The Hybrid (26 page)

“Who’s there?” Tru yelled, scanning the empty room in
front of her. When there was no answer, she set the glass
and the milk jug on the counter, and then slowly tiptoed
to the laundry room to grab the broom by the door. “Hello?”

“Gertrude,” the voice said again. This time the voice
was louder and came from the other direction.
Again, Tru quickly turned around, but there was nobody there.
“Listen,” she said to the disembodied voice, “I don’t
know who you are, I don’t know how you got in here, and
I’m positive I don’t know how you know my name, but
I’m calling the police.” Still, there was no response. The
room remained silent, and completely motionless.
Cautiously, Tru walked over to the front door. The
deadbolt was still in the locked position, so she headed
back into the kitchen. After looking around the outdated
room, Tru slowly reached for the phone hanging on the
wall. But the second she picked up the receiver, another
jolt of searing hot pain shot through her arm. Her body
twitched momentarily, before it began writhing in agony,
and in that same instant, the room disappeared around
her.
Tru could feel her body falling to the ground, but she
couldn’t move her limbs to stop herself. Seconds later,
she could feel her spine and shoulder blades striking the
tiled floor, followed quickly by the back of her head, the
space directly between her ears. When her head hit the
floor, it made a slight cracking noise. Tru felt as though
her skull had split open as soon as it struck the ground.
She tried opening her eyes to check for any damages, but
it seemed as though they had been sewn shut. The burning sensation in her hand was growing stronger, like more
than one million fire ants were crawling up her arm toward her shoulder, biting her skin along the way. The
burning moved up her arm, reaching her elbow within
seconds, and her shoulder in under a minute.
“Gertrude,” the voice finally said again.
Tru tried to open her mouth, but her lips felt completely glued together. She could hear her heart beating faster
and faster in her chest. Her breathing was becoming erratic. Tru feared she would soon hyperventilate if she
didn’t somehow find a way to escape the pain.
Then something as cool as ice grazed the top of her
fingers.
“Shh,” the voice murmured. “It will all be over soon.”
The man sounded as though he were just inches from
Tru’s face. She could only guess that it was his hand
touching hers. Tru tried frantically to reach towards the
voice, to push him away, to move her hand away from his,
but still, her arms would not budge.
What is this man talking about? Who is he? What is he
doing here? What will be over soon? And why can’t I
move?
Tru thought.
“Gertrude,” the man began again, “it is I.”
It can’t be.
“Gertrude, it is I⎯ Edyn.”

But it can’t be. It doesn’t even sound like you.
“I am here Gertrude.”
It doesn’t sound like Edyn,
she thought.
He sounds so

