Episode 4: "Christian Royce."

He waited for the gate to open. He saw a car parked in the driveway. Great. They were still there. Pulling up to one of his garages, he parked his car and got out.

One of them appeared in front of him.

Ignoring them he walked up to the front door.

"Wow. You gonna ignore me?"

"No more than usual." He unlocked the door and entered, setting off the alarm. He disarmed it.

They pouted. "Why! I did nothing wrong!"

He gave them a look as he closed the door.

"What? I didn't!"

"I want you all out of here by seven." He walked towards his upwinding stairs.

"Why are you so mean to me! To us! Last time I checked we're still your family!"

"That you are." He kept walking up the stairs. Another sibling greeted him at the top.

"Brother." they said.

He walked passed him saying nothing.

"So, father and I was just wondering when you were going to turn? You know, wake up instead of wasting everybody's time?"

"It's my body. My decision. I don't know how many times I can tell you or him that. You want to get mad, get mad at him. He's the one with the sperm last time I checked." He looked to his brother. He had an amused expression.

"Yeah, well Mama's the one with the eggs. You can still inherit things from your mother!"

"Which is why I'm an abomination now because I didn't inherit either." He opened up his bedroom door and slammed it shut in his brother's face.

"Christian! You nearly smashed my nose!"

"It'll heal." He said.

"You're not an abomination if you make a choice!" they yelled.

"Yet, I'm still one if I choose to become a 'hybrid'. Something you aren't saying but implying, little sister." He looked around his room, stepping down into it. He went towards his bathroom.

Neither of his siblings responded.

"I don't see what the big deal is." Another voice spoke. They looked at their nails.

Christian whipped his head around. Unlike his other two siblings outside, this one could pass right through.

"Christina!" they yelled.

"Christina? What are you doing here?" Christian asked.

She got off his bed and walked up to him. "I mean, you have all of our strengths, none of our weaknesses..." she ran a finger along his collarbone when he gripped her hand.

Her very presence made his skin crawl, yet, she was the most tolerable out of all his siblings.

"From both sides..." she smiled and ripped her hand away with ease. "It's almost like you are a hybrid. Yet, there's that one tiny..."

Christian narrowed his eyes.

"Little detail..." she whispered in his ear. "Right, my little brother?"

"Leave. Christina." He said.

"I'd love too. But I just need to make sure things are in order." She looked around the room.

"What things?" He said.

"The elders, the whole council is coming for dinner one month from today."

His eyes widened.

"What!" his siblings shouted from outside the door.

"They," she turned away from him, "want to see how their miracle child is doing." She looked to her brother again--her pitch black hair swaying. Her emerald eyes shinning. She was the definition of a 'witch' although they didn't exist in their world. He always thought she'd be perfect for the role. An evil one at that.

"Do have whatever you have," she paused deliberately, "under control brother." She winked at him and then the window was thrown open and she leaped out and was gone.

He walked up to the window, the evening wind coming into his room. He wrinkled his nose in disgust and closed it. He locked it.

His twin. He winced upon thinking that. They looked nothing alike, but they were. But there were Fraternal twins, so he guessed it didn't matter. They were the middle children, although Christina mine as well have been the eldest with how she acted. That title belonged to his brother James. The youngest was Farah.

The Royce family. The family cursed above all others because of the foolish mistake his parents made and rather than take responsibility for it, for him, they would instead just look the other way.

"So, uh, about this dinner..." James began.

"Doesn't matter. Get out. You have until seven." Christian said, going back to his original plan before he was so rudely interrupted.

"Ohh!" Farah yelled. "You know before Delilah you actually liked us!"

He didn't know whether his younger sibling said that on purpose or not, but either way he was triggered, and they were warned to not bring up her name in his house.

"THAT WAS BEFORE YOU BETRAYED ME! NOW GET OUT! NOW!"

"AHH!" they yelled, their bodies being blown back. Like an invisble hook was yanking them full force, the siblings found themseleves out the door, James getting blasted through it while Farah went through a window.

