Hellloooooooo to my lovely readers, sorry it took me awhile to get this chap out, I'm not having nearly as much time to work on this as I anticipated...thanks a ton for the reviews, love to you all...and just a side note, I don't really believe Karen would hit Oliviaand Iwouldn't want everyone to think I do,but I'm putting Karen in a position where, prior to marrying Stan, she has a lot more issues to work out than she does now (LOL), and she's taking it out on Olivia. But, for future reference, know that I'm not going to make it too graphic or anything, and you'll notice that Karen does struggle with that aspect of herself during that time. Thanks much for putting up with my rambling, and now on to the relatively short chapter...

After that, Olivia noticed Karen attempting to maintain a balance between being careful around her, but never hesitating when she thought Olivia had done something to warrant a slap, a kick, a scratch, a punch. Mud tracked in, toys left out, talking too loudly, wild games of hide and seek and tag through the manse with Mason, spilled glasses of milk, all things that Daddy barely noticed but that Karen was always the first to. Olivia often wondered if Karen could have been one of those witches she read about in storybooks, she had the makings of one, with the eyes seeing what no one else did or the seemingly terrible capacity to read minds. Not only read them, Olivia had frightening reason to suspect once she summoned up the courage to talk to Daddy, but control them as well. She trembled at the memory at it, at the bulging eyes, at the popping veins that were Daddy's reaction, the way he grabbed her, shook her, berated her for saying such things, overlooking the bruise that had taken place of the blood, as it was small enough to miss if one wasn't looking closely enough. Raged that if she hated being with himself and Karen so much, she could just damn well haul out and go back to her mother, even going as far as attempting to put a call in to Cathy himself before remembering that she and her new love interest wouldn't be coming back from Europe for another two or three weeks. He didn't say anything upon not being able to reach her, but turned Olivia away from his office, she knowing how deeply disappointed he was in her.

But sheer disappointment she would have gladly taken over what Karen had in store for her later, when the covers were slowly peeled away from her dozing form and she was ripped from her bed with the force of a tornado demolishing everything in its path.

"I thought," she whispered, clutching Olivia so closely to her that their noses were nearly touching, "I told you to be careful what you said…and if you were smart, you wouldn't…apparently, you're not all that smart." She threw Olivia to the floor, who tried to scoot away, but found her legs paralyzed with fear; Karen noticed.

"I could step on those skinny little twigs of yours," she chuckled viciously, referring to her legs, "and break them in about seventeen places…you know that, don't you?…and I should."

Olivia tried to swallow, but found her throat too dry to do so.

"But I don't suppose I will," she continued. "It might be somewhat difficult to explain to your father when he sees that you no longer have the capability to walk. And actually, Olivia, you'll find me a pretty fair person, I would think."

Olivia didn't have time to react as the tip of Karen's high heel connected squarely and painfully with her face. Blood gushed from her nose and mouth, and she prayed that the throbbing in her nose didn't mean it was broken.

"But that's where the fairness ends," she warned before she left Olivia's room. Olivia didn't bother to clean herself up this time; she simply didn't care, and fell asleep in her own blood. Had she stayed awake for just a short time longer, she might have realized Karen just outside her doorway, out of sight but still there, arms wrapped tightly around herself and trembling as if a sudden cold spell had come over the manse.

And in a way, it had.