much
older.
Tru’s heart began to beat uncontrollably in her chest.
She
could feel
the
heat
in her
shoulders
spreading
through her chest and down her spine. It had completely
taken over her entire body. Her mouth wanted to scream,
but still, it would not open. Instead, she made a loud
grunting noise that sounded like a bull getting ready to
charge. Her body began to shake violently, and uncontrollably as if she were having a seizure.
“Gertrude, when you are able to open your eyes again,”
he hesitated, “some things are going to look a little different.”
Another shock of heat pulsed through her body, followed by another loud grunt. Then came the tearing, and
a noise that
sounded
like a thick tree
branch
being
snapped in half. Tru could feel her back bending up and
off of the ground, toward the ceiling, though her shoulders and seat remained firmly pressed against the floor.
Is he doing this to me? Is he keeping my body immobile? Is he causing this pain?
“I am so sorry, Gertrude.” Edyn sounded like he was
going to cry. “I only wanted to help you. I was trying to
protect you.” He gently touched her fingertips with his
own. Tru tried to pull her hand away again, but it still
wouldn’t move⎯ though she hadn’t really expected it to.
Tru lay motionless on the ground. Each heat wave that
pulsed through her body was worse than the one before it.
And with each wave was another sporadic body spasm
through her arms and legs. The only way to distract herself was to count. Tru managed to arrive at thirty before
the waves started to happen less frequently, and by the
time she reached sixty, the shocking surges became more
of a constant warming sensation, like she was wrapped in
three different heated blankets, in the middle of summer,
in Texas. The feeling was much less intense than it had
been before, but it was still very uncomfortable nonethe
less.
Tru took a deep breath, and a large sigh filled the silence as she exhaled. It took her a few seconds to realize
that the sound had come from her own mouth.
“It is almost over.” Edyn’s reassuring voice sounded
nearby, like his face was just inches from her. Just then,
she felt Edyn’s cool fingertips touching her cheek. Slowly,
he moved his hand down the side of her face, stopping
just above the edge of her neck. Things were slowly beginning to feel more and more like her dream.
But before she could even begin to focus on anything
Edyn was doing, another wave of electric fire pulsed from
Tru’s hand and through the rest of her body. Her back
arched,
convulsively,
off
of
the ground
once more,
strangely resembling someone possessed. But this time,
her spine burned, making the skin between her shoulder
blades feel as if it was being melted off of her muscles and
bones with a branding iron. Then, there was another
crack, followed quickly by more tearing.
Nearly seconds later, the intensity of the heat surging
through Tru’s body had completely vanished, as if nothing had ever even happened. Steadily, her arms and legs
felt as though the weights had been lifted off of them one
by one. As the feeling started coming back into her fingers, Edyn removed his hand from her face and grabbed
her right hand.
“Can you move your arms?” he asked fervently. She
could hear the panic in his voice, making her slightly worried.
“I think so,” she answered quickly. It surprised her that
she was able to speak again.
“And,” he paused, “your eyes? Can you open them?”
Tru gradually opened her eyes. The bright light from
the florescent bulbs in the kitchen made it hard at first,
but soon, things were coming back into focus. She could
see the same popcorn textured ceiling of her grandmother’s kitchen.
Tru hurriedly looked around the room as she lifted her
torso off of the ground, using her elbows for support.
When she was completely upright, her eyes immediately
landed on Edyn. But she was definitely not prepared for
what she saw.

Sitting awkwardly on his knees before Tru was a shirtless man who appeared to be somewhere in his midthirties. His skin was pale, his muscles were scrawny, and
his hair was a thin and lifeless ashy shade of brown. The
tattoos covering his single arm and chest were faded,
making them look like he had tried covering them with
makeup⎯ or maybe baby powder⎯ and his eyes were a
very dull shade of sea foam green. The one thing that
could have made him recognizable to Tru at all ⎯ his
burgundy, leaf shaped wings ⎯ were unfortunately the
only things missing.

“Who are you?” Tru shouted at the man sitting in front
of her. She cautiously ⎯ but hurriedly ⎯ pushed her
body further away from him, sliding effortlessly against
the tiled floor, as if she were gliding across a thick sheet of
ice.

“Gertrude, do you not recognize me?” He reached for
Tru’s hand resting on the ground as he leaned toward her,
but she quickly pulled it away before he was even close to
making contact with her. “I told you things were going to
be a little different.”

No,
she told herself.
I don’t believe you.
“But you’re⎯”
Edyn put his hand up in the air, as if to tell her to stop

talking. “We can talk about
me
later.” He looked frustrated now. “First I want to make sure that
you
are alright.”
His eloquent speech was the same, but Tru still could not
be sure.

“I’m fine,” Tru said quietly, looking Edyn straight in
the eyes. But she knew she was lying. She was completely
terrified.

