The Bones of The Rabbit

Chapter 86

Bela stared at the child in front of her and her sisters. She was a toddler with short wavy auburn hair and big dopey amber eyes. Bela held a hand out, cautious and wanting the child to set her boundaries. "Estella." Bela whispered, familiarizing herself with her name. The toddler tilted her head a little, grabbing Bela's hand. Like a switch being flipped, Bela smiled and pulled the toddler into a protective hug. Her new sister, a trio turned into a quartet.

You're going to love it here.

Daniela got to Estella's level, Bela sitting on the floor to be on her level. Much to everyone's surprise, it was Cassandra talking to the child fluently. Where did you come from? How did my parents find you? What do you think of castles? Bela watched as Estella perked up at the mention of castles, talking endlessly about princesses, dragons, and magic. Bela listened in closely, giving a nod when asked if they were princesses.

We're not entirely princesses, but it's close enough!

Bela grinned, looking up to her mother. She saw her smile, knowing she expected the worst to happen. "Estella, do you want to see around the castle?" Bela chirped, catching the toddler's attention. She heard you and Alcina talking about something quietly, but focused on getting Estella on her back and showing her around. Daniela and Cassandra followed suit, explaining what vampires were and showing her beetles. Estella had taken a liking to Bruiser, the last of Blitz' children. The others weren't strong enough, but this stag beetle larvae was strong just like Blitz. Estella held the larvae happily, Bela explaining what they eat and why she loved bugs so much. "How come Blitz isn't around anymore?" Estella asked, the girls going quiet at the name. Bela spoke up, her voice sombre but soft. "Stag beetles are only adults for a few weeks perhaps a month, spending 4 to 6 years like this. Blitz... Blitz was different. He was an adult for a whole year. He was a larvae for the longest time when I first found him in the woods." Bela explained, gently placing Bruiser back into his terrarium.

You're laughing! That's good!

Estella was shown the other rooms, Daniela showing her where the secret mini fridge was, telling the toddler that she could have as many pudding cups as she wanted as long as she put more in the fridge and put the board back up. Cassandra's room seemed to be Estella's favourite, perhaps for all the stuffed animals and weird skulls from hunts. They sat in a triangle, Estella in the middle. Wanting to teach the her, Cassandra showed a couple of skulls. "This is a cat skull, they eat meat so they have sharp teeth. This is an ox skull, you can tell by their flat teeth that they like to eat vegetation." Cassandra explained, going into further detail. It seemed like Cassandra was in her element, explaining the different animals and showing her more odd skulls. A horse that had a broken jaw that healed weird, a wolf that had it's top jaw fractured and then healed crooked.

You're going to scare her.

Cassandra went to her closet, pulling out her favorite skull. A Eurasian Brown Bear that was born with two fused skulls. It made Estella scream, Bela placing her hand on the toddler's back and letting her hide in her robe. "You're scaring her, put that away." Bela spoke passive-aggressively, handing the toddler a stuffed animal of a goat. "What are we going to tell mom what we did to Aspen?" Daniela whispered. Bela remembered, after the dog had died, they performed the ritual their mother once performed on them, now they kept Aspen in a secret place and didn't say a word. "Who's Aspen?" Estella asked, curious. "She's a dog." Cassandra chirped, going back in her closet and going into a small room. Coming out, a familiar chow-chow in all her happiness. She was repaired to her former glory, but had to be kept a secret for some time.

Estella hugged the dog, Bela looking up and giving her sisters a worried glance. Their parents had been on a honeymoon, cut short by the arrival of a daughter. Were you both going back? If so, what did it take to raise a child?