You know how people always think there is something fishy about celebrities? How it makes no sense that a person can make two or three movies a year and still be healthy as a horse? And that no matter how many shows a singer does on a tour, their voice stays the same during it all? And one thing that always came to mind, why do they only date ‘their own kind’? Yeah well, when I was ten I found out all of the answers. Of course I was still too young to have been asking these questions but I now realize how strange it all must seem. Although, to explain how I was given the answers I must first introduce myself and, well, we can call it my gift.

For starters my name nowadays is Nicola Cowell. Before you ask, I am in no relation to Simon Cowell. Not by blood or marriage. He is more of my protector and it was easier to be named the same as him, so that people would stop asking questions. What my name was before is of no importance at this moment. All my life I have known I was different. People used to call me weird, scary and all sorts of things that I now refuse to remember. When I was around four years old I started to get into trouble at kindergarten a lot. My mother thinks it started earlier than that but the staff refused to tell her, or something like that. The thing was that I was being accused of having pushed several boys to the ground.

Now, this is not how I remember it. What I remember was a group of boys making fun of me because my father was dead and my family wasn’t normal, and then all of a sudden they were lying pressed to the ground. The teachers rang my mother and told her I had pushed five boys to the ground, all by myself. The thought of a little girl pushing five bigger boys to the ground and them actually staying on the ground faced my mother for a second but my mother punished no less. I wasn’t happy about it but the punishment was walking the neighbor’s dog. I hated that bloody dog, but I did it.

But back to telling you about me. That day in kindergarten was a small milestone, because after that everything changed. First of all we moved. I was born in the United States of America but when we moved for the fifth time my mother decided we needed a new continent. So we moved to Great Britain. During all of these moves my problem got bigger and bigger. I managed to get myself into trouble at every school I started at and when I did, we had to move. Each time the situation got worse. The last time I accidently killed a boy because he was about to kiss, when I had said no. Mother said no. Mother said we’re moving.

So we moved to a little town outside Bristol called Clutton. Why we moved to Clutton I never understood. She kept on telling me we had to hide and that I was going to get help. I started to feel bad for having the condition I had, but mother never once blamed me. But when all hell was let loose was the day the men in dark suits came. I didn’t have time to save my mother and they quickly slit her throat without even thinking about it. I got so, so mad. I remember not being able to think because I was so mad and when my eyes stopped seeing red, the men were dead. I couldn’t believe the sight before me and as I ran up to my mother I slipped several times in the men’s blood.

If you would ask a policeman what he saw that day when he arrived at our house he would tell you it looked like a giant stepped on their heads. He would tell you that there was a small child there, no more than ten, who was clutching her mothers’ body so tight it looked like they were molded into one. He would tell you this child was innocent. But I wasn’t.

The policemen took me down to the station where I was interrogated on what had happened, but I didn’t speak one word. When they asked me if I had someone to call I told them I did. They left me alone in a room with one small window and a phone. I stood there looking at that phone for a long time before I raised my eyes to look at the window. Out of nowhere the window blew open with a massive force and I saw my chance. I placed the chair by the window and climbed up. When I noticed how far it was to the ground there was some kind of mystical wind that carried me from the window safely to the ground. Once I landed I noticed him standing there. He didn’t look as old as he does today, but there wasn’t much difference. When I had started walking he started to talk to me. This is what the conversation sounded like;

“Sure was a high fall for such a little girl.” His voice was very nonchalant and I scoffed at his smirk.

“I don’t know what you are talking about sir.” I turned around and began walking quickly away from him, hoping he wouldn’t follow me. As if he ran in the speed of light he was in front of me with the same calm smirk on his lips.

“Now little girl, hasn’t your mother taught you anything? When a gentleman is conversing with you, you should respond.” I snorted at his words and crossed my arms as I looked up at him.

“I beg your pardon sir. But my mother just died and I know I am only ten, but I think I can decide who to speak to or not.” I began walking passed him when his next words stopped me.

“My name is Simon Cowell. I am your new protector.” I snorted once more and shrug of the feeling of his familiar name. My mother had spoken about him in her sleep but I dismissed it as nonsense.

“My mother is my protector.” I turned around to look at him and his eyes had turned dark. “It was you we were waiting for, wasn’t it?” He nodded his head slowly but when he spoke I felt anger flood me.

“It was planned out. I was to wait until you left the station.” I really felt the anger rise and felt my condition kick in. The man in front of me simply smiled and shook his head. “You can’t harm me with that power of yours.” He pointed to the space around me.

“I can harm everyone.” I spoke through clenched teeth, which wasn’t as frightening as I would’ve liked it to be.

“Oh, but you see love. I’m not like everyone.” He smiled and walked towards me. He softly caressed my cheek and looked at the space around me. “I will help you control it.” He dropped his hand and walked away. At first I stood there, staring after him, but I soon realized I had to follow him. Even though I was only ten and hadn’t experienced much, I knew that if I didn’t go with him I would die.

He did help me. He helped me control this thing he called a power. We quickly agreed I had to change my name to something more like his, so that I could pass as a relative. But as I told you in the beginning, my name is nothing you need to be concerned with. I was just the usual 5”7 girl with chocolate brown hair. My eyes were green with a hint of blue and as I grew up I noticed my body wasn’t anything like my mothers. My mother had always been thin and almost invisible. I on the other hand had curves, so much curves it made boys go crazy. My skin was rather pale because I spent so much time inside.

I feel like I should tell you that since I got to Simon time has passed and I was turning twenty-two the next week. I was no longer a scared little child that had lost her mother and killed four men without thinking about it. No, my life today was so different from what I had. Which leads me back to the celebrities.

You know when you go out to a concert or a movie premier because you want to see your favorite singer or actor? Well, most of the time there will be tons of security guards that are paid to keep all of the screaming girls away from the celebs. The thing about them isn’t that they are there to keep the famous people safe, most of the time it is the other way around. You see, the kind of creatures they are can’t control themselves all the time. Simons’ clients get extra good protection from potential threats, and that extra good protection is me.

My name is now Nicola Cowell, and I am a shield. Also, ninety percent of the famous people out there are vampires, if that wasn’t obvious.