The international singing sensation, Ghost Bird, is a name known around the world. No one knows who the mysterious singer is, but everyone knows her music.
Sang Sorenson sings to escape the reality of her hard life. Locked in a house with her mother...
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Seeing my ferocious glare, Father flinches slightly before covering it up. He avoids looking at me from then on. Does my own father not recognize me? Not that it's surprising. He was never around anyway. He was always with his wife and other daughter. He claimed to love Mother and I more, but Father rarely visited. I doubt that he would've recognized me even without this getup either. It's been years since I last saw him.
His death had crushed us. Now, though, I wonder if he just stopped coming to see us. Did he fake his death? Or did he just have someone tell Mother that he was dead? Regardless, it is like glaring at a ghost.
I smirk beneath my bandana at that. The Ghost glaring at a ghost.
My eyes flit between Father and Cecile as they make plans.
"Don't worry," Cecile assures with the smile of a snake. "I know just what she will do for that footage."
Father gives her a suspicious look. "I'm still worried. What do you have planned for this Ghost Bird?"
Cecile snorts, "You think you need to know? You'll find out when the video is released."
"The date is still the same, correct?" Father asks.
"Yes, tomorrow at exactly midnight," Cecile says with a roll of her eyes. "Ghost Bird here will be the star of that video."
Father turns his shifty gaze to me at last. He frowns slightly, looking into my eyes. Perhaps he does recognize me. I harden my gaze, as if daring him to recognize me. His eyes instantly dart away from my own. In response, I let out a disgusted grunt. I can't believe him. I loved him, I thought of him as my hero, the only one who cared for me. I must be an idiot.
"When will you have the necessary footage?" Father asks, clearing his throat.
"Ghost and I will leave soon. There's no telling how long it will take to shoot the scene, but we will only have one shot," Cecile responds carefully.
Father's shoulders slump slightly with relief at the mention of our upcoming departure.
"But first, I'd like to meet your family," Cecile announces with a gleam in her eyes.
Father stiffens up even further than before. "No," He grits out. "There's no need for you to meet them. They are quite plain. You wouldn't like them."
"That's for me to decide," Cecile declares. "Bring them out. Now."
Gulping, Father opens his mouth. Scared, he closes his mouth and nods before running up the stairs.
"Hmm... I wonder if he is trying to make a run for it or trying to bring his family downstairs," Cecile muses.
"Probably the second," I chime in quietly. "He seemed to frightened to try and disobey."
Cecile laughs heartily. "Too true! What a wimp and a disgrace of a man."
I couldn't agree more.
After some shouting, Father returns downstairs with a woman and teenage girl in tow.
The woman is of average height with watery blue eyes that seem dull. Her blonde hair is limp and she is wearing a rumpled dress. Her lipstick is too bright. A false smile reveals lipstick on her yellowed and chipped teeth. Her hands tremble as she reaches out and slips an arm through Father's.
The girl has watery blue eyes as well, but her eyes are sharp and cruel and hidden behind a raccoon's mask of eye makeup. Her brown hair falls in waves just past her shoulders. A skimpy dress is stretched tight against her boxy figure. She looks me up and down slowly before giving me a disgusted look.
"My name is Lola," The woman announces. "And this is our daughter, Marie."
Marie rolls her eyes, but I'm not sure exactly why she is rolling her eyes.
"A pleasure to meet you two," Cecile purrs, the dangerous gleam in her eye nearly blinding me. "However, Ghost and I will be leaving now."
"Ghost?" Marie echoes with a mocking laugh.
"Yes, Ghost Bird," I say, giving her a cold glare.
She flinches and then pales as she realizes who I am. "Gh-Ghost Bird?"
"Yes," Cecile says. "The one and only."
"I love your music!" She squeals, her mocking and disgusted looks abandoned for an eager and greedy look.
Silently, I step closer until I am right in front of her. "That's nice," I say in a voice completely devoid of emotion. Lightning fast, I draw a knife and hold it to her throat. Her eyes pop wide open and Richard and Lola begin to shout as Cecile watches with a smug smirk.
"Remember this moment," I whisper so only she can hear. "The moment I had your life in my hands. Do you know how easy it would be to carve a smile into your throat?"
"P-Please," She begs.
I press the knife to her throat a little deeper. "Don't speak, child. Just know that I could kill you whenever I choose, sister."
I step away from her. Turning on my heel, I march out of the house, a laughing Cecile following behind.
I climb into the van and Cecile says, "Good job, Sang."
Nodding, I question, "But why did you need to bring them downstairs?"
"To show Richard how easy it would be to kill his family," Cecile replies. "He's too comfortable. I can't have him get sloppy. Well, sloppier. I don't know why we ever agreed to use him on certain missions, anyway."
I buckle in and sit in silence as Cecile starts the van. If I hadn't pressed a knife to my sister's throat, Cecile would've removed at least a finger. Most likely her entire arm. Over the months, I've gotten good at reading Cecile. I know that she wouldn't have gone as easy on Marie as I did.
"Where are we going now?" I ask, looking out the window at the passing scenery.
