“Strange” was the only word he could think of to describe her. She was a young girl of about eleven, but had the eyes of someone who had lived for much longer. Her eyes were the most unusual shade of violet, peeking up at him from under sandy colored bangs. She looked as if she could peer into his soul. Her eyes told volumes of her past; a past he was afraid to ask about. It didn’t really matter now. There were more pressing questions he needed to ask.

            This was his girlfriend’s daughter, in a vague sense of the word. Though his girlfriend was only eighteen herself, her never-ending kindness had led her to become a foster mother for this child. He turned to stare at his lover with an expression that clearly questioned her sanity, but she was too giddy to notice. Her eyes were bright emeralds, practically glowing with an instinctive mother’s love. Her soft, pale arms gently hugged the child close to her chest, and her long thin fingers worked tangles out of the little girl’s flowing hair. The girl didn’t react to this display of affection, continuing to stare at him unblinkingly instead.

            “Why?” he asked her, wrapping up his band of thoughts into a single word. She looked up, tilting her head to the side. He tried to find the right words to describe everything he felt right now, but they wouldn’t come. All the he could think of was that single word. Why? “Why, Heather?”

            She smiled her familiar smile, a gentle upward tug of her lips that still left him breathless, even in a situation like this. “She’s adorable, don’t you think?” she replied, pulling the child closer. “The social worker at the agency, Mr. Johnson…you know him?” He nodded in answer. His family ties meant he knew almost everyone in the government. “He contacted me yesterday and asked me if I could come in sometime soon. When I got there this morning, he ushered me into his office to talk. He asked if I wouldn’t mind taking care of a little girl for a few weeks. He knows I volunteer a lot at the orphanage downtown, and thought I’d be great for her. And I knew the second I saw her that I wanted to take care of her. It was love at first sight.” She laughed. “A mother’s love, of course.”

            He turned his sights back to the child and wondered what had happened to her. She looked half-insane, and still so very, very immobile… He shuddered before he could stop himself, hiding his eyes behind his bangs as his cheeks filled with color. When he looked again, she had finally changed her expression. She was smiling, but it didn’t give him the same feeling of Heather’s smile, or his brother’s smile or his mom’s smile or even the smiles of strangers he saw on the street. It was the smile of someone who belonged in the safe confines of a padded room, where she couldn’t hurt anyone, including him. It was the smile of a--he hated to think the word about someone so young—it was the smile of a killer.

            Her voice, so sudden it was frightening, jolted him out of his thoughts. It had a bellish quality that didn’t fit her looks, the sound so soft it was almost velvety. “My name is Elise,” she told him. “It’s nice to meet you. Your name is Alex, right? Miss Heather has told me all about you. She told me she loves you a lot. I hope you and I can be…friends.” Her smile widened, seeing the look of shock on his face.

            Heather made a happy sound, squeezing her even closer. “Isn’t she cute?” she repeated, and Alex knew at that instant that Elise had preyed on Heather’s kindness. His girlfriend had the natural instinct to love everything, and protect everything or anyone she had. He wondered how Heather had looked over the fact that her new foster child was insane. You could tell just by looking at her. The very sight of the girl made him want to run screaming from the house…. It was going to be a long few weeks.