Not Really Human.

As if that moment was a dream, the girl moved forward to get a better look at the man. His eyes matched the same color as the man's in the picture. His hair, it had a different shade now, but still a similar style to how it was then. And his height, it was now quite obvious this man was her father. As he hugged her, the girl let out a squeak. She was happy to have met him, but she was still emotionally cautious about daults. Moving backwards quickly, she grabbed her left arm with her right hand. Looking down to the ground, she spoke softly to him with an apologetic tone “S-Sorry, I just have some touching issues.” Though not explaining the real truth behind the reasoning.

As her father took notice, he slightly didn't understand. Wanting to, he nodded and spoke gently "Whenever you want to talk about it, then I am here. But for now, let's get you something to eat. You've had a long drive, and I bet my subordinates didn't feed you." He said, as he started to move down the hallway they once came from. As Cordovia followed after him, she glanced around at the house. The halls seemed to flow endlessly, with doors on each side. Once they reached an intercepting hallway, they turned to the left and moved down that one. She glanced at the walls again, this time there weren't pictures of older people hanging there. But pictures of odd creatures.

As she stopped to look at them, her father did too. She moved closer to the first portrait. Her eyes scanned every piece of it. The dark, yet thin pelt of the wolf stood out. Their bright color amber golden eyes struck her to the core and she got eerily nervous. She then turned her attention to how the wolf was not really a wolf, but a humanized version of itself. It’s ears standing to point, as if pointing at the moon. The snot, much longer than normal wolves. The normal canines a wolf would have, these ones were elongated and sharp looking. And it’s claws, also long and sharp. Cordovia gulped lightly, truly hoping that creatures like this were not real. Her father took notice of her gulp, though allowed her to keep lookin. There a mark stood out on his chest. In the portrait, a bright white would be seen used to heighten the detail of the mark. The shape of a crescent moon stood out visibly, with the white. Looking down to her wrist, she rubbed the mark on her wrist. Though similar, there was not the wand with three little diamonds, in his mark. The label at the bottom of the picture read “Lupinotuum Pectinem*”. She sighed, then glanced to the left, where another portrait was hanging on the wall.

In this portrait, a woman stood there. Her left hand raised in the air at an angle. And her right seemed to hold a book. On her head she wore a hat, which had a point at the top. Her head was tilted to the left, where you could only see the left side of her face. And her hair was a dark brown, that looked like it flowed endlessly behind her. There were colorful colors that could be seen over her left hand, as if portraying something. Blues, greens, purples, and pinks colliding together at the top forming a colorful ball above the streaks underneath. On the tree to the right, a broom lay against it, with a cloak hanging on a branch nearby. An owl seemed to be hiding in the leaves above, though seemed awake. And on her neck, in the color black there was again a mark. A mark of the wand with three little diamonds she too held, on her wrist. Again, there was a label at the bottom of the portrait that read “Pythoniss*“. She asked softly while pointing at the portrait , as she turned to face her father. “What does this portrait represent?” Her eyes were filled with curiosity and wonder, not like her usual montoned or depressed emotional state.

“It represents Witches and magic. You will know more soon, so come this way.” Her father said, as he waved her to follow him. As he rounded the right corner, there could be people heard talking in the distance. The girl nodded, and followed after him. She too could hear others talking in the distance, but they completely avoided the others, for now. As her father stepped into the kitchen, she followed right behind him. Looking at the large kitchen, the girl's eyes got wide. The refrigerator was a retro style baby blue color, with double doors. The stove was in the middle of the room, with another beside it. The sink and dishwasher was in the middle of the island. And a large table sat off behind the counter top. ‘Large enough for parties?’ She thought to herself.

As she walked towards the fridge, her father opened the door for her. The girl looked in, there were so many choices for her to choose. Her stomach got wider than her eyes at that moment. She was kinda hungry, and her father was right, they didn’t feed her. Her eyes darted back and forth, trying to figure out what she wanted. There was Dr. Pepper in the refrigerator, so she grabbed a couple. The girl normally did, sometimes she got really thirsty and she didn’t understand it. She then noticed some chicken sitting out, it looked like it had already been eaten. She grabbed it, licking her lips lightly she turned around. Her hands full of items. Her father took the chicken, and moved towards the microwave.

The men that had brought her here earlier, seemed to stroll on in. They smiled, and looked different in some street clothes, rather than their suits. “Evening sir.” One said, and then looked at me with a smile. He was rather cute she’d admit, but much older than her preference. Cordovia’s father nodded in registration of his greeting, though was too busy helping prepare some food for the girl. As she took a seat at the table, her father soon walked over to her with the chicken.

