To Love a Monster

|| Chapter Twenty-One ||

|| Chapter Twenty –One ||

Diana was a girl of a few words.

It hadn’t come as a surprise to me when she buried her face in Daniel’s neck as an attempt to hide herself from me when I tried greeting her. “Diana,” I tried again hoping to get a response but all I got was her squirming further in her brother’s arms, as if she was trying to disappear.

“She’s not used to new people,” Daniel said, as if feeling the need to justify her actions. “She’ll get used to you.” At her brother’s words, she looked up; her innocent eyes glanced between both of us as if searching for something. Though, when her eyes met mine for the second time today, she went back to her previous state of trying to become invisible. “Di, stop it. She’s nice. She won’t kill you.”   

Daniel, with such delicacy I never once thought he had, placed Diana down. Just as her feet touched the ground, she sprinted towards the woman standing in the corner who I remembered Daniel calling Flora. The woman looked old and pale, with grey hair pulled back into a ponytail, although her grey eyes seemed to hold a youthful spark in them. “So, who’s this?” She asked referring to me as Diana was lifted into her arms. I’m guessing she likes to be lifted, a lot.   

Daniel brought his hand to the back of his neck as he gave me an awkward glance. He replied with, “Rose.”

Flora gave me a gentle smile then shifted her gaze towards him as she rolled her eyes. “Boy, I’m going to need more than that.”

“Is your name Rose?” A quiet voice asked. It took me a while to match it with the small girl in Flora’s arms. Curiosity had taken over her juvenile features.

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Like the flower?”

I gave her another nod which caused her to grin, and my observation skills went to work again as I noticed the tiny dimples decorating each cheek. “I like roses, they’re pretty.”

“Me too,” I told her, feeling happier that I wasn’t scaring her anymore. It didn’t last long though as she returned to hugging Flora with bright red cheeks.

“Daniel, there’s food on the table if you’re hungry. I’m just going to bathe Diana.” Flora told him as she exited through the archway. I wondered how big this place was as everything seemed to be accessed through that small archway in the middle of the room.

Daniel nodded in reply but didn’t make any effort to move. 

A few seconds filled with utter silence passed by without any of us saying anything and it made me uncomfortable. “Diana’s adorable.” I told him, trying to break the silence around us. “How old is she?”

“Six,” he replied briefly. Then we lapsed into silence again. Daniel’s head was facing the ground suggesting that he was lost in his thoughts. It made me nervous as a flood of questions raced around my mind, trying to break free.

After a few seconds of complete silence, I decided that another small question wasn’t going to hurt anyone. “Is she your mum?”

The question seemed to catch Daniel off-guard. His head had immediately shot up at the sound of my voice breaking through the silence. His green eyes stared at me. “Who?”

My memory started t reel as it fought to remember her name. “Flora?”

Daniel chuckled and turned to glance at the archway she just left through. “No.” He returned his gaze to mine. “She’s not my mum.”

“Oh,” I answered. I waited for him to elaborate but when he didn’t, which was completely typical of him, I tried thinking of anything else to say. The atmosphere around us was so tense a knife would be too weak to slice through it. The urge to ask more about his family was immaculate but I had a feeling that now wasn’t the right time, especially since Daniel had started walking towards the archway.