The Truth Always Comes Out

‘Saoirse, wake up!’

I’m roused from my sleep by the deep timber of my father’s voice.

I slowly open my eyes, trying to prolong the cocoon of peace that I had wrapped myself in.

When I shake myself out of my dazed state, I glance over at the clock in my room, and wonder why my dad is still here. He would normally already be at work by 8am. My bed depresses with his weight as he sits down beside me.

‘How you doing kiddo? He asks, handing me a mug of hot chocolate. It’s steaming hot and smells of the extra serving of chocolate that he’s put in it. Just the way I like it.

I take the mug, blowing the steam off the top, ‘Dad I’m not a little kid anymore. I turned 18 last week for crying out loud! I’ll be fine at the orientation today.'

He stares at me with a grave expression, ‘Okay, but after your orientation we need to chat about something.’

I blow my snow white hair out of my face, ‘I know that face dad, what is it?’

He doesn’t respond.

‘Why can’t you just tell me now? I groan.

‘Today is your special day, so lets keep it like that.’ He says as he ruffles my hair.

I roll my eyes at him, ‘Well it’s not anymore because now I’ll be thinking about what you were trying to tell me.’ I stare at him with googly eyes, ‘Or you could just put me out of my misery.’ He chuckles, ‘Nice try kiddo, but this conversation will have to wait until you get home.’

‘Ugh, you killjoy.’ I whine.

‘Now, you’re sure you don’t need me to be there for your big day?’

‘For the last time, yes!’ I sing song at him. He puts his hands up in surrender, ‘Alright, just checking.’

I take a sip of my hot cocoa. The creamy sweet taste slides down my throat and warms my belly. ‘Ah this is the stuff.’

‘You sound like an old man when you talk like that Saoirse.’

‘What can I say, I learn from the best.’ I wink at him and tip my head in his direction.

He chuckles, ‘That you do.’

I continue drinking, when a sharp pain shoots out of from my jaw, ‘Ow!’

His dark eyebrow arches, ‘What is it? What’s wrong?’

I massage my jaw trying to ease the pain that has now travelled to my gum, ‘Nothing dad, I think the sugar has decided to attack to attack my gums.’

His expression becomes unreadable, ‘Saoirse, let me check your teeth.’

Before I can reply he grabs my chin tilting it back and inspecting my teeth, with a keen observation that he would only use on his test subjects at work. He finishes his inspection and breathes a sigh of relief.

I smirk, ‘What, were you expecting to find an extra set of teeth in my mouth or something?’

He rolls his eyes and grabs my head and putting me in a headlock pressing his knuckles into my head, ‘You, cheeky little shit.’

‘Ow, I concede.’ I squeal. He laughs letting go of me. ‘Alright I better head off, if you need me I’m only a phone call away.’

He kisses my forehead and runs out the door.

I glance over the clock and groan. I run around my room in a flurry, trying to get my clothes on as quickly as possible. I think I was lazing about in my bed for just a tad too long. I grab my white puma sneakers and shove them on as quickly as I can. I end up tripping over myself because I forget to tie my damn shoelaces.

A feral growl leaps out of my throat, almost unhuman like. I laugh at myself for the odd reaction given I’m usually this clumsy anyway. I continue packing stuff in my bag and then grab the ham and cheese croissant on the kitchen bench as I run out.

When I arrive to the orientation, I notice I’ve already missed the first 20 minutes of it. Blast it! I quickly go and find a seat in the back of the hall so I can blend into the background without anyone knowing.

I sit down dripping in sweat. I wipe off some of it with a hand towel from my bag, but t does little to stop the new beads of sweat that are already forming. I try and tune in on the speech but all I can feel is intense heat. As if I’ve been standing under the sun on top of Uluru in the desert.

I’m taking deep breaths but the more I breathe the more sensitive my body gets. All of a sudden a searing pain takes root in my collarbone, and it takes everything in me not to cry out from the pain in the hall. When I regain some control I glance down at my chest, I can see a green hue on my skin. I rub at it trying to ease the pain, but it only seems to make it worse. The searing heat begins to travel to my back, shoulders and down to my palm. I can no longer contain my sanity and feel myself breaking. I blindly grab my bag and make my way to the nearest restroom, and shut myself in one of the stalls. The speech long forgotten.

‘Miss, are you okay?’, one of the burly security guards asks from the door.

I heave back, ‘Yep…All good here.’

I rip my shirt off and collapse to the ground, pressing my volcanic back to t he cold concrete floor. Letting the cold ease some of the fire in my skin. I grab the towel and bite down on it as the pain intensifies. I vaguely register green lights shining in the stall but am too focused on my suffering to find out where its coming from.