“You do not feel any pain?” Edyn continued after a few
seconds of silence.
“No, not anymore. Why? What’s going on? What just
happened to me?” Tru hardly took a breath between her
sentences. But when she finished speaking, she realized
that she felt as if she didn’t need one. She wasn’t out of
breath, but she still felt slightly panicked.
“Are you sure?” he asked, avoiding her questions.
“Yes!” Tru shouted, staring angrily at Edyn’s face. He
looked taken aback. “I’m sorry. It’s just,” Tru paused, gazing away, still not fully trustworthy of the person kneeling
before her.
“Do not be sorry. I understand.” Edyn slowly rose from
his kneeling position on the floor and turned to walk toward the kitchen table. The minute he turned his back to
her, she almost screamed. Right in the center of his back,
running along his spine ⎯ nearly half of a foot long ⎯
was a thick, raised scar. It was rough looking, and much
lighter than his cream colored skin.
It started just between his shoulder blades and ended about halfway down
his back. If Tru hadn’t have seen him only a week ago, she
would have thought the scar had been formed years ago.
“What
happened
to
you?” Tru
blurted
out
without
thinking. “Where are your wings?”
“They are gone,” he replied quietly, a somberness to
his tone. “But like I said before, we can talk about me later. I am here to see
you
.” He turned back to face Tru’s
direction.
Tru noticed, in that instant, that her eyes had focused
on Edyn’s face so closely that it looked as though she were
standing directly in front of him, with a magnifying glass
pointed at him. She could see every pore in his face with
such detail, along with every wrinkle around his eyes and
mouth. But as she blinked, her eyes refocused⎯ she was
still on the ground, about five feet away from him. “What
just happened?” Tru asked, shocked.
“What happened to you is what the fairies like to call
muutos
⎯ a transformation. But I have never seen one
happen in person before, so I do not really know how to
go about this.” Edyn looked at Tru with cautious eyes. It
looked as though he was bracing for an explosion of some
sort.
“A transformation?” Tru asked, slightly confused.
“Yes.” Edyn looked down at the ground, refusing to
move any closer to her.
“What do you mean?” Tru looked down at her body,
feeling her arms and legs for any signs of a difference, but
nothing seemed to have changed. “Everything feels the
same to me.” Tru gradually stood from the ground, noticing how effortless it seemed, and made her way over to
Edyn, feeling a little off balance as she did so.

“You cannot see the difference,” he paused, “but
I
can.”
Edyn looked up at Tru. She could see that he now had
grayish-blue bags of skin resting gently beneath each of
his eyes.

Edyn pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and
casually took a seat. Warily, and still confused, Tru strode
closer to him, trying to regain her balance as she moved
across the floor. Slowly, she raised her palm and pressed
it evenly on Edyn’s cheek. He closed his eyes gently, just
as a tear rolled down his skin, pooling up softly against
Tru’s warm hand.

“I am sorry,” he said, “I have never felt this many emotions all at once. The Fey learn to master their feelings,
making sure they only feel one at a time. It is easier that
way. It makes us less vulnerable.”

“It’s okay. I’m listening.” For someone who had just
been told that
they
had been ‘transformed,’
Tru had
stayed relatively calm. Truthfully, she didn’t care what
was happening to herself at the moment. Seeing Edyn act
this way⎯ looking this way⎯ was far more important to
her.

Edyn grabbed Tru’s hand that was still resting on his
cheek. “You are one of
them
now.” Another tear rolled
down the side of his face.
“One of them? Who exactly are
they
?” Tru asked, confused yet again.

“I tried to make him stop. I tried to protect you.” He
released her hand, placed his elbows on the table and
cradled his head between his palms. Slowly, Tru leaned
closer to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “I
am so sorry,” he said again.

But, when he wrapped his arms tightly around her
waist, Tru knew something wasn’t right. It felt like there
was something sharp poking at her back⎯ right between
her shoulder blades⎯ that ran down her spine, stopping
halfway down her back. And when she started fidgeting,
Edyn instantly released his grip against her.

“Did I hurt you?” He looked frightened as he looked
straight into her eyes while she reached for the space between her shoulders.

“No, it just sort of feels like there’s something right
⎯”
Tru paused as her left hand reached over her right shoulder, “here.” When she touched her shoulder blade, she
almost had a heart attack. Protruding seamlessly from
her skin was something soft like velvet and thin like paper. It felt almost like she was touching the underside of a
flower petal.

