Bonnie Curwen's Story

[center]❖ Bonnie Curwen ❖

Portland was a long way from home for Bonnie but she forced herself to think positively, it was a new place, a clean slate. This was a chance for Bonnie to start over and overcome her previous problems. As these thoughts went through her head, Bonnie noticed the taxi she was in was pulling to a stop, in front of her new home.

She was arriving late compared to her siblings but it couldn't be helped. The day before the Curwen sibling's flight, Bonnie had got sick, like really sick. Because of her condition she was unable to board the plane to Portland and was left behind. Her course her sister and brothers refused to leave without her but she didn't wanted Uncle Marvin to worry and had persistently insisted they go ahead first and settle in.

Of course, being without of siblings, Bonnie was alone in the hospital and missed them as soon as they left, immediately regretting what she had said. So she had paid attention to the doctor's advice and tired to recover quickly. Now two days later she finally arrived in Portland for the beginning of high school.

The sun had already set by the time Bonnie arrived at the house, but she didn't mind as she quickly knocked on the door and waited excitedly to see her siblings again. As sounds could be heard on the other side, Bonnie was bombarded with pieces of thoughts... who... middle of the night... just sat...dinner. And then bombardment stopped as the door open to reveal...

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Getting dive-bombed first thing in the morning was not Zach's favorite way to wake up. Most importantly, there was always the chance that his bandages would fall off. Luckily, however, he was used to Beck's antics. His very first instinct upon waking was to cover his eyes, as usual.

"Beck, what the hell? Don't you have any shame this early in the-" Before he could finish, he heard Beck's footsteps as he left the room. Zach groaned to himself as he got out of bed. Truth be told, he already hated Portland. It wasn't anything against the place itself, however, but at the simple fact that he had no idea where anything was. And so, he was subject to feeling around as he hunted for clothing- something that took him much longer to do than it normally would have. After what seemed like an agonizing infinity of feeling his dresser, his closet, and everywhere in between, he finally managed to get dressed. He wore simple, easy-to-recognize-by-touch clothing; a t-shirt, some jeans, and sneakers. He finished getting ready by re-wrapping the bandages around his eyes, something he did every morning.

He tied it tightly, even double-knotting it to make sure it wouldn't come undone on his first day of school. Whether he liked it or not, his eyes had the ability to see the memories of others- provided that they were open and uncovered. It couldn't be turned off, at least not without having to bandage them every day. It was an ability he was born with, one that he'd feared since he was little. What if he accidentally wiped the memories of one of his siblings one day? Just the thought made him shiver. He would never do something like that to those he cared about. Granted, it was a big help whenever someone accidentally found out about one of the sibling's powers. It was one of the main reasons that they'd been able to manage a normal lifestyle for so long, up until now. Still...he didn't like it, even if it had been necessary.

With these troubling thoughts in mind, he left his room and made his way to the kitchen. He carried his bag and violin case with him, carefully feeling his way around so that he wouldn't trip and drop his precious violin. However, on the last step of the stairs, Zach tripped and fell. He quickly twisted himself so that he would land on his side and not on the violin case, landing with a small "Oompf!". He sighed and picked himself up without any hesitation. He was used to tripping, especially when it came to stairs. My mortal enemy...

Zach quietly ate the breakfast Beck slid to him, not even bothering to answer his happy-go-lucky morning voice. He could practically feel the intensity of his brother's smile. It annoyed him, but mostly just because he was in a bad mood. “Beck, you are worse than a cup of coffee.” He heard his sister say from seemingly nowhere. She always seemed to be able to sum up what he was thinking in just a few short words. Zach liked that about her- neither of them were morning people, unlike Beck.

Is it really necessary to herd us around like sheep? Zach thought to himself as he groaned once more, only this time in objection to Beck's guidance as he got them on the bus. “Well, good luck to us I suppose.” His sister whispered to him.

"Yeah. New place to find out where everything is at, strange people whose faces I can't even see, and the possibility of accidentally wiping people's minds scot-clean and rendering them dribbling idiots. Great luck." He responded sarcastically, mumbling his answer back to her. After a moment, however, he sighed. "Sorry Cat. I'm just not looking forward to this, is all."

