After prayer, sterling clinks against heirloom china in the cavernous dining room.
"That new finishing school - Ashford - suits you, wouldn't you say dear?" Charles asks lightly.
Orianna pushes a carrot around her plate, keeping her response brief. "It's fine."
Charles set his utensils down with a definitive clank. "Just fine? No new friends or pursuits after nearly two months?" His eyes bored into her. "Can't have you turn out a social pariah."
'A Pariah? As if I could sink lower than my current status as a charity case.' She keeps her focus lowered, feigning interest in aligning her silverware, "No" .
"Oh Charles, must you bother the girl with that while we're eating?" Louise dabs her lips with a linen napkin. "It's not as if she does anything noteworthy there. No talented pursuits or quality friends. She prefers idle brooding." She smiles, "Maybe a boarding school abroad would be more beneficial. They're known for their... discipline."
Orianna's grip tightens on her napkin, hidden beneath the tablecloth. 'ignore it.. ignore it'
Charles chuckles, "Nonsense! We only provide the best, and we shall ensure she receives nothing less." He turns to Orianna with a conspiratorial wink that feels more like a cage than camaraderie. "Isn't that right dear?"
"Naturally. Only the best." Louise groans and raises her wine glass with a sharp false smile . Her cutting gaze remains fixed on Orianna.
"On another note, we seem to have lost another servant or two this week," Louise grimaces, "On top of the two last week. Bad timing with the upcoming gala on Friday."
Charles leans back, a look of concern creasing his brow. "Again? That's now three unexplained departures this month." He pauses, glancing at Louise. "Is there any word from the agency on their whereabouts?"
Louise gives a nonchalant wave of her hand, her rings catching the candlelight. "Nothing as of yet. They're as in the dark as we are. A troubling inconvenience, to say the least."
Charles's expression turns thoughtful. "Should I enhance the security? The constant police presence is becoming quite bothersome."
Louise emits a sharp, brittle laugh. "Oh darling, hardly necessary." She lays her head in her hand, "Cowards, probably getting scared off from the rumors."
Orianna taps her fork against her plate, queries softly, "Could it be the rumored creature?"
Charles responds with a hearty laugh, attempting to diffuse the tension, "Worry not, Ori. Perhaps our own shadows in the dark are what truly frighten the staff, eh?"
"They're saying something is in the woods, but I called the police and they reported nothing was there!" Louise paints her lips into a thin, bitter smile. "Mark my words, it's someone trying to sabotage our event out of jealousy. But I won't let that happen." Her eyes squint
Orianna notices Louise's left eye twitching almost imperceptibly. Interesting. She opens her mouth to ask another question, but Louise already turns her attention elsewhere.
"And Orianna, you'll be occupied this Friday, I presume?" Louise quickly glances at Orianna, interrupting her thoughts.
"Yes, I've got a project for school" she mutters tonelessly, eyes downcast once more. 'Would it kill for them to let me be at the gala just for a little?' She sighs.
Laughter and wine glasses clink around Orianna as she imagines herself being in the room with Leo. The fantasy alone brings cathartic relief. For now.
No one notices when Orianna finally sets down the knife and fork. She focuses on breathing, on maintaining the politely interested look plastered across her face.
The staff will clear her full plate away later, her foster parents none the wiser. They never ask why she eats so little at meals anyway. To them, she is as present yet invisible as the elaborate floral centerpiece gracing the table between them.
"Orianna" Louise's eyes smile as she struts towards Orianna noticing her about to leave, "Next time walk and not have us waste our gas hm?" She taps on Orianna's shoulder.
Orianna responds with a practiced smile,"Yes Mother"
Louise recoils subtly, her expression tightening. "In private, it's Mrs. Louise," she corrects, her voice cold and measured. Then a whisper barely escapes her lips, laced with bitterness. "You occupy the place meant for my child, you ungrateful wretch."
Orianna watches the hateful words drip from Mrs. Louise's lips but does not flinch. She meets the cold glare with detached indifference, resolve hardened from years of similar encounters. It's not worth getting angry, when it won't change anything. Mrs. Louise huffs and pivots on her heel, fabric swishing as she hastens away.
Alone again, Orianna continues down the corridor, the sunset casting an amber glow through the tall mullioned windows. She walks this path countless times before, the way to her bedroom familiar as her own racing thoughts.
As she passes by an alcove, hushed voices give her pause. Orianna slows, eavesdropping on two wide-eyed maids locked in fervent exchange:
"Did you hear Clara telling stories from the city when she returned earlier? More folks are apparently finding tall mirrors popping up in their neighborhoods." The maid presses her lips,"Apparently you can't move them. People and children have gone missing too..."
"Ugh... Do you think it's true? Gary even went to go look for one and I told him not to!" She tears up, "He's not even back yet! What if he's dead!"
