The Fused & the Muse  Ch.1

London, England

Present Day

Do you believe in the supernatural?—The things that are not human but may possibly co-exists with them? Things like ghosts, ogres, fairies, trolls, vampires, werewolves, mermaids? Well, I don't and I never had, but my grandpa told me to do so. I've read stories and watched movies of the supernatural but who am I kidding? They do not exist. It's all just a fantasy—something people delusions about when they can't explain what's really there. It's all made up by man. It was made to keep men in fear, in order to live strongly but fearfully. By having something that all despise of, brings a sense of unity—and with unity, is strength—a bond between those who inhabits the Earth. Humans tend to put those whom are like them before those that are not.

However, my grandfather told me that the supernatural had been living amongst humans for as long as the beginning of time. He explains that at first, humans and the supernaturals lived peacefully together and knew of each other's existence. They co-existed in harmony, until one day, they have both become greedy for power. There was a Great War between the two.

The supernaturals were far more powerful than the humans, yet they lost the war. Why was this, you ask? Well, according to grandpa, there were some whom wanted to keep the peace between the two species—in the supernatural side. These "Rebels" formed an alliance with the humans whom they thought were more reasonable and therefore fought beside them. Once the humans won, however, the humans had cheated the Rebels and locked them away in a hidden prison. From that day onward, humans have agreed to forget of the supernatural's existence. This had been the case for a very long time, until the idea of supernatural beings was brought up in the entertainment industries and were thought of as interesting topics for children's books.

All of this seemed so unbelievable to me, that I had to lie to my grandfather that I believed in his stories. Of course, I didn't want to sadden my grandfather by telling him I didn't believe his stories—because he was so enthusiastic about them. There was, however, one thing my grandfather had told me, which made me consider that perhaps, there are supernaturals that exist or had once existed… He said,"If the supernatural were just made up in the mind of humans, then what gave humans the idea of there being other living beings different from humans and animals that exist on Earth? What pushed them to believe that there is an existence of such?" He was right about that...how the idea of such species could not have come from nowhere—all the details about each mythical creature—how they look and what they are capable of doing—there must have been something that made humans believe in such existence in the first place. What I'm trying to say, is that we shouldn't completely not believe in things just because we've never seen or experienced it. We must not be so skeptical to the possibilities that such things can exist. We have to be open to possibilities and at the same time, not lose sight of reality.

I smiled awkwardly, my eyes wandering around the emotionless faces around me. Mr. Johnson coughed and walked towards me while clapping his hands. "Why...that's quite a story isn't it?" He gave off an awkward laugh then coughed again. "Thank you Ella. I'm sure your grandfather is a wise man. Any questions?" Chloe raised her hand. She was chewing her gum loud enough for the whole school to hear. "Miss Chloe, why don't we throw the gum away first?" Mr. Johnson raised a brow at her. She rolled her eyes and stood up to throw her gum away. "So...don't you think people got the idea of the features from animals? Like duh. Wolves as werewolves and bats as vampires." All eyes were on her, then moved back to me. I felt my ears heating up. Well yeah, that's pretty obvious. I waited for her to continue so she'd say something I didn't know. "I mean like aren't all these fantasy creatures you speak of connected to some kind of animal?" The class laughed in unison. I wasn't so sure whether they were laughing at me, or her pointless comment. Chloe crossed her arms while smirking. I didn't say anything in response because there really wasn't anything to say. Mr. Johnson walked to the front of the room. "Ella, you may go to your seat. It was a good presentation."

I held my breath until I sat down to my seat. I lay my head on my desk while Mr. Johnson talked about next week's field trip. I watched the birds flying outside the window. I'm actually afraid of birds yet at times, I just wish I was able to fly like them. My eyes began closing until I felt a warm breath near my left ear. "Shouldn't you be paying attention?" I jolted up and turned my head to look behind me. I found Josh smirking at me. "Miss Hathaway, is there something wrong?" Mr.Johnson had his glasses on the tip of his nose, looking in my direction. I shook my head and sat straight.

