:Chapter 3: Hope:

My heart sank. Now I understood why Evan seemed so dismal. "Oh, Jack. . . I'm so sorry. . ." And I really was. What was I suppose to say?

He didn't even blink.

I felt tears burning my eyes. Although I personally never knew King Charmont, but he was one of those people who always had a smile on his face.

"C-Can I come in?" I asked quietly, setting my hand on the doorknob on the opposite side of the door.

He didn't flinch. It is when I slowly pushed the door open he finally moved out of the way. I glanced up at him. Although he was looking right in my direction, his gaze seemed to go straight through me, as though I'm wasn't even there.

"J-Jack?" I asked, quite alarmed. I had never seen him act like this. But then again, he'd never lost a parent before. "Say something. . ."

He stood there as though he were lifeless. He certainly looked it. His green eyes were wide open and didn't seem to quite focus on one certain thing and his hand was still frozen on the doorknob.

"Jack," I repeated softly, my voice shaking. "I-It'll be alright. I lost my father too. . . well. . . I-I've never known him but-"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, he grabbed my wrist. I froze and stopoed talking, my heart racing. His grip was tight, and it almost felt like he was cutting the circulation off of my hand. His touch felt odd yet familiar at the same time, and I realized that this was the first time in our lives that we had any sort of physical contact. And for some reason, I didn't like it one bit. I quickly pulled my arm from his grasp.

His bottom lip started to slightly quiver, and he started to whimper softly, as if he was a small child that was afraid to be left alone, which was quite strange coming from a grown boy.

"I-It's okay to cry, Jack," I said, immediately sorry I had retreated from him. But I couldn't bring myself to touch him. I could feel my own warm tears flood out of my eyes. I took my free hand and wiped them away.

But he didn't shed a tear.

After a few minutes of just standing there, he finally spoke up.

"I'm sorry," he said in a monotonous voice. I was relieved to finally hear his voice.

I waited a few moments in case he were to say something else, but he didn't, so I spoke instead. "I'll leave you to yourself now. . ."

He barely shrugged a shoulder, then nodded. He opened the door and led me out. The door closed with a soft 'click' from behind me.

I wiped my remaining tears with my arm and quietly tiptoed for the stairs. I was about to climb down the first step when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Expecting it to be Jack, I turned around.

Slap!

Not expecting the blow, I cried out. "Mother I can explain!"

"You wretched fool!" she said fiercely under her breath, as to not draw a crowd. She dug her fingernails into my shoulder.

I bit my lower lip, attempting not to cry out again, and blinked my tears away. She pulled me into a room, and locked the door behind her.

"What in hell's name is your filthy little body doing up here!"

"King Charmont is dead!" I blurted before I could stop myself. "Mother, please- "

This time it is her whole fist that came into contact with my cheek.

I fell to my knees and my hand flew to the side of my face. I could feel something warm and metallic tasting fill my mouth. I swallowed the blood.
"If I EVER hear the great king's name coming from your dirty mouth again I'll make sure of it you won't be able to speak again!"

I jumped to my feet and headed for the door. Jack's door wasn't far away. . . if I pound on the door maybe I'd make enough noise for him to hear, though I'd hate to bother him.

"Don't even think about moving."

I froze, thinking about her threat making sure I would never speak again.

"Now," she said, scowling furiously. "Tell me why you're up here."

"J-Ja-His royal highness wanted to see me. . ."

Her scowl turned into a smirk. "You don't expect me to believe that someone of his status would waste even a second of his time thinking of some. . . dirty wench like you?" She sniggered softly, bringing her hand up to her chest as if this was the funniest thing she had ever heard.

I clenched my fist, anger surging through every part of my body. If she wasn't my Mother I would smack her right back.

"Now get out of here before someone sees you with me," she said with a repulsive shudder.

I didn't move a muscle.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" she asked calmly, though I could tell her anger was building up.

"What's WRONG with you, Mother!" I breathed in between clenched teeth. "The KING is DEAD! The king! Don't you care?"

"Of course I care," she replied quietly. "There are certain people in the world who are worth caring about."

Ignoring what she said, I continued to speak. "Do you care about ANYONE else besides yourself! Don't you realize what a selfish-"

Slap!

"Are you mad! What is WRONG with you!" I said in a hoarse whisper.

"Don't speak to me in that tone!" she ordered, raising her hand again.

"You have no right to touch me." I sounded a lot braver than I felt.

"You can't mean that," she replied with a smirk. "I am your mother."

"I'm ashamed to call you my mother!" I spat, anger surging through every vein in my body. I felt a warm tear roll down my cheek. "You know what? I don't care! Hit me! Beat me! It doesn't matter anymore because I HATE YOU!"

There was an awkward silence. She lowered her hand and glared at me through narrowed eyes. "What did you just say to me?"

"I hate you," I said with a satisfactory smirk. I didn't care anymore. She was going to hit me again like she'd been doing all my life. So predictable.

I waited for the blow, but to my surprise, it never came.

"Hate is quite a fowl word to be coming out of a little girl's mouth," she replied, her voice quivering. "You don't hate me, Hope. You may disagree with my actions at the moment, but you know it's for the best. You brought this onto yourself, you know. If you would just know your place in the world I wouldn't have to do this to you."

I lowered my eyes to the floor. For a moment there I thought I had finally won, but she had a way of making me feel like everything was my fault. And she was good at it.

"You foolish girl."

Slap!

I felt the burn on the side of my face, but I didn't care, right? Wrong.

"Why did you have me?" I whispered. "If you hate me so much."

Mother folds her arms across her chest. "I didn't have much of a choice, you know," she said with a smirk.

What? What does she mean by that?

She sighed hopelessly. "It was such a tragedy, the day I found out I was carrying you. I will never forget that day. And I will never forgive you."

Her words echoed through my head. I hated that woman. "If you didn't want me, you should have killed me when I was born."

It felt like her stare was burning into my skull. "That would've made me a murderer."

"I'd rather be a murderer than a SELFISH EVIL TYRANT!" I yelled at her. I quickly took a few steps away from her.

"What did you-"

"You know what I think?" I asked. I could feel a stream of warm blood flooding from my mouth. "I think you're jealous."

She scoffed. "Of who. . . you?" She burst into mock laughter and rolled her eyes. "Surely you jest?"

"You're jealous of me because there I have friends who care about me."

She looked at me in disbelief. "You have no friends."

"You're the one without friends, Mother. Think about it. I certainly don't love you. Besides me, you have NO ONE. I DON'T LOVE YOU! NO ONE DOES!"

And with that I pushed past her, eager to get away. I struggled with the lock for a few moments before forcefully twisting the knob and pushing the door open. I burst out of the room and hopped onto the banister, blinded by my tears as I slid all the way down to the floor.

Oh no oh no! I'm dead. DEAD. If I ever come face to face with Mother again she would kill me. I sped to kitchen and, fortunately, found it empty. I had forgotten Mandy was still in that room upstairs.

Before I could stop myself I reached for a stack of porcelain plates and smashed then at my feet. My bare feet. I cried out in pain and dropped to my knees and sobbed, ignoring the piercing pain I felt in my feet.

"I HATE YOU!" I shrieked, pounding the floor. I could feel shards of the plate piercing my fist.
I didn't know whether those words were directed towards Mother or to myself.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review