light my way to you (thalia grace x fem! oc)

chapter one

"Honey! Shelly says dinner's almost done!" Bella's step mom calls up the imposing grand staircase of the Manor, her high trill echoing off of the polished marble that made up most of the entryway's tall walls.

The marble walls that always served as a reminder as to who her Dad had married always felt imposing, even if she had been surrounded by them for years.

Her footsteps thrummed through the large entryway as she made her way down the glossy wooden stairs, keeping her posture as straight as possible as she passed her step mom, making her hands stay stiff behind her back in a polite crisscross formation that she knew the women approved of.

The white dress she had adorned for dinner stopped at her mid thigh, flowing in an almost ethereal way. The top was light and breathable, made for spring. It satisfied her step mom enough so that she didn't comment on the state of her long hair, plaited down her back in a braid, instead of down— the way she knew her step mom preferred.

"Bella!" Jasper cried as she reached the dining room, the table set for four. Her Dad must not be joining them, then.

"Jasper, sit back down in your chair. You know it's not appropriate to stand on the dining room chairs." She chastised lightly, ruffling his hair, then whispering conspiratorially, "Not when Mother is watching, that is."

The little boy erupted into a fit of giggles while Bella walked to her own seat next to Carissa. The young teen sat moodily in her chair, arms crossed and slouched over. Bella took note of the black dress she wore, before her eyes trailed up to her face, where her dark makeup could be seen from under her black hair.

"Your roots are showing, Cissy. Would you like me to fix them after dinner?" Bella asked softly, smiling at her younger sister. Her natural blonde hair barely peaked out from the top of her deep black dye job, but she knew it would bother Carissa all the same.

Carissa looked up from her pouting down the table, so Bella could see her night-black lipstick, "Yes, please-"

Before she could finish, her mother cut her off, "Oh please, Bella dear, don't encourage her behavior. Soon enough she'll want to dye her hair back blonde and wear normal makeup, so what's the point in wasting money on frivolous things?"

"Mother, I am capable of making my own decisions! And I buy all of the box dyes with my own allowance, so it's not like I'm taking your money!" Carissa said brashly, slamming her hands onto the tabletop and harshly pushing her chair back. Her little sister stormed out of the room, the tall dining room doors making a resounding thud when she slammed them closed.

The silence made in the wake of Carissa's outbursts is long, and stretches past what Bella would call comfortable, so she breaks it, "I'll go talk to her."

Her chair squeaks as she gets up, and the silence continues as she walks out of the dining room, closing the door to the sight of her furious stepmother.

She notices, as she walks through the entryway, that her dress matches the marble walls perfectly, almost like she could meld into the rock and never be seen again. Who was she kidding, she could do that without the dress. She could fade into the background, in a way she knew wasn't completely natural.

Bella knew a lot of things she wasn't supposed to, like the fact that her sister had a secret boyfriend who snuck into her room at least three times a week, or that the other figure skaters on her team didn't actually like her, they just put up with her because she was the best athlete on the team. Or even that Shelly (the Manor cook) and Dean (the stable boy) had been very intimate all over the counters where Shelly and the other kitchen workers made food.

As she made it to Carissa's room, she decided not to think too much more about the goings inside the Manor. The large door to her sister's room creaked as she opened it, flipping on the light switch to see Carissa spread out on the large bed with her face shoved into a pillow.