Light as a Feather

Chapter Four

      When Annabelle got home, the house was completely quiet. Everything in that house looked too perfect; a place for everything and everything in its place. Annabelle had never liked that. She liked things to be clean enough it looked like she cared about the place, but dirty enough to show that someone actually lived there. With the Jason Mansion, that wasn't the case. It looked like the place hadn't been touched in a long time. She realized that it probably hadn't.

      She didn't know where the kitchen was, so she just meandered down the opposite hallway from the bedrooms. Eventually, she found it. The kitchen was as pristine as the rest of the house. The counters were shiny and made of marble, and the fridge looked like stainless steel. When she opened it to put the eggs in it, she found hordes of food. She shrugged and stuffed the eggs in an empty spot.

     Not knowing what else to do, she walked back up to her bedroom. As she passed the picture of her grandmother again, she noticed something odd. She wasn't wearing the feather necklace. She stared at the picture for a few minutes, trying to decide if she had just imagined the necklace altogether.

     Just as she was about to shake her head and turn away, her mother appeared in the doorway again, a Bluetooth strapped to her delicate ear. She was about to say something, but then she looked at the picture, where Annabelle's eyes were pointedly staring.

     Her face went a little pale. "Interesting picture, hmm?" She seemed distracted, but that wasn't anything new. Annabelle didn't think much of it.

     "Yeah."

     "That was your, um... grandmother, as you know," her mom said.

     "I know."

     Her mom's eyes went from panicked to warm and soft. "I remember the day she died. I was pregnant with you. She told me to always watch you. I hadn't decided what to name you yet, but when she died on the hospital bed, I knew exactly what your name would be. Annabelle. After her." Annabelle thought she saw a tear in her mom's eye, but then she looked away.

     Her mom cleared her throat. "I have to make a phone call," she said. Her voice sounded strangled. Annabelle's eyes squinted. Something was definitely fishy.

      Her mother rushed down the stairs, leaving Annabelle in her wake. She frowned. What was there to do in a giant house that seemed too pretty to touch?

     Not knowing the answer, she walked back into her bedroom. She could make it. She'd survive. After all, she had her phone, and she'd only be there until Saturday.

     She thought about her day. What was up with that Tyler kid? And did he really have nothing better to do than sit around all day at a tiny market? Evidently not.

     Annabelle lied down on the bed again and resumed listening to her music.