The Twenty Five Percent Rayanna

What?!

                      The trees are thick in this section of the woods. They grow close together, and thick vines hang in between them. I have to push both vines and limbs out of my way to keep from getting slapped in the face. Movement is slow, taking twice the amount of time as usual. I step over rotting logs and duck under the vines that are too heavy to push. I feel fingernails cutting into my leg and give a shriek that echoes through the empty forest. I look around to find the culprit is nothing more than a patch of thorn-filled weeds. More thorns cut into my leg as I continue through the woods. I don't remember it taking so long to get there. But I guess I wasn't really thinking about the wild animals, the last time I went there. I push another thick vine out of the way, and then step into a clearing. The trees seemed to have retreated backwards, and the grass as far as I can see, seems to have been trampled down. I'm not sure what did the trampling but that's not important, what's important is the fact that I see my brother, up ahead, near the creek. He's facing the water and doesn't seem to realize that I'm here. "Hey, Wolfe!"

                      "There you are, Rain. What took so long? I've been waiting for you to get here. Feels like it's been ages." Wolfe says. He turns from the creek to greet me. I walk over to him and wrap him in a hug. "What's the matter, Sport?"

                     "Oh, Wolfe, it's just terrible," I say starting to cry. I can feel the despair of the past few months rolling into me like a wave hitting the shore. "I don't even know where to start."

                    He pulls back from the hug and wraps an arm around my shoulders and leads me to a spot by the creek. "Sit down here and start with the thing that's bothering you the most."

                 "That's a hard one. You died and then I died." I say, sniffling.

                   "Well, I don't feel dead. How about you? Do you feel dead."

                    "No, but..."

                   "All right then. Neither one of us is dead, so problem solved."

                         "No, that's not all." I say hesitating. What I have to say next is major, and I'm not even sure if I fully believe it, myself. "Kat said we aren't even humans. Or we are half-breeds... I don't know exactly."

                   "So, what?" Wolfe asks.

                    "What do you mean, 'so what'?"

                      "I mean exactly what I said, 'so what'? What's the big deal? So, we aren't human. It's not that big of a deal, is it?"

                      "Yeah, it kind of is a big deal. If I'm not a human, that means everything that I ever thought to be true, is a lie. My whole life is a lie."

                        "Let me ask you something. Why did you go out to the creek that day? Why did you go out there, alone?"

                         "Which day? I have been to the creek several times in the past couple of years."

                        "Okay, we will get back to that in a few minutes. But, why did you go out there, any of the times you went?"

                     "To find mother's crystal necklace," I say.

                      "And did you find it?"

                         "No. It's too large of an area, and it's been several years since it got lost."

                          "Exactly." Wolfe answers.

                           "What do you mean, exactly?"

                              Wolfe gets up and walks off. "See you, later, Rain."

                        "Huh? What's going on? Where are you going? We were in the middle of a discussion; you can't just walk off." I shout after him.

                    He pauses a moment but doesn't turn around. "You ruined my life."

                  "I...what?" I stutter.

                  "I could have married the nice girl down the road, had a few kids. I could have enjoyed myself a little bit, but instead, I was stuck taking care of you. I had to make sure you had food, and clothes, and save your butt every time you did something stupid. Which, by the way, was quite often. If it weren't for you, I would have been happy."

               I stand there with my mouth open, watching as Wolfe walks away. He doesn't turn around or acknowledge me in any way. I jump up and try to chase after him but run into a wall of thick vines. I struggle to push through them and call out, "Wolfe! Wait! Come back! I'm not done talking to you!"                                                

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