Bradhadair

Chapter One

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Fire on her wings

Heat on her breath

Kindled in birth

Ablaze in death.

The flames that engulf

The lives of the young

Sparkle at her fingertips

Dance upon her tongue.

Anger in her soul

Desire flickers in her heart

Only she can handle

The deadly art.

The flames at her command

Bending to her will

Fly from her hands

Destroy all that stays still.

She’ll never belong,

She’s a bane to the earth

Her existence is sin

She has no worth.

Walking alone

Hatred and despair

Cursed is the life

Of the Bradhadair.

---

Snow drifted from the sky, settling on the land below and decorating the grass and pavement with a pure powder. Small gusts of wind swept it at a random and steady pace, lifting the substance and carrying it through to every inch of the small town.

An airy sigh left the lips of a young girl, leaving its mark on the window’s glass. Bright blue eyes followed a single flake of snow as it landed gently on the windowsill, long strands of dark hair falling around them without blocking view.

The girl snorted, a small smile spreading across her face. “Snow on my birthday,” she murmured thoughtfully. “Should have known.” She snorted again, shrugging and turning away from the window. “Oh well. Better than rain.”

Tucking a long piece of brown hair behind an ear, the girl trotted to her bed, falling back onto the downy comforter. The brightly colored sheets of oranges and pinks swirled around her, enveloping her in a case of soft fleece and flannel. A sigh of contentment left pink lips as she allowed her eyes to fall closed, blocking blue orbs from view.

“Aine?”

A masculine voice coming through her door brought the girl back to her senses, and she quickly sat up in her bed. She ran a hand through her hair and called back with her usual response, “Yes‘m?”

She heard the man on the other side of her door give a small snort at her unfitting reply. “Are you dressed? Breakfast is ready.”

Aine bit her lip, silently cursing as she realized how little time she had before she needed to leave for school. “Umm… not quite. I‘ll be down in a bit.”

“All right, see you in a bit then.” There was silence for a moment, before the man continued. “Oh, and, by the way… happy birthday, sweetie.”

Aine smiled gently. “Thanks, Dad.”

Upon hearing her father walk away from her room and down the stairs, Aine jumped from her bed and ran to her closet, muttering random swear words under her breath. It always seemed to take her ages to get ready for school, so it was never a good thing to be running late.

“Shit, shit, shit, dammit,” she went, throwing the door of her closet open and staring inside. An assortment of colors and variations of different shirts lay inside, but nothing quite caught her attention; nothing seemed worthy of her birthday…

“Hmm…” Aine’s brow furrowed, her pink tongue poking out from between her lips. ‘What to wear…?’

And then… a smile crawled across the girl’s face and she trotted to her desk where a cordless phone was located. Picking up the device and dialing a familiar number, her smile widened into a grin, and she listened to the dial tone with an eager heart.

Finally, someone picked up. “Hello?”

“Hi!” The word was squealed at the top of Aine’s lungs, and at the highest pitch that she could produce.

“Oh. Hi, Aine.”

Aine smirked at her friend‘s lifeless and somewhat bored tone, fingering the Star of David at her chest. Not that she was religious or anything-she hadn’t even had a bat mitzvah; to Aine being Jewish was more traditional than spiritual. “Willow, guess what day it is!”

The girl dubbed Willow was silent for a moment, before her reply came. “No.”

Aine frowned dramatically, even though she knew it wouldn‘t have the wanted effect, seeing as how her friend couldn‘t see her. “Oh, come on!”

Willow laughed lightly into the phone. “Why, it‘s the Ainey-poo’s birthday!”

“You bet!” Aine grinned. “My sixteenth birthday, to be exact.” She reeled at the thought. Time just flew, didn’t it? “And I need advice for an outfit.”

“Oh, come on, Aine, you know I don‘t-”

“Like I was saying, I need an idea for an outfit.” Aine smirked and hopped about her room, flicking the ‘on’ switch of her CD player. Awaiting her friend’s response, she rolled her shoulders, achieving a satisfying crack from her back.

“Uhh… something… cute?”

