Slayer Traits First Year

5

Like the stars, I am always there.

Someone said those words to be once, but I can't remember exactly who said it or when or why. It seemed like such a heroic thing to say, but I didn't really believe in heroes anymore. At least, not my first hero.

For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to be like Mom and Dad. I wanted to fight against the super scary monsters because, for some reason, they never scared me. Until my whole world shattered beneath my feet without me really knowing, and I learned the difference between wanting to be like Mom and Dad and wanting to protect them.

It didn't really seem fair because I didn't know why my world splintered apart, or why my hero was the one who broke it.

As a member of the Slayer Family, from very young, we're taught that there were powerful and terrifying monsters who sought out our blood. That would scare any kid and keep them from sleeping. I was no different. I was used to nightmares. One thing always made the monsters and the nightmares less scary, though.

The Slayer.

Mom, Dad, the Hunters – anyone who saw me unsettled would tell me countless stories of the mighty and just Slayer. A powerful being who could lift houses above her head, who could kill hordes of demons, who could make the sea bow to her will and the mountain crumble into dust. The Slayer was the ultimate hero, the light at the end of the tunnel, the one who defies death and chases away the darkness. The fact that she was my sister made the Slayer even more fantastical to me.

And then my hero wanted to kill me.

Mom and Dad tried to answer all my questions, but they didn't have all the answers. No one could tell me why Katelynn attacked me. I couldn't remember how it happened, and Katelynn was just like the Head Council and the rest of the Family. They swept it under the rug and pretended nothing happened. Everyone would rather deal with the repercussions than the situation. The Slayer Family had a Family Meeting that lasted three days where Katelynn decided to leave (abandon) the Slayer Family. Both the Yalser and the Salyeria Families wrote her off entirely and didn't acknowledge her as the firstborn. They only recognised my brother and I. Whereas the Head Council recognised Katelynn and classified us as mistakes. Kyle and I just fell into a routine, pretending we didn't have a sister.

It was so easy for everyone to forget the Slayer. It was probably easier for me to forget Katelynn because I couldn't remember what Katelynn did to me.

I knew because people told me.

I knew because I had the scars.

I knew because I remember the small hands, the matted hair and the silver eyes brighter than the moon.

I didn't know who Katelynn was before the incident. I didn't know who Katelynn was now. But I did know that everyone was awfully good at pretending that the Slayer leaving the Family didn't hurt them. Until they saw Katelynn.

Then the cracks of that pieces-stuck-together-world began to show.

Mom stole glances at Katelynn, looking forlorn and listless while she picked at her nails, making sure that she kept her spine straight so that the Head Council delegates couldn't tell what she was thinking. She hid her emotion so well that even I couldn't read her face.

Dad kept his glare focussed on me. Arms crossed over his massive chest, guarding the door of Titan's office like a bouncer. He didn't once look at Katelynn other than when he noticed the bruising around my neck.

The delegates whispered to Katelynn as they stood like little grey ghosts behind her. She sat at Titan's desk, reading whatever papers were scattered on the surface. They never looked at her, and she never spoke to them, but I could hear their whispering, so much like the voice, I heard in my head except more annoying and more prominent.