The Downfall of Rebecca Starr

Chapter 1: Clouds of Gloom

"Cait! You up yet?"

Caitlynn Theels groaned softly and rolled over. "Yes! I'll be down in a minute!"

"Hurry up! You know Marky doesn't like being kept waiting!"

Caitlynn threw back her down comforter and climbed out of bed. Someone--probably Seely--had already laid out her outfit for the day. She dressed quickly, then hurried over to the vanity and reached for her hairbrush. It wasn't there.

A little frustrated, she stuck her head out into the hall. "Cae, did you take my hairbrush again?"

"I wouldn't touch your hairbrush with a ten-foot pole!" came the impatient reply. "You probably lost it, just like you lose everything else!"

Before Caitlynn could come up with a really scathing reply, she heard a timid, high-pitched voice behind her. "Pardon me, Miss Caitlynn...Seely took it outside to clean it. Seely is very sorry, Miss...Seely will do whatever punishment Miss has in mind."

Caitlynn turned quickly to face the unhappy-looking house-elf. "No, sorry, Seely. It's okay." She levelled a finger at Seely and used the commanding tone her mother always used with the house-elf. "I forbid you to hurt yourself. Just...just let me have my hairbrush, okay? I've got to get to breakfast before Marky gets upset."

"Yes, of course, Miss," Seely said hastily, a small smile piercing her face. "It's on the vanity, Miss."

"Thank you, Seely." Caitlynn hurried into the room to brush her hair.

One hundred strokes later and her hair tugged back in a braid, Caitlynn practically ran into the dining room, slowing down enough to seem polite. Still, her mother frowned at her as she came in.

"Good morning, Caitlynn dear," Judith said cordially.

"Good morning, Mother," Caitlynn answered, curtseying. "I trust you slept well."

"Very well, thank you, dear." Judith studied her oldest daughter critically. "Caitlynn, you are nearly late for breakfast again. This is unacceptable."

"I apologise, Mother," Caitlynn said sheepishly, taking her seat. "I couldn't find my hairbrush, so I felt it better to show up slightly late and well-groomed rather than on time and sloppy."

Judith nodded, obviously pleased. "You are forgiven, Caitlynn. Now please, take your seat." She tapped a small bell next to her place and a house-elf appeared at her side. "Tell Marky to begin sending in breakfast."

"Yes, Mistress!" squeaked the house-elf, scurrying away to the kitchen. A minute later, the food appeared on each plate.

Judith surveyed her children, watching as they politely ate their repast. "Children," she began commandingly, "I have news for you all."

"Are you going to have another baby, Mother?" Caeli asked excitedly from her place down the table.

"No, darling," Judith said with an indulgent smile. "But there will be a new addition to our family, at least temporarily. Your Aunt Emily is coming to visit..."

"Hooray!" cheered William. "Is she going to bring us another puppy?"

"No, love," Judith said again. "However, she is going to bring her daughter, your cousin."

"Rebecca is coming?" blurted Adam, his eyes wide. "Again?"

"Yes, so I'd like to remind you to be nice, children," Judith said sternly.

"Why doesn't Aunt Emily ever remind Rebecca to be nice to us?" William grumbled to Caitlynn under his breath. "She never is."

"Children!" scolded sharp-eared Judith. "Rebecca is lonely. She has no siblings of her own. Please be kind to her, and remember your manners. You're dismissed."

All five children got up from the table and trooped off to the day nursery. Caeli dropped onto her little white chair and rested her head on the table. "We're doomed. Rebecca Starr is coming."

"I don't understand," protested Little Ann, the youngest of the children. "I don't see what's so bad about Rebecca Starr."

"That's because you were only a baby the last time she was here," Adam said darkly. "She's a holy terror, she is."

"'Judge not, o ye of little faith, lest ye be stoned yourselves,'" quoted Caeli.

"Okay, she's an unholy terror."

"Adam!"

"Okay, okay," Caitlynn intervened. "Quit fighting, you two. Adam, Cae's right, you shouldn't be so quick to judge." Caeli smiled in satisfaction. "But, Cae, Adam is right too. We knew Rebecca a lot better than you did, seeing as you spent most of the time squalling in the nursery."

"But what did she do that was so bad?" Ann pressed. "Did she hurt you?"

"Let's not go into details," Caitlynn mumbled.

"Oh, no, let's," William interrupted. "Yes, Little Ann, Rebecca did hurt us--in more ways than one."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Ann stammered, her blue eyes wide.

"William," Caitlynn said quietly. "Stop scaring her."

Adam, however, spoke over his older sister. "Pain isn't just physical, little one. Rebecca Starr has the power to scar you emotionally--hurt you in ways you could never imagine."

"And fear is where she usually starts," Caitlynn said sharply. "Come here, Little Ann."

Ann clambered into Caitlynn's lap. Caitlynn sat with her in the big white rocking chair. "Just do what Mother said, baby. Be nice and polite. Don't be rude and she won't hurt you."

