Dollenganger 06 My Sweet Audrina by V. C. Andrews Page A

And that dream was my curse and my shame; never would I tell Vera. My head moved from side to side as I kept backing away.
"Why are you acting afraid of your own father?
    Has that girl been filling your head with foul tales?" "No, Papa."
"Don't lie to me, girl. I can tell when you lie,
your eyes betray you."
    The mean, uncaring mood he was in made me turn and run. I bumped into things like armed coat racks and umbrella stands and finally fell into a corner, where I stayed just to catch my breath. That's when I heard my aunt coming down the hall with my father at her side. "I don't care what you say, Ellie, I am doing the best I can to cure her. I am also doing the best I can for Vera, and that's not easy. God, why didn't you give birth to a child like my Audrina?"
"That is exactly what this house needs," answered my aunt coldly. "Another Audrina."
    "You listen to me, Ellie, and listen well. You keep Vera away from my daughter! You keep reminding Vera each day of her life to keep her mouth shut or I'll have the skin from her back and the hair ripped from her scalp. If ever I find out Vera was somehow connected--"
    "She wasn't! Of course she wasn't!"
Their voices faded away. I was left in the shadows, feeling sick and trying to figure out what all
    that meant. Vera had the secret of why I couldn't remember like everyone else. I had to get Vera to tell me. But Vera hated me. She'd never tell me anything. Somehow I had to make Vera stop hating me. Somehow I had to make her like me. Then maybe she'd tell me the secret of myself.
    The next morning at breakfast Momma was smiling and cheerful. "Guess what," she said as I sat down to breakfast. "We're going to have neighbors. Your father rented that small cottage where Mr. Willis used to live before he died."
    That name rang a familiar bell. Had I known Mr. Willis?
"They're moving in today," Momma went on. "If we weren't expecting your Aunt Mercy Marie, we could stroll through the woods and welcome them. June is such a lovely month."
I stared at her openmouthed. "Momma, the delivery-man said yesterday it was March."
"No, darling, it's June. The last deliveryman to come here came months ago." She sighed. "I wish I had the department store deliver every day; then I'd have something to look forward to besides Damian's return home."
All the joy I should have felt at the prospect of neighbors was spoiled by my disjointed memory. Vera limped into the kitchen then, throwing me a mean look before she fell into a chair and asked for bacon, eggs, pancakes and doughnuts. "Did I hear you say we're going to have neighbors, Momma?"
Momma? Why was she calling my mother that? I shot my own mean glare her way. I tried not to let Momma see. She looked tired, rather distraught as she began to make goose liver pate for the party. Why did she go to so much trouble when that woman was dead, and only Aunt Ellsbeth would be there to eat the best of everything?
"I know who the new neighbors are," smirked Vera. "The boy who gave me a box of candy for Valentine's Day hinted he might be moving near us. He's eleven years old, but he's so big he looks like thirteen or fourteen."
My aunt stalked in, her long face grim and formidable. "He's too young for you, then," she snapped, making me wonder if Vera really was much older than I'd thought. Gosh, why couldn't I know anyone's age? They knew mine. "Don't you start fooling around with him, Vera, or Damian will kick us both out."
"I'm not afraid of Papa," said Vera smugly. "I know how to handle men. A kiss, a hug, a big smile and they melt."
"You are a manipulator, I know that. But leave that boy alone. Are you listening, Vera?"
"Yes, Mother," answered Vera in her most scornful voice. "Of course I am listening! Even the dead could listen! And I don't really want a boy who's only eleven. I hate living 'way out here in the sticks where there aren't any boys but the stupid ones in the village."
Papa came in next, wearing a new custom-fitted suit. He sat to tuck a napkin