I Never Meant to Be so Cliche

This wasn't right. They didn't lie to me. Monsters don't exist. They can't. It isn't possible. What Ronnie said was a lie, but it didn't feel like it. It felt like he was telling the truth, but he couldn't. He was delusional.

People were monsters. That's it. They were greedy and hurtful and terrible. Creatures with scales and claws don't exist unless you’re a wolf or a snake.

"I can tell you don't believe me. It must sound like I'm making complete nonsense, but I'm not. What I'm telling you it the truth. The truth other people can't tell you." Ronnie said sitting back where he was before.

Monsters aren't real. You need to get some help. I signed. I was trapped with a mad man, but aren't we all mad. Not too long ago I thought I was being attacked but nothing more than a dream. We all are a little insane. He was just more vocal about it than most, and that isn't always a good thing.

"As much as I appreciate you concern, I don't need help. Think about it, Maxie. Think really hard. You were seduced by someone you don't find attractive. You were forced to do something you didn't want to do, and when you voiced that opinion it came true the second you said it. Those aren't normal things to happen to you. I'm sure, but they aren't human things to happen either." Ronnie said.

Well, if you're telling me everything I know is a lie. Tell me what you are, if you aren't human. I signed agitated, if that was possible. I wasn't agitated. I was pissed, and I had a right to be. He was telling me words. Words that were added to the words in my head, but they didn't make sentences. It was like a cross word possible. I had the words just not the clues. The answer weren't helpful if you don't know the question.

"I'm . . . hard to explain." He said after a moment of thought.

Then what am I? I signed. An anxious feeling bubbled in my stomach. With a few simple words he could tell me my whole life was a lie. Well, he had already done that once, so why not again, right? But, I didn't know what it felt like not being human, but if I wasn't a human, did I actually know what it felt like in the first place? This was too much to take in.

He looked at me for a second then his eyes went somewhere else. "You're the last one."

What the fuck does that mean? I asked with a pissed look on my face.

"It means what I said. We don't know what you are. You aren't human, but you aren't like any of the other." He added.

Any other?

"Yeah, you aren't like anything we have ever seen. For example, you met Frank. Seems pretty normal right?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Well, he isn't. He is an addonexus. He's a humanoid creature, but he isn't a human. He was born on the day Haley’s comet swung around like plenty of others, but he was born with its energy. He can control elements with the pure magic that runs in his veins. Also, he can sense people's aurora and stifle the use of their element because everything has one, and if you lucky you might see his bone trick. He doesn't do it often, but he can manipulate his bones so they can sometimes come out of his skin and stuff. Yeah, he's real human, and let's not forget Gerard. That is Frank's partner of choice. Gerard is a vampire, but his brother is a werewolf. Freaky, right?" He asked narrowing his eyes.

I looked at him with a blank face. I had no energy for emotion anymore. All energy was going straight to my brain which was running a marathon that past few days. This . . . This wasn't . . . What wasn't it? I had to know what it was first. It was strange. It was insane. It wasn't normal. It was abnormal. It shouldn’t be real. It is real, and it's too much.

How did he expect me to handle this? I'm not good with things that aren't supposed to happen. The last time something happened even remotely of the normal track I became a mute. That's what I was like. I went to extremes because extremes were safe. No one questioned the girl in the insane asylum or the boy that was overly happy. They didn't because they either already knew something was wrong or they thought nothing bad would ever happen to them. I've had so much bad I thought it would stop after a while, but then again, I am known for being wrong.

Why are you telling me all this? I asked. Ignorance is bliss. I missed that bliss right now.

"You have a right to know. Bad things are going to happen soon. Things that you are going to be involved in. If you don't know that these creatures exist, you won't survive. I need you to survive." He said.

What do you mean?

"I'll tell you when all of this is over, but Frank should be coming back any second with some others. I need to have a meeting with them." He said standing up.

Can I go home? I tried to plead with my eyes, but he wasn't looking after I finished signing.

"No, you can't go home for a very long time, but don't worry I have someone at your house informing your parents of your absence." He said. He wasn't telling me the truth. I could tell by his voice. That weren't informing my parents of anything, but that wasn't really important.

You aren't letting me go home? Why? I asked standing myself. This was bull, and he knows it.

"Look, as attached to your family as you are, you can't go back. Keaira is going to be looking for you. She knows that you know what she is. She can't have you roaming around with that knowledge. If you go back there, she will kill you. So, you're staying here with me until this is all over."

I rather take my chances with her, I thought. Being killed right now wouldn't be that bad. I wouldn't have to deal with this, this new information. Sometimes I wished I wasn't real. I wished I was someone's imaginary friend. Then I wouldn't be seen by anyone except that one kid, that one kid who would love me because I was only theirs. The world would pass me by, but I wouldn't care. I wasn't real. I wouldn't have to deal with their issues like people and attitudes and bullying and hatred. I would only have that one kid's love. That would be all I needed.

