Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Gifted Moon Academy ❯ Monster! ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A beautiful scene of wealth and joy, decorated in all the finest. In the middle of a very large, very grand ball room decorated with silvers and silks and all means of rich finery, was a young woman with raven colored hair and the deepest green eyes you could ever find. Dressed in a flattering yellow dress that flowed to her shins and made more revealing by the slit that went up to her left hip, she was the apple of everyone’s eye. She was brilliant, both in mind and in attitude, and well loved in her extravagant community.
That evening, she was dancing happily with her boyfriend – a tall young man with light brown hair and eyes, and the most dazzling smile a woman would ever see – and oh how they were having fun! She all but glowed with joy as they spun and stepped gracefully across the dance floor as a small orchestra played from the north side of the room. Her joy became elation, as she loved both music and dancing, and at that moment they were dancing her favorite dance. It was a dance that always made her happy, even when she was being bullied by other children that were less intelligent, but much older than her. No matter how dreary things were, this dance made her happy, and when she felt down she would go some place quiet and perform it to cheer herself up.
“Wh-what’s that?!” a voice shrieked through her happy thoughts as she danced with the man she loved.
Rinsi scanned the room with green eyes, wondering who it was that interrupted her happy moment, and why. It didn’t take long. She knew the voice from anywhere. It was a friend of her auntie, who was rather fond of drama and causing it. The woman was staring at her with fright-filled blue eyes, pressing a rather pudgy hand that was over decorated with exquisite rings to her chest dramatically. Her other rather pudgy hand pointed a finger with a red painted finger nail at Rinsi.
Rinsi didn’t get it. Why would that woman point at her, looking so afraid? She knew her since she was a baby, and they had always gotten along well together. Thinking perhaps there was something on her party dress, she looked down only to find a flawless party dress covering smooth, soft skin. But something was off. The dress, her skin…everything seemed to be different. It was almost as if they were brighter than usual. That was completely impossible, she knew. People don’t glow like light bulbs, and frankly it was frightening her. She didn’t know what was going on, or why. She looked up and gazed around the room, looking for her aunt and uncle, hoping they would have some sort of explanation. However, instead of the old, somewhat tired faces of her loving aunt and uncle, she saw the cold, frightened faces of the friends and family that had come to celebrate her eighteenth birthday with her, and they had somehow quickly gained some distance from her.
“Wh-what’s going on?” she stammered, holding her hands out in front of her to examine them.
A thought struck her just then. She had been dancing with her boyfriend when this glowing suddenly started. Where was he now? Rinsi looked up to see he, too, had gained some distance, and was looking at her both with fear and disgust.
“M-monster!” he screamed at her, taking a step back as she took a step forward, “S-stay away from me you monster! You’re one of them! You’re one of those freaks!”
She was…a monster? A freak? Those words rang loud in her head and pierced through her like a knife in her heart. Yes, she had heard of them on the news lately – people who had strange special abilities, who could do anything from reading minds to controlling elements, and beyond. She never hated them, but instead felt sorry for them. Now she was one of them, and she couldn’t help but wonder how it had happened.
“I’m…not….” She whispered, taking a step back slowly, “I’m…not a freak…I’m…not…”
As if on cue – and Rinsi couldn’t help but think that perhaps it was done on purpose to add to the drama – the woman who had first pointed her out swooned, falling back into the arms of her husband who was nearby. Another woman let out an ear piercing shriek, hysteric from the sudden change in scenery.
“She’s a monster! She’s killed Mrs. Hathaway!” the woman shrieked.
“I…didn’t…” was all Rinsi could manage to whisper through the confusion and fear that clouded her mind.
And that was all it took to create chaos. Immediately people began running around, screaming that they didn’t want to die, screaming for someone to save them from the ‘monster’, all while running around like chickens with their heads cut off. In the midst of the chaos of panic stricken, albeit well-dressed, guests, Mr. Hathaway – a stately looking gentleman that made his living as a bank manager – had somehow found his way through the crowd of screaming idiots. His large, gruff hands were suddenly around Rinsi’s neck, and the next thing she knew, she was struggling for air.
“You little bitch!” he screamed at her, “What did you do to my wife?!”
“I…didn’t…” she barely managed to whisper as her lungs began to scream for air.
Rinsi tried to pry the man’s hand away from her neck, but he was too strong. He didn’t look like it at first glance, but he did lift weights in his spare time, and now it was blatantly evident. His grip was hurting her neck badly, and she was afraid he might snap her neck any moment if she couldn’t get some sort of control over the situation. However, lack of oxygen and complete fear and confusion worked against her, erasing any reasoning, any memory of skills she had learned to defend herself, any means of escaping this potentially lethal situation. As if to add insult to injury, he back handed her across the face, causing her cheek to burn. She knew that, if she survived this, her neck would be badly bruised, and the right side of her face would be badly swollen.
“Don’t lie you fucking cunt!” he screamed at her again. “You killed her!”