She shakes the other maid's shoulders, "Calm down! He might just be late... " She sighs, "but strange happenings either way lately. Makes me uneasy being on the grounds after sunset..."
The maids' voices fade as they move down the hall. Orianna crosses her arms, mind rambling, 'Tall mirrors now? No, everyone is just stressed..' she quickens her steps to her room, their words lingering to heighten her unease.
Finally escaping the claustrophobic air, Orianna slips gratefully into the sanctuary of her bedroom. Only here do her shoulders fully relax from their rigid posture, free from scrutinizing eyes.
"Hello, precious," she whispers, unlatching the antique birdcage. Her blue-black Congo African Grey hops eagerly onto her outstretched finger, talons wrapping with familiar tenderness. She lowers him to her bed, stroking sleek feathers the color of a moonless midnight.
"Four hours waiting for them to pick me up today, can you believe it?" She mutters, stroking the parrot. Leo nuzzles impossibly soft down against her nose in response, trilling soothingly.
She sighs bitterly. "And then all these rumors are rubbing me the wrong way..." Leo blinks round obsidian eyes up at her, holding a depth of spirit and understanding that outshine any human she's met in this place. He continues nuzzling against her skin, his presence a comforting balm to her lingering irritation.
Then Orianna gazes at her reflection attempting to detangle her dark, tight kinky curls. She notes her brown skin, smooth and clear. Her wide set eyes, fringed with long lashes, were a warm chestnut hue. By most beauty standards, she knew she could consider herself attractive.
Yet landing in Lindworth Estate marks the third foster home shuffle in two years. Orianna sighs, setting down the hair pick. The blue-black parrot on her shoulder cooed softly, rubbing its beak against her ear. She strokes his feathers, taking comfort from her one constant companion.
If her looks couldn't be the reason for her unusual displacement, Orianna wonders, then what was? A pang of self consciousness pierced her as she studied her mirror image. Were her true flaws buried deeper, somehow?
"At least I have you every time they move me." She plants a gentle kiss atop the downy crown of Leo's head. "Just a couple more months, and I can leave." She sighs as the parrot walks towards her, chirping soothingly. He has weathered every tumultuous twist of fate these past two years, her sole steadfast friend.
After changing into her pajamas, exhaustion suddenly weighs upon Orianna. She crawls atop silken sheets as Leo nestles into the crook of her neck. His tiny heart beat a soothing rhythm against her collarbone, lulling her towards dreams where she wasn't merely lost driftwood, stranded and forgotten…
Though suddenly rigid claws dig into her shoulder and wake Orianna violently back into the shadowed bedroom. Blinking against residual drowsiness, she registers Leo's moonlit silhouette perched tensely by her head, feathers ruffled in alarm.
"What's wrong, boy?" Orianna murmurs, reaching up a soothing hand. The parrot shudders but does not relax, continuing to stare at the curtains over the balcony doors.
A blast of wintry wind rattles the balcony curtains, making Orianna sit up with a frown. She is certain the doors are locked tight. Leo lets out a shrill cry, feathers ruffling as he continues to stare intensely at the billowing drapes.
With her heart pounding, Orianna slides out from the safety of her silk sheets. Cautiously, she approaches the French doors, the moonlight casting ghostly shadows on the dancing sheers.
She braces herself and flings back the drape panels... to reveal only icy glass underneath. An errant tree branch scrapes eerily against the panes.
Orianna exhales, feeling silly to be so easily spooked. " I knew it, I'm letting everything get under my skin…" She turns to soothe Leo, his agitation palpable in the restless flutter of his wings.
"It's just the wind, nothing to fuss over," Orianna calls gently. But as she retraces her steps, she glimpses a spindly shadow sweep across the room. Whipping her head around, she scans every corner but sees nothing amiss in the darkness.
Unease prickles her skin now, and Orianna hurries back under the covers, pulling them tight. Leo huddles close to her chest, shuddering still. "You're worrying me now," she murmurs, wrapping a protective arm around his tiny body.
Just then, the curtains billow again violently. Orianna's pulse roars in her ears. She again moves her gaze to the balcony doors, but this time… she sees them.
Long, spindly white fingers are slowly curling over the balcony railing, grasping tighter as they pull up the rest of the body attached to them.
Her stomach drops, her heart seizing as more of the humanoid creature is revealed—an impossibly tall, skinny bunny-like thing with fur that seems to cling directly to its bones. Its bald head swings slowly from side to side, black eyes like endless voids searching, hunting.
Blood drips from its mouth, and its fathomless obsidian eyes lock onto her. Peering from her balcony, it lurches halfway over the railing.
Orianna grips her sheets shakingly, staring at its blood-covered fur. "It's not just… a rumor"