HEL

When it Changed

Pacing my office, I glare back at the computer screen. An innocent smile, a giggling child, and two parents in the background. Turning away from the screen, I am drawn to the board as i am every time I see that smile. 

“Where are you, you little bitch.” The red anger flares up my arms while my eyes dart back and forth across the strings windy paths. 

A knock at my door and I am back facing one of my trusted friends. 

Since the incidents, i thought that i had been going mad. Reality no longer made since and i was going to finally tip the scales. That wasnt until Haden came into my life. 

Haden, he had been the one to reach out to me when no one else would believe me. He was my candle in the dark that was able to rekindle the fire in my fight. Because of him, welcoming me with open arms, In 6 years i had now made my way up to the top in command with Haden by my side. It was a long and bloody ride, but here I was with him. 

“Any luck?” he asks, striding around the room looking at my board. 

My mouth twitches and i have to calm myself from the itch to make a snoody remark. 

“Afraid we are at another stand still again. Same as always, after we get a lead and almost have her, we smack into another dead end.” I roll my head and look at him. 

He smirks at me knowing that i was holding my tongue. 

“They learn, however they know we are coming,” his eyes grow dark, “Is a mystery to me.”

I watch him. We both have the same goal, and so far havent achieved it. When he had first reached out to me and told me i wasn't crazy it was such a relief. So as i worked with him and he began opening the windows and explaining more to me. The doors were opening to me. There was more to this world around us that not even we could all understand.

Haden had the collected more than anyone i had come into contact with. His knowledge he had gathered over the years, was too incredible. He had build an entire company, Gathering everyone who had gone through what we both had. Now here we all were, seeking our revenge and cleansing this world from this sickness that had been infecting it. 

Haden moves behind me, his warm breath on the back of my neck. Taking a deep breath, my head rolls to the side, his hands moving up my sides beneath my shirt. I moan when he reaches my breasts and cups them in his rough hands. 

“You are stressing too much over this, relax.” he mumbles into my neck, placing kisses along my jaw. 

I reach up and above me, running my fingers through his hair. He pinches at my n*****s, my body twitching. He pushes me into his chest, holding me firmly there. His right hand slides back down my stomach, his kisses now moving to my shoulder. 

He plays with my pants getting them undone and diving down inside. He finds my p***y, his fingers stroking its lips. 

Tilting my head back, i cant help but whimper, wanting nothing more but him to shove his hand into me. 

As if on cue, my computer begins to ring and we both turn to the screen. I traffic cam pops up and her face is in the small corner of the screen. 

“Open coordinates.” I moan to the computer. 

My screen flashes and pops up to Charleston in South Carolina. I smirk. She is close to home, maybe going through her old memory lane. 

With Haden’s hand still down my pants, I reach down and press on my keyboard. 

“Grab a group of 13 and meet me in 10 on floor 7 corridor 4.” 

I let go and turn my head to look at Hayden who is smirking at me. 

“Well done.” 

Growing up for me had started Normal. Or what I believed was to be normal. Now looking back on it all, i could see that my parents didn't even know if i was the blessing of their lives, or the curse to their future. 

I will save you some of the horrors of my childhood. Most i can block out, but the ones i can not, you need to know to understand why i do what i do. 

It all started when i was able to collect what my senses were. At age 3, I showed my mommy my first new friend. She knelt down beside me and talked to my new friend, but she wasn't even looking at him. 

My mommy you see was looking down, when my friend towered above her. 

He was dark, and his breath very hot, and his eyes never left me. I could hear him calling my name, and could feel his excitement.

I watched my mommy who was staring at nothing when she had a tall thing standing right in front of her. I tugged at her sleeve. 

“No mama. Up.” 

As soon as i touched my mothers arm. She froze. Her body grew cold, and she shakily lifted her head up at the figure above her. She screamed and grabbed me, running as fast as she could back into the house. 

The creature slowly followed, and stayed outside our house. 

My mother had me on the floor and was frantically talking into the phone. My father came home, strange people came over, everyone trying to comfort my mother. 

When everything seemed to calm down, my father came and picked me up to take me up to my mothers bedroom. She lay in the bed, her skin white and eyes puffy from tears. 

“Mama?” 

Her eyes shot open. They were red, and they were glaring at me. 

My father quickly grabbed me, took me from the room and held me. I could hear him crying softly as he held my head to his chest. 

