Prophecy

Chapter One

"I can't believe our little girl is graduating." Deanna helped me fix my cap over my long brown curls, which she tried to tame for the occasion.

"You're not even 10 years older than me," I reminded her. We celebrated her twenty-seventh birthday a couple of months before my eighteenth.

"And I'm your little girl!" five-year-old Clara pointed out, barging into her parents' bedroom and putting herself between me and Deanna at the mirror. You wouldn't think we were related if you saw us individually, with Deanna's platinum pixie cut and Clara's strawberry blonde pigtails, but when I looked at the 3 of us together in the mirror, we were a family.

"Lucy is our big girl and you're our baby girl," Sam explained, making me roll my eyes. His mom died when I was twelve, then his father three years ago, making Sam my legal guardian. He was an amazing dad to Clara, but I still saw him as a big brother.

"But who is your favorite girl?" Clara was all about favorites these days, ever since Deanna went back to work. It was only part time, a day or two every week, but she loved being a social worker and helping people. Clara wasn't used to sharing her mom with anyone but me, and kept making sure she was still the favorite. I found it adorable.

"I love all three of my girls more than anything else in the world," Sam answered without answering, which got Clara to sigh loudly for effect, oozing attitude. I appreciated his sentiment, but it had been thirteen years since I was anybody's favorite, and I was okay with that. Most of the time.

"You're my favorite sister." Clara turned to me. She knew we weren't really related, but I had been there every single day since she was born.

"And you're my favorite little sister," I assured her.

She pouted at that, but I shrugged and looked up at Deanna, who became my big sister long before she became Sam's wife and, ultimately, my guardian. "I'll put this back on after lunch," Deanna assured me, gently removing the cap now that we knew how it would look.

"What time are we eating at?" I asked.

"I told everyone 12," Sam shared. He literally meant everyone, but no one would show up. A few kids used to come to my birthday parties when I was little, so their parents could explore the manor and see if the rumors about us were true, but they gave up when they realized the eccentricity died with Grams. Keisha was the exception. She moved to town halfway through sixth grade, when everyone else already had their best friend, except for me. I wasn't bullied, but people rarely went out of their way to make me feel welcome or accepted. Neither did Keisha, to be honest. She just showed up with so much confidence and strength that when she said we belonged, I believed her.

"I better start making the cake." I got up and followed Sam and Deanna out of the room.

"Do you want to play hide and seek?" Clara asked, following me.

"I can play now, and she can come join us?" Deanna offered on her way down the stairs.

"Does that mean I'll have to lick the spoons all by myself?" I pretended that was a daunting task.

"I can lick the spoons?" Clara asked in a whisper, looking over to her mom. Deanna liked to warn us about the salmonella we could get from cake batter.

"Of course," I told her with confidence. I was barely allowed to leave the property as a child, but the house was always stocked with cookie dough to deal with heartbreaks.

"Let me get my hat." Clara stopped midway down the stairs and ran back up.

I followed her to her bedroom, decorated with princesses and unicorns, and waited while she sorted through her toy chest to find a baker's hat. She loved playing dress-up and helping us cook, so it was the perfect birthday gift for her. Embry nearly replaced me as her favorite when she opened it.