Candlelit Shadows

Chapter 14

“My, my… A young girl like yourself can’t be seen wandering around the streets like this, milady. I insist.”

      “W-who are…you?”

      “No more than a humble servant of your clan. As old as the lineage itself, if I may brag. But save the questions for later. Now, let’s get out of this abysmal rain, shall we?”

      They did. Everyone stared as the little child they had been searching for months wandered into the police station by herself. No one noticed the kitten at her heels, or the bird on her shoulder at her mother’s funeral, or the ant up her blouse as they showed her the line-up.

      “He’s not there,” she had said softly. “He’s not anywhere.”

      “We’ll find him,” the nice officer tried to comfort her, but even he could not hide the bead of sweat trickling down his spine. This pale, empty little girl was as scary as any hardened criminal. “He can’t hide from us. But are you sure--?”

      “Of course. If you find him, send me an invitation.” She smiled for the first time, but her eyes remained just as empty. It only made her seem even more ethereal, as though she had been killed alongside her mother. Which was true, in some ways. “I’ll personally attend the execution.”

      But she did not expect them to find him. No, she counted on them not to. After all, she was the one who blasted him out of the window. So they never found his body. She would like to think he had been blown to smithereens.

      “Naughty girl,” whispered the ant in her ear. “That’s not something you should be thinking about your father. Even if he did kill your mother.” 

 

***

 

That was years ago now.

      When she first opened her eyes, she remembered a rush of warmth, but beneath it lurking something cold and frightening. Something about a song… and water…

      Eyes barely opened, Hailey groped her way to her shelf and pulled out the photo album. The pictures were still there, all of them. Fingering her mother’s beautiful face, she allowed herself a sigh of relief, and then frowned. Why shouldn’t they be there? They’ve always been, since she and Max first moved in…

      “SIS!! THE BACON’S BURNING!!!”

      Ah, that would be Max.

      “Don’t forget to save me some…” Something mumbled from beneath her bed, three furry tails almost tripping her over. But instead of screaming about the monster underneath her bed or flying into a temper about unkempt tails, Hailey just smiled and reached under the dusty bed to stroke a furry head. The creature growled, but both knew the other too well to be alarmed. He secretly enjoyed this.

      Hailey felt a strange surge of euphoria as she hastily combed through her hair. She was stuck in the leaky, worn-down low-cost apartment she called home, getting ready for another grueling day at work, her dye was fading, her brother had burnt the bacon— but she was home. That one simple thought kept running through her mind, down her neck, into her fingers and toes, then ran back up to her face where it settled, like a tired but happy kitten after a long day of fun, into a contented smile. She had no idea why, or how, but somehow or another she was gladder to be here than she ever was in her life to be anywhere.

      “DON’T THROW IT OUT!!” she screamed as she flung open the door and thundered down the stairs, three steps at a time. “WE CAN’T AFFORD THAT!!”