24 Hours

She had never belonged: snow white hair with not a single strand of blond accompanied by one strip of cerulean blue, striking emerald eyes that seemed to pierce a person’s soul and bring their worst flaws into light, and blood red lips that had you half expecting fangs to slide from the corners of her mouth. How could anyone fail to be shaken by this girl’s otherworldly appearance? But even with her mismatched features all mapped out on pale cream colored skin, Zarina was beautiful instead of washed out or odd. Any other person would have looked ridiculous, ghastly. And just for the reason that Zarina seemed the impossible representation of human perfection, she was shunned and ridiculed. However, the ostracized girl was glad scorn was all that she received. It could have been ten times worse, even in this age of “acceptance” had Zarina’s secret been discovered.

On the day she’d turned eighteen, exactly two years ago, Zarina’s birthday had been ruined by her stepfather of all people. He had insisted she’d become old enough to live life on her own as an adult. Plainly speaking, he wanted to kick her out of the place she called home because she was an obstacle, an extra mouth to feed. Even worse, her mother said nothing in her defense. Mother after all had become a mindless drone ever since Drake had appeared in her life. She stood by silently when Drake got into one of his “moods” brought on by excessive alcohol. He had threatened to toss Zarina out plenty of times in the past, but this time was different. He had his fist drawn back, knuckles so tight they were bone white. Zarina threw her arms up in self defense before the blow could land. A split second later a beam of blue-white fire streamed from her hands, wild and uncontrollable.

Afterwards, Zarina remembered little of the fateful day that had changed her life, only her mother’s screams. The shrieks accused her of being a witch, a freak, a murderer. Mom had switched loyalties to her abusive-now vaporized- husband. The shouts continued on even when the police arrived, incriminating Zarina. A series of questions bombarded the teenage girl:

“What happened? Where you in an argument? Who threw the first blow? Did you kill him? Were you provoked?”

On it went, interrogation after interrogation. There was only one problem with the accusation of homicide. The alleged murdered victim’s body was no where to be found. And any theory with even a hint of the supernatural was discarded instantly, ripped apart by a snort of disdain. Who in these days believed in ghosts, goblins or magic? Zarina’s mother was later declared insane, the case was closed Drake declared a missing persons, and social workers were introduced.

Now at the blooming age of twenty, Zarina ran into the woods behind her cottage. She had felt her power, ability, whatever it was, grow stronger the exact moment of her birthday. In fact, the blue streak in her hair was more noticeable than ever. An observer would also have noted that her green eyes seemed to shoot bright blue flames.

Zarina ran into a clearing, stood still for a moment, and then exploded. She seemed to turn into a burning pillar of blue-white fire, mouth open in a silent scream, head raised staring into the sky. Like an avenging angel, she burned as bright as a star fallen to earth. As quickly as the incident had occurred, so did it end. In the following silence, a calmer, purged Zarina heard a strange whirring sound. She turned around cautiously and saw its source: a portal with a myriad of colors. Mesmerized, the girl stretched out a quivering hand and took a step forward, then another, and another putting her a single inch from the gateway with her hand already through. It felt like water, only lighter and more airy.

Zarina stopped for a moment, thinking. She had two choices at the moment. First, to stay in a world of prejudice and fear for those out of the ordinary, whatever that was. Or she could venture into the unknown, unprepared for whatever might occur afterwards. Deep inside she knew the decision had already been made. Zarina had always wanted something just out of her reach. She’d wanted to be human, not to be this freak she lived as. Perhaps the portal would deliver her to where she could truly belong, to her home, to a place with others like her.

Zarina took the final step and was engulfed in a blinding white light. Then there was nothing, no girl, no light, no portal. In twenty four hours, there would be one more missing person. In twenty four hours, there would be one more face on a milk carton. In twenty four hours, one more life would be forgotten. Twenty four hours…