The Other Prophecy Child

Endings and Beginnings

I've never lived what I would call a normal life. There have always been weird things happening around me, although, nobody else ever seemed to notice. I never really thought about any of it too much, but, if I had known what was in store for me, I never would've left the orphanage.

I was only three when it started. I was only three when my mom died. Everyone tried to lie to me about it, they said that mom died while giving birth to Emily, but I knew that was wrong. Maybe they thought that I was too young to remember what had really happened, but it was all clear as day to me. The truth is, that my mother was murdered. I never got a good look at them, but, whatever attacked us that day, it wasn't human.

That was the first weird experience in my life, the first of many to come. They only got weirder after that, but that one was the still the worst. Creatures so strange that I couldn't begin to describe them coming to help me, animals talking to me, my caretakers turning into half-snake people. These were the events that made me realize that I wasn't like everyone else. These were the things that made me realize that I wasn't a normal human.

We were sent to an orphanage after our mom died. Some old place in the middle of New York City, I don't remember where exactly, but it was the worst place for us to spend our childhood. We were treated like trash there, like we weren't even human. The other kids picked on us all the time, I can't even tell you how many fights I got into. The caretakers weren't any better. Everything bad that happened around the place, we were blamed for, most of which we had nothing to do with. It was like those people could tell that we were different.

I can barely remember when all of the weirdness started. It was probably when I was nine, which would've made Emily seven. It was on the afternoon of a sunny day. Would I say that it was an enjoyable one? Not really. Then again, none of our days spent at the orphanage were ever enjoyable. Anyway, we were out in the yard for what they told us was recess. Emily and I were away from the others, the way we usually were, sitting at one of the picnic tables on the far side of the yard when one of the older boys came sauntering over to us.

"Hey, Cole," he called as he approached. I ignored him.

Tomas Elfnin, the worst of the worst when it came to bullies. He was a large kid, that always wore a flannel shirt, jeans, and a pair of black boots. His greasy face and unkempt hair made it look like he had no idea what personal hygiene was, and the smell that followed him only reinforced that image.

"I'm talking to you," Tomas said.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me off of the bench. I was thrown onto the ground right into a puddle of mud. I stood up and tried to clean myself off, but it was no use. Tomas just laughed at me with that usual annoying laugh of his, the fat idiot. I tried to ignore him, but he just made it so difficult. Of course, the caretakers, who should have come to help me, were acting like they weren't seeing anything.

"Why can't you just leave us alone," Emily said. She wasn't much of a talker. I was the only one she ever talked to actually, so it must have caught Tomas off guard when he heard her. He turned away from me and walked over to Emily. "We've never done anything to you, so just leave us alone," she told him.

Emily was a small girl, even for her age, and her thin frame didn't really make her intimidating by any definition. She had long, curly brown hair, brown eyes to match, and the kind of smile that could always calm me down, although she wasn't wearing it at the moment. The pink, flower patterned dress she was wearing, only added to the aura of innocence that she gave off. I couldn't imagine why anyone would want to pick on her.

"Yeah, and what are you gonna do if I don't," Tomas sneered, "You gonna kill me like you did your mom?"

Tears began forming on the edge of Emily's eyes. Why did he always have to go there? Why did he always have to bring up our mom? I hated it when he did that. Not just because our mom was dead, but also because of Emily. She actually believed all of those lies about how mom died in childbirth. She was actually convinced that it was her fault. I had to do something about Tomas before he went any further.