Paranormal Twins: The New Beginning

“Dairy Queen? Why Dairy Queen?” I asked Vincent. He shrugged.

“Dad told me not to go far. This is walking distance from the facility.” He went up to the counter and looked at the menu. I walked up behind him.

“Yeah, and so was Arby’s and Wendy’s.” I pointed out. He sighed.

“I wanted a Blizzard, okay? I’m 14, I have ice cream needs!” He crossed his arms and pouted, looking back up at the menu. I rolled my eyes at his childish attitude. After a few moments, he looked back at me, serious this time. “I’m an Ice Elemental. I haven’t had anything cold today and I’m feeling a little weak.” He noticed that a register was open and went up to order. I followed him and bit my lip. I still wasn’t used to them talking about themselves and their abilities. It didn’t seem right.

We ordered and went to our seat with our number card. We sat down and he watched me. Stared at me. I was starting to get uncomfortable before I realized what he was waiting for.

“I’m a Vampire. And, according to my friend Sage and my… Father, I’m also an Ice Elemental. Though I’ve only done it once, so I don’t really... Know...” I trailed off, sounding dumb. He just nodded, though, like hearing that was a normal thing. Which, to him, I guess it was.

“It’s uncommon, being two creatures.” He started. “Well, I guess in the US it isn’t, and hasn’t been for years. In other countries, though, it’s rare to be more than one creature. Even in Canada, where I’m from, but they’re starting to have more diversity.”

I was about to question him, but a server brought out our food, so I shut my mouth and waited. Once he was gone I asked him, “Why is it so uncommon?”

He shrugged. “Something about inter-creature marriage. It’s kind of a taboo thing. Most creatures have their own ways of doing things in different countries. Like, in India, they have the caste system, with some creatures being higher than others. I believe Vampires and Witches are at the top, and Lycans are at the bottom, but I don’t know for sure. Just like you don’t marry people in a different caste, you don’t marry a creature different than you. It’s very uncommon.”

He stopped talking and took the time to break apart his chicken strips. I took a bite of my fries. While he let them cool he started explaining again. “In other countries, it’s almost taboo to be more than one creature. It’s unheard of to be three. It usually means you were the product of a prostitute, or worse, the product of a slave.”

I almost choked on a fry and had to take a drink of my coke. “Slave? Prostitute? What are they teaching you in school? You’re 14!” I realized I was raising my voice and people were starting to notice. I blushed, lowered my head, and pretended to take some bites of my food, acting like I was a normal, sane member of society.

Vincent took a big bite of his blizzard and smiled. “Finally… Something cold.” He put it to the side and looked up to me. “Yes, I’m 14. And I’m not in school anymore. You learn quickly at the facility. The early years are basics: reading, writing, math, human history. But once you turn 11, in 6th grade, you start to learn about Rogues. You learn about our history. The stuff they can’t teach the young ones. The death and the slavery and the prejudice. It helps you figure out the job you want- researching and paperwork, training people, or killing the rogues.” He stopped talking and ate his food, again, like this was a normal thing to talk about. “Most people don’t go above 8th grade. I was top of the class, even starting out late, so I didn’t even finish 7th grade before I was able to train to be a Researcher. We have the choice to go to high school outside the facility, but most of us don’t.”

I stared at my food, having lost my appetite. I looked back up at him, bewildered. How could this be normal for him? How could this, a life about prejudice and slaves and killing, be normal for him? This wasn’t a life, not for someone so young. Not for anyone.

“How could you? How could you talk about hunting and killing people like it’s not a big deal?” I shook my head.

Vincent looked up, and I could feel his eyes peering hard into me. I scrunched back under his hard gaze. For a 14 year old he sure knew how to make you feel uncomfortable. He finally broke his gaze, leaning back and crossing his arms. “Tell me something. Do you think the death sentence is fair?”

I stopped cold and looked at him, confused. “How is that the same thing? The death sentence is the police giving a sentence to a murderer.”

Vincent nodded. “And we have Hunters go and find Rogues that have killed innocent humans. We kill them or bring them in for interrogation. Sure, we don’t have police, but when we’re dealing with Rogues that don’t care about any form of life, we have to be the same way.

“It’s not like we do this for fun. Sure, training, learning, that’s fun. But nobody becomes a Hunter because they enjoy killing. It’s a known fact that most Hunters are killed, or even go insane from their experiences. They don’t enjoy killing people, no matter how many innocent lives the Rogues have killed. They do it to protect the humans.

“It’s not fun. None of us do our jobs for fun. We do it because it’s the only way to keep our planet, and the humans, safe.”

He stared hard at me for a few moments before looking away and taking the last bite of his Blizzard. I just watched him. This sweet, hyper, 14 year old kid knows more than any other kid his age knows. He probably knows more than most adults will ever know. He talks about killing and hunting, but it’s to protect the rest of the world. He is the most unselfish kid I have ever met.

I stood up and threw away my trash. Vincent followed me and we walked back to the facility in silence.