ᴜɴᴅᴏɴᴇ | ᴅ.ᴍ

𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

I was asleep in a very deep sleep when I felt someone around me, frightening me as I jolted out of bed. I wake as if it's an emergency as if sleeping had become a dangerous thing. My heart beats fast and there is a buzzing in my brain and together they are in panic with jump-leads. I looked up as one of our servants hovered near me, the house-elf, Crissy.

"You scared me, Crissy." I sighed as I pushed my back against the bed frame.

"Crissy never meant to scare. Ms. Young. Crissy was sent to wake Miss." She squealed as my head hurt from the immediate wake-up call.

I felt tiny arms wrap around me which startled me slightly. "I missed you too Crissy. Where's everyone else?" I asked as she pulled away from the hug and hopped off the bed.

"Madam sent Crissy to get you dressed for dinner with guests." She walked over to the door as a green dress hung behind it. The waist was covered in tiny diamonds as they reflected across my room from the sun.

"I'll meet her downstairs," I spoke as she nodded, cutely bobbling as she walked out of my room. I got out of bed as I admired the dress, running my hands through it as I admired it. I quickly stepped into the shower as the warm water poured onto my body, dripping down my sides, relaxing all my nerves. The sensation of the steamy water calms me, allowing me to forget about everything all at once. All the things I honestly don't care about as my fades into dullness and everything is a foggy illusion.

I feel like I'm standing under an everlasting waterfall, ever so beautiful, but it can never last, just like the peace within me.

I stepped out of the shower, toes flinching as they touched the chilled ceramic floor. I quickly wrapped a bathrobe around me as I stepped into my carpeted room. I positioned myself in front of the bureau mirror as I traced the edges of my face, just taking a minute to observe my complexion. I applied a colored gel across my eyebrows as it kept them in place, then a couple of layers of mascara across my lashes. I took an angled brush and dipped it in a black-brown shadow as I drew an angled liner, defending my eyes. I hated lipsticks—okay not hate but disliked—so I applied a layer of gloss.

It had only been a minute since I got ready, and I already wanted to leave this place, but I kept it together. I wanted this day to be perfect for my mother. I had to. I zipped up the dress from the back as I looked in the mirror, brushing out my freshly curled hair as I looked once last time in the long, standing mirror.

The stairs ahead were twisted in a perfect spiral like a child's Slinky toy pulled from each end. Each stair was likely a deep walnut, and the inner edge was painted antique cream. I let my hand fall onto the gold iron rail, smooth in its polished charm as I placed my weight on the first step. I went down the stairs step by step as I noticed the guest arriving slowly.

I hated guests, only because I hated making conversions.

"Evelyn!" My mother greeted me politely as she gave me a small smile, leading me towards the family room connected to the kitchen. "I expected to see you down before the guests." She paused as she had a rough grip on my arm. "Don't try to embarrass me, Evelyn, don't be like your father please."