"Okay. I hope you all pack well. Our journey will be for a good 3 days or so. Class dismissed." I took my time to pack my books so I wouldn't have to pass by my classmates. I knew they'd only poke fun of me after my presentation. I walked out the door as quickly as I could. I walked with my head down, not wanting to drive any attention on me.

"Hey there~ slow down." I froze in my spot, not daring to move a muscle. That voice... I stared at the shoes directly in front of me. My heartbeat raised. It was thumping so fast, I was afraid I'd get a heart attack. I slowly raise my head, knowing who I'd find in front of me. My cheeks were burning. Edward was staring down at me, smiling. My heart was beating even faster. I was mesmerized by his eyes—how they pierced right through mine. His friends were chuckling in the back. Do they know? Were they laughing at me because of my presentation? Was it really that bad? News did get around school quickly. I felt like crying of embarrassment. Edward noticed the sudden change in my facial expression and waved his friends off.

"I'll see you around." He flashed his amazing smile at me once more and my heart completely melted. My hands were shaking and my books felt so much heavier. "Whoohoohoo~ look at you!" My best friend Alyssa cooed at me. I shook my head. I put my books away in my locker but suddenly, she slapped my arm. "Ow!" "Oh cooommee on gurl! You got Mr.HottieMcHotStuff talking to you?!" She shook her head from side to side as she emphasized the 'you.' My face began to heat up again just thinking about it. I took a deep breath. "We gotta talk about that later. Cause you just– oohh gurl you got everyone fired up—good and bad."

Josh walked up to us with his group of friends. They surrounded us in front of my locker. I turned and crossed my arms waiting for his mockery. He clapped. "You did great in class." I turned back to my locker, ignoring his comment. "Did you hear it Alyssa? It was great." I slammed my locker shut. "Oh come on~ why are you mad? It was a compliment. In fact, I should be the one mad at you." "For what?" He bit his bottom lip. "I heard people saying something about you and that prick Edward." He took a strand of my hair but I pushed his hand away. "Why do you care? Let's go Aly." I took Alyssa by the sleeves of her leather jacket and pulled her along.

And there it was...more death glares directly shooting at me. Alyssa and I were quiet for a while until we got to the bus stop. "Girl...I have no idea what you've done, but Chloe is definitely not gonna like this." She paused. "But girl! You are amazing! How did you even get the two hottest men in this school to go for you? Not one Kingston...but TWO Kingstons!" "Oh shut up Aly. Edward doesn't even like me." She puckered her lips and raised a brow. "But I mean you like him...soooo." I shook my head at her. "That doesn't mean he likes me. Besides, Chloe is all up on him. She's beautiful and she's everything any man in school would dream to have. And him...he– he's handsome...smart...I mean they can—you know boys just fall on Chloe's feet like leaves from a shedding tree." "Don't even say it. Girl...Josh is hot too. Why don't you like him then?" I took another big breath. "Because Chloe likes him too." "Nuh uh girl. Chloe just likes everyone. That's not a good reason for me."

I've never actually thought about why I push Josh away so much. Or...actually, perhaps it was because I knew he was a player—not in sports terms however. I shook her question off, leaving it unanswered. We got on the bus and before I knew it, I was so lost in thought that I had almost missed my stop. "Thanks Jerry!" The bus driver tipped his hat. I hopped off and walked to my house. "I'm home!~" Oh...right. My mother was at work. She always was. We own a small bakery that my parents had built after they got married. Once my father had passed, I rarely got to see my mother around the house anymore. She spent most of her time in that bakery. But hey, I can't blame her if it was what she felt kept her close to my father.

I locked the door and ran up to my room. I guess I'm alone again. It's alright. I like the quiet. I changed to my home clothes and sent a text to my mom. *I'm visiting Grandpa before I leave for my field trip. Are you coming with?* That was the last thing I remembered doing before I went to sleep. 

"Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It's a way of understanding it."

-Lloyd Alexander