The Bearing of truth

Chap 1

Teresa Asterman, a fourteen year-old girl with brown hair cascading over her shoulders, was walking down the hallway, keeping her sunglasses on and her head down low, on her way to the next class. The new school year was starting, and she didn't want to be late to the new teacher's history class. For the second time today, Teresa wondered what Mrs. Strafk would be like, what she would look like, and most importantly, what colour her eyes would be. Eye colour was an important thing on the planet of Hytraxia. Hytraxians are humanoid shaped,and when they are born as a child, their eyes are a deep, light-eating black, only getting brighter as they lie. Teresa tried to hide her eyes as they have finally been getting to be a lighter gray and she was worried it would lead to some trouble. Most schools and other buidlings allowed for sunglasses inside, because eye colour was considered a personal thing. Teresa walked into the classroom and considered where she wanted to take a seat. Teresa wasn't a loner by any means, but she didn't have a lot of friends. According to this years class schedule, she doesn't have a lot of her friends in this particular class. Teresa decides to take her seat up front, hoping that it would make a good impression on her teacher. Just as Teresa was sliding into her seat and taking her backpack off of her shoulder, Mrs. Strafk walked into the room. Within moments the entirely class was in an uproar, because the first thing everyone noticed, was that Mrs. Strafk, wasn't wearing sunglasses. After everyone calmed down, but didn't stop staring, Mrs. Strafk began the attendance. "Teresa Asterman," The teacher called out. Teresa quickly chirped, "here" and chanced a glance at her teachers eyes. Black, almost as dark as Teresa's own parents. Mrs. Strafk speedily went over the rest of the class list and began to speak. "Hello class, my name is Mrs. Strafk, and I'll be your history teacher for this year." Strafk smiled, and started to explain her rules and expectations, writing the big three on the board.

1. Under no circumstances are sunglasses permitted in my class.

Half of the class gasped and one person even started to tear up, sunglasses were the norm, almost everywhere, and people were feeling stripped bare.

2. When I ask for homework, I expect it done by the next class.

This was fairly standard issue, and most teachers expected it from their classes, although, there never was much homework.

3. No questions to do with Hytraxian eyes. Not mine nor yours.

Again, fairly standard issue rule. This class was going to be the same as almost all of teresa's other classes, other than the fact that sunglasses were not permitted. With that thought, Teresa removed her sunglasses, and sighed, waiting for the ninety minutes to tick by, slowly as ever.

After history class, Teresa's last class of the day, she met up with her closest friend, Sofie. Teresa and Sofie were idly chatting until the topic of Teresa's new teacher came up. Teresa, looked over to Sofie, and stared at her sunglasses through her own. "She doesn't allow sunglasses in class, Sofie, I'm not to happy about that, but otherwise she seems pretty normal." Sofie nodded, "I heard that had been the case, anyways I gotta get going, see you tommorow T." and with that she left.

Teresa had a foreign sense on her way home today. It felt very alien, as she was unused to this feeling welling up within her. Based on her education, and learning done outside of school, she concluded this was a sense of foreboding. Something big was going to happen, potentially life-changing, and definitely something she would remember for the rest of her years. Teresa was unusually on edge for most of the trip, attributing the stress and worry to this new feeling within her. Teresa decided to jog the rest of the way home. As Teresa finally got a rhythm going, she tripped over a bare root, and fell, continuously rolling until she hit the ground near the edge of the lake. She looked over at the lake, and could have sworn she saw a bright light flash, in her reflection. The light flashed from where her eyes should have been. 

Teresa barged into the door, but it didn't budge. She yelled for her parents to answer the door, but there was no response. It was then that she remembered the morning, with a little bit of clarity. "We are going to the neighbourhood dance tonight, T." Sometimes her mom referred to her as "T". "We should be back around 7:30." Teresa looked down at her watch, "Damn," she exclaimed, "It's only quarter to five." Teresa pulled a book out of her backpack, titled "Hytraxian History; the Truth of the Eyeballs," and sat down to read. Teresa has always been fascinated about the truth behind how her people and their eyes worked. Whenever she had spare time, she would dig into her books and search online for anything she could find that might lead to more information about the topic. After some time had passed, Teresa closed up the book and looked back down at her watch. 6:00 just flashed across the screen and Teresa frowned. She had another hour and a half to spare. She decided to go on a bit of a walk. As she turned around she thought to herself, 'I'm going to try and tell a bunch of truth and see if my eyes get darker.' Whilst out on her walk, Teresa mumbles things like "I am a girl" and "I have brown hair," every-so-often checking the pocket mirror, which she takes everywhere she goes. She was dissapointed everytime that she checked. Eventually, she decided to go home, and take a shower. As she was getting home, she noticed that her parents car was in the driveway. She walked into the house and took off her shoes, along with her jacket and her sunglasses. Home is the only place that Teresa feels comfortable with her eyes. She calls out a quick "I'm home" before running up the stairs and heading for the washroom. She doesn't get a reply before she's out of her clothes and in the shower. As the water flows through the shower head, and then over her body, she feels a sense of calm, and relaxation, roll over her. Suddenly, she hears a loud crash, and a pair of screams, one male, and one female. Teresa reaches out and turns off the water, pull the curtain aside, and quickly gets dressed. She runs out to the top of the stairs, and drops to her knees, simultaneously screaming as she does. There, at the bottom of the stairs, were her parents, their eyes as bright as the sun, in a pool of blood.

. . . . .

It all happened so fast, one moment, Teresa was screaming at the top of lungs and staring at her dead parents, and the next, she was in her bed, staring at the ceiling, while the police canvassed the scene, and surrounding area. When it came time for questioning, Teresa sat up in her bed as a officer sat down across from her. "Can you describe your parents?" was the first question. "sure," Teresa said, "They were both very hard-working and incredibly nice individuals. They had lots of friends and were very active in the community." The Officer nods, and scribbles some notes on her notepad. "Next question, Did your parents lie a lot, were their eyes bright?" This was the part that also confused Teresa " No, everytime i looked at them they were a dark as the day they were born." A look of concern flashed across the officers face as he scribbles this latest bit of information down, underlining it twice. "Alright, thanks for your time Mrs. Asterman, we'll be in touch."Okay, but before you leave, officer, what happened to their eyes?" The officer looked really sad when the following left his lips, "We don't know, but we'll do our best to find out"

The moment all of the police left Teresa to herself, she picked up the phone and dialled Sofie's number, wanting to talk to someone about the recent events. After four rings, the line went dead. Sofie didn't pick up, which was incredibly un-Sofie-like.