The Caged Vampire Series to Entered-The Glare In Glass Book 3

Once Upon a December

Note: This story contains violence, and may be innapropriate for some children. Also, please note that all character in this story (save for the originals) are properties of PhoenixRosemarie. The song is "Once Upon a December", sung by Liz Callaway.

Dancing bears, painted wings,

Things I almost remember.

And a song someone sings,

Once upon a December.

A young, proud mother of only 23, Sicilia Gambino smiled with an unmatched sense of amazement as she watched the young boy in her arms swat playfully at her flowing, golden locks. There in her arms lay her most precious treasure in all of Gambino Isle, in all of the land. The occasional sneeze filled her with an immediate sense of worry; the common laugh made her feel as if there truly was hope in this crazy world. Yes, right there in Sicilia's lap was a cooing and smiling symbol of all that was right in her world.

Though Gino was only the early age of eleven months, he was already amazingly talented. Only three weeks after his birth, Gino had managed to say his own name. At least, Johnny could've sworn he heard the fragile boy say it, and that was enough for the 34 year old Gambino heir. "Sicilia, my dear, we've an intelligent boy in our midst! His very own name, can you believe it", he gushed, raising the boy high above his head and engaging the young Gino in yet another random conversation spoken entirely in whines and coos. Sicilia couldn't help but let out a hushed giggle; she herself had heard the child mumble "roogloo", but it made her husband happy, and she therefore let him carry on.

Now, Sicilia rocked back and forth in her chair, Gino occasionally letting out a playful whimper as he tugged weakly on his mother's hair, the overwhelming power of sleep taking him to his young, innocent dreams. It was at times like this that Gino's mother felt and overwhelming sense of pride. To think that her and her husband had brought such a beautiful boy into this world made her bubble inside with new sensations. Her only wish was that her husband were here to see this. And, were he currently not orchestrating this year's Christmas event in Barton, Sicilia was sure that he would never have left her or the carefree child to fend for themselves...

The storm clashed more and more violently outside. How little Gino slept through this entire ordeal, Sicilia did not know. He was a brave boy, surely he must be. "And if you are not", she whispered cautiously, not wishing to wake him "your father will see to it that you are. You're a Gambino, Gino, brave and kind and loyal...".

A smile danced across her face as she examined her baby boy; there could be no mistake that this boy was a Gambino. His hair shimmered a magnificent gold. Not blonde, as was the popular color of Gaians at the time. It was the color of power, the color of wealth, the color of a definite future. Sicilia traced a lone finger across her baby's brow, chuckling softly. Already he had begun growing the infamous "Gambino brow". It wasn't much, she admitted to herself, but one could clearly see that Gino had sprouted strikingly long hairs just above his eyes. He's going to look just like Johnny, she thought to herself, her smile standing proudly.

There came another thunder clash, followed by the reering of several frightened horses clopping in front of the mansion. It was enough to startle Sicilia, who let out a quick gasp as she sat up quickly, swaying Gino to and fro in her arms. He too had been frightened, and begun to stir from his slumber with a few heaving cries. "No, no Gino! Hush now, darling, everything is fine. Shhhh... sleep again, my boy", she whispered to him, now pacing to the window. As she leaned out, she saw what she expected to be her husband's carriage.

Instead, her heart shot up into her throat. Exiting the carriage was a tall, frail-bodied man, shrouded in the darkness of his cloak. She knew this man well. Or, that is to say, she knew of him. Though his identity was unknown, she had seen him several times before at various celebrations in Gaia, though always from a distance. He had always given Sicilia reason to worry, as he didn't appear until it was time for the Gambino to leave. At these times, she would cling to her husband's shoulder and gently shove him inside the carriage.

Here this same man stood at the mansion's steps, hood drawn up over his head in typical fashion. As he pulled away, slamming the carriage door (which provoked another exasperated whinny from the horses), Sicilia cried out in terror: a short, shimmering blade had been slid into a pocket of his cloak as he hurried up the steps.

Someone holds me safe and warm,

Horses prance through a silver storm,

Figures dancing gracefully across my memories...

She fled from the room, hurrying to the phone as quickly as she could, praying there was still a connection, despite the ever-clashing thunder and lightning. She wrapped her fingers around the phone and hoisted it to her ear. Success! The line was still active. She furiously dialed the only number she could think of, now waiting desperately for a reply. "Come on, come on. Please be home...Edmund! Edmund thank goodness, I need you to come down here, it's... yes, yes... no I'm sure he means to kill him!... alright, thank you. Thank you Edmund, I really do--"

She was cut off by her own screams of paralyzing fear. Phenomenally, the man had managed to make his way up to the third floor in such a short period of time. He stood eerily in the doorway, ceasing to move. Sicilia threw the phone to the ground, bouncing the baby in the cradle of her arm. "Please! What do you want from us", she begged, a tear rolling down her cheek.

The man slowly stalked into the room, not saying a word. A gulp slid down her throat as she tried once more to bargain with the man. "Is it money you want? We'll pay you whatever you ask! Please, just don't harm me or my baby", she cried, now grasping the couch with her free hand as her knees gave in. She trembled with fear as the man stalked ever closer. "I seek the cleansing of Gaia from the filth of the Gambino name", he muttered, sliding his cloak back slightly, revealing the silver handle of a dagger, glimmerly a shade of crimson as the fire from the mantle crackled in its reflection.

Sicila let out a dry sob and tried desperately to hurry out of the room, darting around the couch and leaping to the door, hoping to find Edmund only seconds down the hall.

...What she met instead, was the cold steel of a newly sharpened blade. A cruel, horrifically long pain clawed up and down her spine as she felt the dagger pierce through her back. With a loud, agonizing moan, Sicilia fell to the ground, jerking only slightly as she felt the dagger thrust out of her body. There with one final sob, she lay motionless.

Without a single look of pride or success in what the man had done, he now turned to Gino, who had slid from his mother's arms as she fell. His snow white blanket was now stained with his mother's blood; it had become obvious that the dagger had pierced through to her chest, and the young woman was bleeding fast. As he watched the young Gino, now crying desperately and shaking, he reached for a handkerchief in one of his many hidden pockets and wiped his blade clean. The job was not yet finished. He reached for the howling child beneath him, ready to strike once more with the blade.

A hand quickly interfered, grabbing the man's wrist as he aimed to kill. Clutching on to whatever was left of her fading life, she sobbed violently. "Please", she cried soflty in her lament, "I beg you... please don't kill my son..." The assassin hesitated, staring at the woman's tear-worn face, then at the sorrowing child. "Please", she begged once more, her voice now fading.

With an angered sigh, he slid the blade under the cloak, standing to leave. As he reached the door way, he heard Sicilia mutter a soft "thank you". He stopped in his tracks, sliding his hand woefully against the door frame. "A final wish for a dying mother", were his only words before he left.

Far away, long ago,

Glowing dim as an ember.

Things my heart use to know,

Things it yearns to remember...

And a song someone sings,

Once upon a December.

"Gino", she coughed, mustering all the strength she could find in her arm to comfort the child, stroking his cheek softly. Oh, what she would give to have just enough strength to hold him in her arms one last time. "Gino... you're a Gambino... brave... kind... and loyal..." Oh, what she would give to have just enough strength to tell him that she loved him just once more. And, though she had left the world far too early, she was overjoyed to hear her final word come from her darling child's lips: mommy.