Aine rolled her eyes and pressed the play button. Within a moment, the harsh chorus of guitars and drums began to fill her room. “Wow, thanks, Will. That really helps.”

“I know. I‘m just helpful like that,” Willow said proudly.

Aine giggled. “Willow, you‘re such a-”

But, a new voice interrupted the girl. “Aine?”

Blue eyes darted to the door. “Will? Hold on for a moment.” She covered the receiver with her hand. “Yes, Dad?”

“When you‘re ready, I’ve got something out here that I need you to take care of,” came her father‘s muffled reply.

Aine nodded gently to herself. “Alright. I‘ll be out in a moment.”

“Okay then.”

Aine listened to her dad’s footsteps as they descended the staircase before tiptoeing to her door, removing her hand from the phone receiver. “Okay, I’m back.”

“Joyous.”

“I know, isn‘t it?” Aine smiled and opened the door of her bedroom, casting a shifty glance down the hall before looking in front of her. On the ground before her lay a beautifully wrapped box, decorated in soft blues and purples, with a big white bow on the top.

The girl’s smile widened as she knelt down and picked up the gift, cradling the phone in her shoulder as she re-entered her room. “Thanks, Dad!”

“Eh?”

“Not you.”

“Ah. What is it then?”

Aine smiled as she closed the door with her foot and pranced to the other side of her room, dropping the box on her bed. “My first present for today,” she said cheerfully, slowly ripping the paper away from the package.

Upon the wrapping paper’s removal, a white box was revealed. Aine stared at it for a moment before lifting the lid and shrieking at what was inside.

“Oh, kick ass!” she squealed with teenaged delight, her hands diving forward to grab what lay in the box.

“What is it?” Willow asked curiously. “Tell me!”

Aine grinned, revealing straight, white teeth. “Only the coolest pants ever.”

And they were indeed the ‘coolest pants ever.’ In Aine’s hands resided a pair of long, black pants. They flared out at the bottom where fire was beautifully etched into the fabric. The collaboration of bright oranges and reds and yellows caught Aine’s eyes and she let out another high-pitched squeal.

“Nifty. What do they look like?”

Aine, never being the best at describing stuff, replied, “They‘re all flamey!”

Willow paused. “…Okay, maybe I‘ll just see them at school.”

“You bet.” Aine smiled brightly, her cheeks warm. Bright blue eyes dropped down to the box once again, and they glimmered as they locked onto something that she hadn’t seen before. “Oh, there‘s something else!”

In the bottom of the box, was a deep red shirt. Well, if you could call it a shirt. It was made from a fishnet pattern, with tiny holes between each stitch. Aine lifted the shirt from the box and squealed even more.

“Ow.”

Aine smirked. “Oh, shut up, I‘m happy!”

“Well, that‘s nice, but what about my ears?” Willow countered.

Aine snorted. “Hey, when you signed up for this friendship, you knew very well what you were getting yourself into.”

“I didn’t know I’d be going deaf.”

“Ch’.” Aine smirked lightly and cast a shifty glance at her alarm clock, cursing under her breath. “Crap, I gotta go. See you at school?”

“Yep.”

“‘Kay. Wuvvles you, Will!” Aine said sweetly.

“I wuvvles you, too, Ainey.”

Hanging up the phone, the brown-haired girl ran to her closet and pulled out a black camisole, pulling her light blue one off as she went. She yanked the black one off of the hanger and pulled it over her head, jetting back to her bed as she struggled to get the tight shirt on.

Coming out victorious in her battle with the camisole, Aine hurriedly pulled off her pajama pants (the pink ones with polar bears on them) and pulled on her new black ones with the flames. She smiled. A perfect zipping and buttoning her pants, Aine pulled on her new, blood-red fishnet shirt over her camisole and ran to the body-length mirror behind her door.

And, while she would have loved to stare at herself for about ten minutes (or an hour or two…), the sad fact was that there wasn’t enough time for that. The girl hesitantly tore herself away from the mirror and opened her door, jetting through the hall and down the staircase after clicking off her stereo. Taking a right at the bottom of the stairs, she smiled and headed for the kitchen, from which a most delicious smell of pancake batter was coming.

