The Demon's Ballerina

Ch 1 - Charlotte

It was just Mom and I until she met Jason, when I was ten. They dated in secret for two years before she finally brought him to meet me for dinner one night. He wanted to marry her, but not before asking for my permission. He turned out to be the dad I used to dream of having.

With Jason came his family – a sister who lived nearby and a brother who'd recently joined the military that we never got to meet. His parents lived fifteen minutes away, and they were very family oriented. Once Jason and Mom got engaged, we went over for Sunday dinner every week. It was nice, finally having a family.

"Charlie, dear, help Danny set the table." Gram's voice pulled my attention from my essay. Danny was lowering the delicate China Gram insisted we used from its cupboard beside the stove. She'd just put the biscuits in, so it was almost time for dinner, indeed. They were always the last thing she cooked.

"Sure thing, Gram." I moved around her to take half of Danny's stack of plates. Together, we set the table before bringing in the food. The doorbell rang when I'd just set the last bowl of food on the table and Danny had gone back to grab silverware and cups.

"Charlie, get the door!" Gram called from the kitchen. I called an affirmative over my shoulder as I headed down the hallway to the front door. I jerked it open, startled to see a large, handsome man standing on the porch. He was in uniform and had a duffel sitting at his feet. Charcoal colored hair cropped short, and snake-green eyes that were currently glaring at me, though there was something familiar about him.

"Who in the hell are you?" His voice was low and gruff with misuse.

"Gram!" I shouted down the hall, not taking my eyes off him. We didn't even break eye contact when Gram came down the hall and uttered a shocked cry at the sight of him.

"Zane!" I moved aside so she could pull him into a tight hug. He hugged her back, looking at me over her head. I only glanced away when Dad put his arm around my shoulders. "Jason, look who's finally home." Gram added when she turned and caught sight of Dad standing with me.

"I see, Mom." His voice had a chuckle, though it could have fooled me with how tense he was. She turned and headed down the hall, calling for Grampa. "Nice to see you've finally come home, little brother." So. This was Dad's absentee brother; I'd figured he'd be as old as Dad and his sister Kelly, who was near my mother's age. Not this young, haunted man who looked barely a handful of years older than me. No wonder he looked familiar – he had a hint of Grampa in his face, the curve of his nose and the sharpness of his jaw.

"Not all of us could play doctor and have our way paved for us in the world, you old bastard." His words were harsh, but his tone was joking. "Who is this?" He glanced down at me when he spoke, as if unable to speak of me without looking.

"Charlotte, my daughter." Dad announced. I saw in my peripheral that he glanced at me with a wide smile on his face. Because he was looking at me, he didn't see the look of disgust that flashed across Zane's face. "Remember I got married nearly five years ago?" There was a second look that crossed his face, a look I'd never seen before. And it scared me.

"So your stepdaughter, then?" I flinched at his words, trying to think of the least disrespectful way I could excuse myself from this conversation other than calling him an asshole.

"My daughter." Dad snapped, turning me away from the door. "Charlie, why don't you go help Danny finish setting the table while I have a chat with my brother, huh?"

"Sure thing, Dad." I couldn't walk away fast enough.

"You ok?" I glanced across the table at Danny as we finished setting the silverware. He must have seen something on my face that gave me away. That or because he was my best friend, he most likely just noticed.