The Hybrid (29 page)

“You can’t even tell that there was anything there!” Tru
could feel a smile forming across her face, but she quickly
wiped it away. Of course, she had been excited about being a fairy, it was all she ever wanted after meeting Edyn,
but it was also nice having her normal body back.

“Not one bit.” Edyn slowly walked into the bathroom.
The way he spoke made it seem like he was sad that she
had become a human again.

“How long do you think
it will last?” Tru asked, curiously. It was only twelve forty-five and she didn’t have to
be at Bethany’s until six.

“Well,” Edyn paused, looking pensive, “The hybrid that
almost exposed us, was only able to stay human for about
a day, but he was much older and much weaker than you.
And he had no guidance. He lived in fear, hiding in the
shadows, staying inside all day. Until one day, he could
not take the loneliness anymore. He left the safety of his
home, taking our secret out into the open with him. But
you are still new, so, it could last a week, or, it could last
only five minutes. With new hybrids, it is pretty unpredictable.”

Tru’s mouth flew open. “Five minutes?” she shouted.
“Well, as long as you concentrate on what you want,
you should be fine.” Edyn smiled, but his face seemed to
lack any sincere confidence. He turned, quickly leaving
the bathroom, and sat quietly back down on the couch.
“But you have my help as well. I can show you how to
control it. And in time, you will not have to worry about
being exposed.”

“So,” Tru said as she walked through the bathroom
door, stopping just at the end of the hallway, “I guess I
should call Bethany back?”

Edyn remained silent. She could tell that he thought
she was making the wrong choice, but if this was the last
time she was going to be human again, she wanted to
make the most of it.

“If you wish.”

Tru looked at Edyn momentarily before she quietly
walked over to the kitchen and grabbed the phone off of
the receiver hanging on the wall. The phone rang twice
before Bethany picked it up.

“Hello?” she said.

Tru took a deep breath. “Hey, Bethany. It’s Tru.” She
honestly couldn’t remember ever calling Bethany willingly before.

“Oh! Hey Tru, is everything okay?” Her voice sounded
shaky. It was strange hearing that she was worried about
her wellbeing. Tru could hear her take a deep breath, almost like she was preparing herself for what Tru might
say, like she had a feeling she had more bad news to expose.

“Well,” Tru paused, trying to remember her excuse
from before, “I just talked to my grandma. She said it
would be okay if I wanted to go to the party instead of
going out to dinner.”

“So, then you’re coming?” Bethany’s mood instantly
shifted. Her prior worry had been taken over by a wave of
excitement and happiness.

“Yup,” Tru replied, casually.

“Yay!” she shouted. Tru had to pull the phone away
from her ear as Bethany drew out the word. She could
picture the girl dancing around in her room, like some
giddy cheerleader who had just been elected captain. “So,
are you still coming to help set up?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there.” Tru sighed, but quickly put her
own hand over her mouth, hoping Bethany hadn’t heard
her.

“Awesome!” she exclaimed. “I’ll see you tonight then!”
“Yup,” Tru replied, quietly.

Suddenly, there was a loud crashing noise coming from
the other side of the line. Tru pulled the phone away from
her ear again, hearing Bethany shout at someone behind
her.

“Okay, well I’ve got to go. Bye!” Bethany said hurriedly
before the line went dead.

Tru slowly hung up the phone, and then moved toward
the couch. Edyn had been watching her the entire time.
When she sat down on the plaid cushion next to him, she
folded her hands in her lap and waited. She didn’t want to
look up, but she knew Edyn was still looking at her. But as
she remained silent, she casually looked at her thumbs as
they twirled around one another.

“You don’t want me to go to that party do you?” she
asked quietly. “You’re afraid something is going to happen to me aren’t you?”