Placing in front of her, he placed a gentle hand on her head. Which made memories of her mother, flash through her thoughts. She smiled, she actually smiled when he did that. Turning to look at him, she blushed lightly realizing she wanted to actually stay here and learn more. More about the marks, and more about her father really.

As the two sat there, beginning to talk about little things. Cordovia surprisingly opened up about the foster family that had abused her, along with others. Although she wasn’t crying, she was shaking at remembering every little detail that followed before and after the beatings. Her father gently gripped her hand, and looked into her eyes. “I will always protect you. Even if I am sick, you will always be protected. Now eat something, I must admit, you have school tomorrow. And rest is what you need too. Just, please bare with me Cordovia, and you will love it here.” He said, as he stood up from the table. She could tell he was tired, so she spoke gently “You can go to sleep father, I am sure one of your subordinates can show me to my room.” She looked at him, as he looked at her. Nodding, he left quietly to go rest himself.

After finishing up the chicken, she grabbed her cellphone. ‘No reception. Great.’ She thought, then stood up and stretched. Letting out a yawn as she did. Turning around, to feel a presence behind her, she looked to see who it was. The man that had been in the passenger seat stood there. Smiling, he spoke ever so gently “Your father told me to show you to your room. If you are finished?” Cordovia nodded, and walked towards the man, who turned around. Walking through the hallways, they finally came to the stairs. The girl seemed to take them in before walking up. Again, another white marble item with grey in it. There lay a red rug in the middle of the stairs, to help from falling and to keep footing stable.

Once they reached the top of the stairs, Cordovia followed after him. Leading her to the first room, near the staircase. He pushed the door open, and looked back to her. “This will be your room. There are clothes and such your father purchased, before you got here. He was worried you didn’t have enough. You have your own bathroom as well, and your school uniform is laying on your desk.” He began to explain as he walked into the room. Cordovia followed him in. She looked around, her eyes glistened with actually having a room once again. And one that she could call hers. “Your father also asked for you to be ready in the morning for school by 7:30. And school will promptly start at 8.” He added, then moved towards the door instantly. “Good night lady of the house.” He finished, as he shut the door behind him. Leaving the girl alone, she looked around the room.

Surprised that this was now her life, she began to wonder about the school she’d be going to. Walking towards the desk, she looked at the uniform. ‘A skirt really!?’ She thought, as she looked at the skirt that lay on the desk. It was a dark grey color, with the school’s emblem on the left side of the hem. The shirt, it was a regular white color, which made her nose scrunch up. And The jacket matched the skirt color as well. And on the right breast pocket, there again was the school’s emblem.

It was the Devil’s Hour, and the girl hadn’t been to sleep yet. Even though she was laying in bed, she couldn’t figure out why she was awake. Her mind was calm, as well as her body. She opened her eyes, and looked towards the window that was to the left of the room. Standing up, she placed her warm feet upon the cold hardwood floor. Chills ran up her back, as she stood up.

Walking over to the window, she looked out of it. Glancing around the area outside, she smiled softly. It was a beautiful place, and she was excited that this was her father’s place. Though something was different, and she wanted a little more answers. Turning her back to the window, she walked towards the bedroom door. Opening it, she peaked out, looking around; hoping not to be seen. Seeing nobody yet, she walked out of the room and down the stairs quickly.

Moving down the hallways, she finally found what she was looking for. The hallway with the portraits of the odd creatures. As she looked further at them, she could tell they were different. There were more than six portraits that had different markings on them. She looked down to her mark and sighed. ‘So why does mine have two?’ She thought, then went to leave the hallway. Only, she bounced right off something and stumbled to the floor. As she looked up, she could see her father standing there. He smiled and held his hand out to her.

As she took it, she looked at him with a bright red face. “I am sorry, but I wanted to look at these portraits again.” She admitted as her face turned a deeper shade of red. She looked down to the ground, as she felt his hand on her head. “You wanted to learn more about who you are. Well, human is not the appropriate term. I will explain more soon, but you need rest.” He told her as he looked at her with soft eyes. They showed truth in them, as well as honesty. Cordovia nodded, and left the hallway and her father behind.

Once she returned to her room, she did feel a little tired now. Crawling into the large, soft, and comfortable bed she was given she let out a sigh. Finally comfortable, she found herself starting to drift off to sleep. Thinking of the words her father told her ‘Human is not the appropriate term.' was suck in her mind as she fell asleep.

Lupinotuum Pectinem* - Werewolf in Latin

Pythoniss* - Witch in Latin