Once the bus stopped and they got off, Zach once again groaned objections as he was led along by Beck's firm grip on his arm. However, he didn't try yanking himself out of it like he normally would have. He knew that he needed some kind of guidance if he wanted to get to his class, even if he hated it. He did try to count the steps it took though, for future reference.

Upon entering the classroom, Zach's skin practically crawled from the stares he knew he and and siblings were getting. As the teacher introduced them, he crossed his arms in an obvious 'you got a problem?' sort of gesture. He probably would have glared back at them, if he could. He held his head high as he allowed himself to be herded once more, this time to his seat. He let out a small sigh of relief as he heard his over-protective brother chatting with someone.

"What's up with those bandages?"

"Is he blind?"

"What a freak!"

Zach's fist clenched. He was in a bad mood, and the idiots that surrounded him only made him angry. He opened his mouth to say something, but wasn't able to say anything because the teacher started the class. He didn't feel like learning about the Civil War, and so his mind wandered. He thought of the sister who had been left behind- Bonnie. He hoped that she was doing okay. When they left, she had been very sick, so he was worried about her. I wish you were here.....

"I heard their whole family are freaks."

Oh HELL no. Who do these people think they are? Zach opened his mouth once more to speak, but was once again beaten to the punch.

"You're the one who is a freak." The voice was feminine, so Zach presumed it to be a girl. Well...I guess at least one person isn't a total ass. He wondered who it was that had spoken up.

Soon enough, the class was over. Without waiting for some kind of assistance, although it more than likely would have come from his brother, knowing him, Zach darted out of his seat and left the classroom. He had memorized the number it steps it had taken to get from the door to his seat, so getting out of the classroom wasn't too much of a problem. He was even quick enough to leave before most of the students had left their seats, greatly diminishing his chances of bumping into them on his way out. Choosing a random direction, he walked down the hallway, determined to lose his siblings. He bumped into things occasionally, such as people and walls, until he stopped in his tracks.

Suddenly, he realized....he had no idea where he was going. He didn't know where any of his classes were, much less how to get to them. He scowled to himself. Of all the stupid things to do on my first day of school. Jeezus, can things get any worse? He tightened his grip on his violin case. I guess I better figure out where I am, first. Then....screw classes. Beck can scold me later. Zach put his hand out and felt for the nearest wall. He ran his hands along it until he felt a plaque that would display a room number- which would conveniently have the room number repeated in Braille.

Orchestra Room. Well, well, well, what do we have here? Zach chuckled to himself for a moment. I guess I'll have to thank Cat later for the good luck. Without any further ado, he put his ear to the door. He didn't hear anything, so he opened it and went inside. Feeling along the walls once more, he found one of the practice rooms- a soundproof room used for, well, practicing.

He went in and closed the door behind himself, dropping his bag in a corner. Then, he sat on the floor and opened his violin case. He took out one of his most precious possessions- a beautiful, cherrywood-stained violin that had been given to him as a gift. He stood back up, cradling the violin on his shoulder and holding it with his chin in the standard way of playing.

Then, he drew the bow, playing a single note. The tone was beautiful, the instrument in tune, and the sound was crisp and clear. It made him smile, a gentle demeanor creeping across his features. Then, suddenly, he began playing.

Danse Macabre. It was a piece he was striving to master, one he still had a bit of trouble with even though he had been learning it for nearly a year now. However, he had to learn all of his music by ear, so it wasn't quite as easy for him as it would be for other people. Despite the fact that he was still learning, he did know enough of the piece to get through it- to anyone who didn't know any better, it would most likely sound quite excellent.

And so, Zach spent the day practicing music- he was so focused on it that he never even felt the time pass by.

The dark haired girl continued to stare silently and Beck began to wonder if maybe there was still remnants of breakfast left on his face. It would be like Cat to let him wander around with a nice smudge of egg across his cheek. His blue eyes began to wave self consciously until she finally answered and he grinned almost completely forgetting the awkward lapse in earlier silence. "That's a nice name." That's a nice name? How lame can you get?! Geez you can talk to anyone off the street but as soon as a pretty girl pops up you lose your cool. Smooth Beck, real smooth. He cleared his throat and shyly smile towards her once more before turning to face the chalk board, silently hoping that his shaggy auburn hair would hide the assured blush in his cheeks right now and that Cat and Zach hadn't heard his embarrassing conversation.

