Red. It stared back on the other side of the mirror, boring into his soul. Alek shook his head, black hair falling into his eyes. He grabbed his eye patch from its spot on his wooden dresser and placed it over his eye, checking in the mirror to ensure you could not see the devilish gaze through the stark white patch. Nothing. With a satisfied nod Alek turned the handle of his door, the squeak of the hinges indicating they needed to be oiled. He would have to remind Father of that at the breakfast table. Alek walked down the hall, the tie of his Academy uniform feeling more like a noose than a tie. Everyday he went through this routine, acting as though his family were still whole and well despite the fact that they had been ripped to shreds and pieced back together with staples rather than glue. Alek loved his family, but more often then not they ignored the fact that he was a mutant and attempted to live as though they had two normal children. While he couldn't blame them, Alek also didn't understand their sudden change in attitude.
"Morning Alek," his mother spoke, her cheerful voice ringing in his head. Alek returned her smile and kissed her cheek before going to the oven to see what was inside. His Mother shooed him away with her oven mitts, telling Alek to take a seat and wait patiently for breakfast like the rest of them. They were soon joined by Father and Alek's little sister, Wren. she was the spitting image of their Mother and quite often Alek found himself wondering if she was going to grow out of it. "Hurry up you two, or you'll miss the train." Their Father spoke, lowering his newspaper as he wiped his mouth on his napkin.
"Yes Father," Alek and Wren spoke in the same moment, the two rising from the table and taking their plates to the sink. Unlike Alek, Wren had to go to the city over in order to reach her middle school. She had attempted to go to the middle school in Main City, but the children bullied Alek's sister relentlessly although no one was sure why, so she enrolled in academy in the next city over. Alek's academy, however, was only two stops from the platform that led to section five where his home was.
Alek stepped off of the train and onto the platform, shouldering his satchel where his homework from last night was. It was his last year of academy before he began selective studies and then hopefully became a botanist. Currently Alek was keeping a little garden on the porch of their apartment, coaxing plants to flourish under his green thumb. He was very successful and his work did not go unnoticed. He had gotten permission from both the King and academic board to pursue this career and while he was excited, Alek was more curious about the plants that grew on the planet below Castle Rock, not that he would ever express this. Speaking of Earth was forbidden and you could be declared irrational just for uttering the word ground. It was scary living in a place with such a fragile balance, but this was the life Alek had been living since he was born and he knew how to keep the scales balanced.
The first bell rang, shaking Alek from his thoughts. If he didn't hurry he was going to be late for the first class and it would permanently stain his near perfect record. Unfortunately, however, Alek would not make it to class on time. He was swarmed by a group of girls almost as soon as he stepped through the academy's gates and despite his uttering of "Pardon," and "Excuse me," they continued to follow him. His hair was white by the time he reached the classroom and explained to his teacher about his reason for being late. Their instructor simply shook his head and pointed to the last empty seat in the back row. Quietly, Alek took a seat and reached for the text book in his bag, hoping to stay out of trouble for the rest of the day.
"S-stop it," Reyna choked, her air supply quickly dwindling. Ezra's fingers wrapped tighter around her throat, he leaned in close to his little sister's ear and began to whisper. "You were a mistake," in the next moment the front door opened and Ezra let Reyna go, shoving her back against the wall and exiting her room. Reyna collapsed to the ground, choking and pulling as much air into her lungs as they would allow. The tag around her neck jangled, reminding Reyna that even if she told someone of her older brother's abuse, her accusations would fall on deaf ears. Being declared irrational meant that nearly everything you said was dismissed and so Reyna did the only thing she could think of, she turned on her side and spoke to the stuffed animal whose head Ezra had ripped off. "You saw that, right Harry?" she whispered to the purple stuffed animal.
A knock sounded on her bedroom door. Reyna's mother entered with a tight smile, holding up Reyna's uniform. "Why aren't you dressed yet sweetie?" she asked and Reyna looked past her mother, wondering what had put the woman on edge. Oh, her Grandmother was there. Elanor stood in all of her glory, her foot tapping impatiently on the ground. "Dammit Terra, if you can't take care of your daughter I'm going to have her sent back to Mao Village!" Her threats were never bluffs, Reyna had learned early on and she jumped to her feet, grabbing the uniform from her mother's hands. "Thank you Mom, you can go now."
"Wait Reyna, where are those bruises from?" Terra moved further into the room, Elanor following. Reyna froze as her mother's fingers brushed her neck, the memory of Ezra choking her still fresh. "I'm going to be late!" She pretended she hadn't heard her mother and began pulling off her clothes; jumping into the plaid skirt and colored shirt. She shrugged on her blazer and tied up the ribbon that indicated she was a first year, finally dressed, Reyna was ready to go. "Oh, alright, well have a good day." her mother kissed her cheek and her Grandmother grabbed her in for a quick hug. Despite all of her threats, Elanor really did love her granddaughter, she just didn't know the truth about Mao Village. While Reyna was in the hall she heard her grandmother ask, "Why did she rip Harry's head off of his body?"
A pang resounded in her chest. Harry had been sent to Reyna from her Grandfather while she was away in the Village. No doubt her grandmother was hurt, but there was nothing Reyna could do, it was Ezra who had ripped Harry's head off.
She ran for the front door, ignoring Ezra as he called after her in a sarcastic tone to have a good day. Soon she walking off the platform and into academy, but Reyna had no intention of going to class. She was sitting in the stalls in the girl's restroom when a teacher caught her and dragged her to home room. Quietly Reyna stalked inside with the rest of the students, glad that the second bell had just rung as she took her seat. Oh well, maybe she would slip her tag in her desk and climb the fence later.