Gargoyle Saga: In The Beginning

Chapter Two

There was a soft knock on my door though the noise didn't wake me. I was already awake, to be honest, I can't remember if I even went to sleep. I had gone to bed extraordinarily early the previous day after having most of it being shouted at, threatened with emergency treatment or having the police called on me. I had screamed myself hoarse and had cried to the point of being dehydrated where I now had a stonking headache.

My eyes flicked over to the door and I mumbled a small, "Come in," it opened slowly and a pair of green eyes locked onto mine. They were full of sorrow and pity, but my younger sister, Rosie, was just worried about me. Unlike my friend's sisters and brothers, Rosie was my best friend. She was always there for me, she never questioned, she never judged, she just listened. She was a year younger than me and my parents doted on her and during this strangeness that was happening to me, she never once shied away from me. She came into my room and closed the door, drowning out my Dad who was still shouting at my mother about what happened to me.

"How are you feeling?"

"Crap," I mumbled and buried my head into my pillow.

I felt the bed creak as she sat beside me and began to smooth my hair. "It'll get sorted out soon. They're just frightened for you."

I shook my head then sat up. "They are frightened of me," I corrected her. "Look at me? I don't fit in anymore. I don't even think I'm human. This," I pointed to my face, "doesn't happen to normal people. It's not like it's a freaking evolutionary step up."

"So what?" she frowned, smiling coyly and pushed her blond hair out of her face. Rosie was a very pretty and kind 16-year-old. I was glad to have her helping me through this. "You think you should fit in just because society dictates? Sod society. Look at those people who do have their eyes and ears transformed through plastic surgery. They don't care what they look like. You've got yours for free." Always trying to make light of even the most awful situations, I sighed heavily and she moved in to hug me. "Ver, we just don't understand. Mum and Dad are frightened and they don't know what to do. Maybe it'll go away in a while?"

"What will go away? The colour of my eyes or my freaking elf ears? Rosie, I can't be a recluse but," I threw the duvet covers off me and showed her my arms. "The sun did this through the curtains!" Rosie gasped at my slightly sunburnt skin. "I don't know how but I can't go out during the day. Over the course of twenty-four hours with these eyes and ears I've contracted some form of photosensitivity. And Mum and Dad won't let me go out at night."

She pulled away from me and asked, "Do you feel better going out at night?"

"There's no sun for one," I told her simply, "so yes, I feel better."

She looked at me then back at the door. "Hmm."

"What?"

"I did a bit of research and I-"

"Wait," I interrupted. "You didn't go onto that Doctor website again? There's nothing on the internet apart from costume shops or plastic surgeon websites for my condition."

"No," she said in a curious tone, "I didn't go onto that website, but something else came up instead." I waited for her to finish her dramatic pause. "A website in Malta. I read that this girl had the same ailments as you. She'd contacted these people in Malta and now, apparently she's all better. It can't hurt, right?"

"Do Mum and Dad know?"

She shook her head.

I shrugged. "Well then, no it can't hurt. Send me the information and then-" I stopped talking as I clutched my stomach. "What the hell?" The pain felt like I was being stabbed but what was strange it was coupled with a tingling sensation up my arms, like electricity but it felt wrong.