Zolok

True blood

Neemah had not been herself since the death of McCall. Maya had done everything possible to make her comfortable and tried to help her forget McCall's demise. Neemah had fantasized about a happy family with McCall and their unborn child. Unfortunately that dream was never going to happen and her child would not get to see their dad and how brave he was. This meant so much for her as she never expected to have a family, and definitely not a child.

Neemah was into the final months of her pregnancy, thanks to Maya who had been making the rounds to provide blood bags from which she fed on to accommodate the baby's thirst and hers. The baby had been giving her strange reactions and sometimes the troubles would be so much that she would pass out as a result of the pain. She would sometimes imagine how much trouble she would have to go through when finally getting to bed. The feeling, the pains, the reactions, the excitement of holding a baby all meant a lot to her and gave her the determination to carry on. At least she would have a special thing to remind her of McCall and the love they shared together.

It was on a faithful night and Maya had just attended to her and gone to bed. Not long after she heard a loud cry from Neemah. Her water had broken and the baby was kicking harder than ever, like it was just bored and wanted out immediately. Maya had to run to her rescue and get things ready for delivery.

It was a very difficult night, one they had been anticipating. A night that everyone had been thinking of how it would be and what will become of the baby and the mother. No one knew if the baby would be a vampire considering the mother was a vampire, or a wolf considering the father was turned into a wolf by the Oblisk or a human considering the Father was originally a human. The baby finally came out and what a beautiful baby it was. It was so healthy and not like any regular kind of baby. It never cried, neither was it a problem coming out as everyone had imagined considering all the troubles it gave while in its mother’s womb.

"It's a healthy boy" Maya said as she dragged the baby out and carried it in her arms, then handing the baby over to Neemah.

"Oh, my baby" Neemah said with a broken voice as she burst into tears. She was beginning to imagine how beautiful it would have been if McCall was present and had seen his son. How proud he would have been but she was comforted that he gave his life for the child to live. It would have been a meaningless sacrifice if she hadn't kept the hope, in which he died for, alive.

"My beautiful strong James" Neemah said as she rocked little James slowly in her arms.

James grew up to be one strong kid and as years passed, he continued to amaze everyone with the kind of strength he possessed and the extraordinary features he had. Even at the age of five, no one really knew what to make of him as he had not shown a particular feature to link him to a specific species. James was neither a vampire, a werewolf nor a human, he was unique, he was much more than a hybrid, he was an entirely new creature with both the strength of a vampire and a werewolf only so many times stronger than both creatures combined. He had much advanced senses compared to that of wolves and vampires. As he grew older, one could only imagine the extent of the power he possessed, he seemed flawless almost indestructible. But there was one thing, only known to Maya and Neemah, he couldn't withstand the touch of a Banshee, it was like wolfsbane to werewolves and like garlic or crosses to vampires. Whenever Maya touched him, he seemed to be dying slowly and consequently Maya only touched him with a pair of gloves on or when he was wearing thick clothing. If there was contact between Maya's skin and his, it was like an electric shock, like his life was being snuffed out of him. They had to keep this secret to themselves as the knowledge of such information to the wrong persons may be the end of their precious James. Neemah made sure to tell the boy, James everything about his father and made sure he never forgot how brave he was and the great sacrifice he made so that he may be born. She told him about the wicked acts of Sean and how he had sought after them for so many years. James grew with one thing on his mind; to avenge his father's death and eradicate such evil like Sean from the universe. He didn't know how to use his powers and no one had seen him use them as he never got involved in fights with anyone. All he knew was that he had great speed to do errands and could hear things miles away.

James didn't have many friends in school as everyone would see him as a freak and so many people were jealous of him and would want to get on his nerves or embarrass him in public. He had one friend who was more than just a friend, Danny. Danny was the Chancellor's son, Dr.Jeane and he was so close to James and would do practically everything with him .

They would protect each other against bullies and stand by each other in difficult moments. As far as Danny knew, James McCall was a great, intelligent kid who was second to none in everything he did. He was always the best in academics and in the school sporting activities. This made him become the fan favourite and every girl in college loved him. The only person who did not like James was Jack Dwayne Junior. Jack Jr. was a spoilt rich kid and the only son of the mayor of Nimron, Jack Dwayne Sr. Jack Sr. was not only the mayor but also an oil business tycoon who had great influence over all the affairs happening in Nimron. It was said he singlehandedly took care of almost all the financial challenges of the county and that was why he was voted the mayor; as gratitude from the people. He had businesses in almost every town in Nimron and beyond. Because of his father’s influence and wealth, Jack Jr. was a trouble maker and involved himself in every kind of act that pleased him. He broke virtually every rule in the country and in college. He would often skip classes to party with women and gamble with lots of money. He would often get into trouble with the town's police department but would be out in a couple of minutes and because of that most times, when he was involved in any kind of crimes, the police never bothered arresting him. As bad as Jack was, he had one exceptional quality, he was a good athlete on track activities. He had been the school's champion for a long time before the arrival of James McCall. James' game was fast spreading as a perfect kid who was better than anyone at anything in Kings and Queens College often referred to as ‘K and Q’.

There was a competition coming up between all the college's in the state to determine the best students who would represent there schools at federal level competitions and the sports master, Mr. Bryson called out for every sportsman in the college for a comprehensive training and preparation. There were good boys and girls in every sports activity ranging from track events, field events, and so much more. James had never been involved in any school competitions before despite how gifted he was, he often preferred to stay alone and watch others perform even though he wanted to get out there and play with others. He just didn't like to be called a freak by most of the boys at school who were jealous of the things he could do that they couldn’t.

"James, let's go kick some ass" Danny shoves James just as he heard Mr. Bryson's announcement of the commencement of training in preparations for the upcoming school competitions.

"Kick some ass, who’s ass are you gonna kick. I just hope you don't get yours kicked instead" James replied to Danny jokingly.

"Oh! Come on dude, I was talking about the school competitions" Danny said to him.

"I know what you're talking about but I'm not interested in any competitions" James replied as he packed his books inside his bag and moved towards where he parked his bicycle.

"Don't be such a loner, everyone is happy about the competition except you. I mean you're so good at so many things. You got great speed, you can jump good heights, why don't you show the world what you're capable of. What is your problem exactly?" Danny asked as he walked closely after him.

"You see? That is exactly why I didn't want any part of this so called competition. I don't want anyone to keep calling me a freak because I have great speed and can jump good heights. I'm sure there are people who have great speed and can jump good heights out there so it's my good luck to them." James said to Danny as he angrily turned to reply to him.

"So this is what all this is all about, being called a freak? You're better than this and you know it. People are always gonna say something about you it doesn't matter if you're good at something or suck at it like I do but it shouldn't stop you from trying. If we let what people say about us define us then we might as well stop existing because what people say should be our motivation to do something that will either shut their f*****g mouth or make them praise us instead." Danny said as he tried to convince his friend and lift his spirit to join the school team. James only looked at him for a few seconds and walked away.

When he got home wearing a long face, Neemah had to ask him what was troubling him but he hesitated to let out his worries.

He later opened up to his mum about the challenges he's been having at school. He even suggested to have a change of school or study from home.

"I understand how you feel my dear boy but it's a phase which must surely pass. I know it's really hard for you to feel so different from the rest of the kids but it's not something to feel bad about. You can deal with this situation by stepping up, being better than they imagine you to be. Show them you're only good at so many things and there's nothing freaky about it. Try to associate with the other kids and you'll find them not as bad as you had imagined. I'm sure you're going to be alright. I promise". Neemah said to James as she put his head on her shoulders and patted him slowly assuring him everything was going to be alright.