MCGRATH || peyton emmaline [hold]

[peyton]

I know I was walking around in disguise,
I was just as lost and I needed a guide,
and the moment that you came to change my life,
use life burn my heart and make me smile

PEYTON EMMALINE MCGRATH
pey. twenty. female. heterosexual. shapeshifter. light. ashley bensen. the lord your god.

IN THE BEGINNING.

March 8, 1992

Dear Peyton,

We are sorry that we had to do this, but we are too much of a danger to you. We are sending you to a good home where we grew up; it’s in Cleveland, Ohio. We are sending you to a foster home and you have to believe us when we say that this is for your own safety. We will be watching out for you no matter what. Always believe that. We love you with all our hearts and when the time comes, you will hear from us again. Please don’t come looking for us. You must trust us.

With all our love,
Mom and Dad

She was five when she was finally adopted. Along with the letter from her parents, the only thing she took with her was a locket with a small picture of her as a child and her parents while they were still in the hospital. All of her clothes were to be left at the foster home because they were dirty. The foster care was dirty and the children rarely ever taken care of. She was the youngest at the home along with three others, Jolene, Hattie, and Keller. The other three were a few years older than she, but were all indifferent to her existence. Most of the time Peyton kept to herself. She found herself reading in her room while the others watched television. She lost herself in books. When she was first adopted, the family was surprised at how quiet she was. They figured that it was probably the traumatic environment that she was forced to live in, which was half true. But she was more afraid of them than she was of going back to that foster care. She didn’t know what was going to happen

It took Peyton until the time she was ten to feel like she really belonged to the Crews family. They had had another daughter soon after adopting her and the two were as close as two sisters could possibly be. It was also around the same time that she felt her body beginning to change. Her changing body was thought to be just early development and puberty, but she somehow knew that this was far different than something everyone went through. Peyton would wake up in the middle of the night, pouring sweat, her entire body in unbelievable, unfathomable pain. She was taken to the doctor, but they couldn’t find anything wrong with her.

The family went back to the house and Peyton fled to her room. She didn’t understand why this was happening to her and why the doctor said that nothing was wrong with her when she felt it every single night. She knew that something was different about her. She needed to figure it out sooner rather than later, but she was just ten years old and was still bad at talking to strangers. There was nothing left for her to do other than try to figure this out on her own.

Peyton was smart as a whip, something she didn’t often get credit for. She was more book-smart than street smart and was reading at a high school level. She had read stories all her life about mysterious things, paranormal things. They all interested her and she found a book that eventually lead her to think that she had similar symptoms as what was called a shapeshifter. The book told her all about what shapeshifters went through including the changes their bodies made, how they imprinted on an animal and then were able to change into those animals with much practice and yes, pain. After she had told her parents, they brought her to a therapist. The man said that it was normal for a small child to imagine things like this and that it was nothing.

One morning Peyton was having incredible pain in her left leg. She begged her parents to let her stay home from school, but they insisted that she must go and that all of this was in her head. She screamed out in pain when her father picked her up. Even the slightest touch felt like a thousand fires were torching her skin. She looked out of her window and saw a large white swan in the small pond behind her house looking directly into her eyes. She felt something come over her and suddenly she felt her body changing. Her bones cracked and it deformed in the most horrendous ways. In a matter of what felt like minutes, but was just a few seconds, she had changed into a large whooper swan. Her parents were stunned and flew backwards in astonishment. Peyton flapped her wings and flew around in the room. Her father went to the window and opened it in a panic and Peyton dashed out in a hurry.

She had never felt so free in her entire life. Everything around her was right. She had never felt so completely unrestricted and glorious as she did now. She flew for hours around the outskirts of the city and then eventually back home. When she shifted back into her human form, her clothes were gone. She went into the garage and found her father’s old leather jacket and put it on. It was oversized and looked like a giant leather dress, but she thought it was nice and comfortable. She opened the door and stopped dead in her tracks.

THE FRESH START.

Aurora McGrath drove into the night. Peyton slept silently in her back seat on the long drive to Manuka, Maine. Her newly adopted daughter was just like her. Aurora had shown Peyton the first time that they met how similar they were. Peyton was excited about finally having found someone that was a shapeshifter like her, and at the proposal of going somewhere new, Peyton enthusiastically agreed. Aurora had told her up-front about what would have to happen. She was going to have to adopt Peyton before being able to take her across state-lines. Peyton grew sad instantly at the word adopt. Her parents of five years had abandoned her in an empty house the day she had shifted her first time three years ago. She didn’t know if she could ever truly trust someone again, at least not a parental figure. But she went with her gut. She agreed to the adoption and to moving to Maine with Aurora as long as Aurora would teach her how to be a good shapeshifter.

