Sorry this chapter took so long to write, I have been swamped with exams
and other stuff. Thanks so much for all the reviews, I appreciate it so
much! Last ever friends and start of BB tonight! Woo!
Chapter 4
As they walked down the wooden spiral staircase, Sophie's question never left Jae's mind. She'd never thought about the accent before well i suppose when you see him you don't have much time to... what she was thinking?! who cares about the accent how did she know about Death? she only looked what thirteen? It had been her experience that thirteen year olds generally didn't know about the being that took you away to die. She wanted to say something, yell at her, tell her to stop making things up and be normal, but she couldn't. There was nothing wrong with Sophie's question. That was the problem, it was too correct.
As Jae turned around to answer her, they entered the grand hall. Not that there was anything grand about it, come on, this is an orphanage. But it was impressive, nonetheless. A huge wooden table, which ran the length of the room, was stood in the centre, and around it were seated no less than 60 chairs. In the far corner stood a set of smaller tables, which held plates, drinks, and bowls of food. It was like an extremely cheap buffet. Already there were children gathering to sit around it, some stopping and looking intently at Jae and Sophie. One boy sniggered as he walked past and whispered to his friend 'Looks like that freak Sophie's found a friend. She's probably just as batty.' Jae felt quite naked in front of them, all their eyes peering to look at her, but Sophie just wandered on with her head held high. She didn't seem to notice them at all.
By the time the two girls had dished out their food, the room was completely full. Sophie made her way to the table and sat down in a small plastic chair. Jae went to join her but realised that no extra place had been laid. Suddenly the room went silent, and all eyes turned on Jae. If she had felt naked before, then this was a whole new naked world. A giggle. A snigger. Then the room exploded with laughter, shrieks of it, echoing around the room and pouring into Jae's brain. Jae shouldn't have been embarrassed, or upset. Jae was an adult; she was nearing 25 in human years, and a hell of a lot older in fairy years. But she was. She felt a sting in the back of her eye. Not the tears please God not the tears. Here they came... She burst out crying and dropped her plate, which fell with a spectacular smash at the end. The laughter very slowly died out until there was only one person laughing. Sophie. Now the eyes turned to Sophie, and the expressions changed from happy to angry. A small girl with pigtails piped up,
"What's so funny freak?"
"Yeah, leave the girl alone. Would you like it if we laughed at you?"
Strangely, the children started tormenting Sophie, probing her with questions and insults. Jae wanted to do something about it but she felt stupid enough already. The noise was so loud that hardly anybody noticed Mrs Andrews stride through the door and fight her way through the abusive children. The ringleader, a boy named Jonathyn Stout, was plucked from the crowd along with Sophie and a startled Jae. They were carted along the corridor to a damp room, which held a table and some mouldy-looking chairs. The three kids sat nervously down on them and waited to hear what Mrs Andrews had to say. Mrs Elizabeth Andrews was the head of the orphanage and not what you would call child-friendly. She wore her hair in a tight bun and never seemed to wear colours. Her lips were thin and her eyes were stern with bushy eyebrows.
"Well? I won't have misbehaviour in my orphanage, do you hear? Do you know what I will do if....."
The conversation lasted over an hour, and when Jae finally stood up to leave her backside had gone completely numb. They had all been sent to their rooms, and Jae had gone with food as her dinner had been missed. But Jae wasn't hungry, she was furious. And she wanted a word with little miss Sophie. As soon as the bedroom door shut she threw down her plate and stormed towards the girl.
"Look! I don't know who on earth you are, and how you know about Death and his accent and, why did you laugh at me, you're no more popular than me!!" Jae's eyes were raging, and she was breathing very coarsely. But Sophie just smiled on, muttering to herself.
"Answer me!" Sophie tilted her head.
"You really don't know? You're obviously not as smart as I thought you were."
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't you recognize me? After all, you're one of Death's most reliable employees and you've been to his house many a time. Don't tell me you've forgotten already."
All of Sophie's information was getting more and more accurate. Yes, Jae was an employee of Death, a very good one indeed. She usually did children's deaths, they were easier and felt better being taken away by a fairy. And yes, she had been to Death's house quite a lot. She had needed to so that she could fetch Binky. But who was she forgetting?
"I still don't know. Sorry."
Sophie shook back her hair and sighed.