But, when I thought about that, I thought about the negatives because my mind was never happy with good things. One day that kid would grow up. It would grow up and the real world would catch up to them, and I would be forgotten. It wouldn't be that much different from now, but at least I would get those years of happiness before.

I sat there for a long time, thinking. It was dangerous when you gave me time to think, but that's all I ever did. I probably should just be committed now and save everyone the trouble. Once I got bored with sitting there, I sat on the top step. I could still see the entire warehouse. The stairs had little support and it I moved at all to my left, I would have fallen through the railing way.

People came like Ronnie had said. People came. I didn't see any monsters or creatures like I was just told existed. I just saw humans doing human things like pouring each other drink and laughing at jokes. Some were onto other's arms like couples did. It made sense. Even things that go bump in the nights need companions.

Companions. Honestly I never thought of being anyone’s companion, not even in a friend way. I wasn't the pack type. Never had I found a person that was my type of person. That's what I thought, but Ronnie came around. I felt like I could talk to him, but apparently he knew me better than he should for someone I barely talk to. He was like something just out of reach, but it was close enough to be dangled in front of your face. I could almost hear the laughter of the person keeping me away.

"Hey, Max." Frank said. I didn't realize him and another person walked up the stairs until now. Frank sat next to me while his friend sat a few steps down stretching his legs the entire way and then some.

His friend was taller than Frank, but it wasn't hard to be taller than him. Ebony skin was stretched across his bones. Shaggy, midnight hair was hiding his striking facial features. There was no color on him. It was like he completely faded from his brighter version. Although his eyes were a deep color of crimson at the moment something told me even those would fade to something else latter.

I waved slightly. Frank looked human. He had skin and hair and everything else you find. There were no scales and claws and fangs, just people things. But then again, his friend looked human, but the way he looked at the other guests made me think that over.

"This is Gerard." He said pointing to his companion. I realized that was the guy Ronnie mentioned earlier, the vampire apparently. He seemed like he could fit the type.

I waved at him and he smiled slightly.

"How's it going?" Frank asked.

Fine. I replied. What else would I say?

"Ronnie told me that you handled the news pretty well." He said.

I shrugged. He didn't tell me all that much, just that everything I know is a like. He didn't really elaborate on anything.

"Still, you haven't freaked out or broken anything. You did better than Gerard over there. He broke a table when he found all this stuff." He whispered the stuff about Gerard like he wouldn't be able to hear him, but the way the vampire's eyes flicked over told me he did.

"It was a glass table, and I was just getting use to the super strength." He glared at Frank. Frank just stuck his tongue out.

"He likes to tell everyone that." Frank said. Gerard just flipped him off. They made a charming couple. "What did Ronnie tell you exactly?" Frank asked then.

I sighed. He told me that there are monsters and things that aren't supposed to exist. He told me you were an addonexus, and you could do this bone thing. He also mentioned Gerard was a vampire, and his brother was a werewolf.

"He mentioned his brother?" Frank asked.

"What about Mikey?" Gerard asked bringing his attention to the conversation. I assumed he didn't know sign because he didn't bother to pay attention to my hands. That or he didn't care.

"He's a wolf." Frank replied. Gerard nodded and returned his attention elsewhere.

"Did he tell you what you were?" Frank asked then.

The last one. I signed mentally killing Ronnie three times over.

"That's it?" He asked shocked. There was more? I nodded my head regardless. "That boy. Sometimes I wonder why we all follow him with his random antics, but it always works out in the end."

What are you talking about? I asked.

"This little group here is a rebellion against the Master. Ronnie is the leader of it because he knows the Master the best." Frank explained. That was more information about these people, but there were still too many questions, not enough answers.

Who's the Master? I asked.

"Sorry, man. Ronnie's going to have to tell you that one. Surprisingly enough the mind can't take too much new information without exploding." He said with the hand motions. "We got to go. Meetings about to start and I think Gerard cooled down enough to not attack someone. What do you say Gerard? Back to the land of people?" Gerard just shrugged before jumping though the railing to the floor. "God, he's such a show off, but it is kind of a turn on." Frank laughed before saying goodbye.

The night passed on with events I was too tired to think about. They talked about things I didn't know with people that had powers that were beyond my comprehension. It was all a lot to take in, but these guys were proof it was real. People don't jump down a flight of stairs. It doesn't work that way.

My mind didn't turn off until it had to. It processed everything thoroughly. It decided what was important to remember.

I was tired once the meeting was over, very tired. My arms hurt from the recovering wounds, and I probably shouldn't have signed that much. My head was pounding because of the stress, and my eyes would stay open for longer than a few minutes.

As I lay in that tiny room once again a single thought came up before my mind decided to call it a night. Ronnie didn't tell me that he needed me to survive for the rebellion or anything. He told me he needed me to survive. He wasn't telling me something very crucial, and from the look in his eyes it was killing him as much it was killing me.