White Skeleton
"Raziel, Raziel," a loud voice called.
"Yes mother, I'm coming," Raziel answered from a distance.
"Come downstairs quickly. The seamstress is here already," Rachel ordered.
Raziel quickly came out of her room and climbed down the stairs. She headed to where her mother and sisters were in the sitting room. They were surrounding a heap of clothes and picking from them. She saw the seamstress sitting on the couch and staring at her mom and sisters as they happily selected the clothes of their choice.
"Raziel, come forward quickly and pick the fabric you'll use for the Halloween party the day after tomorrow. Don't forget it's our birthday too. I'm going to rock the best dress.," Jaria beckoned, smiling happily.
"Yes come and select from here. The clothes are so beautiful. We should look our best. The King sent us an invitation to the Halloween party at the Palace and that means he expects us to dress our best. We should wear the finest gown and beat every other lady present," May added.
Raziel walked forward and sat on the floor like her sisters and mother. Indeed the clothes were flawless. They were in different colors and styles. The seamstress surely did a great job in making them.
"Take this one Raziel, it's going to look so good on you. I'm sure of that. It fits your slim figure," Rachel conceded, handing her a black long gown and Raziel drifted away from it as her face crunched into a frown.
"G…get that shirt away from me, mother," she croaked.
"What's wrong with it? It's beautiful and it perfectly fits the Halloween party at the palace," Jaria asked.
"You want to start today again? Do you want to do the same thing as last time? This gown is so pretty. Even I like it," May blurted.
"I…I don't like it. It's pretty but I don't like it. It's scary. What's with that white s…skeleton painted on it? I can't wear something like this. Please take it out of my face," Raziel pleaded. How would her family suggest to her to wear something like this? There's a skeleton painted on it for heaven's sake. Yes it was a Halloween party and dresses like this are very much appreciated, but she just can't wear them. Even the sight of it freaks her out. What if her nightmares worsen?
She was still having those scary nightmares about the vampires and it got worse after the king came to her window the previous week. She was trying her best to sleep at night and here her mother and siblings were offering her a black gown with a white skeleton painted boldly on it. Maybe they want her never to be able to sleep again.
Jaria rolled her eyes and stared angrily at her.
"Isn't it Halloween? What's wrong with wearing a gown with a skeleton painted on it? You surely have started again as May said. This behavior of yours is getting annoying."
"I wonder too, Jaria. She did the same thing last time at the seamstress shop," May added. She dropped the cloth she was holding and turned to Raziel.
"Scared? You're scared of a common painting? Haven't you seen such a painting before? Wonderful. Haha. I forgot you're a weakling, after all, you don't even know how to cast a spell. We shouldn't have expected anything from you," she lamented.
"That's okay, May. Shut your mouth. Raziel, you can pick something else," Rachel intervened.
Raziel stared into space and her chest tightened as she managed to keep herself from blurting out something wrong. Must they always taunt her about casting spells and all? She would really appreciate it if they stop butting in her matters and opposing her likes.
"Yeah yeah! She can pick whatever she likes. It's not as if I care. I don't care now, and I never will," May muttered in disdain.
"You shouldn't care. I never asked you to care. It's my life and my choice so don't interfere," Raziel rebuked.
"Of course, I won't. Keep behaving like the scaredy-cat that you are. A grown-up, scared of a painting. Please don't let others hear that. I'll deny you as my sister," May mocked in a giddy voice.
"I'm not a scar…."
"Stop it Raziel. If any of you speak again, I'm going to hit your face with my palms and you know that mark would be there for a long while," Rachel threatened and the girls quickly clamped their mouths shut.
They definitely wouldn't like to have a slap mark on their face on the day of their birthday which was also Halloween. They knew their mother wasn't joking when she said that and doing such a thing was not a problem for her. Raziel drifted away from her mother, wanting to avoid what she just threatened and she went back to selecting the clothes on the floor. It
Her eyes spotted a purple fabric on the side where May was sitting. She stretched her hands to take it but May lightly hit her hands away.
"What do you want? Are you trying to hit me?"
Raziel looked at their mother in fear, before she spoke.
"N..no. I only wanted to take that fabric," she said, pointing to the fabric, and May nonchalantly threw it at her.
"Everyone knows you'll choose an ugly fabric."
"It's not ugly, this would fit Raziel perfectly. I'm sure of that. Are you taking it or not?" Rachel asked.
"Yes, I'm taking it. It's my size and I'm sure it's going to look beautiful on me," she smiled.
"Tsk mother, I wonder why you're taking her side today. That dress isn't as beautiful as mine. You guys can do whatever you like. I don't care," May said as she stood up from the floor.
"I'll go read some books instead of staying here hrmp," she said and walked out of the sitting room.
"May, May," Jaria called. "This is all your fault, Raziel," she angrily yelled and walked out.