe it or not, that is an insult to the bear," he said as he took a slow sip of his iced tea. There sat a slim man. A dark-skinned man with tattoos covering both his arms. Though slim, it was obvious he was consistent in the gym. He was a normal height, had short black hair cut into a fade. Shortly cut facial hair to match his look. He wore a sleeveless shirt and sweatpants despite the heat. On a personal note, it was now becoming evident that out of all my friends I was the only one who wasn't a psychopath. Just as I was about to voice my concerns, a voice rose from behind me, towards the kitchen. "Sometimes I wonder whether you have any sense of danger or not. You did indeed just refer to the lady you just insulted as a bear." I turned back to Shekina, the first friend I had made in the group. From the kitchen opening, you could only see her upper body. A short mixed girl, she had dark hair with blue highlights to match her eyebrow piercings. She wore an apron as well as a hair net, which was a new rule imposed due to the rising complaints from loyal customers but, even so, she exuded the aura of someone who would use a kitchen knife to gut her enemies. Susan gave a low grunt as she mumbled insults to the both of them from under her breath. "You're the bear, a*****e." After a slight moment of silence, I found that this was the best opportunity I had to raise more important matters. "Susan, I'm planning to close the store soon, would you care to give me back my board." I said. To explain, I owned a surfboard rental for any poor soul silly enough to forget the reason why they came to the beach. Open throughout the week, I only closed store on Sundays. We also sold food, mainly specializing in lunches and snackbars. "Right Kenz, here you go." She said as she passed it over the countertop. "By the way, are we going to take another whack at those abilities of yours tonight?" "Bit of a steamy chat to be having in front of us, don't you think?" Said Shekina. Susan's cheeks grew a bright red, "You know that is not what I--" Just as she was about to say something, she caught herself. She gave a sigh right before grabbing her backpack and leaving through the kitchen's backdoor. Glances were exchanged throughout the room but all Shekina did was face down and continue her work. She seemed oddly saddened. I decided now was the best time as any to move into the storage room. As I slid the boards back into place I caught a glance of the window. There the reflection stared back. A tall light-skinned black man standing at 192cm(6,3ft). I continued to stare into his grey eyes. I took in his features. With dreadlocks tied into a ponytail, and a birth mark right between his collar bones. He was slim, his veins popping from his skin as if they were tattoos. He had ear piercings but no earrings on and a slightly worn silver necklace with a black ring at its end. I turned away from the reflection before I could inspect any longer. Entering the store front I glanced around the room to what used to belong to my parents. The front of the store wa primarily mad of glass for more natural light. There were about 7 round tables scattered in the front of the store. Behind the counter were two openings. The one I came from led to the storage area and the other led into the kitchen. The kitchen had an opening from which food could be passed on from. I looked around the store and found no one present. Only a note in the kitchen stating my friends had left to go apologize to Susan. With the freedom, I decided it would be best to close the store. Late in the afternoon, after the work was done, I contemplated returning upstairs to my condo. I had it built shortly after the disappearance of my parents to be closer to work. I walked to the front of the store to gaze at the shoreline. As I watched the sun set I noticed someone seated on a bench not too far from my store, a blonde girl who looked a bit shorter than me. I could only make out a few details. It peaked my interest but I let my thoughts move on to the ring which rested on my chest. I started to slowly caress it as thoughts of my parents slowly came and went. "...Hi guys... I just wanted to quickly update you on how my life is going. It's been an interesting year without you. I finally finished building that condo you guys were so against. I'm sorry, the apartment just felt so lonely so I moved out. I miss you every day..." Darkness was slowly approaching. My mind felt more at peace.