James landed on top of his car, bashing in the hood and shattering the front windshield.

Farah skid and rolled across the concrete, gaining cuts and bruises across her open flesh as she wore a dress. She heard part of it tear and was more angered at that then her own condition.

Christian tried to get his breathing under control. His house trembled. He gripped the counter in his bathroom for support, careful not to view his image in the mirror. Whatever it may have looked like. Veins crept along his arms and chest, becoming raised. They were dark blue, nearly black in color. The back of his neck throbbed and he knew a certain wretched mark was caught aflame.

He turned away from the mirror, his speed leaving an after image. He looked both ways, wondering what should he do? He looked to his shower. He switched it on and then stopped. No, a bath. A bath full of cold water would do the trick. He switched on the bath and clicked on 'triple jets'. It would fill the tub in no time.

Pain or not, his siblings were no longer on his premises. The blast gave them a limited amount of time to get out, as he raised his barrier full force. If they didn't want to be scorched alive, they had to leave.

Ripping apart his shirt, his nerves not allowing him to do anymore, he nearly hopped in and went under.

He didn't look to see his eye color, but as of now they blazed a molten orange. Sometimes they glowed. Sometimes they were a faint or dark blue. He didn't know.

His parents, his family, the elders, they all wanted him to make a choice. But they did not observe him. Gladly. But he knew. He knew even if he chose one side, he'd still be an outcast or held in high regard. It didn't matter which side he chose because he would still be vastly different from all the rest. They wouldn't know what to think of him.

He didn't want to be called an abomination. They called him that. People wouldn't consider him human, so they wouldn't call him that.

Did he want to belong anywhere? He asked himself that multiple times. Dying, at least from both sides typical weaknesses left him sore, but nowhere near death.

Then there was his sister. She was a little bugger herself. With her passing through barriers and seemingly to possess a strength stronger than either side, even if she was supposedly only full blooded of one species.

He closed his eyes and thought of Alicia. His newest girl. He knew this time would be different. Just from how she acted. What she feared. They weren't irrational, but he found himself silently hoping she'd accept, even if she didn't in the end, and he let her go. But she had accepted.

There were only two women he had chose in the past. The first was Alice. He didn't want to think of her too often. Then there was Delilah. A stupid decision on his part. Thinking of her only made him angry and annoyed. More so at himself. He knew the kind of girl she was, but he didn't think she'd stoop that low. He still found himself surprised that he would be so shocked at her actions when he should have known from the start. But he should know from the start with any girl.

And then he didn't have a choice. Well, he did. But to prolong that part of his life for as long as possible, he chose this alternative. He didn't know how long it would last. For himself or his, chosen victim.

Victims. He hated to call them that. But he was sure there'd be more after Alicia. He couldn't kill them. And they could all only give him a limited supply. It was their life being drained.

That's why the pay was so high. That's why the emotions flared. It was a very intimate act. He opened his eyes again, his expression pained a little. They were back to their normal blue. He rose from the water, having lost track of how long he was holding his breath. It didn't bother him.

Work had just begun.

He began to drain the bath water. It helped. He removed the rest of his clothes, ringing them out some and then tossing them out.

He switched on the shower water, making it hot this time. Steam rose. The steam was another relaxing method for him. Raising his head, he let the water hit him.

***

Elsewhere, Christina stood out on top of a building. Hands against the structure she looked out at the coming night. The sun hadn't set yet. It would in about another hour.

She laughed aloud, not being able to contain this sudden joy from within. While she always had some kind of evil plan brewing, regardless of the scenerio, this time around she was esctatic because she would have nothing to do with it and still reap the rewards. Something was coming. She didn't know what, but she could feel it in the air. Something was changing--going to change. And she'd be front-lined and centered.

She wouldn't be the catalyst. She typically wasn't, but she had a reputation for being bad. Like Christian though, she thought their parents were utterly useless and cruel. Only caring about their love and not really their children. Or just Christian. Two children born from a bloodline each, and a pair of twins stuck in the middle? Even if she was 'like their father' as she had them believe and she half the time believed it too since it was so prevalent, she kept quiet on the oddities she had within herself. Not even Christian knew, although she knew he was watching her. She wouldn't be surprised if he picked something up. They were, afer all, twins.