Aine breathed deeply as she stepped onto the linoleum floor of the kitchen. “That smells really good, Dad…”

Aine’s father, who had been too busy flipping the pancakes to notice his daughter’s arrival, looked up from the stove and gave her a warm smile. “Why, thank you, my dear,” he said, glancing back down at the pancakes for a moment and then back at his daughter. “And, my, my, don‘t you look cool.”

Aine grinned and walked to the table, taking a seat across from the open window where a fork and knife had already been stationed. “Why, yes; yes, I do.”

Her dad grinned back and walked to the table, a plate of perfectly golden pancakes, with maple syrup on top in hand. “And, for my cool-looking daughter, I have pancakes.” He placed the dish on the table in front of Aine, a smile on his lips.

Aine returned the gesture with an affectionate smile of her own. Picking up her fork, she stabbed it into top pancake. She ripped off a small piece and placed it in her mouth, savoring the sweet taste of the maple syrup and pancake. “Thanks, Dad,” she said finally, after swallowing her first bite. “These are the best.”

Aine continued to shovel her pancakes into her mouth, a smile plastered onto her face as she thought about the day to come.

---

The happiness of Aine’s birthday followed her all the way to school, plaguing her during the bus ride there… and ensuring the growing insanity of her schoolmates.

All throughout the day, regardless of gigantic amounts of homework and teasing from her peers, Aine had managed to keep a smile and a happy state of mind. After all, it was her birthday, and as far as she was concerned, nothing could kill a good mood on a birthday.

However, by the last class of the day, Geometry, Aine had found herself excruciatingly bored. ‘And they say there‘s no such thing as cruel and unusual punishment in schools…’ the girl mused, ignoring her teacher as she explained the concept of parabolas and whatnot. ‘Too much more of this and I could go certifiably insane.’

“Psst!”

Aine was shaken from her boredom trance, as she liked to call them, when she realized that her best friend was trying to get her attention.

Willow sat just across from Aine, and was now tapping on the desk in an effort to get the girl’s attention. Her short curly, light brown hair was tucked safely behind an ear, and light blue eyes sparkled gently from beneath silver-rimmed glasses. The girl was extremely fair, sporting a few freckles, and while not exactly noticeable when she sat, was also very tall.

Aine cocked an eyebrow at her friend, mouthing, ‘What?’ The two had mastered the art of reading lips. It was a good thing, too; without it they would surely die of boredom in their torturous geometry class.

Willow gave a roll of her eyes and dramatically mouthed back, ‘This is so boring.’

Aine snorted, casting a sideways glance at the teacher by the front of the classroom. ‘Wow, ya think?’

The two girls gave similar sighs of exasperation and slumped in their chairs, both rolling their eyes.

Aine dropped her head back and stared at the grey ceiling of her classroom, blowing out a stream of air as she felt the blood rush to her head. ‘Only fifteen more minutes,’ she noted, reading the clock from her upside-down stance. Her gaze shifted from the clock above the door to the closed window beside it. Snowflakes were still falling lightly from the sky, covering the school with a delicate veil of white.

‘If we’re lucky, we won’t have school tomorrow…’ The girl sighed for the umpteenth time in the past hour, rolling her eyes as one of her classmates said how a parabola is curved or something or other…

“Aine?”

The girl lifted her head once she had heard the teacher’s voice, the blood now rushing out of her head and down through her body. She turned curious eyes to her would-be educator, Ms. McNair. “Hm?”

Ms. McNair tilted her head to the side, black hair cascading over one shoulder as she offered an obviously fake smile. “What did John just say?”

Aine raised an eyebrow, racking her brain for an adequate response. “Umm… That parabolas are curved and linear is straight.” The girl smiled, silently thanking her ability to zone out and pay attention at the same time, as contradictory as the skill may be.

Ms. McNair nodded and continued ‘teaching’ (as the school administration called it) while Aine turned bored eyes to her friend across the table. Willow smirked brightly and mouthed, ‘Nice.’

