The Dollhouse Asylum by Mary Gray

Author:Mary Gray [Gray, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781937053642
Google: qiDoMgEACAAJ
Amazon: B00EHKY36G
Barnesnoble: B00EHKY36G
Goodreads: 18357902
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Published: 2012-12-31T18:30:00+00:00

13

At seven o’clock, I pull at my dress, wishing I had something else to wear, especially with the snags my uneven fingernails have made. Why does Cleo seem to have a closetful when I have one dress? Probably something to do with Cleopatra’s role as a queen.

I pass by the counter and straighten a plate layered with ham and bread. I wish my hands would steady themselves again. We’re having fondue for dinner—the ingredients arrived in a basket mid-afternoon—and I got it all ready, perfect, like Mom always did when she entertained her colleagues who also worked for the city. Don’t let them see the brushstrokes, she always said. And she didn’t. Her parties never had issues—that’s probably why Mayor Tydal liked her so much. That’s probably why they got back together all the time. They’d break up, Mom would host another one of her gatherings, then he’d fall for her all over again and I’d be stuck with him in my life.

I’m not sure yet how to beat Teo or if he can even be beaten, but I will do what Marcus told me to do: allow my sense of right and wrong to steer me toward ending his reign.

I walk through the living room, and while I didn’t rearrange the furniture—the two white benches make that L-shape, greeting visitors as they walk inside the house—I moved all the plants to my room. For my Persephone theme to work, I think I need to abolish the Thisbe and Pyramus story and start my own. I’m not hiding Bee’s memory, merely trying to move past it so we can escape. The lighting from a lamp I brought in from Bee’s bedroom is bright enough to display my painting but dark enough to match my artwork’s tone. The Underworld cast in the light of shadows. I pray Teo doesn’t make me flip on all the lights, because then hiding Thisbe’s tale will be nearly impossible. I didn’t get the chance to cover all the arched windows and leaves on the other walls, though I pushed a tall dresser from Bee’s bedroom in front of a large painted arch and lit candles on the floor under my painting to highlight the main part of the room.

I steal one last glance at my work from this morning painted across the east wall. Persephone’s eyes, darker than my blue, fit the painting well. And Hades’s ebony stubble, on both his head and chin, mirrors Teo’s. Passing between them is that pomegranate. I hope I was right to make Persephone smile. Hades’s portrait works—the sallow, impassive expression almost perfectly mirrors Teo’s face.

I hid a secret in her and my hair—greenery from an olive tree, a symbol for victory—my hope that our confinement in Elysian Fields will not last. A hidden hope inspired by Marcus, the only reason I’m as calm as I am. My fingers may be twitching, my heart may be suffocating inside my chest, but like Marcus said, I can get through this. Just as long as Teo doesn’t freak out that I painted over Bee’s Babylonian theme.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.