Tears stream down my face, every muscle in my body tense as it protects me against the onslaught of pain. I lay there enduring, for what felt like hours until eventually the torture slowly ebbs away.

When I open my eyes, I realise the green lights are coming from me, or more specifically, my arms. I open the bathroom stall and look in the mirror. I inspect my half naked body, marvelling at the green light coming from these new vine patterns that has been carved onto my skin. I turn to inspect my back and sure enough the same pattern is there. As I stare at it, it dawns on me that the pattern from my arms and collarbone connect to form a massive tree in the centre of my back.

My whole upper body is glowing, and my violet eyes look strange, almost as if my pupils have become slits like a cat. I rub my eyes and look back at the mirror and their back to normal again. I sigh in relief. I get ready to put my shirt on thinking that whatever the hell that was is over now, but drop the shirt to the ground and clutch at my chest, gasping as my heart constricts. It feels like something is attacking my heart and I struggle to get air into my lungs. It feels as if I am having an asthma attack. I crawl back to my stall, heaving and choking. I pound my chest with one arm trying to get it to go back to normal, and use the other arm to grab my phone. My vision blurs, but I see my dads name on speed-dial. Thank god!

I’m choking as less and less air is able to get in my lungs. When the line connects, I’m barely able to gasp out, ‘Help…me.’ then everything goes black.

‘Bdump, bdump, bdump.’ Is the only sound I hear in my consciousness, as something sweet and delicious slides down my throat and unfurls something deep within. Almost as if there was a part of me that was always in a cage until now. I continue drinking and consuming, when a commanding voice speaks into my mind, ‘Wake up, now!’

I force my eyelids open and see my dads face, but his mahogany eyes look different they glow red in a supernatural way, but the most disturbing thing since I woke up is that I just realised that the warm sweet drink that I have been consuming was in fact my fathers blood. I abruptly let go of his wrist and blood dribbles down my chin.

‘Omg, omg I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m so sorry dad.’ I cast my head down unable to look at him.

He grabs my chin tilting my head up to meet his gaze, ‘There’s nothing to be ashamed about. Of course you’re hungry you’ve just awakened.’

My forehead crinkles, ‘Awakened? What do you mean?’

My father smiles at me, ‘Normally purebloods would awaken at the age of 16 but when you didn’t I assumed you might never awaken and would be able to live out your life here in the human world. But it would seem like you are a late bloomer, and unsurprisingly at that considering your elf blood seems to have awakened as well.’ He says grabbing my arm and pointing at the designs that were once bright green, but are now somewhat resembling the original colour of my skin.

I feel the beginning of a migraine forming, ‘Elf blood? Awakening? Dad what on earth are you talking about?’

‘To put in layman terms you aren’t human, you are half elf and half vampire.’

I rub my head more confused than ever, ‘How is that possible? I mean you don’t even look like a vampire.’

His eyes glow red, and his iris becomes feline-like and the tone of his skin becomes three shades lighter. However the most notable change were the canines that had now descended from his gums down past his lips. I was stunned to silence. He retracts it all and goes back to his sun kissed look and mahogany eyes.

‘I hope that was definitive enough proof for you kiddo.’

Anger leaks out of me, ‘How could you only tell me this now, after all this time.’

‘I was trying to protect you. The Fae world is full of dangers and I wanted to give you a chance at a normal life, especially if you weren’t going to awaken.’ He says in a serious tone.

‘Fae world? Come on don’t tell me fairies and unicorns are real as well.’ I say in disbelief.

‘They are, and so much more like the creatures that you see in your nightmares.’

I huff in frustration, ‘Well that’s great. There’s a whole world out there that I never even knew about until now.’

‘I hate to break it to you Saoirse, but we’ve got to go back to the Fae world. Now that you’ve awakened none of my magic or your mothers is going to work to hide you from the creatures of this world or the people that are after you.’

‘Why would there be people after me?’ I ask incredulously.

He scratches his head, ‘Well, me your mother would call you a miracle but some would say you’re an abomination.’

‘An abomination?! Wow that’s great so humans think I’m weird and now the creatures of the Fae world think I’m an abomination. I’m absolutely winning in life.’

He has the gall to look sheepish.

Someone slams against the door. More muffled groans and noises come from the door and my dads expression instantly becomes cold.

‘That’s our cue kiddo.’ He chants something under his breath and green electricity sparks in the centre of the bathroom. It grows and grows until eventually it resembles a doorway.

He grabs my hand, ‘Time to go home Saoirse.’ And we step into the portal.