“Do not panic,” Edyn said, hurriedly rising from his
seat so that he could catch her if she decided to faint.
“Wait,” Tru paused, feeling both of her shoulders as
she took a deep breath, “when you said
‘one of them’
you
meant⎯ a
fairy
?” Tru practically shouted at Edyn as she
released his hand and ran to the bathroom at the bottom
of the stairs. For the second time today, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
Resting perfectly center between her shoulders were
two, very large ⎯ but very delicate looking ⎯ hunter
green wings. They spread at least a foot past each of her
shoulders and about a foot above her head. They looked
almost exactly like two oversized maple leaves.
Tru stared into the mirror a second longer, trying to
make sense of what she was seeing, but without warning,
her knees buckled, causing her to fall to the ground beneath her.
Edyn quickly entered the room behind her. “Tru! Are
you alright?” he shouted, kneeling on the tiled floor beside her. He leaned over her, sliding a hand under her
neck to support her head.
As Edyn lifted her to a sitting position, Tru took a deep
breath, and then looked up at Edyn’s face. Her eyes began
to fill with tears as she immediately thrust her face into
the palms of her hands. “What’s happening to me?” she
shouted through the sobs.
Edyn carefully wrapped his arms around Tru’s body,
avoiding her wings, and pulled her tightly into his chest.
Tru wrapped her own arms around his waist, shoving her
face further into the crease between his shoulder and
neck.
“Shh,” Edyn whispered as she began crying louder. He
gently stroked the back of her neck as he sat silent and
motionless, listening to her sobbing.
Little by little, as her tears began to dissipate, Tru
raised her head and looked up at Edyn. He too, had been
softly crying, his eyes red and lined with tears. “Tell me
everything,” she whispered, sniffling as she took another
deep breath.
Edyn released Tru’s body from his grip and placed a
hand on her cheek, wiping away a stray tear with his
thumb. “Well,” he said, wiping his own eyes with the back
of his pale forearm, “where would you like for me to start?
With you ⎯” he paused as he stopped another tear that
rolled halfway down Tru’s cheek, “or your grandmother?”
“My grandma?” Tru asked. She had a feeling Maggie
had known something, but what could Edyn possibly
know about her? Tru instantly thought back to her first
encounter with Edyn and Airi. He had asked about Maggie that night. But Tru had completely forgotten until
now.
“I guess that answers my question.” Edyn looked down
at Tru’s reddened and confused face. He felt so worried
for her⎯ and sad⎯ but he couldn’t let her see it. He had
to stay strong for her. He knew it was what she needed.
“What does my grandma have to do with
this
?” Tru
gestured to the wings on her shoulders. She knew Maggie
was connected to Edyn somehow, but she wasn’t quite
sure she wanted to find out. She had heard Gail say she
wasn’t Gertrude’s mother, so then did that mean that
Edyn knew who was?
“Your
grandma
has a lot to do with it. Without her,
you
would not exist.” He grabbed Tru’s hands, interlocking their fingers. “The person you call
grandma
is⎯” he
paused, taking a deep breath, “in fact⎯ your mother.”
Tru let go of Edyn’s hands, letting her own fall into her
lap. “What did you say?” she felt lightheaded, as if she
were going to pass out on the floor again at any moment.
“Your grandmother is your mother,” he repeated.
“That can’t be,” Tru replied. “I lived with Gail and my
dad for twelve years before my dad passed away. And
then I lived with her for another five after that. There’s no
way.”
“Gail never told you that you were adopted? Did you
ever
consider
that
she was
not
your
mother?”
Edyn
looked down at her, surprised.
“Well, no. I never considered it. Well,” Tru paused.
“Not until today. I overheard Maggie talking to her on the
phone. I looked so much like my dad that I didn’t really
have a reason to even think I was adopted.” Tru looked
down at her hands resting in her lap.
“That is because he was not your father.” Edyn took a
deep breath, gathering the right thoughts. “He was your
brother. He and his wife adopted you when you were a
baby.” He too, looked down at Tru’s hands resting in her
lap.
“Well, I guess now I sort of get why my mom,” Tru hesitated still not used to what she had just learned, “I mean
Gail, never really showed any feelings
towards
me.
I
wasn’t really hers, so she didn’t feel like she had to be terribly connected to me.”
“I am sorry. It is a lot to take in, I know.” Edyn placed
his thumb and index finger on Tru’s chin, tilting her head
