Contrarily to what most people seem to think, not all those who are different lead dreadful lives. Some of us have it good. We're not what you think. Not all of our kind anyway. My name is Edward Malveaux. In the eyes of the world, I'm a successful businessman. I work for an investment firm located in Boston's Financial District. Anyone looking at me would see a six-foot-two, well-dressed and neatly groomed, burly man in his early twenties with sharp, handsome features. My skin is light brown and my eyes are amber-colored. My father Franklin Malveaux is a black man from Haiti and my mother Elisabeth Steinbeck is biracial, of African-American and German parentage. I have several siblings. My elder brother Alphonse is a State Police Officer in Hartford, Connecticut. My big sister Rachel is a State Representative in Trenton, New Jersey. We're all high achievers. Like me, they are Kin.
What is the Kin? A secret society of men and women who are genetically different from the rest of humanity. Our thought patterns differ from those of ordinary humans. We think differently. We also think faster too. Physically, we're not that different from them. We can be tall or short, fat or thin, pale or dark. Due to our genetic makeup, we are immune to most diseases which affect the humans. AIDs. Cancer. They are the threats humans fear but they're nothing to us. Thanks to centuries of selective breeding. We are no stronger or faster than most humans. We're simply more resilient. We're not creatures out of science fiction whom are nigh invincible. Far from it. A bullet to the head does to me the same thing it does to you.
We are everywhere. The Kin are originally from Africa, birthplace of the human species. Over the course of the past few thousand years, we've diversified. There are Kin in Asia, Europe, Australia and America. We live among the Mundanes, as we call the ordinary humans. However, we're not like them. Kin don't marry humans and vice versa. We don't care for mixing and matching, most of the time. Why? The humans are barbaric. Dreadfully afraid of anyone who is different. And we are different. Even though we look alike on the outside, we're two completely different species. As different from humans as they are from chimps and gorillas. Still, sometimes Kin and human do interbreed and the result are the Half-Breeds. They're few in number and don't last long. They feel dreadfully lonely because they assume they're alone in the world. We never let them know about us.
These days, it's hard to be a Kin. You see, life is not all fun and games for us either. We have enemies. Our main enemies are another group of genetically mutated humans. The ordinary humans call these men and women all kinds of names. Sociopaths. Psychopaths. Freaks. Serial killers. The truth is that they are far more than that. They're as different from ordinary humans as we are from them. We call them Inimicus, a Latin word meaning "enemy". These things are popping up everywhere. They can interbreed with others like themselves as well as ordinary humans. They tend to dominate whatever area they live in because they're a particularly aggressive subspecies of humanity. They're no stronger or faster than the Mundanes, the ordinary humans. However, they're extremely intelligent and ruthless. They have no conscience whatsoever. They feel no remorse. They appear to be charming, outgoing and seemingly bolder, braver and more interesting than those around them. It's all part of their repertoire. The truth is that Inimicus are genetically designed to be murderous, treacherous, power-hungry and vindictive. And they outnumber us. Why? They reproduce quickly.
Since ancient times, we the Kin have been at war with the Inimicus for dominion of the planet Earth. The war is fought right underneath the nose of the Mundanes and they don't even know it. I was raised to always be on my guard. The Inimicus are everywhere. They're police officers, doctors, lawyers, scientists, judges, politicians, soldiers, construction workers, executives, actors, musicians, gangsters and entertainers. These things make life hell for my species. Since they have no conscience, they tend to be extremely seductive and attract lots of potential mates. They breed with these numerous mates, creating many more remorseless monsters like themselves. The offspring of a remorseless man ( the Inimicus male) or remorseless woman, even when sired with a Mundane, still has an enormous chance of being one of them. The genes of the Inimicus are dominant. That's why there are so many of them.
