A/N: Hey guys! Is anyone familiar with the anime Ghost Hunt? It's one of my favorites but it's not nearly popular enough for me to talk to people about it-_- Anyways, this chapter will have a little more story about Charles. Enjoy! Please feel free to comment!
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I sat up in the guest room at Alois's mansion. Charles came in with tea.
"My lady, I brought you tea." he said.
"Thank you, Charles." I said. "I just remembered something else." He handed me a tea cup and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"What did you remember?" he asked.
"I remember the day I found my family. My father fought for me and my mother held me. It was a dream come true. But then a man stole me back and ran off with me." I replied. He nodded.
"If you keep remembering in the order that you are now, it won't be long before you remember everything." Charles said.
"Charles, what happened to you? I don't think you were always a demon. You have real emotions." I said. He clamped his hands together and looked down.
"You really wanna know?" he asked. "Fine. I'll tell you. The truth is, I wasn't always a demon. I was turned into a demon. I used to be a human, like you. I was Edmund Cheshire, an orphan. I lived as a thief. I would pick pockets and steal fruit from little fruit stands. My parents were murdered when I was five. They were murdered by the same man that held you captive in that cult. I vowed my revenge on him. I contacted a demon and... I was foolish... The demon asked me for a wish. I-I wished for her to make me a demon. She told me that there are great consequences involved when a human becomes a demon like this. I told her I was willing to accept that. She refused. She said it would not be because of her that something like this happened to me. I started crying. This happened when I was seven. I begged her to let me be a demon so I could take my revenge on the man who tore my family apart. She did something strange. She hugged me and told me that it would all be okay. It made me stop crying. She asked me if I wanted to sign a contract with her. I agreed and said that my wish was to take revenge on the man who killed my parents. I said I wanted to do it without help. She just had to keep me alive. If there ever was a time that I was going to die without fulfilling my wish, she was to turn me into a demon. I got- so close. I almost did it. I almost got my revenge. I had him by the throat! Then it was all taken away from me because I got distracted by a little girl huddled in the corner. She looked about four years old and she was terrified. Her little skirt was torn and her shirt was ripped almost all the way off. She was shivering and had bruises all over her. Blood trickled down her forehead and my resolve vanished. I ran to the girl and cradled her in my arms. She was so small. The man grabbed a knife and stabbed me in the back before Lucy could get to me. I held the little girl until I couldn't hold myself up anymore. My demon, Lucy, got to me and tried to heal me. She couldn't. I was going to die. She sat the little girl down in a corner, but the girl still watched. Lucy put her hands on my chest and put all her weight on me. My chest began to burn. I remember intense pain spreading through my body. Then everything went dark. When I woke up, that little girl was standing over me in fresh clothes. I remember jumping up and running to a mirror. I still looked like me, but my eyes were pink. They faded back to my ordinary green eyes, but my humanity was gone. I hadn't achieved my revenge. After that, I lived with that little girl for a while. When I was almost nine, however, the man came back and stole her from me. She was the only person I cared for other than my parents. Now she was gone too. I wanted revenge more than ever. But I was a demon. I couldn't take my revenge unless I made a contract with a human who wanted revenge on the same man." He finished. I put a hand on his shoulder.
"That's awful! I'm- I'm so sorry." I said. "Did you love that little girl?"
"Yes. More than the world. She was sweet and cheerful, despite everything we went through. She always had a smile on her face and she could always put one on mine." Charles(or should I say, Edmund.) replied.
"Did you love her as a sister or something more?" I asked, curious for some reason.
"I dunno. I was only eight! I was too young to realize it if it was something more! And then she was snatched away." he answered.
"Did you ever see her again?" I asked.
"Yeah, I did. Eventually, I made a contract with her and got my revenge. I got her back as well. And guess what. She's still just as cheerful as ever. Too bad she doesn't remember me." he replied. I understood what he was implying. I pointed at myself.
"It-it was me? I was the little girl?" I asked.
"Yeah. You are the little girl." he said.
"I-I wish I remembered. I-I wish I had never forgotten. Why- Why did I have to forget you?!" I screamed the last sentence and buried my head in his chest. Tears ran from my eyes and he stroked my hair.
"It's okay. Your memories are coming back. Soon enough, you will remember." Edmund said. A knock sounded at the door and we jumped apart. Edmund stood up and went over to the tea cart.
"Well, aren't you two rather friendly for a butler-lady relationship." Claude Faustus- Alois' butler- walked in. I knew I was probably blushing.
"Ed- Er... Charles was simply comforting me. I had a bad dream and it scared me terribly." I said. Claude definitely noticed my stutter. He nodded.
