Melody In The Shadows(ON HOLD UNTIL JANUARY)

Chapter 1

My mom helped tighten the corset around my waist. I breathed in sharply, forgetting that I had to momentarily stop breathing to tighten it properly.

"Why do I even have to wear this God-forsaken thing?" I complained with a sigh.

"Everyone wears it, Susanna," She simply told me as she searched my closet for a suitable dress.

"Everyone must've learned not to breathe then." I retorted as I sat at the edge of my bed.

"Oh, hush, don't be so dramatic," Mom told me dismissively as she was observing a light yellow dress.

"I'm not being dramatic,"

She ignored my statement as she held a light blue summer dress in one hand and a sage green one in the other. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two as if it were a tough decision, which for her I supposed it was.

My mom always made it her job for me to look suitable and ladylike, which to her means keeping up with every single trend and latest fashion for women. These had all become a pain in the ass for me to adjust to, especially ever since she started to make me wear a corset, that I deeply despise.

I often times had to remind myself that she was only this obsessive over irritable things such as these because she cared about me and just wanted me to fit in and most of all to be happy. After all, she had voiced these often enough when I had voiced my complaints, I came to understand, but that didn't stop me from whining about it.

"I think this sage green one would look perfect on you, what do you think?" Mom inquired as she pressed the dress up against me.

"I think my ribs are being crushed."

She gave me an annoyed stare before tossing the dress onto my bed.

"Quickly get dress and make yourself look presentable, I want you downstairs within the hour so that we won't be late."

"And what exactly do we not want to be late for?" I asked as I picked up the dress.

There was no response for a moment which caused me to raise an eyebrow in suspicion as I looked towards her, noticing her nervous stare.

"Mom, where are we going?"

"Your uncle Henri has invited us over for a dinner party at his house and your Father wants us to go, after all, it would be rude to refuse."

I stared at her incredulously, not even believing that she had truly agreed for us to go.

Uncle Henri always made me uncomfortable with his rude comments towards not only me but my Mother as well. We both felt uncomfortable in his presence as his eyes would be looking down our dresses whenever he got the chance, just because he knew he could without any consequences.

"You know how uncomfortable he makes us feel, why is Dad forcing us to go, why can't he just go, uncle Henri is his brother!" I protested.

Mom sighed as she rubbed her eyes before speaking.

"I know sweetie, but your Father always protects us."

"He's not doing a very good job protecting us if he's putting us in situations that make us uncomfortable."

The statement earned me a stern stare.

"Don't say that about your Father, you know he's doing the best he can, now I don't want another word of this."

I only took a sharp breath as she exited my room, the door clicking shut behind her.

Sometimes I had a hard time understanding my parents, especially regarding my uncle. Mom and I have both told Dad about being uncomfortable in his presence and what he does when Dad's eyes aren't looking, but it was always the same response, "I'll protect you, you have nothing to fear." Now Mom was saying the same thing, both refusing to listen to the obvious solution of not allowing Henri to be a part of our lives anymore or at least confront him about it, but no, they decided to ignore his disturbing actions towards us, forcing us to have to put up with it.