We the Kin on the other hand live differently. Our lives are violent, dangerous and unpredictable but we take the time to enjoy it. We live longer than most humans, or Inimicus, for that matter. But no one lives forever. We consider life to be precious. We've always been the guiding force behind revolutions in art and music as well as human thought. We led the humans in a golden age in the past, back when we outnumbered the Inimicus. It wasn't that long ago. I wasn't there but I remember bits and pieces of it, thanks to our racial memory. We're a family-oriented bunch. Nothing matters like family in the lives of any Kin, whether male or female. Even while family values crumbled in the Mundanes world, we preserved ours. I grew up in a household where father and mother are valued equally in the lives of their offspring. I'm not saying my parents never had any disagreements. Still, it was a far more stable household than that of most of my human friends.
We the Kin can't afford to attract attention to ourselves. At any time an Inimicus might come after us, armed with a gun. Or any other means he or she plans to use to do us lasting harm. So we live carefully. Kin men and Kin women don't go around sleeping with lots of people. Being sexually adventurous is a surefire way to attract the attention of predators. And most human-seeming predators are actually cleverly disguised Inimicus. Only unity has saved us thus far from our enemies. We live in clans. Groups of families living in a certain territory. The leader of a Clan is the Master. He or she who leads all members of the Clan. The survival of our kind rests on the shoulders of the various Masters. Once a year, all Masters from various Clans gather for a meeting in a hidden location. We scheme, and plan for the survival of our people.
We stick together in the worlds of business, finance, politics, education and science. We band together to defend our livelihood from the predators who threaten us. We can sense the Inimicus. We know them the moment we look at them. And they instantly know what we are the moment they look at us. I can't explain it. I guess our two species have a unique relationship. Like that of mongooses and snakes. We can't stand them. And they hate us. Only one of us will see the end of the twenty first century. These days, we're playing for keeps. And we're risking far too much. We can't afford to lose. Especially since the Inimicus aren't the only threat we got to deal with these days.
Ever find yourself puzzled as to why some of the most evil people in history seem to inspire such loyalty in otherwise decent folks? You see it all the time. The evil CEO whose henchman is a kind-hearted, devoted and God-fearing family man. The Queen Bee who enjoys destroying the lives of those around her just for kicks and yet seems to have the devotion of the nicest and most wholesome girls in school. The diabolical mastermind who leads courageous heroes to their unnecessary deaths yet always saves his own skin. These people are the Inimicus. They have no conscience. And they're charming, intelligent and ruthless. The Inimicus have created a group of humans among the Mundanes who exist exclusively to serve them. The members of this group are known as the Familiars.
What is a Familiar? A man or woman who exists only to serve the sociopaths, psychopaths, remorseless monsters and megalomaniacs of the world. This person seems otherwise smart, able and decent. You often find yourself wondering how can they serve a master of darkness or mistress of evil with such zeal. What's wrong with them? Why would the wife of a serial killer help him get away with multiple murder? Why would the policeman husband of a nurse convicted of poisoning hapless patients help her get away from justice? Why do the underlings of the men and women of the Senate make their masters and mistresses dirty political messes disappear? Why do corporate entities hire big-shot lawyers to defend those corporate men and corporate women who are clearly guilty and feel zero remorse? The answer is that they're the Familiars. Helping their masters and mistresses get away with stuff is what they do. They're ready and eager to take the fall for these evil creatures. Every day of the week. It's eerie.
The Familiars are everywhere. They're the foot soldiers of the Inimicus. They carry out their masters and mistresses dirty work. They provide the alibis. They make witnesses and evidence disappear. Every Inimicus on the planet has at least one Familiar working for him or her. How did the Familiars come about? When an Inimicus mates with a Mundane, most of the time the offspring is another Inimicus. A man or woman without conscience who will grow up to terrorize, bully, manipulate and destroy human beings just for kicks. However, sometimes the offspring of an Inimicus and a Mundane isn't another Inimicus. Sometimes, it's a human being who is attuned to detecting the Inimicus and has an inbred psychological need to serve something or someone greater than himself or herself. The Familiars make for great lackeys and toadies. They always do as they are told. And they almost never ask questions. In the movies, they appear as tragic figures and comic relief. In real-life, they're deadly. The Inimicus use them to carry out hostile operations against the Kin when they simply cannot be bothered.
