Insanity © Lynn Falcon 2013

Chapter Ten: Who is the Beast

© Lynn Falcon Insanity

The pale door was peeling away, expressing its age. The sky burned into Leo's back, and he only hoped that Miss Bird would open the door soon.

On cue, a petite young woman with dark eyes opened the door. She seemed shocked to see him at her doorstep, and she looked at the sky. As if understanding his problem she quickly invited him inside.

"Do you mind me asking why you've come to my home?" Miss Bird moved a scarf from a table and cleaned off a chair. She offered the old, creaking thing to Leo, and he cautiously sat down. He was afraid that the chair would break underneath him any moment.

"Your daughter, Amelia, is living with me at the moment," He noticed that something was off about her. The room was strangely dark, making her appear paler and her eyes seemed darker. Her blond hair was curled up into a tight bun with a pencil used to keep it in place. The mention of her daughter had her brighten up though. Her smile was both pleased and concerned.

"Well she wishes for your visit. I have my carriage outside-"

"No." Her sudden answer actually surprised him. He watched her for a moment, then saw the unease in her features. Her eyes were looking anywhere but his own, and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She was clearly not welcomed to the idea of going to see her daughter, but was that truly why? Or was it because she thought the place itself was bad? If she thought that she would have never sent her only daughter off with Dante, but then again he wondered if she even had the choice.

"I'm sorry, but Amelia truly needs you..." He stood up and went over to her. She stiffened slightly and her eyes flashed a bit from fear, but he continued. He grabbed her hands in his, noticing the shake and coolness of them before he continued on.

"Whatever the problem is, just tell me. I will make sure everything is to your liking, and to your daughters... I just want-" He stopped himself there. He didn't want to confess something so raw to Amelia's mother. He understood there wouldn't be a chance when it came to him, so he wouldn't confess anything to her.

"I just want her to smile again."

He did it anyway. She looked up at him then, away from their hands. Her eyes glistened as tears formed on the corners of her eyes. She nodded at last, smiling faintly as she patted the top of his hand.

"Forgive me for ever thinking badly of you..." She sighed and then let go of his hands, walking over to an old coat rack that leaned under the weight of hats that it held. She grabbed a scarf and hat and put them on before going to the door.

"My name is Maria by the way." She smiled and took the arm he offered her. He smiled at her, thankful that she was coming after all.

"My name is Leonardo, but she calls me Leo." Together they walked out into the day, and both hurried to the carriage. He helped her in first before getting in and taking his own seat across from her. He did it. He was bringing Amelia the one thing she truly loved in this world, and she would see her smile again. Maybe, just maybe, she would forgive him or at least give him a chance to explain himself.

Maybe there was even a chance for him.

***

Amelia sat on her bed, staring out the window with red, puffy eyes. Her cheek rested on the knees she hugged to her chest, and her gown rested around her in what her mother would call an un-lady like way.

She stared at the gloomy clouds that covered a good bit of the London Sky, and she wondered when this place stopped being home. She grew up in London, raised by her adopted mother. She remembered the gloomy sky back then, and now it looked different. This wasn't the London she remembered, because now she knew a secret it had kept hidden all her life.