A Window To A Soul

Chapter 14: Cal

I sat in the family room, waiting for them to arrive. I don't know why, but I felt nervous. It's weird to think of them as a family when I barely even know them. The last time I saw them was when I was 16. They let us visit someone on our 16th birthday for the first time, and then we can't visit again until we turn 18.

The room was small. In the upper right corner from where I was sitting, there was a counter with coffee. In front of me were two armchairs. The walls were dark blue. To my left, there was a door on the same side as me. That was it.

I sat with my hands in my lap and my head low. I heard the door open and I looked up. There was an older man with black hair slicked back. A white streak of hair fell in front of his face. His face was wrinkly and serious, and his eyes were the same pink as all the other ones like him. His eyebrows were bushy and he had a sharp jawline. He had black jeans on and a black dress shirt with the first button undone. That was my father. His name was Julias Madden.

Behind him was a woman with a light blonde ponytail. She was younger than my father. Her eyes were wide and she had a nice complexion on her face. Her eyebrows were thin and groomed. She held a sweater to her chest and was looking down. She had a pink shirt and blue jeans on. Her name was Millie Garrett. She was my mother.

They didn't marry for love. The pink-eyed people never married for love. After they had two children, they would marry someone to escape that life.

My mother smiled at me. "Hi, Cal."

My father didn't say anything. They both sat in front of me, my mother smiling lightly, and my father staring blankly at me. He looked like he was disappointed with me. But I knew that wasn't the case.

I tried to smile. "Hi. How have you guys been?"

My mother shrugged. "Decent, I guess. We've been collecting books lately. How have you been doing?"

I thought back to Della. I thought about how she looked at me when she came out of the security room. My smile faltered, but I fixed it. "It's nice. I was lucky enough to get the new Great One, and we've been bonding. She's nice, and she prefers that I act like myself in front of her. Chloe went to Elliott. She says that she's doing fine, but I can tell that she's lying."

My father didn't change his facial expression. He didn't seem to care. My mother was the only one to actually talk to me. "That's nice about your Great One."

She looked down with a fake smile. She seemed awkward here. "What's wrong?"

She looked up at me with her eyes widened. "Oh! Nothing. It's just-..." She paused before glancing back at my father. "Why did you want to visit us of all people?"

I looked at my father. "I don't know. I guess I just wanted to see how my folks are doing."

My father broke. He looked down and laughed. He laughed a bunch. His voice was deep and scratchy. And then he stopped. He looked back up at me with fury. He stood up, looming over me. "How dare you lie to our faces?"

I felt something deep inside of me trying to pull me away. I wanted to leave. My father was very intimidating. I could see the veins popping out of his arms. His complexion was serious. I tried to speak but I could barely get anything out. "I-I.... I um-"

He spoke for me. "I know why we're here."

My heart was beating fast. "You just wanted to gloat. Didn't you?"

I shook my head fast. But he kept talking. "We don't have time to visit you whenever you damn well please. Invite someone else for a change."

Then he grabbed my mom's arm, lifting her up, and then dragging her out of the room. When the door slammed shut, I sighed and slouched down in the chair. He's wrong. I was bored. I had nothing to do so I wanted to take advantage of the fact that I still had a visit.

I looked at the door. It was awfully quiet. I decided to wait for a bit to make sure I don't run into them again.

Then I left, letting the lady at the front desk know that the room is now vacant. Then I made my way back to the mansion. I didn't have any money on me so I walked a few miles on my own.

When I got inside the mansion, it was already dark out. Della would most likely be asleep by now. I went up to my room, seeing that Della's light was off, but Malakai was awake, and then I went to sleep.