A Song for the Dead
By Tsuki
A/N: I got the idea for writing this a while ago, in the midst of a period of deep regret that Count Cain was over. Simple longing for the story to still be told gave birth to this. It's the first fanfiction I've written that wasn't a one-shot.
Warnings: slash (b/b, yaoi) future violence, blood, gore, probably some character death, and whatever else I think of.
Returning to the Past
Cody Calder Gabriel. The nineteen year old son of Countess Mary Weather Hargreaves and her husband, Oscar Gabriel. Next in line to the Hargreaves family title. The servants hold a deep respect for the young man, for he looks just like Cain, Mary Weather's late foster brother. Even though the two share none of the same blood, Calder lays claim to the same black hair, which hangs around his face in waves like his mother's. He has the same dark eyes, which can be deep-set, mysterious and dangerous, like Cain's, or twinkling and playful, like Oscar's. He has the same pale complexion, the same dignified demeanor, the same fascination with poisons. He is, in short, an almost perfect re-creation of the Count, the Earl, who was the adored older brother of Mary Weather, the invaluable friend of Oscar, and, last but not least, the trusted master of Riff.
Though Cain is dead, as everyone knows, thirty years now after the Count's death, the man appears to live on in his nephew.
It happens rarely, if at all, that someone knocks on the great front doors, just at the moment one of the family is passing through. It usually happens that, when a visitor knocks, they are expected, and a servant is waiting nearby to greet them. But, on my nineteenth birthday, as I was pacing the front hall, attempting to prevent my poor head from trying to figure out what mother was doing this year for my birthday, an unexpected guest knocked on the door. And so it was I that ended up answering them.
"Good morning. How may I help you?" Though I was unsure of myself, never having answered a door before, I steeled my voice.
"Good mo- …Cain?" the man stopped, suddenly staring at, mouth hanging open, as his face registered immense shock. His brown hair hung in dreadlocked waves around his face, masking a horrible, puckered scar. A giant, brown overcoat engulfed him. Then my brain realized what he had called me.
"No, I'm, I'm Cody. You knew Cain?" I asked sharply, pulling the door open wider and gesturing him in. "Who are you?"
"You're… not Cain?" He shook his head. "Of course not, Cain's dead. Jizabel's dead, Alexis is dead. Everyone's dead." He cackled suddenly, throwing his head back. I took a step away, unsure despite myself. "But I'm not dead."
"Who are you?"I insisted.
"Me? I'm Cassian." He flipped his head back and stared at me again. "You're Mary Weather's son, right?"
"Yes, but-"
"Where's your mother? She'll remember me." He turned again, throwing his head back and spinning slowly, looking over the mural painted on the ceiling. "Hey, I can see heaven!"
I backed away slowly, then turned and began up the curling staircase. 'Cassian' was obviously insane, and I really did need mother's help. At the top of the stairs, I ran into one of the older maids, a wizened woman with steely gray hair in a strict bun and a no-nonsense mannerism.
"Marie! There's a guest down there. Would you mind seeing to him? He says his name is Cassian, and-"
"Cassian? Oh, my lord!" And, with that exclamation, she hurried down the stairs, as close to running as I had ever seen her in my life.
"Wait! Do you know where my mother is?" I called after her, then turned with a sigh and started down the hallway again. I found my mother a little ways off, face screwed up with concentration as she surveyed, through a stained glass window, workers in the garden. She heard my footsteps coming and turned, hastily stepping in front of the window.
"Cody! What are you doing up here?" She blushed, something my father constantly teased her about; that she still blushed, at her age.
"There's some crazy guy down in the front hall He thought I was Cain, then said his name was Cassian, and asked to see you," burst out in a rush, my curiosity overcoming everything else. "Who is he? Did he really know Cain? Does-"
"Cody, there is no time for questions right now! If Cassian is here, then… Something must be wrong. