you and the rest of the Fallen do as you please.”
The Fallen?
She took a menacing step toward my parents, causing mother to release my hand and stumble backwards.
Victoria snorted insolently.
My father didn’t move—and I wasn’t about to come to my parents’ aid. Besides, I was much too intrigued by the strange power this girl seemed to have over them. This girl didn’t look much older than I was and yet she spoke down to them as though they were the inferior ones.
“My father is waiting for you inside. Now are you going to come quietly or will I have to force you?” asked Victoria in a commanding voice.
A small smile passed over my face.
If I was certain about anything I was certain about this: my parents were not going to come quietly. I was absolutely certain that they were about to make a scene. And I wanted more than ever to watch them being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the mansion.
Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out that way.
The usually inflexible nature of my parents had been completely stripped away by Victoria. So it goes without saying that I was extremely disappointed at my father’s fearful response.
“N-N-No need for that, Victoria. C-C-Come, Catherine.”
He then extended a trembling hand to my mother, who grasped it fearfully. It looked as if she had forgotten how to breathe.
My father looked at me. There was sadness in his eyes, like he wouldn’t be seeing me again.
My face betrayed no such emotion; I wouldn’t be sorry if he or my mother happened to disappear from my life forever.
“Go with Victoria, son.”
Again with the “son” thing.
“Yes, Father.”
I hope you get what’s coming to you, you disgusting parasite.
My parents then walked hand-in-hand into the monstrous home, leaving me alone with Victoria.
She stared at me, meeting my gaze once more. Her expression was peculiar as though she was fighting to keep it pleasant. I wondered what it was about me that was so distasteful.
There was an awkward silence.
Had she been like the other girls I’d met before today I probably would’ve come right out and asked her what was wrong with me. But there was something about Victoria that was catching me off guard.
“Are you ok?” she asked.
Was I ok? What was that supposed to mean?
I settled on shrugging.
Shrugging was good. Very cool.
She giggled.
It sounded nice. Like wind chimes in a light breeze.
She then grabbed my hand and led me toward her house. At least I assumed it was her house. It seemed to fit, really: only a palace would befit a girl of such beauty.
I wondered where we were going, but then I realized that I didn’t care. As long as I was with her I didn’t care where we went. Besides, she was the one who had liberated me from my twisted parents.
“They aren’t your parents, Amadeus.”
I started.
It wasn’t so much the fact that she knew my name that’d taken me by surprise. I mean, if she knew who my parents were, she definitely knew who I was. No, what startled me was her knowing what I was thinking.
Had she been reading my mind?
“What do you mean?” I asked curiously.
Her pace slowed.
“I mean that you are not related to William and Catherine Angel in any sense of the word.”
More relieved than surprised, I was overjoyed that I could finally hate William and Catherine without feeling guilty.
“How do you know this?” I asked curiously
“Your—eyes.”
Her slight pause made me think she wanted to say something else.
“I know you’re wearing contacts, Amadeus.”
“You seem to know a lot.”
Actually, you seem to be psychic.
She laughed.
Was it odd for me to enjoy her laughter?
We were now at the front door of her palace. But we didn’t go inside. She took me around the side of her house and into the backyard—and what a backyard it was! There was a huge lawn that stretched from one side of the house to the other. The lawn was surrounded by a white-picket fence. But that wasn’t what caught my attention—no—what caught my attention was the beach on the other side of the fence.
I knew at once that this is where she wanted to go. I didn’t know how I knew—she hadn’t said anything—but I was sure that she wanted to head to the beach.
She let go of my hand and bounded gracefully toward the fence and lightly jumped over it. She then turned ’round and eyed me expectantly.
Now, common sense would have dictated that I simply walk over to the fence and either climb over it or just go through the gate—especially with the effect Victoria was having on me. But common sense was the last thing on my mind. And besides, the fence wasn’t that high.
I sprinted toward the fence and tried to hurdle it as Victoria had done. But instead of leaping over it gracefully, my shoe caught on the fence and I did a sort of face-plant right in the sand.
It hurt—a lot.
The sand was a bit rockier than I’d expected.
I didn’t want to cry but the tears came anyway. Tears always welled up in my eyes at even the slightest bit of pain.
Sometimes it would save me from the long hours of torture. But right now it just made me seem weak.
“Are you okay?” I heard her ask in her velvet voice.
Thankfully there was concern in her voice instead of humor.
“I’m fine,” I mumbled getting to my feet.
I could feel the sand still on my face and I hurried to brush it off, causing a few more tears to escape from my eyes. I heard the thuds as they hit the ground. Victoria had apparently heard them too because she bent down to pick them up.
Crap! How on earth was I supposed to explain that I cried tears of crystal?
But if she was surprised
