Roses and Black Glass: A Dark Cinderella Tale
Chapter Eight
1
Cindy’s night was filled with sleeplessness and unsettling dreams. Aside from the same dream the heavens shared with her about her mother and the demon, many other strange visions kept her awake through this night as well. Despite what Amanda had commanded of her, it was hard for her to keep the sick ideas of her father’s death from her mind. How could she continue to act the same around the people who had conspired to kill her beloved father? How was she to serve them when every time she would see them she would want to spill their blood? She trusted Amanda deeply and believed her words. She, however, was unsure of how long she could hold off without revenge.
Cindy awoke to the gentle touch of a hand caressing her face. When she opened her eyes, there was no one there.
Hearing a loud pounding on her door, Cindy raised her head to see the sun shining through the curtains. Amanda had told her not to come out until morning no matter what her sisters said to her, but since she saw that the sun was indeed up, she might as well rise.
Walking in front of a dirty mirror on her way to the door, Cindy stopped to examine her hair. She had almost forgotten that she had cut it – and why had she been asked to? She stared at herself in curiosity until more pounding on the door shook her from her thoughts.
“I’m coming!” she yelled in disgust, finally going to the door and unbolting the lock.
She opened the door to the two distressed faces of her sisters, whose expressions quickly changed to horror and confusion when they saw her hair.
“What have you done?” Charlotte asked in alarm.
“I cut my hair,” she replied simply. “You have a problem with that now?”
“Well–I,” Charlotte sputtered, but was cut off quickly with a shake of Isabella’s head.
“This is not what we have come to say,” she said urgently. “You must come with us to mother’s room immediately.”
“What has happened?” Cindy inquired.
“It’s not as though you care, but mother has fallen dreadfully sick overnight. She’s vomiting constantly and you simply must come with us now!”
Cindy followed the two girls without more questioning, more curious than anything about what could have happened to their mother. She had seemed fine the day before.
As soon as Cindy entered the room, she could smell the sickness. The putrid stench of vomit was in the air. Isabella and Charlotte refused to enter therein, afraid they might soon catch it themselves. Anna was lying in her bed and unmoving when Cindy entered, her fair skin clammy with sweat. The woman’s eyes were swelled and fever was upon her – there was no doubt.
Cindy shook her head in fear of the illness and turned back to the door that her sisters had shut on her.
“I don’t know what is wrong with her,” she insisted, pushing on the door to get out. She was no doctor, and she had no desire to catch this plague herself.
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Roses and Black Glass: a dark Cinderella tale (novel preview)
Romance(Now available as an ebook and in print!) A dark retelling of Cinderella in early America. In an age when cutting up dead bodies is considered taboo, Cindy’s father is a mortician. She is happy with their fascinating life, though controversial, unti...