"Hello. My name is Ms Ysabell..... Death, I suppose. Nice to meet you."
Chapter 4
As they walked down the wooden spiral staircase, Sophie's question never left Jae's mind. She'd never thought about the accent before well i suppose when you see him you don't have much time to... what she was thinking?! who cares about the accent how did she know about Death? she only looked what thirteen? It had been her experience that thirteen year olds generally didn't know about the being that took you away to die. She wanted to say something, yell at her, tell her to stop making things up and be normal, but she couldn't. There was nothing wrong with Sophie's question. That was the problem, it was too correct.
As Jae turned around to answer her, they entered the grand hall. Not that there was anything grand about it, come on, this is an orphanage. But it was impressive, nonetheless. A huge wooden table, which ran the length of the room, was stood in the centre, and around it were seated no less than 60 chairs. In the far corner stood a set of smaller tables, which held plates, drinks, and bowls of food. It was like an extremely cheap buffet. Already there were children gathering to sit around it, some stopping and looking intently at Jae and Sophie. One boy sniggered as he walked past and whispered to his friend 'Looks like that freak Sophie's found a friend. She's probably just as batty.' Jae felt quite naked in front of them, all their eyes peering to look at her, but Sophie just wandered on with her head held high. She didn't seem to notice them at all.
By the time the two girls had dished out their food, the room was completely full. Sophie made her way to the table and sat down in a small plastic chair. Jae went to join her but realised that no extra place had been laid. Suddenly the room went silent, and all eyes turned on Jae. If she had felt naked before, then this was a whole new naked world. A giggle. A snigger. Then the room exploded with laughter, shrieks of it, echoing around the room and pouring into Jae's brain. Jae shouldn't have been embarrassed, or upset. Jae was an adult; she was nearing 25 in human years, and a hell of a lot older in fairy years. But she was. She felt a sting in the back of her eye. Not the tears please God not the tears. Here they came... She burst out crying and dropped her plate, which fell with a spectacular smash at the end. The laughter very slowly died out until there was only one person laughing. Sophie. Now the eyes turned to Sophie, and the expressions changed from happy to angry. A small girl with pigtails piped up,
"What's so funny freak?"
"Yeah, leave the girl alone. Would you like it if we laughed at you?"
Strangely, the children started tormenting Sophie, probing her with questions and insults. Jae wanted to do something about it but she felt stupid enough already. The noise was so loud that hardly anybody noticed Mrs Andrews stride through the door and fight her way through the abusive children. The ringleader, a boy named Jonathyn Stout, was plucked from the crowd along with Sophie and a startled Jae. They were carted along the corridor to a damp room, which held a table and some mouldy-looking chairs. The three kids sat nervously down on them and waited to hear what Mrs Andrews had to say. Mrs Elizabeth Andrews was the head of the orphanage and not what you would call child-friendly. She wore her hair in a tight bun and never seemed to wear colours. Her lips were thin and her eyes were stern with bushy eyebrows.
"Well? I won't have misbehaviour in my orphanage, do you hear? Do you know what I will do if....."
The conversation lasted over an hour, and when Jae finally stood up to leave her backside had gone completely numb. They had all been sent to their rooms, and Jae had gone with food as her dinner had been missed. But Jae wasn't hungry, she was furious. And she wanted a word with little miss Sophie. As soon as the bedroom door shut she threw down her plate and stormed towards the girl.
"Look! I don't know who on earth you are, and how you know about Death and his accent and, why did you laugh at me, you're no more popular than me!!" Jae's eyes were raging, and she was breathing very coarsely. But Sophie just smiled on, muttering to herself.
"Answer me!" Sophie tilted her head.
"You really don't know? You're obviously not as smart as I thought you were."
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't you recognize me? After all, you're one of Death's most reliable employees and you've been to his house many a time. Don't tell me you've forgotten already."
All of Sophie's information was getting more and more accurate. Yes, Jae was an employee of Death, a very good one indeed. She usually did children's deaths, they were easier and felt better being taken away by a fairy. And yes, she had been to Death's house quite a lot. She had needed to so that she could fetch Binky. But who was she forgetting?
"I still don't know. Sorry."
Sophie shook back her hair and sighed.
"Hello. My name is Ms Ysabell..... Death, I suppose. Nice to meet you."