I didn't understand at the time what was wrong,  or why mama was crying.  

After that, things began to change. 

I never saw that tall figure again, but it didnt stop me from seeing others. I would watch them, creep around the yard and house, in the places that we would go. 

After seeing the tall one,  something did change with me. My mother knew it, never let me out of her sight and my father never let her out of his. 

My father now worked from home. Taking calls and having meetings at the house. He always had me stay close to his side. When school started, I could feel that he was happy to get me out of the house. I also knew deep down that it was because of my mother that he was happy for it. My mother has never been the same. 

I remember the day. I was 7, outside in my pink shorts and blue shirt. I had many of the little shadows around me. We ran back and forth through the yard, my bubble maker filling the sky around me with the small colorful orbs. 

I was happy, I was warm, and everything around me was perfect that day. I ran towards the bubbles, the little shadows tickling my feet in excitement with my play. Their little voices chirping away as I play. Their excitement quickly changed to fear, their voices crying into a warning. I stop and turn. Something strong tackles me to the ground, throwing something over my head. My heart beat quickens and my lungs gulp down trying to breath. My mouth fills with plastic and my eyes start to go out of focus. Am i dying? 

As fast as it happened, the thing on top of me is gone, and i can hear a struggle behind me. I pull off the thing from my head, gasping and welcoming the warm air back into my lungs. My little body rolls to the side to see my mother and father fighting on the gound.

My father is on top of my mother. He is yelling at her crying and deflecting her blows. He has scrapes on his arms and face where my mother had been able to hit¹

Tears sting my eyes and I roll away putting my back to them. My mother had tried to kill me.

Not soon after, my mother was taken away and i was left with my father. He didnt say much, neither did I. We moved very quickly after that, it was easy with my fathers work. We traveled, never staying for very long. I never made friends and that was okay with me. The shadows never left, but they kept their distance now. Even when i tried to talk to them, they would stare at me, seeming sad for me.  

Few years later, my father had me apply to a private school. In this schools program we travel a lot. It is a program to help us learn the different cultures and their history.  Many of the students are foreign. They all share stories about their families and what they do back at home. On the rare occasion, if we are in one of their neighborhoods, we would even go visit their family. 

It was never the case for me. No one knew my story and no one ever questioned it. It made it easy for me, i didnt always have to explain myself, or the shadows i saw, or the dead people that would come to me at night and ask me to put them to rest. 

Every morning,  i wake up in a panic.  My chest pounding,  ears ringing,  my lungs gasping feeling empty.  I relive the day my mother had tried to take my life every morning, making me feel more different and out of place when going through every day trying to be normal.

Reih, my room mate, rolls over rubbing her eyes at me. 

“Another one?” she groans.

I nod, taking a gulp of water from my nightstand. 

She sits up in her bed rubbing her eyes. “Damn girl, i am sure by now you hold the record for most nightmares in a row.”  

I almost laugh. Reih has been my roommate for 3 years now. When we started going to school together we were 14, now we are in our senior year finishing off in scotland. 

She has dark almond skin, brown hair with dark chocolate eyes and long eyelashes. She was gorgeous, and to top it off with her thick lips, thick curvy breasts and thighs. She was everything anyone would want. 

She hops up and heads over to my bed and gets into my covers, opening her arms for me to lay in them. 

“Come on, tell Dr. Reih what your dream was this time.”

Not even hesitating, i slide back into the warmth of the covers nuzzling into her soft chest. Yes, Reih is my best friend, and being my best friend, i have come to trust her. Not enough to tell her about my past or the shadows or even the dead that are in our room at night, but enough to put down my walls and receive the comfort i need. 

She kisses my head, her hands trailing my sides. “Is it the same one from last time?”

I nod. Letting out a deep breath i didnt notice i was holding in. 

Her fingers play with my long blonde hair, tickling my hips as they fall through her fingers. She wraps me up pulling me closer to her, her breathing growing slow and heavy. Within a few moments, she was asleep. 

Rolling over in her heavy arms, i look up into her face. We werent lovers, but we were always there for eachother.

 Her father walked out on her 2 brothers and mother when she was 11. Her mother went on the deep end, winding her and her siblings into a foundling home in India. She worked hard in school to get here and away from her past. Life was never easy on her, and i feel that is why i connected with her so easily and let her into my closed life. 