Aine grinned back, her blue eyes sparkling with silent laughter. ‘Thanks, I thought so, too,’ she lipped back. Her friend continued to smirk and then glanced at the clock, her eyes instantly brightening. Aine rotated in her seat in an effort to see the digital clock, a wide grin spreading across her lips when she laid eyes on the glowing red numbers.

By then, students had already started to pack up their things, shoving binders and fifty-pound text books into their backpacks as they ignored their teacher’s plea to pay attention. Aine, among the others, had risen from her seat and was excitedly shoving her godforsaken geometry book into her blue backpack, simultaneously crushing several loose papers that resided there.

Swinging her bag onto her back and rolling down the sleeves of her sweatshirt, Aine cast a backwards glance at the window. After studying the weather outside, she turned to Willow, who had already slipped on her gloves and beanie hat. “Think we’ll have a snow day?”

Willow shot a glance outside, smiling wistfully at the snow that fell there. Returning her gaze back to her comrade, her smile evaporated and she gave a sad shake of her head. “No chance. The snow always finds some screwy way to melt when we need it most,” she said dismally.

Aine dropped her shoulders in disappointment, turning and heading for the door as the school bell rang. “Dammit.”

Willow followed suit and walked alongside her friend. “Tell me about it.”

The two girls left their classroom, chatting and ranting in frustration about the pointlessness of geometry in real life. When would they ever need to know how to find the length of the third side of a triangle? When would they ever be asked to spell parabola?

“Geometry is complete asinine,” Aine mumbled angrily, exercising one of her newfound favorite words. She crossed her arms over her chest in an effort to stay warm in the freezing weather. “Why can’t we take classes that will actually teachus useful things to help us in life?”

“Yeah, like how to use chopsticks,” Willow commented.

“Sure-hey!” Aine clipped her friend on the shoulder as the girl began to laugh hysterically. “Don’t tease me about that; there are plenty of people who can’t use them.”

“Yeah, but I only know one, and I’ve gotta work with what I have.” Willow smirked.

Aine blew out a stream of air through pursed lips, her eyes rolling skyward as she released a defeated, “Oy.”

Willow grinned brightly, looping an arm around her (much shorter) friend’s neck. “Don’t worry, I still love you.”

Aine snorted, though a wispy smile touched her lips. “Well, at least I have that.” She snorted again and rolled her shoulders, attempting to relieve the tension and knots there.

“You okay?”

The brown-haired girl glanced up at her friend with a reassuring smile, though she continued to roll her shoulders. “Yeah, I‘m fine.” She frowned lightly. “It‘s just my back; it‘s been hurting on and off all day. Feels like my spine‘s out of alignment or something…”

“Hmm.” Willow shrugged. “Maybe it’s growing pains?”

“I hope so,” Aine murmured with a small smirk. “I have to catch up to you somehow, right?” She grinned and offered her best friend a wink.

The two girls walked lazily towards the bus area, cold winds enveloping them as they strode through the gently falling snow. Small flakes of the powdery white substance landed upon them, settling and melting in their clothes and hair. The girls, upon nearing Willow’s bus, slowed to a halt.

Willow gave a small sigh of contentment, raising her eyes to the sky. “So, Ainey-poo,” she began lightly, “Wanna come home with me today, or do you already have plans for your birthday?”

Aine gave her friend a wry smile. “Sorry, Will,” she said quietly. “I think my dad and I are going to make dinner together or something.” The girl smiled gently at the thought. It was a tradition that she and her father had shared since she was a young child.

Willow gave a shrug and a reassuring smile. “No worries. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Aine nodded, and Willow shot a backwards glance at the open door of her bus. “I better go… So, happy birthday, Aine.” The tall girl leaned forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Aine’s shoulders, and Aine returned the embrace.

She smiled as her friend climbed the stairs to the bus, giving a small wave of her hand. “Later, Will. See you tomorrow.”

