Chapter 4

The housekeeper, Maria, ran out of the house, her face pale with horror.

"Miss Madisyn, stop! Please, what are you doing?"

Madisyn turned on her, her eyes blazing. "Get back inside, Maria. Or you' re fired. I am the future lady of this house, and you will do as I say."

Maria flinched, her shoulders slumping in defeat. She backed away, intimidated into silence.

Madisyn turned back to me, a triumphant smirk on her face. She nudged my broken locket with the toe of her boot.

"Look at that piece of junk. Just as useless as you are."

I slowly pushed myself up, my body screaming in protest. I looked directly at her, my eyes holding hers. The rage inside me was a physical force, a pressure building behind my ribs.

My voice came out low and steady, a dead calm in the storm of her violence.

"You' re about to lose what' s most important to you."

It wasn' t a threat. It was a statement of fact. My knack, twisted by the pain and the hate.

Madisyn scoffed. "Is that supposed to scare me?"

She took a step back, turning to her friends to laugh. But her heel caught on a loose piece of gravel. She stumbled, her arms flailing wildly.

She fell face-first, right onto a sharp, decorative piece of ironwork bordering a flowerbed.

There was a sickening crunch.

She screamed, a raw, animal sound of pure agony. When she pushed herself up, blood was pouring down her face. A deep, hideous gash ran from her cheekbone to her jaw, ruining her perfect face forever.

Her friends stared, frozen in shock and horror.