Chapter 2: Chapter 2 - A Mysterious and Tragic Magic
The next day I went back to my regular routine.
I entered the classroom, which was starting to get crowded with students while looking down.
However, the eerie air directly pierced my skin. The atmosphere this time is very different from before. I turned to them. All my classmates immediately looked at me cynically and hatefully.
I swallowed hard. I'm so scared of them. On the other hand, I didn't understand why they were looking at me. Even though I was afraid, I tried to stay calm. Because I'm used to their intimidating stares.
I sat in my chair. And as usual, I paint as I like when I get to class.
"Could it be that Leo and his four friends died because of Elena?"
I stiffened when I heard the conversation of the whole class.
What?! Leo and his friends died?
"How can you accuse Elana of being the culprit?"
"Elena might have let the wolves out on purpose to kill Leo because he was hurt by what happened yesterday. Because the police found beast bites on their bodies."
"You're right too. Moreover, Elena loves to paint canine-toothed men. It seems she is very obsessed with werewolves."
"No. Elena is obsessed with vampires! No canine-toothed werewolves!"
"Just look at his paintings. Elena always draws werewolves!"
"Stop! You guys don't fight! The point is, we shouldn't bother the Mute Girl anymore, so we don't become her next victim," said one of their friends.
How can they accuse me? There's no way I could do such a heinous act! Therapy, could vampires and werewolves be real? If it's true... that means my life is really in danger.
I stared in horror at the painting of the man with fangs that looked exactly like my dream.
∆∆∆
Break time arrived.
I sat at the cafeteria table alone for the first time in years. Everyone was afraid to sit at the table with me because of the rumors circulating at school.
However, I am neither sad nor hurt. That's good. So, I don't have to eat hiding in the toilet anymore.
"That girl really is a mystery. I'm increasingly convinced that she is the main culprit in the murder of Leo and his four friends."
"But the police informed me in the news that I watched earlier that Leo and his colleagues died because they were attacked by wild animals."
I overheard the conversation between two colleagues sitting behind me.
"Use your common sense! There's no way a beast would enter the house in the middle of the night when all the doors are locked. Plus, all five died on the same day. It couldn't be a coincidence."
"You're right too."
I rushed out of the cafeteria to the bathroom to avoid the crowd. I immediately locked myself in the room while scared.
My ears are burning from hearing my name being gossiped about and associated with the news of Leo's death.
What did I do wrong? Why does everyone hate me! Even though I didn't do anything! I cried silently.
"Hey, have you heard the news about Elena, the Mute Girl? Elena is accused of killing Leo and his four friends because he was hurt and bullied. The news became a hot issue at school."
"Of course. Elena is really terrible. From the start, I suspected that she was a strange and evil girl. But why do the teachers still let Elena go to school here?"
"You're right. Elena's presence makes us nervous and scared. I feel like I want to change schools soon."
I was sad to hear some girls talking outside my cubicle.
∆∆∆
I walked down the sidewalk, looking down sadly. I am sad and hopeless because, for the first time, everyone has accused me of being a repeat villain.
"Too bad. Were there any casualties?"
On the way, I found a crowd of people surrounding something.
'What are they looking at?' I'm curious.
Despite being scared, I ventured over to the crowd to check it out for the sake of quenching my curiosity.
After breaking through the people blocking my path, I was shocked as I stood at the front of the line. A bus fell into a ravine until it was dented.
I was in shock. I wasn't at all surprised by the position of the bus, but by the bus itself.
'Wasn't that the bus that almost hit me yesterday?'
My eyes were glued to the scratch marks that contained several parts of the car. The claw was giant and looked terrible.
"Was that horrible creature again the culprit of today's bus accident?" A woman asked them with a frightened look.
"Possibly. Because there were the same scratch marks on the car as happened with the deaths of the five teenagers yesterday. The perpetrator also left the same scratch marks."
I tensed because I remembered all my classmates' accusations at school earlier. I felt something odd. However, I needed clarification to prove that my opinion was correct.
'How could that be? Why does everyone who comes into contact with me die!?'
I immediately ran away from the accident area.
∆∆∆
When I got home, I rushed to my room.
"Why are you still letting that kid live in our house, huh?! You should have let that girl die before it was too late!"
My steps suddenly stopped when I accidentally heard the sound of an argument coming from the parents' room. Charles, my father's shout, boomed outside.
"Don't be crazy! She is our daughter!"
"She's not our daughter! She's just a cursed child you picked up from the orphanage because her parents dumped her!"
I am surprised.
'What? Am I adopted? Does that mean I'm not their biological child? Is this the reason Father always hates me?'
I looked down sadly. That fact really broke my heart. It turns out that all this time, I was only the adopted son of the Simmons family.
"Stop calling Elena a cursed child, Charles! She is our daughter!"
"I don't want to think of Elena as my daughter!"
The door in front of me suddenly opened, making me gasp in surprise. Charles came outside and passed me.
"What are you doing here? Have you heard everything?!" snapped Charles.
I didn't dare to answer and just looked down in fear. For a dozen years, my body has been content to accept the pain of the father's blows, jabs, and slaps.
"Elena!" Margareth rushed outside and came over to me. "Could you speak a little softly to Elena, huh?! She's not deaf!"
"Sorry..." I said sadly, "I've made a mess of your household."
"That's not true, Honey!"
"That's right! If you don't want to see, us fighting all the time because of you, quickly get out of my house!"
PLAK!
"God damn it!" Charles glared at Margaret in anger. "How dare you slap me!"
"Of course! Because you deserve it!" Margareth cursed. "Think of it as a reply because you have hurt my son's heart!" Margaret shouted furiously.
"Come on, Honey. Let's just get out of here!" Margareth asked me to go to my room.
Margareth hurriedly put all my clothes into the suitcase while I looked at Margaret with teary eyes.
"Mom… whose child am I actually? Who are my biological parents? Why have you never told me about my origins for a dozen years?" I asked, disappointed while holding back tears. But, sadly, my tears kept flowing.
Margaret glared at me. "Stop asking me such nonsense! You are my real daughter! Take that!"
"Don't lie, Mommy. If it's true that I am your child, why would Father dare to say that I am only an adopted child?!"
"Because Charles is a lunatic! You don't have to take what a madman says seriously! Got it?! You'd better help Mommy pack up all your clothes so we can get out of here as soon as possible!"
"Where are we going?"
"We'll be staying for a while at Uncle Thompson's."
"But doesn't he hate me too?"
"He won't budge if I scold him! So you don't have to worry!"
I looked down sadly. I'm confused and worried. Honestly, I wanted to escape my adoptive parents' house and disappear forever from their lives. Because I don't want my family to be destroyed because of my presence.
Father's right... I'm just a goddamn child! I hate myself so much!
I clawed at my hands to express the disappointment tearing my heart apart. Because my nails are long enough to cut my pale skin. As a result, blood rushed from the torn wound so that it dripped onto the floor.
"ELENA!" Margareth's panicked scream made me flinch.
"IDIOT! YOU DON'T HURT YOURSELF! WHAT IF THEY KNOW YOU'RE HERE AND GET BACK TO KIDNAP YOU?" Margareth wrapped around my injured hand using torn clothes to stop the bleeding.
"Kidnapped?" I winced.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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