up so he could look at her clearly. “She was lucky to have
you as a daughter, even though she was not truly your
mother.”
“Thanks, I guess.” Tru blinked slowly, feeling another
tear roll down her cheek.
“You are special, you know,” Edyn continued, releasing
her chin from his grasp. “Not just as a person.”
Tru looked up at him, his eyes shimmering. “Special
how? What do you mean?” she asked.
“You are what the Fey call a hybrid. Half human, and
half
fairy.”
He
smiled,
his
pearly
white
teeth poking
through his pale and chapped lips as he stared at the
ground. “Actually, a more suitable word for you is
rare
.”
“I don’t understand. How can I be part fairy if my
grandmother ⎯” Tru paused, remembering again what
she had been told, “I mean my
mom
, is all human?”
“Not when you were born.” Edyn grabbed her hand
again.
Tru could feel her head spinning. She placed a hand on
Edyn’s bare chest, hoping to stabilize herself enough to
where she wouldn’t black out again. “She was a fairy
when I was born?”
“Yes. Wings and all.” Edyn smiled again. Though he
looked like a man in his mid thirties, he still acted like the
seventeen-year-old fairy Tru had met in the meadow just
a week ago ⎯ he still had that quirky sense of mischief
about him.
Sitting in the small bathroom was starting to take its
toll on Gertrude. She could feel the wall and cabinets on
either side of her touching the tips of her wings the way a
feather would graze one’s skin. It wasn’t much, but the
room was slowly beginning to close in around her. So, Tru
grabbed Edyn’s hands and rose from the ground in one
swift movement. It took Edyn a bit longer ⎯ he was
weaker than usual and wasn’t able to stand as easily.
“So then, who is my real father?” Tru asked. The way
Edyn had smiled when she asked him the question, she
could tell he knew she was extremely curious. She had the
slight feeling that he just wanted to hear her ask it out
loud. But instead of answering her right away, he remained silent, holding her hand as they left the tiny tiled
room.
When
they
reached
the
family
room,
Edyn
looked
around for a few seconds, and then pointed to a small
silver picture frame on the coffee table. Behind the glass
was a picture of Maggie and Ben when they were younger,
looking lovingly into each other’s eyes.
“Grandpa Ben?” Tru’s voice cracked as she said his
name.
“Well, yes,” Edyn shrugged. “Who did you expect?”
Tru looked up at Edyn, and then responded, “I don’t
know, I just⎯” she hesitated, looking away quickly, sitting down on the couch as she did so. Her face felt warm
as she looked at a spot on the wall across the room. “Never mind.”
Edyn sniffled once before laughing. He sounded short
of breath, but his laughter filled the room. “Wait a second,” he said through his laughter. “You thought
I
was
your father?” He started laughing again. “I told you, you
are half human.”
Gertrude didn’t want Edyn to be her father, especially
not after realizing her true feelings for him.
“No,” Tru said through bashful cheeks, still avoiding
his watchful gaze. “I just assumed.” Tru crossed her arms
over her chest, irritably. “How else would you know so
much about my family?”
“Because your mother was a friend of mine.” There was
that word again. Tru knew it was going to be hard getting
used to calling her that. “Well, actually, she was more
than that.” Edyn looked melancholy now. “But not for
long,” he added. “She fell in love with a human.” He
looked down at the ground, and then up at the photo of
Ben and Maggie again. “He is a good man. She is better
off with him anyway. He offered her things that I could
not.”
“Like
what?” Tru
asked,
perplexed.
She
wanted
to
reach out to him, to comfort him, but she couldn’t muster
the strength.
Edyn hesitated before responding. “A life.” He looked
up at her, a slight smile in his eyes. “Well, I guess I should
say more than one, right?”
Tru looked at her bare feet resting on the beige carpeted floor of the family room, smiling in agreement.
“I told her I would watch over her child, to make sure
my family would never find out about what she had done,
but that is when she took you away from here. I think she
thought it would be safer if you did not even know the
truth.”
“More like
gave
me away,” Tru said under her breath,
barely audible.
Edyn sat down on the couch next to her. “She had to.
There would have been only so much I could have done to
protect you.”
“Why though? Why would you have to protect me from
your family? Especially now that I am one of them? What
could they possibly want with me?” Tru looked at Edyn.
She didn’t know much about his family, but the look on
his face and the sound of his voice told her to be afraid.
