Scars and Silk Chapter 2

The car glided to a stop. I stumbled out, dazed.

Before me stood a house so enormous it looked like it had swallowed the sun. Three figures were waiting on the porch. A beautiful girl stood in the middle, her eyes red-rimmed and glistening with tears.

As I crept closer, a boy, tall and angry-looking, wrapped his arm around her. "Don't worry, Stella," he said loudly, for my benefit. "No one in this house is going to hurt you."

How nice, I thought. He seems like a good brother.

Then the boy—Caleb—turned his glare on me, his brow furrowing in disgust. "This can't be my sister. She looks like some beggar they pulled off the street."

A tremor went through me. I instinctively darted behind the woman standing beside him. For some reason, I felt a pull toward her. She must be the original Grace’s mother.

My lip trembled. I apologized again to the girl whose life I’d stolen.

Please, just let me call her Mom once.

"Mom..." I whispered.

The woman, Mrs. Ashworth, flinched and subtly shifted away, breaking our proximity. Her smile was tight and awkward. "You must be Grace," she said, nodding stiffly. "Welcome home, dear."

Hearing those words, "welcome home," I couldn't stop myself from nodding back, my eyes welling up with tears of gratitude.

It was real. I had a home.

Stella walked over, her soft, pale hand taking mine. Her smile was bright. "I guess that makes you my sister," she said. "Welcome home, Grace."

I managed a small, shy smile in return. She seemed nice, too.

As we all turned to go inside, Stella looked back at me, her round, almond-shaped eyes now hard as marbles. "A word of advice," she whispered, her voice a sliver of ice. "Don't get any ideas. You can't win against me."

I just stared at her perfect face, then dropped my gaze to the ground, ashamed.

"You're so beautiful," I said, my voice barely audible. "And your voice is so pretty."

Stella froze, momentarily thrown. Then a cynical smirk crossed her lips. "Psycho," she muttered, and walked away.

Inside, I didn't know where to stand. The place was immaculate. The floors were so polished they reflected the lights like a mirror, making me feel even dirtier and more out of place.

"Grace, you arrived so suddenly, we haven't had time to prepare a room for you," Stella said, rubbing her eyes as if fighting back tears. Her voice was filled with guilt. "It's all my fault. Please don't blame Mom. It's okay, you can take my room. I'll sleep in the storage closet."

Caleb's face darkened. "Stella, don't be ridiculous," he snapped. "You've been pampered your whole life. You can't sleep in a place like that." He turned his disgusted gaze back to me. "You stink. You can stay in the storage room for a few nights until we figure things out."

I nodded immediately, not daring to hesitate. "Okay. Thank you."

Mrs. Ashworth had looked like she was about to say something, but seeing how compliant I was, she simply let it go.

They led me to a small room on the first floor.

Inside, there was a clean cot, a small nightstand with a lamp, and not much else. The air was a little musty, and the room was dark, but it was the single nicest place I had ever slept in my entire life.

I turned back to them and bowed deeply from the waist.

"Thank you," I whispered, my voice thick with emotion. "Thank you so much."