Child of a King

Chapter twenty-two - A living horror movie + Characters

Staying under the radar prevented me from any interaction at all with Marc. In fact, we barely saw each other the last two days. I stayed out of his way, and it would be like I never existed. That's properly what he really wanted. For me to not exist. It hurt but there was nothing I could do about it.

I relied on the younger twins or our butler Arthur to drive me to or from school, or any other help that I might need.

"Don't you think it's weird Miss Humphrey hasn't shown up yet?" I asked, placing a puzzle piece in one of the missing spots.

"Really weird", Madelyn mumbled, squinting her eyes at the last pieces on the table between us.

"What if something has happened?" I couldn't stop myself from wandering to such places. But what if she was hurt or needed help. Was there anyone out there thinking the same as me?

"Like what?" She frowned at me, pausing our puzzle making.

"Dunno". I shrugged. "Anything".

"You think too much". Madelyn playfully nudges my shoulder, her light teasing causing me to roll my eyes with a small smile. Well... if I got a penny every time I heard that...

"Good morning class".

The classroom fell silent as if someone cast a spell upon us. With wide eyes we all stared at the tall man who entered. I had never seen him before, and I doubted any of the other kids had as everyone seemed to glance at each other in confusion.

"My name is Mr. Rubio and I'm going to be your substitute while Miss Humphrey is ill. Take your seats". Glancing up from the sheet of paper that he was focused on, he lifted a brow. "If you please", he added.

I think we all blinked a few times, breaking out of our frozen states. It was hard not to be surprised by his presence. He just didn't fit in here as a kindergarten teacher. The man was tall and had this hard facial expression. There was nothing bubbly or comforting about him. Nothing that reminded us of Miss Humphrey's sweet smile and soft voice.

Like small soldiers, we quickly cleaned up the toys that were scattered around, ushering to find our assigned seats.

"To make sure everyone is here, I'm going to read your names aloud. Say yes sir when I mention yours". Full military style, he went down the list, pausing slightly at the next name he was about to call out.

"Estella Cifuentes".

Something about how he said my name made me feel uncomfortable. Or more specifically about how his voice dropped an octave made me uncomfortable. An invisible string in my mind pulled at a memory where I had heard his voice before. But where? He was as much a stranger to me as I was to him.

"Yes sir", I quickly squeaked, not wanting to draw his attention to me more than necessary.

"Where are you? I didn't see?"

What? He didn't care about any of the others. Why me?

Glancing with nervous eyes at Madelyn, I slowly raised my hand to show my presence. His gaze met mine, making me gulp from how intense he looked at me. A barely visible tug on the side of his mouth pulled upwards, but it was gone as soon as I noticed. If he tried to smile, I'd rather he didn't. His try at smiling was more intimidating than his military orders.

Thankfully he moved on with the rest of the list, informing us about the work we had to do today.

A strange feeling boiled in my stomach the remainder of the day. Something about him felt so off. Not because I caught him looking at me several times throughout the day, but he just seemed too out of place for him to even be a substitute.