The man was like a bull that had seen red. There was no stopping him as he punched her on the left side of her face, while simultaneously dropping her to the floor. Rinsi gasped a few deep breaths of air, grateful for every little bit she could get. However, she was unable to get much before she found it being forced out of her lungs by a powerful kick to her stomach. Rinsi doubled over, coughing, gagging, and gasping for air as she fought back the urge to show everyone just what she had eaten for lunch not too long ago. Before she could stand, she found the same foot that had met with her stomach rudely meeting her face, knocking her back a few feet.
Rinsi curled into a fetal position, not knowing what to do next as she knew there was more to come, but was surprised when, instead of a shout of derogatory terms towards her, there was something akin to the sound of an enraged animal meeting another enraged animal. As her mind began to grasp what was going on, she realized it was not two animals, but two people.
“Get your hands off of her this minute!” another voice barked out.
“I’ll kill her!” Mr. Hathaway screamed.
Rinsi looked up between shaking hands, peering between shaking fingers, to see who had savior was. Lo and behold, she saw her uncle, and she knew he was angry. If the fact he had Mr. Hathaway in a good head lock wasn’t a good enough of a hint, the nearly comical hue of red that had taken over his older, but distinguished face was.
“That bitch killed my wife!” Mr. Hathaway screamed as he thrashed about, trying to free himself from the arms that kept his own from moving too far from the center of his body.
“If you’d just paid attention, you’d know she isn’t dead! She fucking fainted!”
As if the confusion of the evening hadn’t been enough, Rinsi was even more astonished that her uncle had used such strong and foul language. She’d never seen him so angry, nor heard him so angry before, and were it not for the fiery pain in her face and stomach, she might have laughed or said something witty.
Mr. Hathaway ceased his thrashings and glanced over to where his wife was laying. Or at least, he tried to. With her uncle’s arms locking his, and with his hands locked behind Mr. Hathaway’s head, he couldn’t turn his head very well to see. Without a word, her uncle spun around, dragging Mr. Hathaway with him so he could see clearly his wife lying on the floor. As he had said, Mrs. Hathaway was alive. The slow rise and fall of her large bosom made that much clear. After some coaxing from a young woman with blonde hair pulled back into a curly bun and piercing blue eyes, Mrs. Hathaway’s eyes fluttered open and began to study her surroundings.
“Agatha!” Mr. Hathaway called out; very much relieved to see she was okay. “Let me go, Howard!”
“I don’t think so, Leon!” her uncle retorted, “We’ve got you on assault and attempted murder, and we are pressing charges.”
“Let me go now, or I’m counter charging for kidnapping!”
As much as Rinsi would have loved to see Mr. Hathaway be dragged away by the police at that moment, she found herself quickly shrinking back into a fetal position at the touch of a gentle hand on her shoulder. She was afraid it was another panic-stricken guest out to beat her up more, and she didn’t want that. However, instead of a beating, she found that warm, gentle hand squeezing her shoulder gently, accompanied by a gentle voice cooing at her from behind.
“Come on, dear, let’s get you up.” The voice said.
Through all the chaos and confusion in her mind, through the pain that her mind was registering to the point of ignoring everything else but the chaos, Rinsi recognized that voice. It was her aunt Ruth, the woman who had been her mother since her own had died when she was little. The other two screaming voices began to grow quieter as both her uncle and Mr. Hathaway were dragged out of the room, leaving only Rinsi, her aunt Ruth, and Mrs. Hathaway in the room. The woman who had been with Mrs. Hathaway earlier had long since left.
“If you ask me,” Mrs. Hathaway said haughtily, “the little monster deserved every bit of it. Monsters like her aren’t human, and shouldn’t be treated as such.”
“Shut that fat mouth of yours!” her aunt Ruth said angrily.
Rinsi watched as Mrs. Hathaway complied, looking rather surprised that her dear friend – Rinsi’s aunt Ruth – had spoken so harshly and rudely with her. It would have been funny, if it weren’t for the fact that they were supposed to be friends.
“You’re no better than the slave traders!” Ruth continued, “You think because someone is different that they are not human, that they are animals, that they don’t deserve to be treated like humans. Only those who say such things and do such things are the true monsters!”
“Well!” Mrs. Hathaway said, throwing her feather boa around her shoulders dramatically, “That’s quite enough out of you, Ruth Starlight! Let’s see what you say when our funding for your little homeless shelter gets cut off!”
With that Mrs. Hathaway stormed out of the room, her nose in the air.
Tears began to roll down Rinsi’s cheeks. She was in pain, both physical and emotional. She was a monster. Her boyfriend had said so. Her friend Mrs. Hathaway said so. Everyone said so. She had even caused the end of her aunt’s friendship with Mrs. Hathaway. Perhaps everyone was right. Even though she hadn’t directly hurt anyone, nor had she shown any abilities, she had still caused panic enough for people to get hurt. She had caused her love to say something horrible to her, and her friends turn away from her. Maybe they were right. She had only glowed a little, but that little did so much damage. Maybe she really was a monster.