Ann leaned her head on Caitlynn's head. "What sorts of things did she do to you?"

"She pushed me out of the nursery window," Adam spoke up. "Into Mother's rosebushes, no less. They broke my fall and saved my life, but it hurt."

"She tied me to a tree with vines made of poison ivy and left me there for almost three hours," William added. "I screamed myself hoarse before Rabby found me. And I had a nasty rash for weeks."

"She was always making snide comments about how we weren't as rich as she was--how she had thousands of house-elves and how she slept in silk pyjamas with ermine sheets," Adam put in.

"What's more," William said, dropping his voice, "she convinced us there was a monster in the lake and ghosts in the attic. We all know that's nonsense."

"And she was always experimenting on us with her wand," Adam told his younger sisters. "You don't remember what she was like, Cae, because she put a Memory Charm on you to make you forget. She kept trying to turn us into creepy-crawlies or make our hands come out our ears or something like that."

Ann was trembling. "D-did she r-really?"

William was about to add more, but Caitlynn stood abruptly, dumping Ann from her lap as she did so. "This has gone on far enough," she snapped. "Horrible or not, Rebecca Starr is our guest and you will show her the same kindness and respect you would show Cousin Philip. And you two--" She levelled an accusing finger at her brothers. "Stop scaring Little Ann or I swear by Grandfather's Bible that I will tell Mother you're giving her nightmares." With that, she turned on her heel and stalked out of the nursery.

In the security of her own room, Caitlynn pressed her hands together in a helpless gesture. Despite what she had said to her siblings, she was terrified at the thought of the impending visit of Rebecca Starr. Because Caitlynn remembered many things about Rebecca Starr's previous visit that her siblings did not--things she had never shared with anyone, and had no intentions to.

Rebecca and Caitlynn were the same age. Caitlynn, who had never met her cousin, had looked forward to meeting Rebecca and hoped they would be great friends. Rebecca, however, was not interested in being friends; she was interested in being dominant. And the things Adam and William had described were as nothing compared to what Caitlynn had suffered at the hands of Rebecca Starr.

She had been hung by her ankles from one of the attic rafters, the blood draining out of her feet and into her head; if Seely hadn't found her she would have needed her feet amputated. Rebecca had cut Caitlynn's hair, once down to her waist, in a random and jagged pattern; Caitlynn had desperately cut her hair short and even, then endured her mother's wrath at daring to cut her hair--while Rebecca Starr smirked. Rebecca had carved her initials into Caitlynn's right shoulder with a paper knife, engraved her name--Rebecca Starr--on Caitlynn's back with a pocket knife, and etched a strange symbol onto Caitlynn's left arm with a pair of sewing scissors. She had placed hot coals against the soles of Caitlynn's feet, promising dire punishments if Caitlynn ever told; Caitlynn had wound up making up a story about accidentally stepping into the fire when Seely discovered the burns. More than that, Rebecca had terrified Caitlynn with frightening stories and threats.

Caitlynn suspected that the only reason Rebecca did what she did was because Caitlynn's Uncle Alther made wands, so Rebecca had been carrying a wand since she was five. Caitlynn was almost twelve and still didn't own a wand; her father told her that he'd get her one as soon as they saw Uncle Alther next. For sake of a wand, Caitlynn Theels would put up with Rebecca Starr for a year.

Caitlynn looked into the mirror and took a deep breath. She would just have to keep her distance from her sadistic cousin.

Yeah, right, she thought to herself. Easier said than done. Rebecca Starr did not believe in personal space; she would expect Caitlynn to "entertain" her as the guest. Unfortunately, her mother would have the same expectations. This was only confirmed when Caitlynn went downstairs and her mother called from the parlour.

"Caitlynn, love, I'd like a word with you. Come in here, dear."

Caitlynn entered the parlour and curtseyed. "Yes, Mother?"

Judith smiled fondly at Caitlynn. "Dear, I'm so proud of you. You have grown into quite the young lady in the past couple of years."

"Thank you, Mother," Caitlynn answered, wondering where this was going.

Judith answered the unspoken question a second later. "That is why I know I can trust you to make sure your cousin Rebecca enjoys herself while she's here. You know she has no siblings."

Caitlynn unconsciously touched her left upper arm, where there was still a raw white scar from Rebecca Starr's last visit, the reason she always wore long sleeves, even in the summer. "Yes, Mother, I know. I'll try to make sure Cousin Rebecca doesn't feel unwanted."

"That's all I ask of you, dear. And try to make sure your brothers and sisters don't give her a hard time, will you? I don't think William likes her very much."

That's because she tied him up with a rope of poison ivy, then lied to you about what happened. "Yes, Mother, I'll try."

"Good girl. Now give Mother a kiss."

Caitlynn stood on her tiptoes and kissed her mother on the cheek, then quit the parlour. She had a lot to think about.

~~~