Tru could hear the sound of Edyn taking a deep breath
before he whispered, “yes.”
She looked up at his pale green eyes from under her
brow line. “Why?”
He rolled his eyes. “I cannot protect you there. Everyone would notice the old man in the corner. Besides that,
if something
does
happen, I am not so sure I would even
be strong enough to help you. I am becoming weaker and
weaker every minute. What good can I do if I have to use
a cane just to walk across the room?” He looked back at
Tru and sighed.
“I’ll be fine. I’m a big girl. I
can
help myself from time
to time.” Tru smiled, nudging Edyn’s arm with her elbow,
trying to lighten the solemn mood in the room.
He looked away for a brief second, smiled, then looked
back down at her. “Alright,” he said, “go to the party, and
have fun. But please promise me you will be careful.”
“Really?” Tru exclaimed, slightly jumping off of the
couch. She didn’t mean to act like a child, but thinking
this was her last time to do anything normal, made her a
little bit more willing to enjoy the moment. “But wait,”
Tru paused, slumping back down onto the couch cushion,
“what are you going to do while I’m at the party?”
“I am not sure yet, but I will be around.” He smiled.
Tru watched him as he slowly looked around the room,
taking in everything. “She really has made a home for
herself here.” And then, just as quickly as his smile had
formed, it was gone. He instantly looked sad.
Tru wanted to reach out to him, knowing how he was
feeling. But she knew she couldn’t help fix a past that she
knew nothing about. So, instead she looked around the
room, avoiding the faces in the picture frames that hung
on almost every wall of the family room. “Yeah, she really
has.”
“Well, I hate to say this, but I should probably be leaving.”
Tru looked at Edyn. “Where are you going?”
“It is a quarter after one, and Maggie and Ben should
be coming home soon.” When he stood from the cozy
couch, Tru did too.
“Don’t go too far away,” she said, smiling. Tru quickly
pulled Edyn closer to her body, hugging him as tightly as
she could, trying to take a clear mental picture of everything around her. But, as she released her grip, and slowly pulled away from his body, Tru could still feel Edyn’s
slender arms around her waist.
“Gertrude,” he whispered. His mouth was so close to
her ear that she could feel the warmth of his breath
touching the bare skin on her neck.
“Yes?” she asked, burying her face into his shoulder.

“I know I do not look like much any longer, but
⎯” he
paused, pulling just an inch away, “I
love
you. And I always will, until the day I die.”

Tru was immediately stunned. She hadn’t thought that
he had felt the same way, and hearing him admit it almost
made her heart melt.

Edyn
pulled
away
further,
looking
into
Tru’s
eyes,
waiting for her response. But all she could do was blush.

After a few minutes of silence, Tru spoke. “You already
knew I loved you.” Tru teased. It was more than likely
that he had heard those words being repeated in her head
over a dozen times in the last week.

“I know, but I have never heard you say it out loud.”

“Edyn,” Tru said bluntly, her voice steady as she looked
up at him with unyielding eyes.
“Yes, Gertrude?” he asked, staring down at her with a
smirk across his face.
“I love you. I’ve loved you since the day you showed me
your home, and I haven’t stopped since then.” Tru knew
she meant every word that came out of her mouth.
A huge smile spread widely across Edyn’s face, revealing almost all of his pearly white teeth. And even though
his hair was now pale brown with large patches of grey,
and even though he had crow’s feet in the corners of each
eye, he was still
her
Edyn. No matter what he looked like,
or how old he became, Tru knew his personality would
never change, and that she would hold him in her heart
until the day she died. And as she thought about it, she
realized that she had no idea how far away that day would
truly be.
Edyn gently grabbed Tru’s hand resting next to her
thigh, and pulled it up to his face. “Thank you.” His soft
lips pressed against the back of her hand, and when he
put it back down, Tru quickly wrapped her arms around
him, pulling his chest close to her cheek once more.
“Gertrude,” he whispered softly.
Tru looked up as he looked over at the front door.
“What’s wrong?” She too, looked at the large wooden
door with the small, diamond shaped window at the top.
“Your
grandparents
are home. I have to go now.”

As the two looked at the door, Tru could clearly hear
the sound of a car door slamming shut. The voices coming from outside sounded as if they were standing right
next to her.