Turning away from her friend’s bus, Aine made her way towards her own, ducking her head to avoid harsh winds. Flakes of snow were thrown into her face and hair, clinging to her like little magnets to a refrigerator. They lodged themselves in her long eyelashes, making it hard for the girl to see clearly.

“God, it’s cold,” she muttered to herself, a small shiver racking her body. Her feet moved slowly and cautiously over the slippery walkway towards her bus, being very careful not to slip. She knew all too well what happened when you fell flat on your bottom in front of high school students.

The girl snorted, snuggling deeper into the soft material of her baggy, red sweatshirt. Small hands were lost inside of the long sleeves, making her flushed face the only visible skin as she marched through hordes of students.

Finally approaching the golden beast that was her school bus, Aine added a little hop in her step and bounded up the steps. After mumbling a polite ‘hello’ to the driver, a woman that she wasn’t terribly fond of, the girl took her seat.

A wispy sigh worked its way from her lips, and she relaxed into the brown, cracked seat. Her hands finally made an appearance outside of her sleeves, moving quickly and almost mechanically as they felt around for something inside of her backpack. They brushed against a variety of objects and surfaces before coming across what they had first set out for.

Smiling gently, Aine fished out a portable CD player from her backpack. The silver device shimmered gently, and the girl’s smile widened at the beautiful sight. It was, after all, among her most cherished possessions.

Slipping a portable headset out of the backpack and onto her ears, Aine quickly pressed play. Within moments, a soothing chorus of techno beats, soft voices, and electric instruments filled her ears; and geometry, chopsticks, and school in general became figments of the past.

---

The world outside darkened shortly after Aine had arrived at home from school, the sun disappearing from the sky as day gave way to an early winter’s night. The streets were cold and silent as snow continued to fall, coating the empty surfaces in white.

“No snow day, my ass,” Aine muttered to herself as she rolled down the blinds on her window, a small smile touching her pink lips. Stretching her arms high above her head with a contented grunt, she allowed herself to drop to the floor of her room where various articles of homework were already splayed about.

But, that was how Aine worked. Organization absolutely killed her, and she could never work at a desk. Though, her teachers always glared at her when she told them this, explaining why she couldn’t concentrate during school…

With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, the girl flopped onto her belly, nestling her chin into her palms as she looked on to her science homework with disinterest. It wasn’t that she didn’t like biology, but how was she supposed to pretend that cell discovery and theory was interesting?

Releasing another discontented sigh, Aine rolled onto her back, staring at her ceiling as the procrastination process began. On most nights she would have already had her homework done, but it was her birthday; surely she deserved a little more leeway?

“Hmm.” Aine hummed thoughtfully as she stared at the blindingly white ceiling of her room. ‘Sweet sixteen,’ she thought over in her mind, a smile gracing her lips. Another year closer to adulthood, another year closer to freedom. What was more joyous to a teenager than the day they turned sixteen?

Well, the day had certainly been filled with as much joy as Aine would have thought. Her friends had attacked her with cards and presents and other paraphernalia, and her teachers had seemed almost merciful with the workload. Not to mention that she and her father had created a most delicious dinner of teriyaki chicken and rice, which had been shortly followed by a barrage of marvelous gifts.

‘…Speaking of which…’ Aine rolled onto her stomach again and then pushed herself up, eyes searching her desk for the remote to her CD player. Upon locating it and pressing the play button, an ensemble of guitars and drums, accompanied by a strong female voice, came flooding through the speakers.

Aine smiled. It was her favorite band. And, while their gothic instrumentals and somewhat depressing lyrics couldn’t possibly be associated with her contented nature, she loved them nonetheless.

Dropping back onto the ground with a smile, the girl decided to make a stab at her history homework. When did the French Revolution begin? Easy-July 14, 1789. And who was the king at the time? …Aine would have to come back to that one.

Contented smile still in place, regardless of the pointless busywork and useless lessons, Aine continued on with her homework. With gothic rock music playing in the background, homework nearing an end, and one of the best days of her year so far coming to a close, she couldn’t have been happier.

