while she counted to ten again. She had liked Aunty Glad, who had always turned a blind eye to the mess she and Julie made in her Oxford house.
“No, Mum.” Felicia forced a smile out. “I get by.”
“One day you’ll meet a gentleman and then you’ll do more than get by.”
“I’ve never met one yet.” Felicia returned to the kitchen. She picked up the two coffees, holding the handles awkwardly in one hand. The back door had a simple mortise lock and two bolts and she was soon enjoying the garden.
Her mother joined her before she was halfway down her mug. “The roses are good this year.”
Felicia looked across at the blooms. “They’re covered in aphids, Mum. They smell sickly sweet.”
Patricia glared at her. “They do not. They smell lovely.”
“If you say so.” Felicia patted her hand. “The Philadelphus smells wonderful, though.”
Her mother frowned. “That’s all the way down at the bottom of the garden. You can’t possibly smell that from here.”
“I can, though.” Felicia smiled. “I feel like I’ve had a cold all my life and it’s just gone away. I can smell everything as if it’s right under my nose.”
“You’ve been hanging oil paintings.” Patricia extracted a fly from her coffee. “It’s affecting you.”
“Nonsense.” Felicia drained her mug. “Come on. It’s a beautiful day and I don’t want to miss it.”
* * * *
“Take me home this minute.” Patricia scowled as Felicia pulled in to the hospital grounds. “If you’d said where we were going I’d have refused.”
“Which is precisely why I didn’t mention it.” Felicia stopped the car. “Look, Mum. We’re here now. What harm can it do to see your other daughter? She’s not going to bite.”
“I don’t want to.” Her mother folded her arms.
Felicia took a few deep breaths before she got out of the car and opened her mother’s door. “We’re here now, Mother, and you are coming in. I don’t know what your problem is and I don’t want to know. All I care about is that you show a little compassion for the daughter you abandoned twelve years ago.”
Patricia stared resolutely out of the windscreen and Felicia tried hard to control her temper, reaching inside to unbuckle the seatbelt. “I swear, if you don’t get out of this car I’m going to fetch an orderly and have you committed.”
Patricia slapped her.
Felicia looked up at her mother’s face in shock, her vision fading to monochrome. Patricia’s face, under the thick powder and concealer, was composed of scales like a reptile. Felicia jumped back, hitting her head on the door frame.
Her mother, in shades of gray, said nothing, and merely stared out at her before reaching to pull the car door closed. The click of the locks infuriated Felicia even more, but she couldn’t bear to look at the thing pretending to be her mother.
She fled to the bench where she and Julie had sat last time. There were more people about than there had been–unusual for a Sunday morning.
Felicia rubbed her eyes. Her vision had improved, but lack of color was too great a sacrifice for the lack of glasses. The people, each in a gray suit or gray hospital gown paid her little attention, each of them seemingly in their own internal world. She frowned. None of them had any scent.
Julie waited at the bench. She looked up as Felicia approached, her blind eyes staring directly at her sister. “I wasn’t expecting you today. Not after your visit on Thursday.” Her face creased. “What’s the matter?”
Felicia gulped. On her sister’s shoulder sat a small, gray-scaled goblin like the one she’d seen in Harold’s kitchen. Its long snout was filled with dozens of tiny, needle-sharp teeth and it had bipedal legs that hung down. Its hooves rested on the curve of her breast and its tail wrapped around her neck. It glared at her, rubbing its face with tiny monkey-like hands.
“Felicia?”
Felicia tore her gaze away from the tiny nightmare and squeezed her eyes shut. What the hell was that thing? Was that what Julie called “Wrack”? It looked like Harold’s little goblin. Was her sister’s madness infectious? Was it familial? She gave herself a few moments for her heart to stop pounding and opened her eyes. It was still there.
She had to keep calm. Julie could sense subterfuge. She did her best to smile. “Nothing. I’ve got Mother in the car.”
“She’s a liar!” The imp dug his claws into Julie’s shoulder and hissed. “She can see me.”
“You can see him?” Julie’s face creased. “All these years I’ve been stuck here hearing his voice, and only now do I discover I’m not mad?”
“That...thing is Wrack?” Felicia looked her sister in her dead eyes. “You’re not mad, Julie, or if you are then I am as well. My eyesight has come back but I can only see in black and white.”
“But you can see Wrack?” Julie gripped her arm. “What else do you see? How many of them are there?”
“Just people.” Felicia glanced around. “No more of these things.”
“I told you she was another one.” The creature leaned close to Julie’s ear. “She’s just evolved. I know what she is.”
“What do you mean, evolved?” Felicia glared at it. “Another one of what?”
“Another of the Changed.” Julie leaned forward to whisper. “Without Wrack I’d have been totally insane years ago, but even with him here they get through.”
“You told her my name! Names have power.”
“What does it matter?” Julie let go and leaned back. “She can see you. That counts for far more than my telling her your name. Besides, I told her your name yesterday. I’m not mad.” She looked at Felicia again, the flicker of a smile lifting the corners of her mouth. “I’m not mad!”
“Shh!” Felicia lowered her voice to a whisper. “No, you’re not mad. I’m sorry I never knew before.”
“Why do you know now? How come you can see the things I’ve been hearing?”
“Oh.” Felicia stopped short. “Something happened to Mother. I can see scales under her makeup.”
“I know.” Julie stretched “I don’t want to see the old witch. She locked me up in here and forgot about me. She never once sent me so much as a card since Daddy died.”
“Why do you hate each other so much?”
“She’s one of us. One of the Changed.” Julie reached out for Felicia’s hand, hitting the bench twice until she found it. “When I lost my sight, I found that I could hear things. Ghosts, Felicia. Ghosts and creatures like Wrack.” She leaned forward and dropped her voice. “Angels too. And demons.”
“I don’t believe this.” Felicia held her head in her hands and closed her eyes.
“Sorry.” Julie gave a bark of laughter. “Welcome to my own personal hell. I’ll ask them to give us a twin room, shall I?”
“Why? I’m not mad, and neither are you.”
“Try to convince other people of that when they think you’re talking to yourself at the bus stop. If it wasn’t for Wrack...”
“Why? What does Wrack do for you?”
“He keeps me sane.” Julie reached up to stroke the imp under the chin. “He keeps all the others away from me so I can get some peace.”
The creature began to purr, but still kept an eye on Felicia.
“Where