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Without a word she stalked out of the door, slammed

it hard, then locked it from the other side. I was left in

the middle of the room, holding the end product of

many long hours of striving for perfection and beauty. Fools !--that's what we'd been! Damned fools! We'd never win her over! She'd always consider

us Devil's spawn! As far as she was concerned, we

really didn't exist.

And it hurt, oh, you bet, it did hurt. Right down to

my bare feet I ached, and my heart became a hollow

ball shooting pains through my chest. Behind me, I

could hear Chris raspily breathing in and out, and the

twins began to whimper.

This was my time to be adult, and keep the poise

that Momma used so well and so effectively. I

patterned my movements, and my expressions, after

those of my mother. I used my hands the way she

used hers. I smiled as she did, slow and beguiling And what did I do to demonstrate my maturity? I hurled the package to the floor! I swore, using

words I'd never said aloud before! I raised my foot

and stomped down on it, and heard the cardboard box

crunch. I screamed! Wild with fury, I jumped with

both feet onto the gift, and I wildly stomped and

jumped until I heard the cracking of the beautiful old

frame we'd found in the attic, and reglued, and

refinished and made it look almost like new again. I

hated Chris for persuading me that we could win over

a woman made of stone! I hated Momma for putting

us in this position! She should have known her mother

better; she should have sold shoes in a department

store; certainly there was something she could have

done but what she did.

Beneath the assault of someone wild and frenzied,


Tags: V.C. Andrews Dollanganger Horror