Chapter 7: Elise

Kirk marched up the stairs after giving her and her father his warning. Art museums were not silly and Elise was not going to the same college as Kirk. She didn’t know anything about it, let alone if she was going to college at all. It had been burned into her brain that she had to go to college but recently she realized she had other options. Elise was thinking about the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, but not before traveling to Paris and do some painting there.

“Apple pie.” The maid, who she learned was named Kensi, placed a white plate with a slice of apple pie.

“Thank you.” Elise let out a small mutter and picked at her dessert. She had only eaten a few bites before she looked up at her father who had finished his carrot cake and was wiping his mouth. “I’m full, thank you.” Elise wiped the end of her mouth and walked up the stairs.

She had changed and gotten ready for bed. Kensi gave her a cup of warm milk and bid her goodnight. “Thank you Kensi.” Elise sat up, holding her milk. “Kensi!” She called out, why? She had no bloody idea. Kensi turned around with a worried look.

“Yes ma’am?” She stepped back in the room.

“Nothing.” Elise pushed the thought from her mind.

“Yes ma’am.” Kensi backed out and closed the door.

What was Elise going to say? I want you to tell me everything about my father from the last ten years. Then after that tell me all about my brother, why? Because I don’t remember a bloody thing about them. All she knew about her father was the fact that they used to fight like cats and dogs, and that Kirk was just…there.

Elise ripped off the covers and headed to the desk and opened the sketchbook. She closed her eyes and tried to find a picture from happier times. Her pencil hovered above the paper, waiting for inspiration. She came up with nothing. She had absolutely no happy memories of them.

“Well that’s just fan-freaking-tastic isn’t it!” She exclaimed, throwing her pencil onto the desk. She got up and paced the room. “I come back for the first time in 10 years and the first thing I do is fight with my father. And now, I can’t even remember a time where I was happy in this prison!” She had turned toward the closet with a small glint caught her eye. She walked over and pulled out a dusty picture frame. In it held an old picture of her and Kirk, smiling and laughing on a playground.

“You were happy once.” The voice from before whispered in the air again. Elise didn’t turn this time. She was too busy staring at the picture. “Life brings good and bad. It is the balance that keeps our worlds alive.” The voice seemed to be closer, almost right in her ear.

“Balance.” Elise murmured and placed the picture on the desk. She slinked back into the chair and gripped her pencil. “Balance.” She whispered again as she started to draw.

By the time she was finished it was somewhere around midnight. She held the drawing up and looked at it. “Balance.” She squinted and folded the paper in half, creasing it down the middle. Unfolding it she noticed something she hadn’t noticed while she was drawing it. The picture was perfectly symmetrical. Although she and Kirk looked very different on either sides of the jungle gym between them, the picture was a perfect symmetry.

“You need to find balance Elsie.” The voice whispered again.

“What?” She turned to the window and saw the canary looking in.

“With your father.” The voice replied.

Elise looked around frantically. She was definitely going crazy. Just as she was about to answer the disembodied voice she heard footsteps coming toward her room. Panicking, she climbed out of her chair, turned off her light, and threw the covers over her, pretending to sleep.

Her door creaked open and Elise tried to even out her breathing. The footsteps got closer and Elise’s breathing became uneven. A light hand brushed the hair out of her face and kissed her head. What just happened? The footsteps moved away from her bed as Elise carefully opened her eyes. She saw a tall man in an ornate robe looking at her desk.

The figure picked up the drawing and admired it. It held the paper in front of it’s face for a while before looking back at Elise, who was still ‘asleep’. It gently placed the drawing down and headed for the door. “I do love you Elise.” It whispered before leaving.

“Dad?” Elise muttered to herself, tears in her eyes.