A/n- This is an angsty chapter!
I got out of bed and paced around my room. Then, I went over to my window and shut the curtains because the sun seemed too bright and it was hurting my eyes. I got dressed next and went down to breakfast were everyone was waiting for me.
When he saw me, Daddy smiled and Uncle Edward did likewise. I didn't smile back because I hated both of them, Daddy especially. He had practically abandoned me my entire life and for some reason, he thought that two weeks in a tourist town once a year for two years would just fix everything. Well, he was wrong. Way wrong. I didn't say a word to anyone at the table, even when Mama complimented the color of my dress. She abandoned me and spent more time caring about what Daddy had thought when it was I who deserved it.
Lettie kept watching me and it seemed like she thought she knew something the others didn't. She kept searching my face for a sign of something, what exactly I couldn't tell you.
After breakfast, I went upstairs to my room and spent the rest of my day there. Mama told Prudence to bring the rest of my meals to me because I didn't look well and wasn't acting like myself. She assumed that I would get better with a few days of bed rest.
The days went by and nothing changed. I felt no need to communicate with anyone in the house. During the few times I did venture out, I heard all of them talking to each other and speculating what could be wrong with me. I heard Daddy mention sending me to Doctor Bright and for just a moment in time, I felt something in me snap. I charged out from behind my bedroom door and faced him directly.
"You want to send me to Doctor Bright? Yes, I heard. I hear what all of you say about me, talking as if I can't hear you. But of course you wouldn't care. You never have, Daddy. You don't care about me. You never listen to me. We don't talk. Whenever I have a problem, it's always 'send Chrissy to Doctor Bright.' When Lettie was born, you saw how badly I was upset, but did you ever take me in your lap and tell me everything would be all right? Did you hug me? No. You took me straight to the psychiatric ward of the city hospital and I stayed there for three years. You never said you felt bad about Mama, and by the time you came back to get me, you were remarried! What is the matter with you that you can't even deal with your own daughter's distemper? Are you afraid? Or was Leona right when she said you were a fool and didn't know how to love?"
He looked at me, stunned. Mama looked like she was about to cry, and Lettie looked concerned. Good. And without giving anyone a chance to reply, I walked away and shut my bedroom door behind me.
As I entered, I noticed Scott sitting on my bed. He was looking concerned and holding a piece of cake in one hand. He motioned for me to sit beside him on my bed. I did so and he handed me the cake. As I ate, he spoke to me.
"Sweetheart, are you all right? I heard you shouting out there.
I shook my head. "Everybody hates me. Whenever I have problems, nobody listens. They always want to pay somebody else to listen for them."
He nodded understandingly. "Just know that Mama and I are here for you and will listen any time you need us to."
Just then, I noticed Leona sitting on my bedside table.
"How do you really feel about this house being a ride?"
I thought about that a moment. "I can deal with it now, but I still don't really like it. I would want it gone, but it means so much to my father."
Scott looked surprised. "You actually want to be nice to a man who hates you and has not had a bit of regard for you a day in his life?"
I thought about that. Scott was right. Daddy didn't deserve my kindness or my pity, and he especially didn't deserve my help. Besides, this was my house, not his anymore and I could do with it as I pleased.
"No, actually. I've changed my mind. Daddy doesn't deserve my kindness or my pity, and he especially doesn't deserve my help. This is my house now, not his anymore, and I'll do with it as I please."
They both looked delighted. "That's the way to stick up for yourself," Scott said, patting me gently on the back. "Now that we've got that settled, how would you like to have this whole house to yourself?"
"I'd like that very much," I answered. "And I especially want all the gruesome amusement park ride stuff out of here."
"That can be arranged," Leona assured me.
"So, when do I get to be alone?" I asked Scott.
"Pretty soon."
"How about at your mother's birthday party next week?" Leona suggested. "You could read a poem."
"How will that help me get rid of everything?"
"You'll see," Leona promised with an evil grin.
Soon after that, the two of them vanished. Then, I heard a noise and looked up to see Lettie standing by my doorframe.
"Don't do this, Christy. You'll regret it later, I mean it. Besides, this isn't you. You're under some sort of enchantment, I can tell."
"What do you know?" I scoffed at her. "I am going to do it, and there's nothing you or anyone in this house can do to stop me."
The rest of the week went by without incident, and when I woke up on my mother's birthday, I couldn't help but feel a bit happy.
I dressed in my prettiest pink dress with a white lace collar and overskirt, and went downstairs to breakfast.
As I sat down, I smiled at everyone.
"Well, Chrissy seems to be better today," my father remarked to the table.
"See, I was right," my mother answered. Bed rest always does a body good."
The rest of the table nodded and smiled cheerfully at me. After breakfast, we played croquet. I lost like always, but was able to laugh about it.
Lunch was all comfort foods, followed by an enormous chocolate cake. Since it was a special occasion, my father cracked open the alcohol and I had a little too much.
When we were all full, it was time for the poetry. Almost everyone had something to read, and when it was finally my turn, I got up and read the sheet I had found on my bed that morning.
"Anger cures the soul. The raging tempest, the wild distemper, all lost in a fiery release. Broken glass shatters on broken hearts and the Phoenix weeps tears of blood. For loves lost, and hatred learned, only when the cause is vanished, will the anger end.
La colère traite l'âme. La tempête faisante rage, la maladie sauvage, tout perdue dans un dégagement ardent. Le verre cassé se brise sur les coeurs cassés et Phoenix pleure des larmes de sang. Pour des amours perdus, et la haine apprise, seulement quand la cause est disparue, voulez l'extrémité de colère."
After I finished, I felt tension in the air and there was only some scattered applause for my piece.
All throughout the rest of the day, I noticed something strange. The people in my house were slowly fading away. When I went to bed that night, I could barely see any to speak.
And when I woke up the next morning, with no memory of the previous day, everyone was missing. I was all alone.