When they arrived finally, Aurora showed Peyton around the town. It was huge, bigger than Cleveland even, and she was already in love. When Aurora showed Peyton the house that she was to be living in, she thought it was a dream. The house was three stories high with a large porch going all the way around. It was on 100 acres of land in the oldest part of town. Aurora explained that this used to be her great-grandfather’s house and that it had been passed down from generation to generation until it finally became hers a few years ago. Before Peyton could go explore the giant mansion, she had to first meet the rest of the family. She was nervous, but Aurora told the thirteen year old not to worry about a thing; they were all going to love her; they were all just the same as Peyton. And they did. Even through her nervousness, the three girls, all thirteen just like Peyton, and the four boys, ranging in ages: 11, 13, 14, and 18 all adored her as well.

They were a family, all of them. They treated Peyton like she was their own right from the get-go. She learned how shapeshifting worked and how to control it. She went to school just like any other girl and had a normal life just like any other girl though she was aware of the real world she lived in. At home she learned about the world of the supernaturals; the witches and warlocks, demons, angels, werewolves and vampires, firetamers, and immortals. Everything was interesting to her and she always wanted to learn more about the true world they lived in. she was a good student in both normal school and in school at home.

THE DOWNFALL.

Peyton was seventeen when she met Lucas Evergood. He was single handedly the most amazing person she had ever met. He was a shifter just like she was; he was a bird, too, but he was a golden eagle. They were in love from the moment they set eyes on each other and their love only grew more by the day. They laughed together, fought together and instantly made up, finished each other’s sentences, and did practically everything together. Luke lived in upper part of the city, but they often went to each other’s houses and spent the night cuddling with each other.

Luke had parenting problems just like she did, but his were drunken assholes. They sometimes beat him when they were really fucked up, and when Peyton was there and they tried something on him, she defended him. She stood up for him even when he told her not to. She couldn’t stand them. She didn’t like the way they looked down on him like he was a piece of shit when they were the ones that didn’t amount to anything. And she told them that. But when she did, she didn’t expect them to react the way they had. Luke’s father struck her in the face. It was something that had ever happened to her before, and it pissed her off so much that she shifted right there in front of them. In her swan form, she was able to beat them more accurately than she would have been in her human form. Luke’s mother freaked out and ducked for cover while his father tried to bat her away. When she was satisfied with the damage done, she shifted back to normal and quickly put on her clothes. Luka grabbed her arm and shoved her out of the room before her father could wake back up. She huffed annoyed and walked back home. She was just about done with his idiotic parents, but he couldn’t see what she did. He somehow hated them but loved them enough to take care of them and keep them afloat.

The next morning Peyton didn’t hear from him. She was afraid to go to his house because of his parents, so she figured she could just give him some space. After two days without hearing from him, she couldn’t take it anymore. She snuck over to his house and peeked into his window. It was dark, so she could only see a shadowy figure lying on the bed in the corner. Because there were no cars in the driveway of the one-story home, she figured Luke’s parents were gone. She found the hide-a-way key and unlocked his back door quietly. Peyton walked to the front of his house where Luke’s bedroom was and opened his door. She thought he was sleeping, so she crawled into bed next to him. Something felt wrong though. Her hand was wet with a thick liquid. She gasped and rushed to turn on the light.

When she turned around, she screamed. Lying on the bed was Luke with a gun hanging loosely in his hand, his body lying dead on his bed, and a note sitting next to him. The wall behind him was covered in blood and what she could only guess was brains and skull fragments. She felt instantly like she was going to puke. She covered her mouth to try to keep it down, but she couldn’t stop the vomit from projecting out of her mouth all over his carpet. She fell to her knees. Peyton crawled over to him and began crying over his lifeless body not knowing what to think. It was hours before she ran out of tears. Peyton sighed and pulled out the note in his hand.

Peyton,

I can’t do this anymore. My parents have done nothing but put me down my entire life and I’ve never been happy. You are everything to me and you have to know this has nothing to do with you. You are nothing but good and have done nothing but make me happy. This happiness isn’t forever and I know that now. I love you more than anything.

I’ll be with you forever,
Luke

SINCE THEN.

Four years have passed since Luke’s death. Since then she had put a picture of Luke in the other side of her locket next to her parents with her in the hospital and still wears it every day. Peyton is still the same protective girl she has always been, but she is more conscience of the people she meets. She is outgoing and can make friends easily. She is a large part of the school at her home in Manuka and prides herself in teaching the shifters of the house but still has issues with trusting new people. She’s afraid of what will happen if she gives her heart to someone new. Luke is still in her dreams, and she often wakes up sobbing, wondering if there was something she could have done differently.

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