A Home of Mothers

Regret

Hmm, hmm, hm.

Hm, hm hm, hm.

Hm, hmm, hm-

"Hey."

I glance up, eyes blinking slowly as I lift my chin from the table. I must've fallen asleep- the book I'm reading left an imprint on my arm.

"...What were you humming just then? I think... I've heard it before. Somewhere."

I take a good look at the boy- tuxedo, tie, messy hair. ...Right. I'm at the stupid party.

"I don't know," I say, and I guess I was more hostile than I meant to be because he blinks, looks startled, and walks away. His heels click softly against the linoleum floor, and the beige walls bathe in the dull light of the half-lit chandelier above. I sigh, letting my head fall back into the book open before me. This hasn't been going well at all.

I'm at my father's party, at my mother's old estate. It's not his party, really, one of his friends is the host, but I still think of it as his. It was his house, until my mother died, but now it isn't and everything's different. Now one of his friends owns it. Some middle class man who he owed money. Another stupid factor in my life.

A siren wails, lights flashing through the inset windows and illuminating the bar, across the carpet, flitting over the stairs and then finally blinding me, but I don't even rise. Nobody even flinches, bustling and hustling around and drinking wine and chatting ever louder. Since my mother's death I've secretly yearned to be back here again, but now... I can't find it within me even to look around. The grown men and women are intimidating, clinking their glasses together and laughing, and the boy I just saw was the only teenager. Other than me, Amelia Drey, but I don't count myself. I don't take part.

I realize I won't be able to read the book I brought with all the stupid noise and flashing lights, so creasing over a dog ear, I check on my baby sister. Her name is Anna, not that it matters. Apparently, she doesn't matter- Since my mother's death, my father can't bear to play with her, even be near her. I guess it doesn't matter, though, if Father really thinks it doesn't, and the fact that he avoids her is the sole reason I'm able to be here.

"Hey," the kid says, and I glance up. Did he never leave after all? He shoves his hands in his pockets. "Sorry, yeah, I'm back again. Your father asked me to tell you that he won't be home until two o' clock am, and that you can head home whenever you'd like, just to bring home the baby and call your aunt." He glances at it, the little thing snoring lightly in its basket. "That your brother?"

I shake my head. "My sister," I say, and he nods.

"It's pretty boring over here. Do you want to dance?" he asks, and I quickly shake my head.

"No," I say quickly, and since it sounds petty, "No, thank you."

He shakes his head. "Okay, but that's kind of what this is- A dance." And then he walks back away and I rest my head in my book. The words swim as frustration takes over.

Stupid Father. Stupid baby. Stupid me. If I didn't offer to take care of Anna, if he didn't say he only trusts me if we're in the same place, if I didn't say I'd come with him...

I clench my fist. Then I wouldn't ever know how badly this place has changed. And it has changed. But I'm too scared to check it out.

Eyes glistening, I prop my head up with my elbows and begin to read.

The room is white, a brilliant light shining from above. The windows are dull...

I slam the book shut, burying my face in my arms. Stupid party, stupid Father, stupid book. Takes five stupid pages to describe a stupid room. If only I had a different book...

GONG... GONG. GONG. GONG. The clock strikes nine, the chatter stops for a moment, but then it continues, the time all but forgotten.

"What are you doing?"

I groan, thinking it's the kid again, but then I raise my head and after seeing who spoke I fling up in my chair, going rigid. "Reading, sir."

The man, wearing a black fedora with a grim, pale face, only stares. Then frowns. "I see," he says, then looks at my book. "Have fun reading." He turns around abruptly, walks up the stairs to my right, one hand trailing on the bannister, then he ascends into the darkness. The lights upstairs don't turn on. A security guard, I think nervously, he must have been.

I glance to my book. It's closed.

I shudder, and an odd feeling passes through me. Something's... not right here. But then I look to the baby's cradle and gasp.

Anna's gone.

--My second attempt at horror- And unlike The Game Of Tag/ A Catalyst Key, it's a real, normal-ruled haunting! I hope you guys all like this, the coming chapters are as good or much better than this one. And this book actually has a plot! It takes place with Anna Drey's older sister, Amelia, and in one night in her dead mother's estate, everything she's ever known can change. Her baby sister is gone...

And everything changes. It just takes one night, and two books.

Thanks for reading so far!
----DraconisSolutus!