God Help The Outcasts: COMPLETE

Chapter Four: Good Riddance

Chapter Four: Good Riddance

Drizella pressed her ear to the bathroom door, debating with herself frantically.
What good is it going to do you to run away? Where will you go? How will you survive?
She bit her lip.
I don’t know. But I’ll find a way. I can’t stand it here any longer.
What if Mother comes after you? What then? You can’t run from her forever.
Cinderella got away. So did Anastasia. I can, too.
But you’re the only one left.
Drizella wanted very badly to hit something. Instead she kept her ear to the door, listening hard for her mother’s footsteps. When she was sure the house was quiet, she carefully turned the knob and cracked open the door.
“Drizella!” She jumped, stifling a squeak, and slammed the door. Her mother stood in the hall, eyes narrowed and foot tapping. “What are you doing?”
Drizella’s bottom lip began to tremble, but she stilled it with some effort.
“I’m…I’m not going to the ball.” She said through the door.
“You’re not going?” Her mother repeated, her voice raised as a warning.
Here goes… Drizella thought, pressing her back to the door. She took a deep breath.
“No, I’m not. I’m tired of being your dress-up doll, Mother!” She winced, waiting for the harsh reply that would surely follow.
But instead of yelling, she heard something far worse-the sliding of a key into a lock, the lock on the bathroom door. “No, Mother, please!” She began to beat on the door, tears streaming freely.
“Then you’ll stay in there until you can learn to respect me.” Her mother retorted. “Cinderella and Anastasia were bad enough. I won’t have you disrespecting me, too.”
Drizella slumped against the door, sobbing heavily, and listened to her mother’s sharp footsteps echo away on the marble floor.
“What am I going to do now?” she cried aloud. “It’s hopeless!” Through her blurry vision she saw the lime green dress and the turquoise bow.
Maybe I should just be thankful for what I have, even if it is a sad existence.
She found herself reaching for the dress yet again, but the sound of something scratching at the door made her freeze. Turning, she saw two little tails waving about at the base of the door, belonging to two mice, one plump and the other skinny. They were tugging at something, obviously having a difficult time.
Drizella leapt to her feet but didn’t scream. She’d seen one of these mice before, under her teacup, when Cinderella was still there.
The skinny mouse turned to her, laying a tiny finger on its nose. The plump mouse tugged, grunting a little, and finally brought forth the fruit of his labor-a shiny silver key. Drizella gasped, hardly believing her eyes.
But the mice, in a team effort, lifted the key toward her, eyes glittering mysteriously. She took it from them, eyes wide and mind strangely blank.
This is too strange.
“Thank you.” She said, feeling even sillier for talking to mice. But they nodded once and scurried back under the door.
Drizella stared after them for a moment, and then glanced down at the key in her hand. It all seemed too surreal…but then, so had the notion of Cinderella and the prince getting married.
Drizella pressed her ear to the door again, just to make sure her mother wasn’t guarding the door. Hearing nothing, she carefully slid the key into the lock and turned it, ever so slowly, so as not to make a sound. She then peeked through the keyhole; her mother was nowhere in sight.
Why didn’t I think of that before? She thought to herself as she turned the knob and silently slipped out into the hall.
Once out of the bathroom, she paused, heart pounding, and considered her options. Her room was down the hall, right next to Anastasia’s old room, where her mother was busy rummaging around. But it was before that room, and not after, and for that she was grateful.
Taking a quiet, deep breath, she crept slowly down the hall, one step at a time, holding her breath. Twice she heard Lucifer meow and almost panicked, but she soon reached her room and ducked safely inside.
It was late afternoon, and the sunlight was fading, but she didn’t dare light the lantern. Instead she went to her wardrobe and pulled out some of her plainer gowns and a traveling cloak. She donned one and gathered the rest in a bag, and tucked her riding boots safely inside the bundle. She couldn’t risk clomping around in shoes until she was away from the mansion.
Here she stopped, staring at the bundle on her bed. She needed money; she would never be able to survive, much less travel without it. Her thoughts wandered to her mother’s safe, where she kept a stash of gold and silver coins at all times. It was locked with a key, but where that key was Drizella could only guess.
But her mother’s room was back down the hall, and she figured it was worth a try. So, heaving the bundle over her shoulder, she tiptoed to the door, made sure the hallway was clear, and stole quickly into her mother’s room.
Once inside, Drizella struggled to adjust to the darkness. Heavy, black drapes covered all of the windows, so that no light could touch the room.
Fantastic. She thought. A blind search, just what I need right now. She set her bundle down on the bed-
“Mreow!” Lucifer screeched, jumping from the bed. Drizella clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. In the silence that followed the cat’s cry she heard her mother’s footsteps in the hall and panicked, glancing about for an escape. Snatching her bag up, she dove into her mother’s wardrobe and carefully shut the door just as her mother bustled into the room with a candle.
“What is the matter, Lucifer?” her mother scolded. The cat meowed again, as if complaining, and Drizella heard her mother cluck her tongue. “Shame on you, scaring me half to death over nothing!”
Her footsteps left the room and faded back down the hallway, and Drizella released the breath she’d been holding. She gently pried the wardrobe open and stepped out, realizing her mother had left the candle in the room.
That meant she would be coming back soon; Drizella quickly glanced around, getting her bearings.
The safe was in the corner by the biggest window…and the door was opened. Drizella blinked, rubbed her eyes, and stared at the safe again. Yes, there it was, the door hanging open very slightly, as if it had been waiting for her all along. She dashed over to it and slowly opened the door; she knew too well how it liked to creak.
Her patience paid off; the door didn’t make a sound as she carefully swung it open. And there inside was a single velvet drawstring pouch, bulging from its contents. She gently picked it up and pulled on the sides; it fell open to reveal dozens of gold coins, glistening in the candlelight.
Wonderful! She thought, allowing herself a small grin as she pulled the strings and tucked the pouch into her bag.
But her mother’s footsteps were coming down the hall again, and she dove back into the wardrobe.
“There’s that candle.” Drizella heard the soft swish of her mother’s gown and the little scrape as she picked up the candle holder.
But the fading footsteps she’d expected to hear didn’t come. Instead, the footsteps came closer, slowly, and she knew she’d seen the open safe.
“What’s this?” The footsteps passed the wardrobe. Drizella heard the creak of the safe door, back and forth as her mother examined it. “I must have put that pouch somewhere else, maybe in the other room.”
Drizella wanted to cry tears of relief as her mother left the room and headed back down the hallway to look for her gold. She leapt from the wardrobe, bundle tucked safely under her arm, and went to the door, checking up and down the hallway.
Then, taking her chances, she made a mad dash for the staircase and proceeded to do something she’d always wanted to try-she slid down the banister and landed on the floor below on both feet. Feeling a bit proud of herself, she ran the rest of the way toward the door and stopped.
What am I doing? She thought briefly, but pushed the thought aside as her mother’s footsteps echoed in the hallway above. She waited til they passed, and then opened one of the double doors, just wide enough for her to slip outside.
Goodbye, Mother. She thought dryly as she shut the door quietly behind her. And good riddance.


AlyCatAuthor