Page 38 of Daughter of a Monster

What if he’s evil, just like him? Could I be so messed up as to not sense it? To even be attracted to it?

“Berkley, you’re not watching!” Ette stands with her hands fisted at her sides, glaring at me.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I say, focusing my eyes on her instead of wistfully staring into thin air like I’d been doing. “I promise I’ll watch this time.”

She storms over and presses stop on the stereo. “I’m going to have to start again now,” she huffs as she adjusts the music. “Are you ready?” Ette stands ceremoniously in the center of the room.

“I’m ready.”

She stands expectantly for a few moments before sighing, her arms flopping down to her sides. “You’ve got to press the play button, Berkley.”

“Oh! I forgot. Sorry.”

As I bend to press the button, she mutters under her breath. “Sometimes I wonder what he’s paying you for.”

I glance up, eyebrows raised, but she’s not even looking at me. I press play. The sound of a bow rubbing over strings fills the room.

Ette runs and jumps, twirling in the air. She does roly-polies, star jumps, dubious cartwheels and a myriad of moves that could loosely be construed as dance. She’s out of breath by the time the song finishes and I burst into applause.

“Was it good?” she asks, her eyes wide with hope.

“Well, let me ask you something.” I squat down so I’m closer to eye-level with her. “How did you feel while you were dancing?”

She ponders the question for a while, comically tapping her finger on her chin. “I felt amazing,” she says decidedly. “Kind of like a bird flying in the air. Or maybe it was more like a mermaid swimming through the ocean. I’m not quite sure.”

“Well, that feeling you had is the secret.”

“The secret to what?”

“To dance. To any art form, really.”

“What do you mean?”

“When you dance, rather than asking what other people thought of it, you need to ask yourself how you felt while you were doing it.”

“Well, I felt awesome so it must have been awesome.”

“Oh, it was,” I assure her.

“Will you dance with me for the next song?”

“Can I ask you something first?”

She nods and I ponder how to frame it. It seems a little wrong to be asking Ette, but she’s the only one who I know will tell me the truth.

“What happened to your parents?”

She doesn’t even blink at my question. “My dad died before I was born.” She says the words without any emotion, as though we’re discussing the weather. “And then my mum got lost but it’s okay because Mr Priest said he’s going to find her and bring her back.”

“Where did she go?”

She rolls her eyes. “She’s lost, Berkley. If we knew where she went we’d just go get her, wouldn’t we?” She looks at me as though I’m stupid.

Maybe I am. Maybe I’m stupid to be staying here when there are so many unanswered questions.

“Will you dance with me now?” Ette holds out her hands.

I take them in mine. “One more question, okay?”

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