A stretcher holding a figure shrouded in a sheet.
And I knew.
Somehow, Iknewit wasn’t Arabesque, Amabel, or Eluned under that sheet.
“Wait!” I shouted.
Even though I was running, my feet felt leaden and my legs heavy. One of the paramedics, a man with soft eyes, met me halfway.
“Miss, I’m sorry,” he murmured. “He didn’t make it. A heart attack.”
Each syllable was a dagger to my soul.
“Papa?” I cried, raw and desperate, as I laid my hands on his cloth-covered chest, shocked to feel how warm his body was.
Suddenly, I crumpled, my knees hitting the earth with a jolt. Sobs wracked me, each one tearing out like a scream. My father, my dear papa, was gone.
Time lost all meaning as I sat there, the sounds of the ambulance and the distant voices of the paramedics fading into a blur. The same paramedic helped me up as the other one slammed the ambulance doors closed, hiding Papa’s body from my sight. Tremblingfrom head to toe, I thanked him, then quietly made my way inside, each step a battle.
What would I do now?
The house was in chaos. Men dressed in overalls scuttled about under Arabesque’s icy watch, her pale green eyes glinting with something suspiciously like satisfaction. She commanded them like a conductor orchestrating a symphony, ordering them to haul our furniture out to a van parked on the other side of the ambulance.
How did they get here so fast? I wasn’t gone longer than half an hour to fetch Rassy!
In the living room, Amabel and Eluned stood around a pile of clothing,Papa’sclothing, and cackled as they added items to it.
“Like anyone would want to keep this!” Eluned smashed Papa’s favorite mug on the side of the coffee table, the ceramic shattering.
“Stop!” I begged as she tossed the handle on the pile.
“Or this?” Amabel sneered, dropping his model steam train to the floor and stomping it to pieces.
“Don’t! You can’t!” I gasped, grief morphing into a surge of anger. “He’s… He’s still warm! You can’t just…He’s still warm!”
Then Eluned held up his fishing pole.
“No! Not that!” I reached for it, but she was quicker.
With her free hand, she yanked a fistful of my curls and dragged me to my knees.
“Know your place,worthless,” she hissed. “On your belly before us.”
“Ow! Let go!” I whimpered, trying to wriggle free, but she only pulled harder.
Amabel rolled her eyes, like I was a bothersome fly buzzing around her ear. Grabbing the fishing rod from Eluned, she snapped it in half, then again and again until it was nothing but splinters and tossed the handle with the reel onto the pile.
“There. Done. You can leave her now, El.” Her tone dripped with insincerity as she dusted off her hands. “She’ll want to cry over the pieces, I’m sure.”
Eluned laughed, but released my hair and stepped back.
I fell forward onto the floor, eyes blind with tears, as the reality of my situation crashed down. I was alone with these vipers.
“So exciting, isn’t it?” Arabesque purred, gliding into the room with a smirk. “Removing the old to make room for the new.”
“Worthless here doesn’t think so,” Eluned snorted and kicked me in the side, making my breath hiss out.
“Really, Serafina, no need for such theatrics. Jonathan’s death was inevitable. His heart was weak, just like his will.” Arabesque patted her upper abdomen. “Hopefully, his final child will be stronger.”
