One: Foxworth Hall

Deirdre

For years Dad had said he never wanted to go back to the house of his mother's childhood and as far as I knew Uncle Bart lived here, so anyone can understand my surprise when Dad told us that we were moving to Virginia to stay at Foxworth Hall indefinitely. Uncle Bart had apparently moved out of state, but that seemed very out of character and he had even signed the house over to Dad - I had only seen Bart on the Holidays and we saw Aunt Cindy more regularly, but if it wasn't for our parents' new workplaces in Virginia I would have been more wary. Dad's artwork had been bought by some big shot buyer who wanted to see more of his artwork and Toni had landed a job at the local pre-school, so that meant Darren and I were starting our Junior year and Catherine was starting her freshman year at Amherst County High School. I decided to keep my mouth shut, especially since my ballet classes had to be put on hold and I had to leave Madame Lopez's rehearsals in our stage production of Beauty and the Beast. My understudy Rachel got the role of Belle instead and I was actually happy that she was going to get to play the lead, I just wish I was able to see it.

The car slowly pulled up outside the grand house and I leaned closer to the window to get a better look, it was beyond unreal. It looked like something out of a gothic horror movie with its huge windows and dark brown bricks covered in ivory. My eyes followed the green vines and for some reason stopped at the top window where the attic must have been and I saw what looked like paper flowers faded grey was decorated inside... weird.

"Are you kidding me?" Catherine pipped up, crushing my shoulder as she dived to look out the window and frowned at our parents "this place would scare the shit out of the Adams Family!"

"Catherine, language!" my stepmother warned, turning to give Catherine an exasperated look. Out of all of us, Catherine made it as clear as possible she did not want to leave California but her bad attitude hadn't made Toni or Dad change their minds. They said this was last minute arrangements, but this did feel very well organised to be a spur of the moment thing.

Catherine slumped back into her seat, brushing her shoulder length black hair behind her ear while her doe brown eyes were narrowed in dislike. Even though Darren and I were twins and Catherine was our half-sister, our appearances were like night and day - Darren tall and athletic and kept his blond hair cut short, I had pale skin with long blonde hair that I preferred to keep tied in a ponytail and my icy blue eyes were the same as Darren's while Catherine looked like her mother's double with her olive skin and dark hair.

Darren was too busy listening to music on his MP3 to even acknowledge the house, but looked up as Dad pushed his door open and quickly pulled his headphones out. Ever since we were little, Darren's first instinct has been to help Dad even if he didn't ask for it.

"Need some help, Dad?" before Dad could even respond, Darren was out the car and getting Dad's wheelchair from the back of the car. Dad didn't like all of us making a fuss over him whether he was using his wheelchair or his new crouches and Toni only needed to give small assistance as Dad listed himself into his wheelchair. Some people thought because Dad had lost his passion for dance and life since he was paralyzed while my birth mother was pregnant, but the truth was he was my inspiration and the best father anyone could ask for.

Dad's dark hair was slowly turning grey, but he still kept up his physique and upper body strength that help him move around better. He turned to Toni and pulled her into his arms, grinning as she sat on his lap and beamed like a blushing bride.

"Jory!" Toni laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he wheeled himself up the disabled ramp with ease and kicked the door open so he could carry her over the fresh hold "is this really necessary?"

"Yes, I think so." Dad grinned, pulling Toni into a tender kiss and looked at her with a love that you only read about in romance novels. Did he ever look at Mum that way? For as long as I could remember, Toni had been my actual mother and it had merely been brushed aside when I asked questions about Melodie. What had she done to cause them to break up, why did she leave without looking back.

Like I said, I saw Toni as my real mother but I knew Darren wanted to know more about our actual mother... the famous and beautiful Melodie who was currently touring with the Royal Ballet in Europe and didn't give her children a second thought. Screw her, I was going to show her I did not need a woman who ignored me for the last seventeen years in my life and make something of myself.

"It's like watching a shitty Lifetime movie, isn't it?" Catherine asked dully, grimacing at Dad and Toni with a look of nausea and I rolled my eyes at her as I pulled my bag out of the car.

The good thing about this house was that I got to have my own room, which was on the second floor in the northern wing. I took my time making my bed and unpacking my clothes and finding it a little strange to be not sharing with Catherine - although it would be nice to not have to listen to her rock music when I'm trying to study or do my stretches. There was a double bed, but this room was big enough to have two and I even had my very own bathroom which I was definitely pleased with.