But, that was when it came. A dull ache arose in the small of Aine’s back, spreading upwards and weaving around her spine. Blue eyes widened slightly as the unexpected pain hit, but returned to their norm as it slowly dissipated.

Aine gave a small shake of her head, arching her back slightly to alleviate any pain that had lingered there. ‘Growing pains? Must be…’

And she continued with her homework.

But, just as she assumed it would, the ache came again. This time it was stronger, though, reaching up and over her back and through her spine and neck, sending an audible gasp flying past her lips.

‘Growing pains?’ the girl asked silently as the ache intensified. ‘Come on, stop… any minute now…’

But the pain didn’t disappear. It only strengthened, overcoming her entire body in a wave of unbearable agony. Teeth clenched and hands curled into fists, Aine arched her back as an excruciating spasm shot up her spine. Another breathless gasp escaped her, and she found beads of sweat forming on her brow.

‘Why isn’t it stopping?’ She meant to ask the words aloud, but could no longer find the tongue or breath to say them. ‘Why is it going on for so long…?’

The torment continued. It went on for minutes, sending Aine writhing and crying out in pain, though her screams were successfully muffled by the music that still poured through the speakers of her CD player.

Tears had formed in the girl’s oceanic blue eyes, streaming down her reddened cheeks as the pain continued to pulsate through her body. It felt as if a million needles were penetrating her skin, it seemed as if her entire body had burst into flames. But, worse, it felt as if her body was being torn apart, ripped at the seams by an invisible force.

Her small body ached with anguish that she had never experienced nor imagined, and she sobbed and silently begged for release.

But… it wasn’t over yet.

After what seemed an hour had flown by, Aine felt her body breaking. She could hear the cracks and snapping of bones, and the lengthening and ripping of her own muscle. She could feel her spine pushing through her skin, and she screamed and cried out as the pain consumed her. She couldn’t take anymore. She couldn’t sustain herself with another minute of this unbearable agony. She couldn’t…

…She couldn’t feel anything. Just as she had felt the pain had reached its peak, it had disappeared, leaving her sobbing on the floor for no apparent reason.

The girl slowly lifted her head, glancing up from the fetal position that she now lay in. Her cheeks were flushed and drenched with her own tears and sweat, and her vision was still blurred. She ran the back of her hand over her eyes. Was it over? Had the pain really gone, so suddenly?

With shaking hands reaching out to stabilize herself, Aine slowly lifted from her curled position. She unsteadily rose to her feet, holding her hands out for balance as she hobbled to her CD player and shut it off in favor of a calming silence.

Standing there in momentary peace, Aine’s brow furrowed. She felt… strange. As if her body had changed. True, her skin was practically burning from the pain of her previous episode, and her eyes were itchy and puffy from the tears, but there was something else. Was she… heavier?

Wanting to verify the last question, Aine stumbled to the body-length mirror behind her door, legs still shaking as she went. With her ears and ringing and vision blurred, she could just barely make out two distinct shapes of bright colors behind her…

That was when Aine released a scream. It flew from her lips and echoed in her room, followed shortly by panicked curses.

“Holy shit! What the fuck?” the girl shrieked at her reflection, turning and twisting to better see herself as her eyes widened in horror. Her vision had finally cleared up a deal, so that she could see clearly.

But this… how could she be seeing this?

“What the hell?” Aine stared in confusion at her reflection, backing away fearfully at the person that stared back with just as much alarm.

“Aine?”

The girl jumped slightly at the sound of the masculine voice. “Dad?” she called back, feeling the pinprick of tears behind her eyes.

“Aine, honey, are you okay? I heard you scream…”

At that point tears filled Aine’s eyes as she stared at her reflection still, lips quivering as she fought to hold back a sob. She was not okay.

“Dad…” The girl hobbled to the door, getting closer to her unfamiliar reflection than she really wanted to. “Don’t freak out, okay…”

Slowly pulling the door open, Aine winced and prepared herself for the worst, tears already sliding down her round cheeks.

“Oh, honey, I-” Her father was cut short when his eyes locked on her, and an audible gasp flew from his lips. “Aine!”

