BLEAK

Home Visit

~Chapter One~

"Our Government chose five groups, and only five groups alone, each one to have an Alpha King to rule his pack. Can anyone tell me what the first nation of lycanthrope was?" the teacher asked. I stared at her slender tall form, her blue eyes starring across the classroom waiting for anyone to raise their hands.

The Cobalt Nation, I said inwardly.

"Mindy?" she said, addressing me. My throat shut as I timidly looked up to stare at her. My lips pressed into a thin line before I stared down to my paper then back up at her.

"No! Why me, damn it?" I thought.

"What was the first Nation created for the Lycanthrope?" she asked. Her stoic eyes penetrated into my own. Maybe I was over exaggerating but it felt like it.

I cleared my throat, squirming a little in my seat. I hated having the attention all to myself. "The C-cobalt Nation," I stuttered, feeling my face blush furiously.

"That's right, The Cobalt Nation, now can anyone tell me why they were named like this?" Hands shot up and for it I was grateful, I sighed inwardly, letting my shoulders slump a little as I let go of the clutch I had on the desk.

"The blue nation in other words was named as such because all of the Lycan's have blue eyes or similar to them. They are tall and slender, dirty blond hair, strawberry colored hair, or even bright blond," A girl replied.

"That's right Adeline, we the Cobalt Nation were the first to be chosen as a separate State, what came next?" she asked.

What came next was a horrible war. We as a whole didn't want to part into sections or color coordinated nations. So many families had been torn apart. Children left to fill orphanages their government inflicted over them.  My grandfather never left that part out, but as usual like everything else people just fell into line after a while. There were still some who protested out there. Lycans who fought against such atrocities. Their voices drowned however in the sea of so many others.

I let my mind blur for the rest of the lesson. I didn't care to hear what I already knew. My grandfather, Timothy Fredrick River Sir, had told me the tales since I was a small cub. And even though I had outgrown those night's, I anticipated hearing his tales, I still laughed and smiled whenever he came to tuck me in at night. Mom and Dad had given me up for adoption since before I was born. My grandfather took me in before anyone could adopt me and raised me himself.

I didn't like to dwell much on that part. For me it was what it was. All I knew was my grandfather. He was my father, my mother, and my protector. Nothing else mattered.

My genetics tho, that was something I didn't escape like many other teenagers insecure of their looks. I was a skinny shy little thing that had been held back two grades because of how fragile I looked. Finally the teachers decided I had to take my chances in the jungle of pimples, hormones, and rough housing. I managed just fine because of my grandfather's reputation for being the ruthless fighter that he was. He fought for his Nation and was appointed many medals for his great determination and skill. There was no discrimination on behalf of anyone in school. In fact they treated me like a fragile feather they feared might be carried by the wind into nothingness.

The bell rung and as I slipped from my chair as everyone else stopped to give me the lead. My cheeks blushed as I held my books against my chest. Just because I was scary skinny had buck teeth and flat blond hair did not mean they had to treat me like glass. Nevertheless I tried hard to ignore this as I made it out of class and towards my locker. Teenagers flooded the halls, laughing talking, and rough housing. The cheerleaders giggled and bounced about, the jocks wrestled one another for dominance, and the nerds, outcasts, and geeks simply scurried to get to class on time before the bell rung.