Light as a Feather

Chapter Twenty-Eight

        "Annabelle, I have something to show you," Annabelle heard Uncle Leo yell from his adopted bedroom. It had been about two weeks since the fight with Cornell, and while all of their powers were gone at the moment, everybody was getting along fine. 

        "Coming!" Annabelle shouted. She abandoned her spot on the couch, where she had been watching some TV. Annabelle ran upstairs, nearly tripping on the last step. She walked into his bedroom, and saw the usual things strewn around it. She had become accustomed to paints, brushes, papers, and easels with different designs on them in there. It resembled his personality very well. 

        Uncle Leo was in the corner, working on the new portrait. His hair was even more disheveled than usual, and his eyes were bloodshot. Despite all that, however, he had been completely and utterly happy. He turned when he heard Annabelle come through the door. "Okay, okay, c'mere," he said. He moved to the side so Annabelle could see the portrait. 

        Annabelle got pricks of tears in her eyes when she saw it. Her grandmother was there, just as she had been in the first painting, with the feather necklace around her neck. Her dress was as pretty as ever. She could have been a queen in that dress, it was so pretty. The thing that made Annabelle tear up was the fact that she was off to her grandma's left shoulder. She was pictured with her hair curled around her face, her lips in a sweet smile. Her signature eyeliner rimmed her bright eyes, but it wasn't too thick. Her hand was on her grandmother's shoulder. 

        "Uncle Leo..." she said, beaming like crazy. "It looks fantastic..." 

        "I had to put you in there this time," he said, waving the paintbrush in an odd hand gesture. "You look very... mature in this picture." 

        Annabelle threw her arms around him. "You didn't have to do that, you know," she said. 

        "Of course I know that. But I did it because it completed the whole picture. Now we wait to see who the feather will choose this time." He smiled happily. 

        Annabelle grinned. "Whoever it chooses, I hope they won't have to defeat somebody like Cornell again."

        "They wouldn't do as great of a job as you did," Uncle Leo answered. Annabelle just smiled.

                                                                                        *****

        Annabelle's mom called her later that day saying that she had to talk to her. Annabelle didn't know what it was going to be about, but she obeyed and met her mom at the top of the stairs. Her mom looked peaceful when Annabelle got up there. "What's up, mom?" 

        "Honey, there's somebody that you haven't been properly introduced to." 

        "Who is it?" she asked.        

        Her mom merely smiled and led her to the door that usually had the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the doorknob. That day, it didn't. Her mom opened the door and Annabelle followed her into the room. 

        Edna, who Annabelle remembered, was staring out the window. She was wearing a lilac colored dress and the room was filled with books, and she barely turned her head when they walked in. "Edna?" her mom said. She was rather hesitant to even say her name. 

        Edna said, "Yes?" 

        "You have a visitor." 

        Edna smiled, causing the wrinkles by her mouth to become deeper crevices. "Ah, yes. Annabelle." She turned to face them and then she smiled. There was a small table with two chairs off to the side, and Edna motioned for Annabelle to sit with her. Her mom smiled, gave Annabelle a thumbs-up, and then shut the door quietly behind her as she walked out. 

        "Um... what's going on?" Annabelle asked as she looked around the room. There were stacks of multicolored books stacked all the way to the ceiling in corners and in the middle of the room. Annabelle had never seen that many books before. 

        "What you did is... how do the kids say it, now? What you did is what's 'going on'." She smiled a little at her joke, but Annabelle was confused. 

        "Excuse me?" 

        Edna smiled. "You're the first one that's ever defeated Cornell, obviously, and it's time you learned a bit more about how this family works."

        "Okay..." 

        "I've been in this house for as long as I can remember." 

        "Why?" Annabelle asked. 

        Edna leaned over a little. "When I was a bit younger, I possessed the powers of the feather. When I got older, I was put in this house and this room. It's like retirement, but better." 

        "How is being shut up in a room better than retirement?"

        "You're with your family. And I can come out. I choose to stay in here most of the time. I'm sort of like the person everybody goes to for advice when they need it. And, hon," she said, smiling a little. "That's gonna be you, soon."

        "Wait... what?" 

        "When you get as old as me, you're going to get to live here. You just had the feather, which means that you are the last person in our family to possess the power."

        "I didn't have it that long!"

        Edna smiled and looked off Annabelle's shoulder. She pointed a finger to the other side of the room. "Obviously, you're going to have it for a while."

        Annabelle turned around and found the feather necklace on top of one of the books. She grinned and said, "How do I know that's not for you?"

        "Go put it on. When or if you faint like last time, I'll call for your mother." 

        Annabelle walked over to the book where the feather was glinting and shining. It seemed to beckon to her. Annabelle thought of that fateful day when she had seen it shining in the garden, and how she had been so thoughtless until then. She reached out and touched the feather on the book, but unlike the first time she had touched it, she did not fall to the ground in a faint. It seemed to give her more power than she'd ever had before, like it was making her stronger. She undid the clasp and wrapped it around her neck, rehooking it. She let it drop on her neck, and breathed out as she looked at Edna. 

        "Are you ready to do this again?" Edna asked, though Annabelle was almost sure that she knew the answer. 

        Annabelle touched the silver pendant that she had actually missed. She turned to Edna, feeling happy for the first time in a long while. "Of course."