1 One.

CHAPTER 1.

An old saying goes, pebbles that bring you joy are better than diamonds that bring you sorrow; but I had neither Pebbles nor diamonds. In this world filled with patriarchy and societal standards, I was unlucky. All alone. And if there was one thing I prayed desperately for it would be death, but luck never fell on my side. All my attempts to take my life always turned out futile. It was as though there was a god up in the sky who enjoyed watching me suffer in the hands of humans who found me repulsive all because of how I looked.

A monster; that was what I was, and no one loved me because of that. I was abandoned at birth by my birth parents, raised in an orphanage where I was treated like I had a contaminable disease. Even I myself was disgusted by how I looked. My skin was the palest ever on Earth — I even received a Guinness book of record certificate for that. My eyes were pure white. The hair on my head was white, even the hair on my skin was white. I had teeth which posed a striking resemblance to the popular folklore creature, Vampires. I looked hideous.

Nighttime was my favorite time to have a stroll and that was only because the darkness of the night shielded me from the predators that lurked around looking for someone to prey on, and I was a very easy target. I had been preyed on a lot of times, most especially when I was in college. Those days were the most dreadful period of my life. It was at that period I had a suicide count of about twenty-six and I only stopped when I realized that I couldn't take my own life, not because I lacked the courage, it was mainly because I was just placed on Earth to suffer. As the silent breeze sang into my ear, I closed my eyes, waltzing into the alley that was the shortcut to the apartment I stayed in.

The breeze swept along my skin in an invisible ocean of praise and I found solace in it but I abruptly stopped walking when I felt everything around me stilled. The breeze wasn't singing anymore and I also couldn't feel it against my skin. I popped my eyes open and stared into the poorly illuminated alley, with the only source of light being the moon that professed itself as the Solon of the sky. I wasn't scared by the stillness in the alley, fear wasn't a word I was accustomed to anymore, not after everything I went through while I was in college. There was less danger lurking around me than in the mirage of my mind.

I continued walking, ignoring my sixth sense which could sniff out that something was wrong. Then, I heard a loud growl from behind and for a moment I stopped walking, but I continued instantaneously, disregarding the growl.

A stray dog it could be, I thought, but I thought wrongly because it wasn't a stray dog. Whatever it was had found itself at my front and even from the dim illusion I could clearly see what the creature was. I stopped walking, studying the creature at my front. I used to think of myself as the most hideous creature on Earth, but seeing the creature made me think otherwise. It was built like a hound dog, with three glowing red eyes, sharp teeth barred out like a wild animal, ears as long as that of an elephant and three horns like that of a ewe. The creature looked like it belonged to an anime verse.

My survival instinct told me to run for my life but I didn't. I always wanted death and now that death was at my front I willed myself not to run away, even if it meant being torn into shreds by a despicable nameless peeve-creature. The creature moved towards me, but I remained rooted to a spot, my heart palpitating with every step it took.

The creature got closer and closer and suddenly it stopped walking. The forelimbs left the floor and it stood on its hind legs. I was dumbfounded as I watched how the middle eyes and horn of the creature slowly disappeared into thin air. In less than a minute, the once ugly creature transitioned into a. . .into a handsome, surreal, young man but he still retained its ghoulish red eyes. The man was naked as he moved closer to me, but I made sure not to look below his torso. He had claws and a protruding canine. He looked intimidating and I would have said scary, but he had a smile on his face. A smile that made him seem like a physcopath

He eventually got to my front and I felt my world stop at how surreal and angelic his face was. Words couldn't be enough to describe his perfection, then my thoughts were short-lived when I realized that he was a monster, an unheard creature. I had read a lot of fictional realisms stories and I knew about the fantasy world, but I used to think they were just fiction, until I set my eyes on him. "Finally," I trembled upon hearing his heavenly voice. It was husky and low, serenading to the ear. "I finally found you."

I blinked through my apprehension, staring intently at him as I tried to find meaning to his words. What exactly could he mean? Who exactly could he be? Then a thought dawned on me, "Are you. . ." I trailed off, eyes locked with his beautiful ones. "Are you my father?"

He laughed manically and moved to my back where he held me by my shoulders. His breathe fawned my neck and I felt goosebumps erupt all over my skin. "Me? Your father?" He dragged his words like he had all the time in the world, maybe he did. "Why would you think so?"

Exactly! Why would I think such an heavenly creature was my father? He was a beauty to behold and I was just a trash pile. "Then who are you?" I asked.

"Do you really want to know?" I felt his breathe against my ear as he moaned ever so sensuously. "Promise you won't be scared?"

"I promise."

"You're my bride, Isabella."