The teacher drolled on and most students would hate it but Beck loved the fact that he was able to lose himself in these lectures. Being able to completely focus on this, on anything was an escape for him from the constant noise in the world. Everything was tuned out but whispered phrases snapped him back to the hear and now, "Is he blind?" "What's up with those bandages?" Beck's eyes snapped to the whispering offenders and narrowed dangerously. The more he heard around the classroom, the more he became upset. He could care less what anyone thought of him but the more he heard whispers of those aiming taunts at Zach, Cat or his family in general, that's what really angered him. His desk began to gently vibrate as he unwittingly focused sound waves there in his anger, just enough so his pencil rolled off onto the floor as his eyes darted around from one person to the next, following the hissed taunts. "I heard their whole family are freaks." Beck landed his gaze on Danny but before he could act Alice had come to their defense which surprised him greatly. The desk ceased its minor shaking and he stared at Alice wide eyed as the bell rang and she retreated.

"Wow, I guess we made at least one friend today huh guys?" He turned to see Zach already retreating from the room and Beck barely caught himself from running after him. "Zach! Hey! Wai-" He sighed, watching his brother disappear into the sea of people leaving the room. Turning his blue eyes to his sister, which were currently cast in a puppy dog expression, he sadly said. "I don't mean to irritate you guys I just, you know, wanna make sure you're all safe." Beck knew Zach didn't like being led around and offered any extra help, he knew that Cat didn't like being fussed over but he just couldn't help it. He loved all of his siblings; Bonnie, Zach, Catalina and he wanted the best for all of them. If any of them asked anything of Beck then there was no way he could deny them which is exactly why he let Zach go on his own, it's what he wanted. Beck might be aggressive when it comes to protecting those he loves but he's a softy when it comes to those he loves as well. "How about we just meet up at the bus stop at the end of the day? That way there's no way I can go into mama bear mode." He laughed and grinned at his sister, even if the gesture was a bit sad at being separated from his siblings just for a day. Beck picked up his bag and headed out the door to his next class.

The rest of the day went by fairly well, he talked to a few people here and there but from the conversations he picked up throughout the day most around the school were of the same opinion that they were freaks. Honestly Beck couldn't see why they were thought of as freaks already. Sure, Uncle Marvin was a bit, um, eccentric but why would that make them freaks? Freaks by association? Was that a rule or something? There were times when he wished he could just use his powers to show them, show them what a freak really was. Those were brief moments though, just very brief moments and then his logic would come back and he'd remember he had to keep his family safe and protected and hidden. So he lost himself in his book for the remainder of the day until P.E. rolled around. He liked the class alright although he wished the other students weren't using the game to take out some odd, unbridled aggression against him. It was like he'd done something to them in a past life and he must pay dearly for said slight now. As always though Beck rolled with the personal punches and allowed the other players to shove, trip and insult him. His mind was in other places anyway, it wasn't until he heard a commotion from the opposite side of the court that he really began paying attention.

"Bitch. Maybe you're a freak like the rest of them." Beck turned his head just in time to see Danny pushing Alice's paper off of the bench. Instantly his anger flared and he wanted to rush after the offender but he took a deep breath. He promised no fights, he promised no fights. So instead he ran after some fly away papers, hopping in the air to catch them. "Got one!" He crowed victoriously as if it was a happy occasion and Alice hadn't just been humiliated. Beck smiled and chased after another, then another, until he gathered all the strays and returned to her and handed them back in a messy stack. "Safe and sound m'lady." He panted a bit from the exertion of the chase plus basketball and pushed his sweaty locks away from his face with a brief smile before his expression became serious. "You know if, if that guys bothering you then I can walk you to your classes tomorrow to make sure he leaves you alone. I mean it's the least I can do, after all you stood up for my family earlier when you don't even know us." He paused for a moment then grinned impishly. "I mean what if we are freaks?"