Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Misty white. The glass fogged over; my warm breath eating away at the sheen of frost. Stiff-fingered, I wiped at the clouded glass. The soft glow of the streetlight flowed into my room. It cast a dim light on the bare walls and stained carpet.
Outside, two shapes disappeared into the shadows. The yellow-white glare grasped for them but they were wrapped in darkness. Cold clawed at my cheeks and nose. I strained my eyes, but the two forms remained indistinct shapes.
A gentle breeze sent the snowflakes whirling around on the street, past overstuffed trashcans, the three-wheeled car nobody had driven for months and the shopping cart that Mrs. Cross from across the street had stolen from Target a few days ago. My eyes darted back to the place where the two forms had stood—but they were gone.
I pulled my legs up, away from the frigid heater, and pressed them against my chest. If Carl hadn’t spent all of our money on booze, it would be warm here.
The sound of shouting, the words too mangled and slurred to make sense of them, carried through the thin walls into my room.
I felt cold all over again. Mom’s high-pitched reply to Carl wasn’t even coherent. I pushed myself off my cold perch and my bare feet landed on the old carpet with its ever-present smell of mold. Something sticky pressed against the sole of my foot but I didn’t bother to check what it was. Probably the beer Carl had spilled when he stumbled into my room instead of the bathroom a few days ago.
The shouting hadn’t stopped yet.
I shuffled out of my room and into the hallway, not caring that dust bunnies stuck to my feet. The bathroom was even colder than the rest of the house and black mold covered the wall near the shower. I pushed the door shut and turned on the light. After a few flickers, the bulb started glowing, and the mirror threw my reflection back at me.
Was it even my face? Maybe I’d lain next to another newborn in the baby ward and decided that her face was better than mine. I moved closer until I could see every fingerprint and toothpaste stain on the mirror. Tiredness was etched into my skin. I shut my eyes, though it wasn’t necessary for the shift. The familiar rippling washed over me.
The sensation died down, and I risked a look at my reflection.
The door banged open and Mom stood in the doorway, her mascara smudged and her lips bust open. For a moment she stared at me as if I was everything evil and bad wrapped into one body. As if I were responsible for whatever had just happened to her. The look of horror changed to anger as she grabbed my arm.
“What are you doing? How often do I have to tell you not to do this? Do you want Carl to find out? Do you want something bad to happen to us? Why can’t you be normal?”
Mom flipped the switch and bathed us in darkness, as if she couldn’t bear looking at me, before she went on. “I’ve been trying to hide your strangeness for so many years but you never listened. Everything’s your fault.”
Leaving me in the dark, she stalked off. Guilt burned a path through my stomach. Abnormal. Monster. Thief. That’s what I was. A freak who could steal other people’s appearances.
I blinked to get rid of the prickling sensation in my eyes. The shape of my face shifted again and when the tearing stopped, I moved closer to the mirror. Brown eyes instead of turquoise, same auburn hair but thicker and with more waves.
I forced Mom’s expression to soften until there was a look on her face I’d never seen directed at me. My lips trembled when I moved them and her voice came out.
“Happy birthday, sweetheart. I love you.” My expression twisted, became more like the one I was used to seeing.
The doorbell jolted me out of the moment, and I dropped Mom’s appearance.
“Tessa, get your ass down here. There’s someone who wants to see you,” Mom shouted.
I hurried down the steps toward the unfamiliar voices, but Mom grabbed my arm.
“You brought this on yourself.” Her nails dug into my skin and I tried not to wince.
Shaking her off, I glared at her. “What do you mean? I didn’t do anything.”
I entered the living room. Two men stood in their prim suits amid the ragged furniture and empty beer bottles. Their faces turned toward me. I took a step back when my eyes locked with a pair of gray ones.
They belonged to the taller and much younger of the two. He had the most amazing eyes I’d ever seen. They kept me frozen to the spot.
I cleared my throat. “You’re here to see me?”