“I don’t know what happened,” the girl sobbed, finally letting loose as she backed away from her dad. Lanky arms wrapped around herself as tears poured from her eyes, blurring her vision once more. “It’s not my fault…”

“Aine…” Her father took a hesitant step for her. “Calm down, it’s okay…”

But she couldn’t calm down. There was no way she could calm down now. Since she first laid eyes on the unfamiliar reflection, there would be no possibility of the girl ever being calm or consoled. Because she had seen something strange and shocking; something foreign and disturbing.

She had seen wings. Actual wings. Bright, fire-like appendages had sprouted on her back, spreading wide at a span that exceeded her very height.

The girl cast a glance over her shoulder at the newly acquired limbs. They fluttered gently, and she was shocked to realize that she had made them do so. Her brain had actually sent the message to her wings to make them move.

“Aine, we need to talk.” A comforting hand was placed on her shoulder.

The girl brought her focus back to her father, eyes wide and fearful, and bearing flecks of gold and red that hadn’t been there before. She blinked and brought up a hand to sweep away the tears that laced her lashes, allowing herself to be led like a small child to her bed. Sitting down on the cushy furniture, Aine turned her focus onto her father who had taken a seat in the nearby chair at her desk.

The man stared back at her with a furrowed brow, eyes glowing with concern and hesitation. He bit his lip, searching desperately for the right thing to say…

But that would take too long, Aine decided, and spoke. “What am I?” Her voice came out in a pitiful whisper, raspy and meek from her tears.

Her father seemed to perk at this question. “What are you?” Aine nodded. “I…” He blew out a stream of air through tight lips, shaking his head as he ran a hand through his thinning brown hair. “I never thought I’d have this conversation with you.”

“You are, though,” Aine said pointedly, rubbing her arms for lack of better things to do with her hands. It felt as if fire had ignited in her palms, and she quickly removed them from her arms. They clenched the sheets beneath her. “Tell me, Dad.”

A small, mirthless chuckle left his lips. “All right, Aine. But I need you to listen, okay? Just listen.” The girl nodded, biting her lower lip to refrain from speaking. “Okay…” He let loose another sigh. “Aine, surely you’ve noticed a lack of pictures of your mother, right?”

She nodded, having only seen a few pictures of her mother. The old, faded photographs had been of poor quality, and only showing small bits and pieces of her. Aine had always blamed her father’s lousy photography skills.

“And you know how she died shortly after your birth? From pneumonia?” Aine nodded, wishing her father would get to the point. “Well, she didn’t. Your mother was murdered. For…” He sighed again, dropping his pained gaze to the floor. “For being a fairy. An ice fairy to be exact, I guess…”

Aine paused, allowing a full silence to occupy the room as she stared skeptically at her dad. Surely he was joking… “What…?”

“You remember all of the stories I told you when you were younger? Made up tales about pixies and sprites? They were real. I… I guess I should have told you sooner. I didn’t know this would happen… Your mother and I thought you would grow up human and remain so. We didn’t have any idea-”

“Dad,” Aine interjected gently. Her eyes were brimmed with crystalline tears, and her hands shook as she gripped the sheets of her bed. More than anything, she needed her father to be calm. To be strong. She didn’t think she could hold back the tears if he couldn’t even hold back his panic. “I’m… a fairy?”

“Half-fairy,” he corrected. “Though I guess the wings would say otherwise…”

Aine pursed her lips, staring at the ground with her brow knit. “How did this happen?”

And, from there, the tale unfolded. A painfully true story of how her parents had met in the forested area near her mother’s commune, how her mother had hated the fairy life and been fascinated by humans. Aine’s father told her how her mother, named Arwen, had had a husband and child in her fairy village before fleeing with him to join the human world.

He also told her of the disaster they had to be cautious of each and every day; how Aine’s mother cold only leave the house at night or with a magic seal to hide her fairy tributes (though hers had been broken and was no longer trustworthy). He spoke of Faery Hunters, an archaic group of human supremacists that felt it was their sole duty and purpose in life to rid the world of fairies, claiming that they were evil and a bane to the earth.

