The Beginning of A Destiny

 My name is Joviana Louisa Santiago.
Since the early stages life, when I first began my journey,
had always been full of broken memories and unfinished stories.
I never got an explanation on where I came from or who I was.
All I knew was that I was a girl with a destiny and I was the only one who could fulfill it.

From the time I was a young child, no older than four, I had a hunch

that I was different. I was born with magenta hair with aqua highlights and bright blue eyes

and looked nothing like the family I was told were my blood.

Damion Santiago was a young boy, about the age of seven, who I admired from afar.

He and I were raised to believe we were siblings, yet we looked nothing alike.

As a young child, I accepted it, but he was not my brother as it was genetically impossible.

Daron Santiago who claimed to be my father, was in fact only the biological father to 

Damion. There was always doubt in my mind about who he really was and why I was here.

 I didn't have a mother, but instead had a caretaker named Clara Gammett
who was a young woman with the kindest heart. She never received a word of
appreciation from Daron and was always standing alone if she wasn't caring for us children.

Daron had a girlfriend named Bianca Sanchez, who is probably the ugliest woman you have ever seen.

I classified her as a pink-haired scumbag of a freak who only wanted him for his money.

She hated children and couldn't stand to see us for even a moment or she would

scream and yell at Clara to get us out of her way.

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Most days around the house were filled with anger and screaming.
Daron was a dysfunctional man who was always angry.

He never smiled nor did he laugh. I can't remember a single time where

he spent time with us children. Let's just say, he wasn't a family man...

Daron only had a girlfriend around because he wanted to keep up his image

when he was with his peers. He never laid with her in bed as he was disgusted by her.

I would have to agree on this one because she was an old hag who lied and cheated

when she had a chance!

Her moment in his life was very short lived and he got rid of her after a few months...

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After she was gone, I was a very happy child. I was finally able to sing and dance
without being told to quiet down or to get out of the way.

I remember sitting in the back yard as happy as could be, listening to the wind blow across the 

lush greenery, when I began to hum to myself and swing back and forth joyfully.

Suddenly, the sun disappeared and before I knew it, a dark shadow

 appears right in front of me. I stopped and looked up with surprise and excitement.

It was Damion!

He bent down and hugged me with a gentle squeeze

 as I tried to return the favor by wrapping my tiny arms around his neck.

The hug seemed to last forever...

The world stopped and I felt something strange inside.

A thought came across my mind for the first time...

I realized...

what love was.

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Now, when I was about two years old, I remember having had spent much of my day

alone in my room with Clara. She would sit by my crib and sing to me all night until I fell asleep.

I grew quite close to Clara over my early years and felt a bond only a mother and daughter could

have. She was my mother-figure and caretaker, but she had a secret that only I knew...

She was a vampire...

Clara being a vampire didn't bother me one bit.
She was just as human as I was...

Most of the time I spent in my crib, I was thinking about what

 I was going to be like when I grew up.

Whenever I looked in the mirror, I saw a person who was different...

No one else was like me and I wanted to keep it that way.

Time flew by...

                   And I grew older...

Even though I was years apart from Damion, I still kept him close in my mind

and held on to the feelings that I had for him as I grew.

By the time I was seven, Damion was reaching his teen years,
he was about ten years old as we were about three years apart.

One night, we were sitting down on the couch in our vacation home

talking about how great the summer had been that year.

We were getting ready to go back to school and were not thrilled about how

short the summer vacation had been.

"Jovi, don't you think the summer break was too short this year?" Damion asked me.

"Yea, it was and I am not ready for school again," I replied in agreement.

"Well, let's try and ask Daron if we can stay another week?" he suggested.

(We never called Daron by anything, but his first name as he was not to be 

announced as father or Dad, according to his rules.)

We sat in silence for a moment as we both thought about it.

There was no way he would say yes, but it was worth a shot.

"He might say yes if we tell him school starts the week after next and change it

in his schedule on his phone!" exclaimed Damion.

"Maybe, but I don't think he will fall for it," I replied with concern.

"Aw, man. I don't wanta go to school," Damion pouted.

I sat there with a smile on my face as I thought about how cute his disappointment was.

"I'm sure we will be fine Damion. I mean, we have each other don't we?" I asked.

Damion paused in thought for a brief second.

"Yes we do have each other, Jovi!" he said with joy.

I smiled and closed my eyes for a moment longer than a blink as
a thought crossed my mind. I had a strong desire to ask him something...


He looked at me and smiled slightly as I prepared to ask him what was on my mind.

"We aren't brother and sister, are we?" I asked Damion.

We both paused once more as we thought about it...

before he said...
"No."

From that moment on, we realized that our relationship was actually farther than we knew
and wasn't just a brother and sister relationship, but a deep friendship...

As we grew closer in our relationship and became best friends,
I started to feel a change in myself...

Whenever I hugged him, I felt butterflies in my stomach.

Over time, I started to blush and giggle after hugging him

or when he gave me a compliment.

It was the strangest, but most extraordinary feeling in my life...

I couldn't help wondering what it was...

Was it a different love than what I had felt before?
What was it?