“As I said before, you are rare.” He looked Tru straight
in the eyes. “In our world, it is a disgrace to mate with
humans. It
dirties the blood
.” He looked over at the sliding glass door for a brief second. His eyes seemed to
pierce right through it, focusing on something outside.
Then, he looked back at Gertrude, sitting just inches away
from him. “They would want you gone, Gertrude. They
fear the day that the hybrids realize how strong they are
and band together against the purists⎯ the Fey who still
believe in and follow the old ways ⎯ wiping them out
completely.”
The way he said her name made Tru feel slightly comforted. It seemed to say ‘I’m here to protect you, no matter what.’ But she didn’t respond.
For about two whole minutes, the two stared at the
ground, both hesitant to start speaking again. Then, Edyn
took a long, deep sigh. Tru looked up at him just in time
to see a streak of grey hair appear just above each of his
ears.
“Wow,” Tru said, taken aback momentarily. She quickly clasped a hand over her mouth.
“You are telling me,” he chuckled kindly.
“So, if I’m only half-fairy, how do I have the wings?”
“Well, the Fey have some pretty powerful abilities.
They become more dominant than human traits.” He sat
up in his seat a bit.
“What do you mean?”
“Hmm,” he hesitated, looking pensive. “Take cats, for
example. When a black cat and a white cat mate, chances
are, you are going to have mostly black cats, possibly even
a few white cats with black spots. The likelihood of having
an all white cat is pretty slim.” He grabbed Tru’s hand
and slowly peeled back the tan Band-Aid that hid her
wounded palm. “Fairies are the black cat⎯ and humans
are the white cat.”
Tru looked down at the black marking on her skin that
was now revealed. Instead of a misshapen star, it now
resembled a flying bird. Its wings were outstretched, its
beak slightly open.
“Every year, this will grow.” Edyn pointed to the small
marking. It was no bigger than a half dollar. “Next year, it
should cover the entire palm.”
“Really?” Tru said, as she slowly traced the image with
her index finger.
“Yes. And every year, you will be able to do something
new, something more powerful than the year before it.
The Fey are naturally born with all of their abilities, and
learn how to control them over the years. You, on the other hand, will gain them one at a time, mastering one before the next one arrives. Your wings will change color
with the seasons, as all of ours do.” He paused, realizing
he had mistakenly included himself, but chose not to correct it. “In spring and summer, they are a beautiful lush
green. In the fall, a deep burgundy. And in winter, they
appear slightly brown and fragile.”
Tru sat in complete silence, as she took a few deep
breaths. It was difficult to try and digest everything all at
once.
“Is something wrong?” Edyn inquired.
“I’m just a little confused.” She continued to trace the
bird on her palm.
Edyn grabbed her hand and began, “It is part of your
skin.”
“Not about that,” Tru objected.
He looked puzzled.
“How old am I?”
He looked away for a moment. His face was hard to
read from her current angle. “Well, let me think. Your
mother was seventeen when she had you. And now she is
sixty? So that means ⎯”
“Yeah?” Tru interjected.
“Then, that means you are about forty-three human
years old.”
“I’m forty-three?” Tru practically shouted it at him. “I
don’t even remember being alive that long!”
“Tru, there is something that I should tell you.” Edyn
looked at her closely, scared she would want to run away.
“I found my mother. She told me everything. About why
she left, why she never came back, and about
you
.”
“What do you mean? What did she say? Why did she
leave? And what did she tell you about me?” Tru asked,
scooting closer to the edge of her seat on the couch.
“My mother, Queen Laisa, can see the future. She saw
what my brother would become and fled. She also saw the
day that I overthrew him. She had to wait until then to
come back.”
“What about me?”
“A few days ago, I found a book, a book of my people’s
past. When I told my mother about Magaterra ⎯ sorry,
Margaret ⎯and what I had found out from the book
about hybrids, she told me that she knew you and your
mother. The two of you would visit my mother every time
you came to visit during the summer. And since my
mother has power over the minds as well, she was able to
wipe your memory clean every time the two of you went
to see her. That is part of the reason why Maggie had her
son adopt you. She did not want you to think that she was
too old to have a five year old looking daughter.” He
smiled. “She did it for good reasons. Trust me.”