Edyn looked back down at Tru, wrapped tightly in his
arms. “Promise me you will be careful.”

 

“I promise.”

Edyn looked back at the front door, and then over at
the sliding glass door that led to the backyard. As soon as
the front door was being unlocked, Edyn dashed to the
back of the room, turned to smile at Gertrude one last
time, and then pushed open the glass door. Tru watched
him as he ran to the edge of the trees, disappearing just
past the tree line. She managed to close the sliding door
just in time to see Maggie entering the house with a bag
of groceries tightly wrapped in each of her arms.

26
Party Patrol

“Hello, sweetie,” she exclaimed as she walked through
the family room and into the kitchen. “Can you help your
grandfather get the rest?”

Tru watched her carefully as the woman set the bags
on the tiled counter. “Sure thing,
Grandma
.” Tru casually
checked her shoulders, making sure her wings were still
hidden, and then walked out to the front yard to help
Ben. Tru still wasn’t used to calling them her parents.
And she didn’t dare say it to Maggie’s face yet.

“Hey there!” Ben said as Tru walked around to the
back of the car and poked her head past the open trunk.
“So, what have you been up to today?” he asked.

“Oh, I just watched some T.V. and caught up on some
homework.” Tru was slightly scared at how easily the lies
seemed to flow out of her.

“Sounds good.” Ben pointed to the two remaining bags
sitting in the trunk. “Can you grab those for me? I have to
bring this inside.” He nodded at a large box on the ground
before bending over to pick it up. By the sound of his
grunting, and heavy panting, Tru concluded that the box
must have weighed more than Ben could comfortably
handle.

“Sure.” Tru grabbed the two bags, closed the trunk,
and followed him back up the sidewalk to the house. “So,
what’s in the box?” she asked, curiously looking at the
cardboard. It was nearly half the height of her body, stopping just above her waist.

“A
birdfeeder.
Your
grandmother
thought
that
the
backyard needed some more wildlife.”

Tru slightly laughed.
How can she possibly have any
more wildlife in a backyard secretly filled with a whole
colony of fairies?

“My thoughts exactly.” Ben started to laugh with her. “I
mean the yard is a forest, for Pete’s sake.”

Tru couldn’t help but laugh harder and louder. He had
no idea that she knew about the fairies that took shelter
in the forest. He had no idea that Tru had discovered the
truth behind her past, or even his and Maggie’s past. Tru
continued to laugh as the two walked back up the porch.

When they had arrived back inside the house, Tru
strolled into the kitchen and set the brown paper bags on
the counter. Maggie had already finished emptying the
other two bags and was tossing them in the recycling bin
under the sink when Tru turned around to face her.

“So,” Maggie said, brushing off her hands, “what did
you do today?” It was the same question Tru had heard
just moments before.

“Homework
and
television,” she
responded
calmly.
The lies seemed to spill out of her even easier once she
had said them enough.

“That’s nice.” Maggie glanced at Tru’s hand that was
now resting by her side, and then quickly walked over to
the put away the rest of the groceries.

Tru looked down at her hand, quickly realizing why
Maggie had looked so frightened. She had completely forgotten to cover up the much larger, and much darker
mark
that
was
now
on
her
hand.
So,
Tru
hurriedly
crossed her arms over her chest, trying to hide the mark
from Maggie.

Maggie couldn’t control what was happening and it
scared her. Fright was written all over her face, but she
did her best to try and hide it. Tru immediately felt remorseful. She wanted to tell her that she didn’t have to
hide anything from her anymore, and that she wasn’t
scared like Maggie was.

“Um,” Tru said quietly, trying to break the awkward
silence that hung in the room. “I think I’m going to go
and get ready for Bethany’s party.” But as she turned
around and started to head back toward her room, Maggie put a gentle hand on Tru’s shoulder.

“Gertrude,” she said cautiously.

