:Jeanette: Chapter 1
“Protecting is in my blood, it was only a reaction, he deserved it anyways.” I tried to console my guilt stricken mind, I’d gotten into yet another fight, Jacob’s not going to like this. I couldn’t help it though, they would have killed the boy! He was only a child, it just wasn’t right.
I slipped through the front door as quietly as possible, then proceeded to tip-toe up to my room. “Hold it!” I cringed, I’d been spotted. “Turn around Ash.” My brother, Jacob, said, his voice holding suspicion. I turned as slowly as humanly possible.
“I can explain!” I pleaded as soon as he got a good look at me; white shirt, dyed red, brown pants, had splotches of dark coloring splattered every once in a while.
“What in the world did you do this time!?” He yelled, throwing his hands up in exasperation.
“I couldn’t just let the boy die Jay! He was just a child!” I yelled back then stomped up the stairs to my room. Jacob had never understood that protecting people was in my blood. I couldn’t help it, it just happened.
I’d been walking home from the market, a basket of tomatoes, sugar, salt, and flour were cradled in my arms. I was about a mile from home when I heard a screech slice through the air. After that I was running, the basket that carried our dinner long forgotten in the street, just waiting for stray dogs to come and lap it up.
I’d found a small boy, maybe 7 or 8, cowering beneath the glares of two burly men. “Come on kid, we ain’t got all day,” They said, cracking their knuckles. They probably only wanted some pocket change, but harassing children was going below the belt.
“Oi,” I said, my voice lowering an octave, it always did that when I was angry.
“And what do you want girly?” One of them snickered
“Leave the kid alone.” I stated, glowering.
They laughed in my face, then gave the boy a shove onto the ground.
“What’cha gonna do ‘bout it; huh, pipsqueak?” They laughed again
“I warned you,” I thought then I reached my hand out and watched vines spring up from the earth, binding the two men, swerving straight past the little boy. The men screeched as they were squeezed till their insides blew up, literally.
After the vines receded back into the earth I walked over to the boy, shivering and watching me with eyes of pure terror. “I won’t hurt you,” I said, softening my voice and bending down to his height.
His eyes still showed terror so I smiled, “Really, I won’t. I just didn’t want them hurting you.” I said, tilting my head to the left a bit and still smiling wide. The boy smiled a bit and nodded, apparently I’d gained his trust; odd, usually people have fled and blabbed lies to everyone that Astrael was a witch. “Are….you okay?” I asked, a little awkward, I’d never gotten this far in ‘saving someone’.
“Yes,” The boy whispered hoarsely, I couldn’t blame him, that scream he did earlier was as loud as heck.
“Well then come on, I’ll take you home,” I said, holding out my hand as I stood up. The boy hesitated, but took my hand non-the-less.
We walked for about 10 minutes to his house, during the which I learned that his name was Obi, he was 8 and a half, he had 3 older brothers, both parents, and they lived on a small farm.
“We’re a big family for regular folks round here, but we get by just fine.” He said, swinging our inter-locked arms back and forth and stepping in the puddles left from yesterday’s rain. “What about your family?” He asked
“Um, It’s just me and my brother. I never knew my parents, and until 2 years ago we’d been living with my grandmother, Rosa.” I said, my thoughts skimming over what Jacob might make of this.
“That must be hard,” he said, “With just you and your brother, why, if it was just me and my brothers, I think we’d end up killing each other. Ma’s the only one who keeps us at peace.” He said, smiling, I’m guessing, at the image his mind conjured up of his mother. I laughed as we turned the corner onto Obi’s farm.
The house itself was actually rather large, but I guess with 6 people you need a bigger house than the usual 2 or 3 bedrooms most people have. “Do you each have your own room?” I asked.
“Nu-uh, well, me and Tobi, he’s my twin brother, born 2 minutes before me. Well, me and Tobi share a room, then Ma and Pa share a room ‘course, then Jeremiah and Conner share a room, they’re the oldest.” Obi said, kicking a rock with his foot across the worn path to the front of the house.
“It looks like it has more room than that though…” I said
“Yeah, we have 3 bedrooms, a den, a kitchen, and an attic, we also have a room that stores stuff.” He said, it was probably the attic and the ‘room that stores stuff’ that made it look so big.
As we approached the front door I heard stamping of feet, lots of voices, and one rising above the rest, “Where in the world is Obi!” It was a males voice, probably the father, I would have thought that he was angry except for the worry that was laced into every syllable.
“They must miss you,” I said, smiling down at him.
“They’d better, they are my family after all.” He said, laughing.
We walked up the front porch steps and I knocked on the door. All the noise vanished immediately. Hurried footsteps got louder as someone approached the door.
“Obi!!” The next thing I knew Obi’s hand was ripped from mine and I was stumbling against the door frame.
“Ma!” Obi said, blushing at the kisses he was receiving from an over-worried mother. He finally managed to successfully escape from his mothers grasp after basically clawing his way through her arms. I laughed as I saw his disgruntled face and disheveled hair.
“Well, I’ll see you around Obi,” I said, still chuckling as I hopped off the porch.
“Wait, you’re leaving Ash?” Obi had taken to calling me the nickname Jacob called me.
“Of course, You probably want to eat dinner, don’t you?” I said, waving.
“Oh, who’s this Obi?” His mother said, looking at me for the first time.
“Ma, this is Ash, she saved me!” Obi yelled happily, running down the porch steps and grabbing my hand to pull me back up, it was then that I noticed that the whole family was crowded around the door, peeking out. Every single boy looked exactly like their father. Brownish red hair, spiking up in odd directions, with either brown or blue eyes. The only difference was their height, otherwise they were all twins. Obi’s mother had a light brown hair color, which Obi seemed to inherit, since he was the only child who had more brown than red in his hair.
"She saved you, did she?" Her eyes were unbelieving, but she smiled for Obi's sake.
"Yeah! These men were hurting me, and she jumped in and...and..."Obi stopped, unsure of how to describe me murdering the men with his innocent mind.
Obi's mother glanced hard at me, seeming to be scanning for any traits that might hurt her son, then smiled. "Well, why don't you come in and eat with us dear? We can always feed someone who saved a son of mine."
I smiled, but declined, saying that I had to be home soon, which was true. After a round of thanks I headed home, wondering of what a world of trouble I'd have at home.
Jacob just doesn't get it. I thought, and I knew I was right. Jacob, my own brother, had ignored me for most of my life once he found out what I was....and what I could do. When Rosa gave me the small necklace with the tiny rose bud, she'd explained to me that the Moonlight Goddess had chosen me because I still believed in her, but she also said that when I was born I had special gifts, gifts that she had secretly nourished and trained until I could control them.
As a general rule though, when quoting a characters direct thoughts, the thoughts should be in italics.
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