I smile for a moment, kissing her chin and laying back down letting my body drift back into a light sleep. 

I wake up with Reih still past out in my bed. I chuckle looking at her messy bed hair and goofy face. 

Getting up, i head into our shared bathroom and take a cold rinse. When i was done, i wrapped a towel around my soaked hair, brushed my teeth and went to get dressed. Walking out of the closet, Reih is sprawled out on the bed doing a morning stretch. Her eyes open and she gives me a pouty look. 

“Did i miss the show already?”

I grab the towel from my head and throw it at her. She squeals and laughs as the damp towel hits her half naked body. 

I turn and head back into the shower to do my hair. I look in the mirror, my eyes are emerald green, my skin white as snow, with hair as blonde as you could get from a box if you could. Past my skinny but curvy frame, i see Reih hop into the shower and start to rinse off. I quickly put on my makeup and go back into the room. Cleaning my mess and making my bed. 

She walks out, towel drying her hair.

“You already heading down for breakfast?” she asks, fliping her hair to the other side. 

My stomach grumbles in reply. We both laugh as i head out the door. 

“Save me a seat!” i hear her call out through the closing door. 

Who else would i sit by? I think to myself. I swiftly make my way down the hallways, out of the corner of my eye, i watch a small shadow creep up from behind one of the planters. Stopping and turning towards it, i make eye contact with it. The small form squeeks up at me. Leaning down, i open my hand watching it slither its way towards my hand and up my arm. It curls up on my shoulder below my ear, sending a warm chill through me. 

Heading back down the stairs, i made sure to make the impression that i was normal. 

Walking into the dining hall, my mouth began to saliva with the fresh cooked smell of sausages. Grabbing a plate, i get in line waiting my turn for the warm food. 

After loading my plate with 4 of the large sausages, some eggs, toast, and glass of grape juice, i sit on one of the side windows closest to the window. I take a big bite, enjoying the flavor before the smell of strawberries hit me. 

“Hello Helania.” a sneer voice says above me. 

Looking up, i come face to face with the fake blonde, pink mouse faced, curvy Savilia Chordel. 

Swallowing my food, i lean back, taking her in with my eyes, “Good morning Savilia, able to get the black coffee you wanted to match your dream d**k?” 

Her eyes narrowed at me. Everyone knew that Savilia wanted to be with Thyrion, our dark skin king of the school. But when she attempted to sneak into his dorm one night after a school drinking fest, everyone watch as Thyrion had dropped her on her ass outside his room door, slamming it shut and her yelling and fighting to get back saying he didnt know what he was missing out on. 

She put her hands on her shoulders and leaned in. “Well at least we know that i can handle it unlike your pips that would snap a pencil in half with how tight they are.”

I laugh, knowing how true she was with me being a virgin. But what did that mean for her. “Well then Savilia, at least we all know that with me, they will at least be able to feel something when they put it in. Now tell me, will the baby be able to stay in, or is it just going to fall out with how loose you are?”

Her face turned so red and she looked like she was going to slap me, before Reih dropped her plate across from me and slide between us. 

“Morning Savilia, get the night sleep you needed? I think you might need another hour.” she smiled sweetly at her daring her to make a move. 

With a final glare, Savilia twirled on her feet and stormed off out of the dining hall. 

I exhaled before filling my form with a huge mouthful and shoving it into me. Reih sat down and started eating her own food mumbling to herself about Savilia being a mousy witch that needed her ass burnt with a hot iron stick. 

I finish my food and lean back looking at the large clock across the spacious room. 7:43. Class wasnt until 8:30, we had plenty of time. The room was starting to fill up with half zombie looking students, waking up late and trying to get their energy boost of food. 

I would always try to be one of the first down so i always got first pick of the hot food and not whatever was left over. 

“What do we got today Hella?” Reih asked swallowing down her creamer coffee. 

“Outside trip today, pretty sure we are going down to one of the Shires by the ocean. Cant remember really.” looking out at the window. 

For this year, we were in Scotland learning about the 34 different shires and how they all came to be. On the side, we were to try and pick up Gaelic, the old Scotish language that most have forgotten about unless you were a true scotish. 

She groaned and took a bite of her toast. Guess we better head back and grab something warm than. I nodded, watching as small grey clouds made their way in the distance. Oh how i loved dark days.