Glass: Book 1 of the Crown of Branches series

chapter 2: hall of ghosts

Song: When the party's over- Billie Eilish

Reign took off his mask, revealing a man who seemed to be 60 years old, his hair was as white as snow, his teeth were yellowed with age and some were missing, leaving most crooked, he seemed to sag as he walked as if to carry a big bag, full of all the dreams and memories he had in his long life. "Follow." he uttered in a hoarse voice. And I did, Damien's tall and broad body came behind me, and I could not help but feel, the tiniest bit scared. Damien, unlike his father, had not taken off his mask, leaving me to wonder what he would look like. Not that his face mattered more than how he acted. Reign seemed to be overpowered in weight by that metaphorical bag, since he fell to the ground, in a blink of an eye I was helping him up as he chuckled "Ah... my old bones, I do this often, you won't need to worry about me in the future."

"The future?" I asked unsure about what he meant. I thought they were going to help me go back, rather than keep me here hostage for the rest of my days.

"Well, what I mean about-" Reign started, it was not long until Damien interjected.

"Dad, I think I should be the one to tell her, for the moment's predicament is quite appropriate," He quietly murmured, leaving me in more of a mystery than before. My mind felt as if it was having a brain fart."I also think that you should get rest." he told him, Reign seemed to act like a toddler

"But I don't want to, I want to give, what's your name?" he asked, I momentarily realized that he did not know my name.

"Olivia." I quickly responded.

"I want to give Olivia a tour of the palace," he childishly groaned.

"Dad, Mom told me to take care of you," he uttered quietly and somberly, the room's temperature seemed to drop, all the joy dropped to a - 6 and the lights seemed to dim. His mother must have died. Poor dudes. I felt bad for them. Damien must have really loved his mother. And Reign must have really loved his wife. Although tears were flowing out of Reign's eyes, he had a smile plastered onto his face. He headed into the direction of the hallway where I believed was his bedroom.

"I'm sorry for your loss" I quietly commented. Big tears welled up in my eyes, I had always been the kind of person who felt bad when others felt bad. Damien and I seemed to be polar-opposites, he coldly looked at me,

"What are you doing?" he asked, his voice was more bitter than a lemon, as he oversaw my tears hotly pouring down my face, for once I laughed while crying, "Sometimes when people feel sad, I feel sad too,"

"Follow me" he ordered, not a trace of sympathy left in his voice, I followed him through the candle-light hallway. There at the end, was a pair of french doors, the mahogany door, was laced, and the handles were gilded. He pulled them open, instead of seeing a dusty room, I saw a large illuminated ballroom, puffy things lingered in the air, but as they neared, their physical features seemed to show, Damien, pronounced a name out loud, "Winter Willow Grey" One puffy thing stepped out of the crowd who were dancing to a vinyl recording.

"Welcome to the hall of ghosts, where the ghosts of the Grey family live, one thing that your mortal brain has to understand, ghosts can't speak," he stepped aside for the ghost, "This is my mother," he said proudly. Then for a moment, I saw a more innocent version of Damien, "Hey mom, dad told me that this girl the savior" he deadpanned. The ghost made a motioning, like taking off a mask. So he did. Took off his mask, I went so pale that I could blend in with the ghosts, and I would like to tell you all that the boy who took off the mask was the boy I despised, the boy who was so rude to me. The boy I had made that rude gesture at the party.