Until Fate

Chapter Two

The year was 2001 and Seraphina was almost eight years old. I awoke to the sound of laughter, but this time it didn't belong to a toddler. Phina and Maya were sitting on the living room floor watching SpongeBob SquarePants. I wanted to groan, but kept quiet instead. I sat up and rubbed my temples. I rose to my feet, and then staggered to the restroom. The pink digital clock said it was 6:30 in the morning. Are you kidding me? Why must they torture me?

Lucy was already at work. She had been pulling twelve hour shifts recently and even John Ethan was taking a second job to help pay for the mortgage and Phina's school expenses. I poked my head out of the bathroom. The girls were content in their laughter at the bright yellow sponge on the television. I hate that stupid sponge. I turned on the faucet and splashed cold water onto my face. I grabbed a hot pink towel and dried my face. The bathroom was decorated completely pink like a bottle of Pepto-Bismol had thrown up on everything. Barbie was still Phina's favorite doll but she was slowly becoming replaced by Bratz which were much sluttier than their competition. I wonder who sits down to design a child's doll and thinks, "Little girls will love playing with these barely dressed prostitutes!" Bratz were especially misleading with their luscious lips, skinny bodies, and full makeup. No little girl looks like that.

I crept slowly passed the bright purple bedroom that belonged to Phina and peered into the master bedroom. John Ethan was still passed out under a thick maroon comforter. The oversized master was decorated very elegantly with black, red, and silver colors. A large bay window in the right hand corner was covered by a black lace curtain. The square canopy bed was placed in the left corner at an angle. A small black leather couch was at the foot of the bed. Two red pillows covered in lace fringe were on the floor.

I knew John Ethan was exhausted, but with the girls up so early I wasn't sure if they needed supervision or not. "The girls are awake." I whispered. He groaned in response.

I returned to the living room where I found the television turned off and the girls gone. My stomach dropped. What the hell? They were just here! No one was in the kitchen, so I tried the bedroom. I heard whispers. This can't be good.

"Ow!" Maya cried. "That's hurting."

"Hold still! Your mommy will be really mad if we don't get this gum out." Phina instructed.

I cupped my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing. Where did they get gum? Oh, this will end badly.

Phina was trying to tug the wad of gum out of Maya's thin blonde hair by using a comb. Maya was a few inches shorter than Phina, so she sat crisscross on the fluffy purple rug in the middle of the floor. After a few minutes of watching, I sighed. That was amusing, but I knew Cassie would have John Ethan's head if something worse happened. I went in the bathroom, pulled out my new flip phone, and called the only idiot I knew who would know what to do.

"This is Klaus." He answered as if he had no clue who was calling.

"You have caller I.D." I drawled. Moron. "Maya has gum in her hair and -"

"And the girls haven't met you yet because you are still a pansy and won't show yourself to anyone but me. Am I right?" Klaus drawled.

Over the past five years, not much had changed. Cassie and Robert had divorced and she remarried another wealthy douche bag. Klaus' words, not mine. Klaus remained my best friend and became a permanent nuisance in my existence, but I guess I liked having him around. He kept things interesting. I talked aloud to John Ethan, not as much as Klaus did, but enough to keep him from whining. No one else knew of my existence but everyone knew Klaus. John Ethan had introduced Klaus to the family as a normal human guy he had met at a photography gig, so he was now always around in visible form. Of course his perfect gleaming skin was toned down so he appeared more human. He only did his 'angel stuff' around John Ethan and me.