“Yes?” Tru turned around to face her. She was afraid
that her wings had started showing again.
“It’s only one-thirty. Are you sure you don’t want me to
make you something to eat first?” Maggie smiled, as she
pointed to the fridge. “I really hate the idea of you eating
all that junk food over there. I think we still have some
leftovers from last night.”
Tru was instantly relieved. She took a deep breath, realizing Maggie wasn’t going to confront her about what
she had learned today. But Tru still didn’t know how she
was going to tell her that she knew the truth. How was a
girl supposed to go about telling her grandmother that on
that very day, the girl learned that the woman she had
known as her father’s mother was really her own mother,
and that her father was in fact her brother? It seemed
almost
impossible,
and
it
made
Tru’s
head spin just
thinking about it.
“Thank you Grandma, but I’m fine.” Tru smiled, and
then silently walked out of the kitchen.
When she reached her bedroom, she shut the door behind herself, and then took a deep breath. As she walked
to the dresser, she looked out of the window. She couldn’t
help looking out at the cloud-covered backyard. It was a
habit that had almost become second nature to her now.
Tru looked back down at the dresser sitting in front of
her. Frantically, she opened the first drawer, and began
looking for something that would prevent the exposure of
her wings better if she happened to change back into a
fairy at the party. But nearly moments after beginning to
sift through the clothes, she paused.
What could cover those up?
she thought.
She knew she had some sports bras, but how many
would it take to hold them down? And would she be able
to breath with so many on? “Ace bandages!” Tru quickly
shouted out loud.
Swiftly, Tru ran to the bathroom, sliding open each
drawer, looking for the Ace bandages. Finally, after opening all four drawers plus the cabinet under the sink, she
found two large rolls sitting inside the mirrored medicine
cabinet above the sink. Without a sound, she ran back to
her room, stripping off her tank top as she slammed the
door
shut
behind herself
once
more.
Hurriedly,
Tru
wrapped each roll around her chest and shoulder blades.
It was slightly hard to breath, but she knew she would
have to suffer through the pain. If it was going to keep her
from
being
discovered,
and
possibly
exterminated
by
Edyn’s family, it was worth a bit of pinching and binding.
Tru didn’t want to be the one to ruin centuries of secrecy.
After she was done wrapping her body with the bandages, Tru looked in the floor-length mirror tucked in the
corner of the room. The bandages looked like a skin-tight,
bronze
colored vest.
Quickly,
she
turned back
to the
dresser, pulled a sports bra over her chest, followed by a
casual blue long-sleeved shirt. It took her a while to become acclimated to the feeling of the bandages and the
sports bra wrapped tightly around her chest, but when
she was finally ready, she took a deep breath, walked stiffly to her bed, and sat down.
Tru sat there for a few moments, trying to practice her
breathing. She had to make it look like there was nothing
wrong with her⎯ like every breath she took didn’t make
her feel like she was being pressed against a wall. It was
hard at first, but soon it became easier, and eventually,
she could hardly feel a thing. She wasn’t sure what other
abilities she would eventually gain, but part of her wondered if this was one of them.
Super breathing
, she thought as she looked at the
clock on her dresser.
It was only ten past two.
Bethany had told her to come over around six, but Tru
felt almost positive she wouldn’t mind if she had shown
up early. So, Tru stood up from the edge of her bed, and
walked over to the nightstand to grab her cell phone, before quickly shoving it into the front pocket of her jeans.
“Grandma!” Tru shouted as she opened the bedroom
door one last time. “I’m going now! I’ll call you when it’s
over.” Tru glanced into the family room as she hurried
into the kitchen and grabbed her raincoat off of the hook.
Maggie was sitting strangely motionless on the couch,
gazing out of the sliding glass door.
“Okay,” she said, remaining perfectly still in her seat⎯
like a statue. To anyone else, it would have looked like she
was just watching her husband assemble the birdfeeder.
But, Tru knew better. Tru knew she was looking past Ben,
and out at the tall trees that made up the forest. It seemed
so obvious, now, why they had chosen to live so close to
