Chapter 1:

 Chapter 1: In A Word? Strange.

     Deelia Rena Noche sat with her head tilted slightly as she watched a rabbit converse with a young bunny using body language. Although Deelia could not comprehend what was transpiring between the two creatures, she was still intrigued. Just about everything had a sort of pull on Deelia’s interest, though. Deelia need knowledge the way a fish needs water, or a human needs air. Deelia’s mother, Marie Anise Noche, used to tell Deelia that knowledge was the source of all of life’s strange little quirks, that the less you knew the better off you were. And she also said that curiosity killed the cat. Yet, whenever Marie said this, her eyes held a mixture of slight panic, worry, and sadness.

     Deelia always noticed, she was a very intuitive little girl, but she didn’t think too much of it. She never dared to question her mother, either. She never once did. The strange thing is that Deelia questioned just about everything, from whether blades of grass had feelings and thoughts, to whether clouds were really hundreds of dense angels packed together into a tight mist, but never her mother. When her mother died from unknown causes when Deelia was no older than ten years, she wished she had taken more care to notice the way Marie’s eyes held a slight metallic glint, and how Marie’s smile was always a little too small, or a little too sad. Sometimes her smile was both.

     Weirdly, Deelia did remember these things, but long after Marie was gone. Deelia’s dad, John Lan Noche, and her friend, Nathan, were all she had left. No family, no pets, just her dad and Nathan. And, of course, her books. Deelia loved to read. She couldn’t even remember a time when she had not been able to read. By the time Deelia was fourteen, she had read everything and anything she could get her hands on, as well as everything and anything in the public library that interested her.

     Yet, she was always greedy for more. Deelia was the girl in her grade who didn’t have to do the readings because she had read the long before. This also says something on her memory, she has an almost idetic memory. Of course this always gave her more time to come up with theories (she was a professional theorist, you know). And coming up with theories had meant psychiatrists, and therapists, and hypnotists. That last one was courtesy of Nathan saying it may be possible to hypnotize her out of her crazy theories.

     Yet they all said the same things. The girl wasn’t at all worried about her surroundings as a whole, but rather every single particle in the air, and how, as well as why, it hung there. Suspended in the air. Deelia’s hypnotist once said that not a thing would have made Deelia open up and let people pass through her defensive blocks in her mind. The girl had a strong mind. And nobody was really sure if the girl was slightly aware of any of that.

     The professionals all also said that Deelia had a thirst for knowledge that rivaled any of the world’s greatest scientists, and was unequal to that of anyone still alive. She was a regular Einstein. As Deelia thought over all of the things in her head, her mind drifted to the topic of people. And how they called her names, and wouldn’t talk to her at recess. Deelia was so externally calm, though, that nobody could have guessed what was going through her mind. Deelia was always, always picked on. 

     Mostly because she always had her nose in a book, but sometimes it was because of her hair and eyes. Her hair was peculiar, being black as pitch and soft as kitten’s fur, but her eyes were even stranger. Her eyes seemed to glow if you saw them in the dark; they were like iridescent violets in a pale moonbeam. The other girls were practically terrified of her. See, Deelia and her family lived in a very small town, chock full of all kinds of crazy, including superstition. Neighbors, long after witch trials were extinguished, people in this town were still accused.

     The town believed in vampires, witches, werewolves, and just about everything else that goes bump in the night. Deelia’s family had long been known for being accused of witchcraft and other Pagan things. So, respectfully, the girls in Deelia’s grade thought she was a witch, and so took every opportunity to point this out. As Deelia sat watching the two creatures communicating, a single tear track found its’ way onto her cheek. Her dark hair glistening in the late afternoon sunlight, she realized there was a presence behind her.

      Deelia whirled around in just enough time to catch sight of Nathan popping out from behind a tree. Nathan’s pale blonde hair shining in the late sun, and his sea green eyes hidden behind his glasses. As Deelia saw his tall, lanky from she relaxed her stance slightly. Comforted it was someone she knew, she turned back to the animals and resumed her observations. She sensed, rather than heard, Nathan take a seat on the rock next to her.

     The pair sat there on the rock, undeterred by the quiet, each in their own thoughts. After almost half an hour Nathan shifted so he was facing Deelia and spoke.

      “What are we doing?” Nathan asked in his slightly deep voice.

      “We’re enjoying nature. You’re probably staring at the lake, and I’m watching to rabbits.” Deelia replied in a soft murmur, and took this time to turn as well.

      “No, I meant that it’s the end of summer and we didn’t do anything! We sat here, in the woods, hiding from the rest of the town.” Nathan gestured with his hands for emphasis.

      “Nate, you know why we’re hiding. They think you’re a vampire, and I’m a witch. There is no way I want to face them!” Deelia almost hyper-ventilated at the mere thought of it.

       “Dee, breath. You have to see them tomorrow anyways, we start school again in the morning.”

      “I suppose so, but wouldn’t it be nice if we never had to go back?” Deelia looked up at Nathan with her beautiful eyes, and Nathan noticed just how tired she was. When Nathan nodded slightly, she turned to face the lake and laid her head onto his shoulder. “What if we had wings? We could fly away, just let the wind take us for a ride. Not worry about school, or if we’re going to be put on trial for the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever heard.

     “Think about it. Witches? Vampires? What is wrong with them! This isn’t anything overly weird! This is sadly normal for our sad little village. The only thing protecting us is probably our bloodlines. I come from a fairly respectable family,all of those who were out on trial had the charges dropped. Oh Nathan, I just wish I was a bird and had wings. Don’t you?”

     The two stayed out until the sun had gone almost all the way down. Then they walked up to Deelia’s house, Nathan stayed with them in the summer because his dad had a business that lasted all summer in a foreign country, and he was required to go there. Nathan’s dad probably wouldn’t be back until a week into the school year, and his mum wasn’t fit to take care of a child.

     As the two teenagers neared the house, they caught sight of John at the back door holding it open, as well as glaring at them. It was past dark by now, and John was quite worried about their well-fare. Deelia and Nathan shared a conspiratorial grin and went inside.