How annoying. Her look darkened. What was it about twins that made you love them? Or at least care a smidgen for them? Her other siblings could go kick rocks, but with Christian... she couldn't just turn a blind eye. Whether good or bad came his way. Whether she'd be the cause or not. She always had an eye out for him.

The funny thing was that Christian always thought she was out to trap him. That was a 'yes and no' kind of thing. He was the first of their world to be whatever he was. Who wouldn't be curious? But human? No. He could only claim that term for so long and then it became denile to her. That, and it wouldn't hold up gene wise. Put his blood in a normal doctors lab and they'd have a heart attack at their findings.

Seeing his outbursts of anger and eyes change color, not to mention the mark upon his neck completely ruined any chances of him fitting in.

Sure, he could run a place of business. They all did to save face. She ran a bank. Farah was into the fashion gig. James, 'the deadbeat' she'd call him had real estate and investment properties. Their parents were lawyers. Blending in is what came natural to them, but it would never be their reality. Something she knew he personally struggled on.

He'd rather die.

That was something she personally wouldn't allow. Her family all had their individual talents and gifts and she made it her job to find them all. Christian was the king of the crop. The cash cow. He was always on the elders' lips and tongues. Not a day went by when they weren't discussing him. She would know as her other agenda called for a seat on the council, but she was not focused on that right now.

Right now, with the myraid of thoughts intruding her mind, some personal, others diabolical, she sat down, bringing one leg up. The other dangled loosely.

She enjoyed a good sunset. The warmth it brought her. She rose her head some and closed her eyes, enjoying the last few ounces of it. She was always busy, busy, busy. Planning one scheme after the next.

"Because deep down you're not content with who you are either..."

She opened her eyes. Three people had said those words to her. The first was her, unofficially, if she could admit it. The second was Christian. And the third, perhaps having the most weight, was a love long lost. No, they were not dead. But they were willing to stay by her side.

Till this day she didn't know if she had done him or herself a favor by telling him 'no'.

A sharp pain went through her chest and she looked down at the crowds of people; in their cars, on their phones or walking the streets. They were human. Their genetic make-up made them one hundred percent so.

Her jealousy was aroused and she thought of Christian again. At least he could control it. For however long at least he had a choice.

She lunged off the building. Air cutting through her, she vanished and reappeared in a subway corner, smoothly emerging onto the street with the rest of the pedestrians.

She was filled with joy once again. Yes, something was coming and come what may, at least she wasn't human, or wouldn't be considered it. She could be out of sight-out of mind in only a few seconds. These people? She sighed from within. It was a love-hate relationship.

"Mama! Can I get an ice-cream cone?"

Christina watched the child beg their mother for one, staring at the shop's poster for a soft-serve creamy delight.

It did look good and she hadn't had anything to eat since lunch.

"No, you had some cookies with your lunch and then you just had a sucker. No more sweet for you." She pulled them along.

At least she wasn't a kid either. She could have as much sweet as she wanted.

She walked into the shop.

***

Christian rolled up his sleeves over his blazer. A button was undone at the top of his shirt. He pants were ironed and creased. His shoes shined. No, this night was no special occassion at the cafe, but it was for him. For the third time. His blonde hair was slicked back, a strand coming forward over his eye. He'd drive the girls wild, but that was not his intention. He eyed the blood bag and needle through the window. Everything was laid out neatly. Even down to the lounge sofa and seat he would be in. On another table were goodies, things to replenish the loss of energy.

Alicia's words came to him. Only an outburst of sarcasm spoken by her, they were about to become real.

"What am I going to be giving you! Blood!"

He turned and walked toward the door, grabbing his keys off the dresser.

"Regrettably so, Alicia." He said, opening it.

Closing it behind him, he made sure his barrier was raised all around his house as he made his way toward the front door.