Rage

It was Katerina, stealing away to the attic to keep out of the way, who found the hidden nook and opened it. While the others were dividing the album collection, the china, the art, and the booze, Kat sat mesmerized before the tiny vial (which seemed to fill the cubby with its light).. "What is this, Aunt Valerie?" she whispered. "Rage," came the answer in the form of knowing. "Shrink away no longer; speak for the silent and change the world." It tasted vaguely of tart cherries going down. That they had teased her about "being an accident" openly for a lifetime fell away; that they had treated her as the help was of no importance now; that she would leave them to their own consequences was the first sure step on the Path of Things to Come. Moving down the stairs, she paused in the dining room to collect her purse and keys. "Hey, we need you in here," someone said. "I'm leaving now," Katerina replied (not turning). "We need you in here pronto," the voice came again (annoyed, moving to flank her). "Did I stutter the first time?" Kat whisper hissed and her eyes flashed. They stepped back, as lessers will (confounded), and she left, scraping them off on the boot mat before she moved down the driveway. They watched her go, surprised and afraid; it was something in the voice that they had never heard before ... it was something in the eyes.