No Happily Ever After

Chapter 9

Itboggled the mind of Ella Cinder to think of how folks considered herfoster mother, Thelma Dark, to be some sort of hero. Not only wasThelma a horrible, money grubbing, shrew, her twin biologicaldaughters, Brittany and Lexi were ugly psychopaths.

And that prettymuch summed up Ella's life.

It was unclear toElla exactly how long Thelma Dark had been taking in foster children. By sneaking glances at the Dark family photo albums, Ella haddetermined that Mr. Dark had stopped appearing in the pictures whenthe twins were around ten. She suspected he may be dead. Or maybehe'd known his wife and daughters were terrible people, and he'd justrun away. Or maybe they hadn't been terrible until he ranaway. Whatever the case, she suspected they'd started "takingin strays," as they termed it, after he was no longer around.

Cash cows. That'show Mrs. Dark referred to the stream of charges that moved in and outof her home.

Ella was one of thefew who lasted more than a couple months. She was a "lifer." Only a little over a year remained until her eighteenth birthday andshe'd been with the Dark's for three years. Because she was quiet,docile and compliant, the Dark's allowed her to stay and expectedshe'd finish her under age years there.

She really didn'tknow why she never ratted her caretakers out to the authorities. Theveritable slave labor enforced to earn her keep. Her accommodationswere shabby at best. She slept in a tiny room off the kitchen thatwas barely bigger than a pantry. She slept on a small cot withnothing but a thread bare sheet to warm her, which rested on a coldstone floor. Fighting the layer of soot that always migrated in fromthe kitchen's huge fireplace was a never ending battle. They kepther there to rise early to do chores and prepare breakfast for theDark's without rousing them from their comfortable warm beds. Butwhen social workers came to call, Thelma claimed that Ella slept inone of the many extra bedrooms upstairs.

The amount ofhousehold chores they piled on her was insurmountable and ofteninterfered with her ability to keep up with school work. And shecould forget about after school activities or a social life. As aresult, she often made failing grades. Though Ella was quitebeautiful with her delicate features, long blond hair, sparkling blueeyes, and slender shape, she was often perceived as a pretty face andnothing more. "That Ella is so pretty and nice," herclassmates would whisper. "But she's a bimbo." Theyassumed her stupid, because if she ever passed a class, it was justbarely.

And any time theDark's sensed any sort of defiance on Ella's part, that's when shewas beaten. Or starved. Or tormented in one way or another. Soshe'd learned long ago to always stay in line.

She supposed shenever told because she feared nobody would believe her. Other fosterkids never stayed long, and Ella never attempted to befriend them. Most of the kids sent to stay in the Dark home were already broken ordamaged in some way, and they didn't want to strike up anyfriendships. The rare few that Ella meant who did make nice, shediligently ignored for their own safety. She felt that if she madefriends with any of the other foster kids, that they would be ingreater danger. She simply left them all alone, because as soon asthey'd begin to realize how awful the Dark's could be, Thelma sentthem packing before they had a chance to complain. And Ella was leftbehind with no one who could corroborate any tale she contemplatedrevealing.

Honestly, shewished somebody in Faraway would just notice.

After all, Ella wasa fairly popular girl at school. Despite the fact that she neverattended dances, social events, or invited friends over... Despitethe fact people didn't perceive her as too academically bright... They liked her. So it always amazed her that nobody ever noticed thebruises. The gaunt cheeks, or dark circles under her eyes. Theshadows of cinders accumulated in her clothes and hair. She didn'twant to have to cry out for help. She just wanted to be rescued. Maybe by an observant teacher. Or a stalwart police officer. Or, inher most sad and lonely imaginings, it was a handsome prince who cameto her aid.

When Ella and theDark sisters began their junior year at Faraway Senior High, thesituation that had remained relatively dormant for some time, onceagain became volatile.

For one thing, Ellabecame more popular than ever among their classmates. She flourishedinto perhaps the most gorgeous girl in school and boys fell at herfeet. Meanwhile, Brittany Dark grew tall, gangly, excessively thin,with very bad acne. And Lexi grew progressively more obese, wearinga perpetually hateful facial expression with what appeared to be onlyone bushy frowning eyebrow. Ella was invited to more and more socialgatherings which she could never attend, while the Dark sisters werepassed over time and time again.

At home they werein a particularly slow stretch and Ella was the only foster child atthe time. This left her open to abuse from all the Dark women. Thetwins invented infractions to punish Ella for. Even when it wasabsolutely clear they were lying, Thelma supported them explicitly. She would sometimes go for days with food being withheld. Or abackhand would come from nowhere and send her reeling. Any homeworkshe attempted to do, they'd destroy before she could return it toschool. If they let her shower, it was only with cold water.

And with all ofthis, threats accompanied if she dared breathe a word of her homelife to a single living soul.

But in November,everything changed.

Ella was upstairsputting away their laundry when she heard the front door open andThelma Dark's sugary sweet voice, the tone she reserved for socialworkers. Ella's ears perked up. Somehow she hadn't lost hope thatan outsider could come to rescue her. She heard Thelma chattingenthusiastically with the social worker for a few minutes. And thenshe heard another voice. A male voice that sounded like honeytastes.

He said only abrief hello and introduced himself as Nicholas Monarch. But just afew words from that voice were enough to completely mesmerize her. The stack of Lexi's laundry she carried slipped from her hands andscattered on the floor. She drifted into the hallway and then creptquietly down half of the staircase. She crouched down to remainhidden by a wall and peeked just barely through the bars of thebanister. She had a limited view into the parlor.

Nicholas Monarchtowered over Thelma and the social worker. He stood straight,somehow managing to look both regal and at ease. He had a flawlessface with twinkling blue eyes. And when he smiled, a dimpleappeared, and pearly white teeth were revealed. His thick brown hairwas neatly trimmed and his clothing too, appeared tidily tailored. He looked like any number or all American boys, yet something abouthim and his way set him far above the rest.

Brittany and Lexibuzzed around him while Thelma and the social worker chatted. Theyfawned and mooned obviously over him. He couldn't get a word inedgewise for all their chatter. He smiled awkwardly, obviouslyflustered by the Dark twins' intense level of attention.

She hated to pullher eyes off the handsome boy. But she didn't wish to be caughteavesdropping. So she slipped back upstairs.

Consumed withthoughts of Nicholas Monarch, she didn't even notice what a poor jobshe did on her chores. Nor did she care just then, what theconsequences might be.