Home AgainSiddie woke up to the sound of a high-pitched scream. She groaned, stretched her arm out from under the covers, and picked her eyePhone off the nightstand. Who was texting her at this hour of morning?
Gym room, bring Ixxy. Purple tent. - <3 SamThe text was weird, and Siddie sat up, frowning at her phone. What in the world? She rubbed sleep out of her eyes and typed a quick response.
House is an hour drive away, what happened? U ok? Tent in the gym?The response wasn't long in coming; it chased the last vestiges of sleepiness out of Siddie's head immediately.
It's long story. Bad. Getting patched up. Ixxy okay?Patched up?? I'm coming. Ixxy's fine. We'll be there soon as I can, just have to tell Daddy. The shadow ghoul didn't have to think twice about her response. If Sammy was having to get patched up, something had gone seriously wrong on the trip. If Sammy needed her, or for that matter, if any of her other friends needed her - well, Daddy would have to deal with her cancelling dinner. This was more important.
She slid out of bed and dressed quickly for travel in leggings, a short skirt, and hooded jacket over a t-shirt. No time to get fancy. She scooped the few things she'd brought back for the short visit home into her backpack, added Ixxy's and Chili's things, and swung her bag onto her shoulder. Then she bent down and peeked under the froth of lace edging that curtained the basket in the corner of the room. "Ixxy? Chili? Ixxy, wake up, we're going to go see your mommy."
Her phone screamed again as she coaxed the minis out of bed. Chili crawled up Siddie's shoulder and curled up in her hood; Ixxy shook herself and followed the shadow ghoul to her desk.
It went bad. I'll explain more when you get here. We got hit bad, I'm. A bit of a mess. See you soon.Siddie stared at the message, eyes widening. Her free hand crept up to cover her mouth in dismay. Sammy wasn't one to exaggerate; if anything, the zombie tended to downplay her problems. That meant that whatever had happened had been nothing short of a full-on disaster. She pulled her boots on, stuffed her phone into her shirt, and hurried down the hall. Daddy would be in the breakfast room. Mama, too, if she was lucky. Then she'd only have to explain once.
They were there, both of them, as was one of the avarice demons from the bank's upper management. Siddie stopped short just inside the door, feeling a sudden pit of dread open in her stomach. She hadn't counted on that. Daddy wouldn't like her showing up in front of strangers so underdressed, without even her hair done. Too late, though. She swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and walked over to the table.
"Obsidian," Infinitie said, the single word a whole treatise of disapproval and disappointment. "Your father is conducting an important discussion. You may come down to breakfast in an hour, when you've had a chance to clean up."
Siddie's knees trembled slightly, the urge to leave like a good little ghoul unexpectedly powerful. But she couldn't go. "I'm sorry, Mama," she said, and had to clear her throat before she could go on. "I just need to talk to Daddy for a minute."
"
Obsidian." The smile slid off Infinitie's face. "You may come down later. Properly dressed for company. And without the
minipet."
Siddie swallowed again, lifted her chin, and turned her back on her mother to face her father. Onyx was watching her, his expression stony and unreadable. She was already in trouble. She had to make this worth it. "Daddy, I need to go back to school right now," she told him.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Onyx snapped. "You've two dinners and a tea to attend before you leave again. What are you thinking, child? Wasting my time with this nonsense and embarrassing me in front of a very important demon? You'll go back to your room and wait. I will have a talk with you when I am done here, and not an instant sooner."
Siddie wrapped her arms around her chest, folding her hands tightly around her elbows to stop the trembling of her hands. Had Daddy always been this unreasonable? "No," she said.
The word fell like a stone in the sudden quiet of the room. Siddie felt her stomach begin to churn as the silence stretched unbearably long. Finally, her father moved, standing up from his chair. "Obsidian. You will do as I tell you."
"
No," Siddie insisted, and clenched her hands harder. "Something awful has happened. My - my ghoulfriend is hurt. I need to be there."
"
Ghoulfriend?" her mother hissed, setting her teacup down so hard that the blood-red liquid inside splashed out onto the saucer. "Have we given you permission to have a ghoulfriend? Have I, perhaps, forgotten some moment of insanity in which I allowed that?"
Siddie's lips compressed into a thin line. "I'm going. I'm not asking your permission. I came to - to give you the courtesy of informing you of my plans."
"I forbid it," Onyx growled, stalking a step forward to loom over his youngest daughter.
"I'm going." Siddie held her ground, though she felt as though her stomach would betray her at any moment.
Onyx turned and very deliberately paced back to his chair, sitting down and turning it so that he faced the table. He picked up his teacup and took a sip. "Obsidian," he said, without looking at her. "If you leave this house without my express permission, you will not be coming back."
A tiny squeak of air escaped Siddie. It was as though she'd been punched in the gut. How could her father do this to her? She'd been a good ghoul all her life. Was it that much to ask, to go against her parents' carefully laid plans, even a little bit?
Apparently it was. Onyx had resumed his conversation with the demon as though Siddie wasn't in the room; Infinitie watched her daughter with cold fury poorly concealed under a thin grimace. Siddie stood frozen, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. It was all for nothing. Her father had refused.
She'd told Sammy she was coming.
Siddie bent down and picked Ixxy up. She turned on her heel and walked out the door, head up, spine stiff; but once she was around the corner and out of sight of the doors, she began to run. Her father might yet call one of the servants to keep her from leaving. She had to get out of the house now.
Some ten minutes later, she climbed into the taxi that pulled up behind the back gate of the servants' quarters. The ghost who drove it peered over the seat at her. "Extra for minis," he said.
"Fine," she answered. "That's fine. I'm going to Amityville Academy."
"Quite a drive," the ghost said.
"I can pay," she answered, and dug Onyx's deadit card out of her bag to show him. Hopefully Daddy would waste enough time assuming she'd obeyed - then having the house searched - that she could use the card to pay. If not - well, she'd worry about it then.
The driver nodded and turned back around. As the taxi swung back out onto the road that led towards the highway, Siddie fastened her seatbelt, hugged Ixxy to her chest, and began to cry as quietly as she could.
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