Darkness Rising

July 3, 2016

The pure off white envelope stared maliciously at me. All dark and looming as it sat on the dining room table. The clean crisp folds of this object practically screamed importance. And printed in bold burgundy letters was the name Oakview Academy for the Extraordinary Youth. The place where great world leaders and scientists graduate from. The place where I've been obsessed with since I decided to become a geneticist. It was addressed to a Miss Nieko J. Warden. That's my name. A tiny, short tempered brown skinned girl from Long Island got a letter from one of the best private academies on the East Coast. I can hardly believe it myself.

Drawn in the same deep red, in the top right hand corner was the Oakview mascot, the amazing arctic wolf. It was like he could see into my soul because with his strong features the wolf glared at me. He dared me to take it, to open it to see my fate. Like he knew my whole life depended on the paper that was tucked away safely inside the envelope.

My mind was so wrapped in this damned letter that I didn't hear my brother, Duffy, sneak up behind me.

"Good morning Sissy!" He yelled in my ear with his slight Russian accent. That fucker is always sneaking around.

My parents adopted Daniel Uriel Fedreov when we were ten from a very abusive foster home. My dad was his social worker at the time and when he was doing a surprise checkup, he found Duffy being attacked by his foster father with a wooden bat. The foster mother was cutting the two younger one, James and Ana, with a knife while talking in tongues. Daddy beat the shit out of that guy until the cops came and took him away in an ambulance. Not that Duffy cared or anything. The foster father went to jail and got beaten to death over a pack of cigarettes or something of that nature. The woman basically got off on mental illness. She says that a demon forced her to hurt them and that she loved them with all heart. But that's complete bullshit if you ask me.

Danny still talks to the younger ones. They're Russian too. I think they got adopted into one of those rich families that travel a lot. They visit often and I think they're really cool people.

Anyway, my parents made my sisters and I stay in the hospital with him while he was healing so he would feel safer. I practically forced him to watch Inuyasha and Dragon Ball Z with me while I ate his chocolate pudding. That's basically how we became so close.

Sucking my teeth, I turned to glare at him. He just gave me a toothy grin and strode into the kitchen. Asshole. So I'm not going to lie, Duffy is actually very handsome with his tall frame and athletic build. He had brown eyes that were warm and inviting and a smile that made girls swoon and grovel at the ground he walked on. He was walking around bare chested, not afraid to show his scars anymore.

"Morning," I said in a dull voice, turning back around. Clearly I am not in the mood for his shit so I went back to freaking out that stupid letter. Then the kitchen got suspiciously quiet. Narrowing my eyes, I slowly turned around to see him looking at me weird.

"Who pissed in frosted mini wheats this morning?" he said as he scrunched his practically perfect face up at me. Rolling my eyes at him, I tossed the damned envelope in direction and, of course, he caught it and examined it with a smile on his face.

"What? This is what has gotten your panties halfway up your ass?" his bitch ass laughed. He thinks this shit is funny.  I'm having an honest to God panic attack about my future and he's making a joke out of it. Daniel had nothing to worry about. He has been going to this school since his freshmen year. David Parker, the man that adopted James and Ana, paid for his tuition to my dream school. He didn't have to stay up late to fill out scholarship applications because he was already in school! Just as I'm about to hand him his life, my parents stomped their way down the stairs arguing like they do every morning.

"I am your husband! I don't see how you can abuse me in my sleep like that?" My dad exclaimed dramatically as he made it to the bottom of the steps. He had a small smirk on his face. The same smirk that would appear on my face when I'm trying to start trouble. "All I ever tried to do was love you and you repay by strangling me in my sleep!"

"Shut up William, you ain't die," Mom uttered while rolling her eyes. There is no such thing as a perfect couple but my parents came pretty close. They fell in love at frat party and haven't stopped twenty- five years later.  My dad was six foot tall, my complexion, bald and very muscular. Tattoos and brands covered his large biceps making him look intimidating, but he is a big, goofy teddy bear. Mommy was the opposite of daddy. She was five foot tall, light skinned, and medium brown hair with a blonde streak. People assumed because of her height she was soft but she'll knock you out then ask questions. 

"Why are y'all arguing this early in the morning?" I asked while laughing at the conversation. 

"Because your dad keeps trying to tell me what to do!" mommy whined as she pushed passed my dad. "Anyway, why are you two up this early?"

"Nieko is freaking out about her acceptance letter she refuses to open,"

"Wow Mr. Federov, thank you for telling my business before I could," I replied sarcastically. This boy is really going to make me hurt him.

"You're welcome, but I don't know why you're stressing? You're smart and talented, the admissions department would be stupid not to take you," Duffy stated with an encouraging smile.

"Yeah just open it," Daddy says with an excited look on his face. He takes my letter from Duffy and handed it back to me. If his knees wheren't bad from playing football in his younger days he would be jumping up and down. Laughing at his silliness my hand was poised to rip the envelope when the front opened and the twins  stumbled in with multiple  grocery bags. Chyenne and Chantel were identical and a minute apart. They looked just like Mommy, but Chantel was four foot eight with an ass while Chyenne was five foot one with the boobs. They were twenty-four and still lived with us. They weren't bums by any means. They had jobs and did their share around the house, but they aren't ready to move out yet.

"We got more stuff for tomorrow... why are y'all standing there like that? What's wrong?" Chantel questioned in alight voice.

"Koko is about to open her acceptence letter from that school!" Duffy yelled impatiently from all of the interruptions.

"OOOOOOH! Open it open it open it!" Chyenne screamed as she and Chantel  dropped the bags and ran over to me. My family created a semi-circle around me with nervous expression on their faces. They wanted this as much as I did. If I wasn't accepted, it would crush them just as much as it would've crush me. 

"I don't think I can..." was what I started to say before Mommy snapped.

"NIEKO!"

"Yes Ma'am?" I answered, shook that she yelled at me.

"Open the damn letter," she ground out forcefully.

Taking a deep breathe, I take my index finger and drag it across the edge of the envelope. I pull the thick piece of paper and unfold it. 

Dear  Nieko,

Congratulations! I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to the Oakview Academy for the Extraordinary Youth.

I stopped reading and started screaming.