"Of course. If he couldn't do that much for his young mistress, what kind of butler would he be?" Claude winked and left the room. I turned to Edmund.
"When we're alone, could I call you Edmund, then?" I asked.
"Of course, my lady. Just don't slip up in front of people unless you have an excuse at the ready." Edmund smiled at me. I still wondered where that accent came from, but that information would have to wait.
"Oh! Edmund, how long have I been out?!" I exclaimed suddenly, realizing the ball must've ended hours ago.
"Oh, well... Actually, you were out for two days. Then you woke up... But then you fell back asleep. Let's just say, the ball was on friday. Now it's Monday morning." Edmund replied.
"Monday morning?!!!" I yelled. Edmund nodded. I looked down at my swan outfit and groaned. I went to the guest room closet and surprisingly found some clothes. There was a brand new outfit with my name written on a piece of paper. I tried it on and found that it fit perfectly. It was boy clothes, just like I like. Clothes like my brother wears, in a cute shade of pink. I wondered how they found a boy's noble suit in pink. Anyways, I walked through the mansion till I finally found my brother and Sebastian. Once we ate, we readied the carriage to leave.
"I hope to see you again, Alois." I said before we left.
"Same to you, little swan." he replied. I walked over to the carriage and got in. Ciel walked up to Alois and began talking to him about something. I couldn't see Ciel, but if I read Alois' lips correctly, he said:
"Oh, kiss my ass, you bloody little shit." and walked away. I frowned to myself as Ciel climbed in, looking irritated.
"How long till home, Sebastian?" he asked. Sebastian replied, but I zoned out. I just stared out the window. Before I knew it, we had arrived home. Edmund helped me out of the carriage and I went up to have some time to myself before dinner. I sat on my bed and pulled my old clothes out of a drawer. The shirt was a real shirt but the skirt was a pillow case that I'd made into a skirt. When I was little, I had used it as a dress. I had stitched little pockets into it so I could hold a few things. I ran my hands over the pillow case skirt. I felt a small lump in there. I reached in the pocket and pulled out a necklace. It was a thin, silver chain with a horse charm and a locket. I opened the locket and found a picture of a young boy, probably only eight years old, with light brown hair that could easily be mistaken for dirty blonde and green eyes. I recognized the face. I touched the locket lovingly and fell back on the bed, unconscious.
"Stop! Please!" I screamed. The man grabbed my already torn shirt and ripped it until it was nearly torn off. Then, suddenly, a boy burst through the door and pushed the man back. I huddled myself in the corner and allowed myself to cry. The boy couldn't have been more than a year older than me. He wrapped his hands over the man's throat. He dug his hands in, cutting off the man's breath. Suddenly, he noticed me. He walked over to me. The man took this chance to land a knife in the boy's back. The boy was going to die. I stood over him. Suddenly, a pretty woman with black hair and pink eyes burst in. She placed her hands on his chest after staring at him for a moment and his flesh began to glow. He screamed and thrashed before eventually falling limp. The woman left after a while and I stayed with the boy. The man had run once the woman showed up. After a few hours, the boy woke up. He stared at me before jumping up and running to the old mirror. He seemed to relax a bit after that.
"Excuse me, little girl, but where am I?" he asked.
"Nice to meet you! And you're still in the old warehouse! What's you name?" I asked, noting his weird accent. He nodded and sat down. I sat on my knees across from him.
"I'm Edmund. Edmund Cheshire. Your name?" he glanced at me. I jumped up and held my hand out.
"I'm Sinnie Phantomhive! That's a very nice name! I like it a lot!" I smiled cheerfully and helped him up. He chuckled.
"Thanks. You have a cute name too." he said. "Anyways, I'm an orphan. You got any parents?" I shook my head.
"No. I was taken from my family when I was very little. I live with the man you attempted to murder." I replied. Edmund stopped suddenly and stared at me in disbelief.
"You live with that pig?!" he exclaimed.
"Yes. He keeps me as a slave. I clean for him. When I don't do what I'm told he tries to take my clothes off and rape me." I said with a smile.
"That's awful! How can you smile like that after what he's done to you?!" Edmund put his hands on my shoulders and stared into my eyes.
"I know. I just feel that you have to keep a smile on your face and God will bless you for being strong." I said, jumping a little. Edmund let go and turned away.
"I-I can't be like that. I can't let go of my hatred towards that man. I'll kill him for what he did to my parents!" he yelled. I grabbed his hands. He tensed before relaxing and turning back to me.
