• The day had been long and cold, sounds of men at work echoed through the lobby. The hotel was filled with tourists and business men. Rory however was neither; he walked the halls of the building in only shorts and a tank.



    Rory was not tanned by any stretch of the imagination. His pale skin however was far from regular, he was often in the sun and never burned, and if he ever tanned it would just return to its natural pale look a few hours later. He was always classified as “good looking” by girls, and even the occasional guy. However he knew there were better looking people in the world. His hometown was always bustling with people that looked upon him in interest for one reason or another, he never truly understood why. The distance was a mere twenty miles up the road from the hotel. He was currently on holiday break.



    The cold weather never bothered him; his core temperature was usually around one hundred and five degrees. Doctors found this interesting in many ways. They had set him up for several tests, and the results were that his organs were working normally if not better than those of some star athletes. His bare feet moved with only a little noise along the hard wood floors of the long building. He smiled as he felt the cold chill under his feet, his skin almost shivering once. His strut was confident; no one could take that from him. As the sun set he smiled, his sunglasses were pushed up no longer covering his eyes. Now he slid them back a little on his head smiling as his mid length red hair was swept in place.



    The cities of Northern Ireland in the distance the soft country side of the southern half slowly came to view behind him as he stepped into the back of the building, a large pool only lit by soft lights along the walls leading to it and then back to the building. The border of the two parts of the country was so quiet as the sun slowly set. Rory’s smiled widened as he watched the water, he imagined how could it could be against his skin. He just laughed to himself softly seeing that he was finally alone. He slid the tank off his body and smiled sitting at the deep end dipping his feet in for a little. It was as he thought; the cool water quickly sent a chill up his body as his skin made contact. Rory closed his eyes for a moment as he listened to noises in the distance. He even took in a deep breath and could smell the steak and Ribs they were marinating in the kitchen.



    He resisted the urge to head to the kitchen and steal some of the meat. He opened his eyes to see there was still no one around him. He made a quick decision on taking a dip in the pool. He even dropped his shorts before he dove in. The water sent chills up his body, the cool water made him grin more. After he arose from the water he shook his hair out feeling an even wider grin pulling on his face, he looked up seeing a waxing crescent. He took in a breath and pulled himself out of the water sliding his dry shorts back on.



    In moments he slid the sunglasses back onto his hair, his pocket vibrated for a moment before his hand sunk in it pulling his phone out. He smiled pushing on the screen placing the phone to his ear

    “Hey Rachel, what’s up?”

    “Where are you!!!??? Were trying to control Zana without you”

    The voice was not as harsh as she was trying to make it sound like. Rachel’s tone was soft and rang softly like a sort of innocence that Rory enjoyed listening to. He was not smiling much after the statement

    “I’m out at the pool; I was catching some fresh air”

    He heard a soft sigh come from the other line as he heard loud wails of crying in the background. “Rachel what is going on? She is supposed to be asleep”. Once again a sigh came through the line, she must have been thinking about what to say.

    “Well we were talking in the other room before we heard a loud crash in the room, we turned and Zana was on the floor her crib in pieces and her arm was under the mattress. Now she is freaking out”

    Now Rory was uneasy, he started jogging in quickly not running to be sure to the few people actually trying to sleep to stay asleep.

    “Alright, tell her that I will be there in a minute, make sure she stays on the bed so she doesn’t hurt herself anymore” he said. He heard a grunt in the background and he hung up.

    Rory was here with some of his friends Rachel, Todd, Alex, and Aaron. The five were hanging out together to ensure that their holiday break was not going to be filled with boredom. Rachel, Todd and Aaron were child hood friends of Rory’s, they were like family. While Alex, the new girl just tagged along with Aaron to try getting to know some people before school started again.

    Zana however, she was Rory’s baby sister. Rory was more like a father to her than a brother, especially since their father’s death. Their mom was at home relaxing without the kids in the house, she wasn’t exactly the most relaxed woman usually. In fact she was usually hard on Rory due to him being there when his father died. The memories of the robbery that ended in his father’s death were still too painful to think of to him.

    Rory made sure he could take care of Zana, the small toddler was his world, he absolutely loved her, and there was nothing he wouldn’t do for her. Then again she seemed to have that effect on people. No one hated her; no one spoke badly about her. The small red head was so innocent, her long curly locks made her small face stand out.

    Rory made it to the room quickly ignoring the talking and drinking that was around him. He opened the door quickly seeing the four at the bed with Zana as she looked up. Zana’s arm looked like it had been stepped on; a large bruise went down it. He moved in lifting her softly kissing her forehead and with that the child was silent.

    “Wowy… my awm huwts” she wined softly as she pressed against him, her arms on his shoulders.



    “I know Zana, quiet it’s going to be just fine” he said softly holding her close. His face was calmed as he held the child comfortingly.