Ever since I was little I never knew who my mother was. Or did I know what her she looked like. But I always pictured her as one those mothers who was always was playing around and joking around with her kids. Bought them stuff when they cried but never spoiled them, Leave them little surprise notes like. “Have a Great Day at school!” or a huge sun with a smiley face grinning from ear to ear saying “Smile today is good to be a great day!” Guess that I never know that feeling.

My name is Essence, no last name needed because I don’t claim it. I live in this town in Jersey I moved here last year with my semi older step-sister Bri Hampton and her strange grandmother Isa. In the small rich community filled with snobby rich people who wear tight shirts and kakis with their bouncy blonde girlfriend with huge boobs and plastic face and their red Barbie cars driving down the street you probably want to stop and hear, “Come on Barbie, let’s go party!” Ha. In Blank wood nothing ever happens if a puppy got hit and broke its paw it like a world crisis. Everything just stops, the whole freaking S.W.A.T team will be out there and then they will Life light the poor thing. Nah, I wish that it was like that but it is the exact opposite. You got teenagers running around throwing parties and going into clubs starting fights and what not. They are out of control during the nightlife; you couldn’t even step out of your house without seeing just a whole bunch of kids just partying up on your lawn. One time the nice old lady was scared back into her house from the teens that was all wearing black robes and carrying plastic scythes. That was soo rude to do that to her but it actually was kind of funny.
Anyways I live on the outskirts of town, in a freakishly small white house. It’s just me, Bri and Isa who stay in this shack. Ugh! Bri the 5’11”, cut-off shorts, band tee wearing busted out converse, light brown eyed short brown choppy hair cut that Get-out-of-my-face-in-five-seconds-or-I’ll-high-five-your-face rebel. And she also mixed but she acts more black than she is white. But I love her like we were actually sisters. We first met when I got put in the Happy Hands Orphanage; Bri lost her mother a couple minutes after she was born. I didn’t like her at first because she creeped me out, she fell out of the jungle gym yelling “I’m queen of the world!!” She broke her arm in three places. She got up and tried to climb back up I walked up to her and asked her if she was ok she just smiled and turned her head then back at me she made the scariest face. I threw my juice box at her and ran.

She eventually came back with a cast around her arm and apologized. She pulled out a lime green Sharpie and asked me to be the first to sign her cast, we ended being best friends. But we felt like blood, Bri gave me the edge in my life. I can’t see life without her.

About 6 months being in the orphanage. A lady comes and says that Bri and I got adopted by her grandmother, she looks like Bri in so many ways but they act different. Isa is not all the way there I think. She acts weird. One time I caught her talking to herself out of the window I asked her who was she talking to she started yelling at me and pushed me back up into my room and go back to sleep. It was 12o clock. I will never understand that woman but I love her to death. As for me….well, I’m not all that beautiful and I’m all that ugly either. People say that I’m cute in a way, they say that I have a great figure and whatnot but I chose not to see myself as hot or sexy because it’s one of those things that I’m not. My eyes are violet and I have semi-long raven hair. And I’m the only black kid at my school.
“Hey Essence, do you know where Isa put any of that stuff that she mixed at?” Bri staggered into my room. I lay in my bed bundled in my covers feeling like someone nailed nails in my head and stuffed my nose. Bri looked dead. She had dark rings under her eyes and her nose was red, her skin pale. I have no clue what is going on with us. For the past four days we have been sick with the flu. We been to the hospital because I had overheated and Bri passed out, the doctors couldn’t do anything to cool me down or wake Bri up. I hate hospitals with a passion so I kept saying that I was fine but I wasn’t. The doctors called in a lady with red wavy hair and pale skin with ice blue eyes. The lady shooed all of the doctors out and like 15 minutes when we both were up and about.

“I think that she has it downstairs.”
“Great, heading back down stairs…” She stumbled out. I watched her leave until she paused near the first stair. I blinked and Bri was falling down the stairs.
“Bri!!” I yelled. I got up too fast and tripped over my feet but I caught myself. My head started to swim, my vision started to blur in and out of focus, a large figure stood in my door way.
“Isa? Is Bri ok?” I groaned, my stomach knotted I felt like someone punched me in the gut five million times. I fell to my knees, a cold hand placed on my shoulder made me flinch and look up. I couldn’t tell who it was all I saw was black hair.
“Alec!! What are you doing here?! Take your hands off of her!” I heard Isa voice shouts. The room starts to spinning.
“Isa! Long time no see. I’ve haven’t seen you ever since you were in-“
“Don’t EVER speak of that name in this house.”A dark chuckle sounded. I got to my feet; strong hands wrapped around my waist and pulled me up. “What are you doing?! Put her down-!”
“Isa, you know what I’m here for. So, hand over the other girl and I will be on my way.”
“No! Are you insane?! They are just children, they don’t know anything-“
“That doesn’t matter! They’ll learn! Instead of hiding from them you should be explaining it!” Everything went silent. I have no clue what is going on. I groaned loud, my head felt like it was about to burst. “Do you see what is happening? They are changing. If you keep them here they’ll die.”
“I know what will happen Alec!” Isa snapped.
“Then why keep them here!? And not explain to them what will happen!? Now hand her over!” Everything got quiet again, and then I heard a soft sob coming from a distance.
“Please…Please make sure that they don’t get hurt…Please…”
“They won’t. You and I both know that they won’t, Goodbye Isabella I’ll be back for all of their belongings.” I heard loud shuffling movements. Then I blacked out.