it. “Have fun.”
“Thanks! I will!” Tru shouted back as she ran through
the front door, closing it gently behind herself.
The icy air outside had surprised her. It had gotten
much colder in the twenty-five minutes it had taken her
to get ready. She still hadn’t gotten used to the climate
change since being in Woodcrest Hills, and part of her
hoped that her body would have automatically acclimated
to temperatures the way Edyn’s body had. Unfortunately,
things hadn’t changed for her yet, and the weather outside made her slightly miss the winter days in San Diego
when she was still wearing a pair of shorts and a loose
tank top.
Tru casually looked up at the grey, cloud-covered sky
above her. It looked like it was going to rain, but she
didn’t care. She needed more rain. Even though she enjoyed the warm climate she had grown up in, Tru loved
the rain, and it made her happier just thinking about the
way it looked falling from the sky.
Tru continued walking down the damp sidewalk, only
realizing that she had reached Bethany’s house when she
saw the front porch that was completely covered in balloons and streamers. Tru felt as though she were heading
to a child’s birthday party⎯ not a high school party at all.
All that was missing was the giant, neon colored sign
reading ‘Happy Birthday.’
As she walked closer to the large home, Tru could see
that parked in the driveway, facing the house, was a large,
flat black,
Volkswagen
bus.
She
meandered
her
way
around the vehicle, noticing the open side door, as she
grew closer. Tru casually glanced inside, lingering a bit
longer than she should have. She didn’t want to look like
a creep, but she was curious as to what was inside the
van.
Leaning gently on the back of the front passenger’s
seat was a black Gibson SG with Mother of Pearl details
around the pick guard and neck. The guitar had chrome
knobs and pick-ups, and a camouflage shoulder strap.
Sitting next to that guitar was an off-white Les Paul. The
knobs, pickups, and strap on this guitar were completely
black. Tru had the urge to reach out and touch them, admiring their beauty, but she had a feeling that this was
the band’s bus. And if it was, then that meant that Declan
was close by, which also meant that one of these guitars
most likely belonged to him.
When Tru realized she had been standing still for quite
some time, she quickly turned around and walked the rest
of the way up the driveway and to the path that led to the
front porch. But, before she could press the small, white
doorbell button next to the front door, the door itself, unexpectedly opened, startling her enough to take a step
away from it. Tru’s eyes grew wide when she recognized
the face of the person standing in front of her. He stopped
instantly, seeing her standing there, as he held the door
open with his left hand.
Tru looked up at him bashfully, noticing how great he
looked in his slightly fitted, plain black t-shirt, and snug
blue jeans. His blonde, cropped hair was spiked today,
and his blue eyes glimmered in the faint light from outside the house.
“Hey,” Declan said, calmly. Tru could see a smile beginning to form across his face. She smiled too, but before
she could say anything to him, another young man from
inside the house yelled out.
“Declan! What are you doing dude? Let’s go! We still
have more crap to get out of the van!”
Moments later, the door opened wider and a young
man was standing next to Declan. He paused immediately
when he saw Tru standing awkwardly on the porch.
“Oh, sorry. Didn’t know you were busy, Dude!” He
quickly pushed between Declan and Tru, giving Declan a
small pat on the shoulder as he passed, and then hurried
down the porch steps to the Volkswagen sitting in the
driveway. Declan and Tru watched as he disappeared
through the open side door.
“Hey,” Tru said when she looked back at Declan, who
was still standing shyly in the doorway.
“What are you doing here so early?” he asked. “The
party doesn’t start ‘til eight.”
Tru couldn’t really remember why she had come over
to their house so early. She had rushed out of the house to
avoid any further questioning from Maggie, but why did
she come
here?
Had she come here as a last ditch attempt
to retain some normalcy in her newfound world of chaos?
Or did she subconsciously come all this way to test her
true feelings for Edyn? Either way, she couldn’t find the
right excuse.
“Tru, is everything okay?” Declan asked, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.