“Just over a month after your birth,” her father continued, his voice low and tainted by unshed tears, “A group of them came to our home. Your mother knew that the chances of them finding the three of us together were great, but…” He bit his lip. “But, if she left, you and I could escape.

“She assured me that she could defeat them and be back to us, but… she never returned. I found her body in the forest nearby just hours later, but with no traces of the Hunters that had murdered her.” Aine’s father’s brow furrowed as he hung his head, eyes somewhere on the carpet. “She died to protect us.”

Aine watched her father in miserable silence as a mind-numbing sensation swept over. Her mother… a fairy. Herself… a fairy. She was part of a hunted and hated species that Aine had never even imagined existed, and she had never known.

“We left the area not long over and relocated here. We haven’t seen a Faery Hunter since.” Fearful eyes watched his daughter out of the corner. “But… I’m afraid that now that your fairy blood has awakened, it’ll be easier for them to track you…” Shame washed over his face as he stared at the ground. “I’m so sorry, Aine.”

But Aine had nothing to say. She couldn’t reply with comforting words of, ‘oh, it’s not your fault’ or ‘I’m still the same person.’ It really was his fault. He had willingly joined with a fairy and created a child of both human and fairy heritage. And to say she was the same person… she couldn’t very well walk into her high school with wings and fire in her eyes (as she had noticed in the mirror as well), could she?

Aine stared dumbly at the floor, eyes dull and lips slightly parted as she breathed unevenly. What was there to say now? What was there to do…?

Suddenly, it was as if everything Aine had just experienced had finally registered. Somehow, within an hour of her young life, everything had changed. She was no longer the average teenaged girl, and could no longer attend her school or go out in public. She could never again see her friends again or have a boyfriend. She wasn’t normal anymore. Hell, she wasn’t even human.

Tears filled her eyes again, bringing the flecks of gold and red in the pools of blue to attention. They flickered, intensified by the moisture, as silent streamed down the girl’s cheeks. Shaking her head, she rose quickly to her shaking feet as she muttered, “This is too much…” and strode to the window.

Aine lifted the blinds so she could see out to the quiet neighborhood that had harbored her home for the whole of her life. But all she could see was her reflection, an unfamiliar visage to stand for everything that had suddenly gone awry in her life. She sucked in an uneven breath.

“This is too much,” she said again, tears still rolling down her face.

“Aine…” her father spoke her name gently, soothingly, but did not move from him perch.

‘I can’t handle this,’ Aine admitted silently, eyes closing. ‘I can’t be normal. I can’t pretend to be human…’ Her eyes opened as a startling and despaired realization hit her. ‘I can’t stay here.’

“I can’t stay here, Dad,” the girl whimpered as a sob choked her words. She turned her watery gaze towards him, lips quivering.

“Aine, don’t say that.” Her father rose to his feet, a hand extending in her direction.

But Aine was out of reach. Before her father could get to her, before she would dare to let him touch the vile and disgusting creature that she was, she was gone. In a burst of fiery color that was her wings, and an onslaught of broken glass, Aine was flying out the window.

The girl hit the snow-covered ground below at a run, and she fled from her home, leaving everything she had ever loved or known in heartbroken shreds behind.

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Author’s notes: And it begins.

Fairies for Dummies

-the type of fairy (ie: earth, air, fire, ice) is determined by their birthday and the sign they’re born under. Aine, for example, is a Scorpio, which is a fire sign.

-a magic seal would be a charm meant to conceal magical tributes such as wings, fangs, talons, abnormal ears, or what have you. It would normally be a piece of jewelry like a necklace or bracelet.

-There are different types of wings. For example, compare moth wings to butterfly wings. Butterfly’s wings close against each other, still protruding from the butterfly’s body when closed. Moth’s wings however, swing shut so they are against the moth’s body when closed. Aine has moth-like wings.

Art for the Bradhadair (Just remove the parenthesis)

-www(.)deviantart(.)com(/)deviation(/)15411864(/) Aine, by me.