"Stay with me. I can help you forgive. We can forget about our troubles and be best friends!" I smiled so big that my eyes were closed. Edmund smiled back and held my hand, pulling me close and hugging me. My head only came up to his chest.
"Thank you. You give me hope. Maybe I can forget. I can't forgive, but maybe I can forget. I'll stay with you. We can be best friends." he whispered in my ear. I giggled and wrapped my arms around him, hugging tight.
The vision faded to black...
~One Month Later~
"Come on, Eddy!" I pulled on Edmund's arm as we headed into town. He laughed and followed me.
"Slow down! We're not in a hurry!" he said. I slowed down a bit, still dragging him behind me.
"If we don't get there soon, though, all the good sales will be gone! I really want that charm!" I yelled as we finally arrived at the little shop on the corner. Every other Saturday, everything here went on sale and we could actually afford stuff. We'd buy our essentials for the week and then use the rest of our money on personal items.
"Come on, then, my lady." Edmund bowed to me and knelt down. I squealed happily and jumped on his back. He straightened up and we ran through the store. He finally put me down by the jewelry and let me run around, searching for the charm. I looked through all the jewelry but still couldn't find the charm. It was a silver chained necklace with a little horse charm on it. I had been saving for it and finally had enough. But now it was gone.
"Um... Excuse me, sir? Where did the charm on that table go?" I asked.
"Eh? You mean that little horse charm? Some kid came by yesterday and bought it." the store clerk replied. I nodded.
"Oh, okay. Thank you." I sniffled, trying to hold back the tears. I walked away and sat down on a bench outside the store. After a minute or two, Edmund sat beside me. He had a single bag of groceries beside him.
"What's wrong, squirt?" he ruffled my hair. I smiled and looked up at him.
"It's nothing. The charm was bought yesterday, so I couldn't get it. There'll be other charms, though." I said.
"Aw, I'm sorry. What kind of jerk would buy it? Everyone in town knew you had your eye on it." he frowned. I shrugged and looked down at my hands. He was right, of course. We had become rather famous around here. We stayed in an abandoned warehouse about a mile from town. Every Saturday we'd come into town to buy our stuff for the week. Every other Saturday, we'd have money left over to spend on ourselves. I had been saving for that necklace for a while. Everyone here knew I wanted it. Sometimes, the people who worked the shops here would let me run errands for them so that I'd be able to save up the money faster. My job was actually a news girl. I would pass out papers to the store clerks and random villagers who passed by.
"It's no big deal. First come, first serve, right?" I sniffled again but plastered a smile on my face. I jumped up. "Anyways, lets get ice cream. My treat. I can buy it with the money I had for the charm." I grabbed Edmund's hand and dragged him down to the ice cream parlor. I got a double scoop mint chocolate and he went plain with a double scoop of ordinary chocolate.
"Thanks, squirt. I owe you one." Edmund said.
"No, you don't. I told you. What would I have used the money for anyways?" I waved it away and licked my ice cream. Edmund got off our bench and knelt on one knee in front of me.
"Still, I feel bad that you didn't get this." he reached up and clicked a necklace around my neck. I looked down at it. It was a silver chain with a horse charm and a little, dented, heart shaped locket that had the words "I love you" written on it. I opened the locket. Inside was a picture of Edmund on the left and of me on the right. A little piece of paper fell out in my lap. I unfolded it and read: "You are my Heart."
"Edmund... How did you-?" I asked. He winked at me.
"I made a little extra money this week, so I came into town yesterday and bought it. I also got the locket, but it got dented when I dropped it because some idiot kid barreled into me." he said. I wrapped my arms around him and whispered in his ear.
"I love it, thank you. It's too much. I owe you more than just an ice cream cone, now." I kissed his cheek and sat back, licking my ice cream.
"Nah... You got me a double scoop of my favorite flavor. It's all good." he reassured me. I smiled and nodded happily.
"Okay! Thank you so much, Eddy!" I squealed. People were staring at us and whispering. I wonder what that was about.
"Hey, squirt... I just realized I don't even know how old you are." Edmund sat on the bench next to me and licked his ice cream cone.
"Oh, I'm six years old. Almost seven now. My birthday is in two months." I replied. He nodded. "What about you?"
"I'm seven. I'll be eight in five months." he shrugged. "My birth day is March seventh."
"My birthday is December fourteenth." I said. "I never celebrate it though."
"Well we'll just have to change that." Edmund smiled. "This year, I will throw you an amazing party. I'll invite the whole town! It'll be a fiesta!!" He got up and started dancing in a Spanish style. I laughed and got up. I linked arms with him and we danced together, laughing and smiling the entire time.
The vision faded to black.