Deception Preview

Chapter 1

The Stranger in the Kitchen

Cassandra Deanna Dorian had always been a nice, normal kid.  She was what she called hazelnut brown-haired (though many called it “a frizzy mass of mouse brown stuff”) and had extraordinarily blue eyes.  She was short for her age, skinny, and quiet.  Her favorite aspect of her appearance was her strange, but interesting, overly pointed ears which caused her mother called Cassandra ‘faery ears’.  She was 12, and in 6th grade.  She went to school in a big, red brick building called Watson City North School.  Watson City had three schools, the North School, the East School and the South School.  The South school taught Pre-K through 5th.  The North School taught 6th through 8th.  The East . . . 9th through however many grades there are.  Cassie didn’t know.

She did know that she was practically invisible to anyone.  A qhost in a hoodie and jeggings that was always trying to be noticed with no effect.  Cassie, as she prefered to be called, had no friends and

zip social life.

She was in Spanish class when our story began, which for some reason her mom insisted that she take.  Spanish class was extremely boring, because the teacher had that boring, drone-sounding voice.  If a space rocket from Mars landed outside the window Cassie doubted that the Spanish teacher would notice.  She was practically salivating she was so bored.

It was now two months into the school year.  She had turn down the offer to join the science fair so she wouldn’t attract attention.  Her mom said that she needed to reach out more if she wanted to make any friends.  She had decided not to do the essay contest because you had to read it outloud to the whole school - all three grades!  Her dad said that she didn’t need to be afraid.

The bell rang.  As she walked down the crowded hallway, she decided that sometimes, no matter how much she loved her parents, she wanted to strangle them.  She’d love to see one of them take her place and see how they liked it.

She also thought that pretty much, she led a normal, invisible yes, but normal life.  She got up, went to school, went home, and the slept.  Of course, she thought, a normal life is a dull life.  So I guess I like a dull life.

The next day though, all that changed.

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“Woah.”

That was the first thing Cassie said when she walked into her apartment after school.  Her mom was standing in the kitchen, puffy-eyed and red-cheeked.  Cassie’s mom’s mouse brown hair was rumpled and unchecked; her narrow face tear streaked.  Cassie was worried about her mom, but that’s not really what interested her the most.

What did interest her was the slim, tall woman standing in the middle of the tile floor.  She had the look of a powerful, authoritative woman, but the kind sort of smile that made you want to hug her, although Cassie refrained from doing so.  She wore a draped white gown, done up and down in lace and . . . were those REAL diamonds?  Talk about the aura of money - this queenly woman wore it like a cloak.  A slim, sheathed sword hung on the hip of woman, and subtly muscular arms showed her skill at it.  Her hair, pure silken black, was probably longer than three feet.  Part of it she had elaborately pinned up in unfathomable ways, the other half hanging down in a glossy river down her back.  Her spotless dress, elaborate hair, and sparkling diamonds left her looking hopelessly out of place in the Dorian kitchen.

“What’s going on, Mom?”  Cassie exclaimed.  She added in a whisper, so she wouldn’t offend the regal woman.  The queenly person was surveying Cassie with an approving eye.  “Who is that lady?  And what is she doing here?”

Cassie’s mom sniffed and sighed deeply.  This clearly wasn’t going to be a pleasent conversation.  Whatever it might be, Cassie braced herself for it.

The stranger stepped forward, a perfect leg slipping out from the floor-length skirt.  Her face unreadable, she said in soft, smooth voice, “I’ll take it here if you want, Lydia.”  She rested her hand on Cassie’s almost sobbing mom.  Cassie was curious about how...close they seemed.  Only Dad calls Mom “Lydia”, thought Cassie.  How strange.

With a small nod from Cassie’s mom, the white-gowned woman settled primly in a chair Cassie could have sworn was five feet away a minute before.  She inhaled deeply and began.

“What is your clearest memory from when you were 5?”

The question caught Cassie off guard.  “Ah...er....”  She swallowed.

The woman’s stare intensified.  “Focus.  Pull the memory close to you.”

Cassie didn’t understand what that meant but she focused anyway.  A memory sprang up and seemed to fill her mind like a bucket with water.  Cassie closed her eyes and sank into the recollection.

Cold air pressed against the younger Cassie.  Forest trees were above her.  Someone had wrapped a black cloak around her.  Another child was huddled next to her.  Screams echoed around her, but no one would find her where she was hidden.  Safe.

A woman appeared over Cassie and hauled her up, leaving the other one behind.  The black hair was shorter, and it was jagged in places.  There were no diamonds, except for a single teardrop gem on a string around her neck.  Her skin was pale in the moonlight, but her black clothes made her hard to see in the night shadows.  The woman seemed frightened and almost ran too fast for Cassie.

Another woman appeared and ran to them.  She looked 10 years younger, but the resemblance to Cassie’s mom was unmistakable.  The same thin face, the same short-cropped hair, this woman was Cassie’s mom’s twin sister, if they were not one in the same.

“Are you sure?”  The first woman breathed.

The second nodded.  “This is the best way.”

The black-haired lady turned to Cassie.  With one swift movement she ripped the diamond off her neck, pressed it into Cassie’s tiny hand, and whispered, “Remember.”

Then she ran.  The second woman began dashing away, clutching Cassie’s hand like it was a treasure beyond compare.  Cassie glanced back and saw the diamond woman screaming as four black cloaked figures closed in on her.

“Wait!  Wait!  We have to go back!”

Cassie opened her eyes and gasped.  In her hand was a frayed black string and a single, teardrop diamond.  She didn’t remember how it had gotten there, but it didn’t matter.  It had happened.  It was true.  It was all true.