A person sits on a beach by moonlight, their overly long silver hair blocking their face. From this distance, it can't be told if the shaking of this person is them laughing their butt off or crying their heart out. That dangerously beautiful person lying on the beach is none other than me.
The name's "A," cause I was the first, cause I'm the leader and cause of one of my more obnoxious talents. Don't bother asking who I was before I changed; it's not relevant to my life now, plus I don't remember anymore.
I guess you could say I'm a vampire, but it would be for lack of a better word. Sure, we've got extended life spans, and sure, a few of us can get sustenance from blood and we all have some sort of unnatural talent, but vamp just doesn't quite describe us.
Most of those myths that classify vamps don't apply to us. First off, sunlight doesn't affect us- no burning out of existence, no extra sparkliness, no extreme weakness at high noon, nada. I mean, I personally feel stronger in the rays of the moon, but that's just me, and I don't really get weaker during the day, just not as super strong. Second, none of us have ever produced another with any transfer of blood. Not like we tested it or anything. And the list goes on and on, but I hope I've made my point.
Now, our community of unnatural humanoids is what's really extraordinary. We're a sophisticated race living in caves, literally. We have some very advanced stuff (not a lot, but some), but caves are the main shelter option as they are in abundance and other options are limited.
The caves themselves range from closet-size to living room-size. How convenient, right? In fact, about the only thing we don't have are bathrooms. Horrid, I know. A "superior" race without bathrooms? We are forced to use a single cave built for that purpose. The entire community shares it: the toilets, the showers. And there are no stalls, either.

I'll bet you're laughing. Well, if that’s the attitude you're going to have, you can set this down right now.

Twit.


...

You're still here? Very well. I suppose you're wondering about me now. Why am I alone on the beach, shaking with an unknown emotion? Geez, you are nosy...I guess if you're here, I'll tell you. I hope you have awhile, because it's a long story.



******************************************
The day started with rain, and I couldn’t get enough of it. I never can. It must have something to do with my past; it's as if any form of water is the most wonderful luxury, previously forbidden. This rain was above even that, for the beauty of the sunrise captured by those crystalline drops would shame the most radiant goddess.

The entire color spectrum is but half the colors found in a single liquid diamond. The sweetest aroma brushes by and tastes like... like an almost remembered memory.

My smile faded as I sighed longingly. I curled up, knees pulled to my chest and resting my chin on my knees. The rain was wonderful, but it was cold. Every drop that touched my skin left a path of coolness as it rolled down my body. I shivered.

I loved the rain, but it wasn't the attention I craved. I need someone who can understand me. Even among my own, I am too unique for anyone to relate to me, to understand what I go through. Everyone is too fearful of me to risk an intimate friendship.

Suddenly, I died.
Just kidding, I just slipped off the ledge I had been watching the sunrise on.
I take inventory of the damage: six broken ribs, one puncturing my left lung, and a fist-sized rock imbedded into my forehead. Nothing a trip to our Doctor wouldn't easily take care of.




******************************
"What in the world......?" asked Nan, the Doctor's attendant.
"Come on, I just slipped. What's with your reaction today; you usually don't bat an eye at my worst injuries."
"I just thought you'd have learned better by now," Nan replied with a meek smile.

I scowled.
"So what is our Autumn up to today?" She asked.

What a stupid question.
"Is the Doctor ready for me yet?"

"Relax, I haven't even told him you were here yet..." Nan smirked playfully as she clutched her clipboard to her side and exited.

Suddenly tired, I slipped into a chair. My body was stiff, but stretching would only make it hurt more. Dozing off also wasn't an option; it might become a pain if I fell asleep waiting for the Doctor.

Not too long after Nan left, I heard the Doctor yell out, "Come on back, and let’s see what we can do about those broken bones."
****************************************

My insides still tingled as I exited the Doctor's cave. Sure, it was much easier to walk without my body screaming out in protest every time I dared to breath, but it always took me awhile to bounce back from a Doctor's visit.

The Doctor, Jed, is a boisterous but kind man, perhaps in his mid-sixties. He can wield his power better than any known healer in any neighboring tribe, and my ribs are but a few minutes from being entirely healed.

I had often wondered about his skills, but was too shy or too distracted to ask when I had the chance. I try not to make a habit of injuring myself, but even I have to admit that if a certain time passes without a single incident, I tiptoe around trying to avoid the imminent.

What I do know about Jed’s abilities is that he, like everyone else in my community, is excessively unique with seemingly unnatural talents found (to our knowledge) nowhere else. It would seem that our species is ridiculously diverse.

I started to feel hungry, that familiar rumble deep in my gut that detracted all other things from my attention. With a mental shrug, I decided that a good, hearty breakfast would help me recover that lost spring to my step quicker. I redirected my aimless stroll toward the Dining Hall.

Even though only those who have it can tell for sure, I’ve many times harbored the concept that the head cook, Maddy, was one of my people who has the talent for mind reading. Strengthening this suspicion, she once again has just what I am craving freshly prepared before my arrival. Another theory going around is that she has a still rarer skill that senses when hungry creatures are near. I guess that classifies me close enough.
Either way, I’m just glad for the food, not realizing how starving I truly was until I caught a whiff of that mouthwatering aroma. I start with an unimaginably delicious slice of the roasted tiger one of our hunters bragged about last night. Then I grab a bowl of fruit salad and a cup of grape juice, all from our mountainside gardens.
I am content to sit alone and gorge myself with food, but of course, that can’t happen. Pauline, aka “Polly, Princess of Politics”, had to come and ruin my breakfast. Again. Seems something’s got Polly into a tizzy, and here I was hoping that whatever it was could have waited at least until lunch. Ha! No “injustice” could be hidden from Polly for even that long.
“Hello, Polly…” I said, halfheartedly trying to hide my irritation as she slid into a seat beside me.
“So,” she sneered sideways at me, “I heard you were at the Doctor’s. Again.”
“Oh. Well, I, uh…”
“Jed should be seeing real patients.”
“I am a real patient! What, you think I’m some super being or something?”
“We both are…”
“But I’m not invincible.”
Polly frowned, “Stay away from Jed. He’s mine.”
?????? “I had a rock in my head, that’s it. Nothing more.”
“Well. I bet you just loooooved him gazing into your UGLY, SAGGING EYES!” She heaved her tray across the table and stormed off.

I was alone again.

************************
The rain had slowed itself into a cool drizzle by the time I left the cafeteria. I walked outward toward the place where the ground dropped off into a steep cliff. There I sat, my legs dangling out over the edge, swinging to catch the curling mist rising from the ocean rapids below as wave after wave crashed into the jutting land mass.
And there I stayed until the sun was high in the sky. That's when one of our lookouts from the seaward tower came dashing up to me.
“A! A, we've got a problem! Another warship is heading this way!” I turned my head in response.
As he came up to me, his volume and speed slowly decreased, “Oh, it's you, Autumn; we need Ashmael right away! We're under attack!”
I'm all for protecting the colony, so I did as the boy asked. I called Ashmael.
My amber eyes turned bright red, my features became more angular and my height increased.
I probably should explain this to you, Human. You remember those obnoxious talents I mentioned before? Well, I am many people within this body. Depending on who is in control at the time, that is whose features are dominant. Also, everyone in this head of mine has a name starting with an A, thus “A” refers to all of us residents of this same body.
I am Autumn. I am Ashmael. I am all.