Another door kept catching my eye and I assumed it was another wardrobe, but when I went to look inside I saw a long and narrow stairwell instead. Curiosity got the better of me as I climbed the stairs, the wood under my trainers creaking as I came to a white door with peeling paint and a bronze handle. There was something so intriguing about this door and I had no idea why, my hand reached for the aged handle and I slowly turned it as I gently pushed the door open...

"Deirdre?"

Jesus! My hand sprang away from the door as I jumped and spun to see Darren standing at the bottom of the stairs with confusion written all over his expression. He seemed to have missed that he nearly scared me to death.

"Don't do that!" I whispered angrily "get out of my room!"

"Are you sleeping in the attic?" Darren frowned, nodding towards the door behind me "you've been reading too much horror."

I sighed, feeling my chest relax as I walked downstairs and joined Darren in my room, closing the door to the attic behind me and sat on my bed. Darren stood by the wall, his hands shoved awkwardly inside his pockets and he seemed to be on the verge of speaking before coughing uncomfortably. I knew that look, Darren had either done something or knew something he shouldn't.

"What?" I said sceptically, trying to guess from his expression what the matter was.

"Are you seriously okay with moving here?" Darren asked abruptly and I hesitated, but he seemed to guess that I wasn't "I knew it. I wish we never came here, I'd rather be in London..."

"Why London?" I said, frowning at his uncomfortable expression and sensing what he really meant "have you been talking to Melodie?"

"She's our mum!" Darren hissed defensively, then took a deep breath and met my glare with a calmer expression "no, I haven't..."

I knew he was lying and the idea of him talking to our bitch of a mother felt like a betrayal, especially when Toni was everything we could have asked for in a mother and had raised us as her own since we were little. That's what made a real mother, Melodie just gave birth to us.

Before I could say anything else, Toni walked in with an excited smile that faltered when Darren turned and glared at her with a look of distain. I don't think I had ever seen him look at someone with such loathing and it made me super pissed off.

"Is everything okay?" Toni asked gently, but Darren merely shrugged as he brushed past her and slammed the door behind him, Toni looked perplexed as she sat on my bed and gave me a meaningful look "what's the matter with him?"

I shrugged, knowing that it would not help the situation by blabbing and causing unnecessary drama without knowing the facts. I wasn't going to let this go, I'd talk to Darren later and find out if my bitch of a mother had decided to try and make her debut of World's Worst Mother before I talk to Dad and Toni about anything.

"Must be his time of the month," I shook my head and forced a joking smile, but then I noticed she had a stack of papers in her hands "what's that?"

"Your new ballet company," Toni said excitedly, handing me my audition papers "your dad got you an audition for the Rosencoff School of Ballet in Greenglenna. It's a great school and your grandmother actually went there when she was your age, Madame Christo has given you an audition for Sunday."

Wow, this was so thoughtful. Dancing was like breathing to me, it came easily and naturally, but it wasn't easy being the daughter of Jory Marquet because everyone had high expectations of every performance. I wanted to make Dad proud, but I also wanted to make a name for myself and not just in dance but acting as well. Toni came to every one of my showcases and Dad always gave me encouragement, no matter how good or bad my performance was.

"Thanks," I grinned and hugged Toni, feeling safe in her motherly embrace and looked up in slight surprise as Dad rolled into the room "how did you get up here?"

"Your uncle installed an elevator years ago," Dad said brightly as I sat back and looked through my audition details before turning back to him "so I wouldn't be stuck on the ground floor."

I hesitated briefly, but I had to ask as this had been bugging me for the last few weeks.

"Where is Uncle Bart?" I asked, noticing the uncertain look and hesitant pause from both of them before Dad gave a wide smile that looked a little too forced.

"He's staying with an old Harvard friend," Dad said reassuringly, taking my hand and giving my cheek a kiss "don't worry too much about it, just focus on your audition. Madame Christo is a very tough instructor and I want you to show her just how talented you are."

"I will," I said with a small smile "I'll try."

When they had left, I leaned back on my pillows and watched the night sky through my window. This place was truly beautiful, but the mountains surrounding the house felt like walls blocking Foxworth Hall away from the rest of the world. God, I needed to get some sleep.

Author's Note: Happy Birthday Virginia Andrews!

The Dollanganger saga is one intriguing, emotional and seriously messed up and twisted stories - a great read though. The story definitely left a lot of questions about events after Seeds of Yesterday and this story is my interpretation of what happened to the remaining characters after Cathy's story ended. This story will be told from Jory's children's POV and will explore their reactions as they discover their family's dark past.

This story is also dedicated to the Attic Secrets Group, who were my inspiration for writing this fan fiction.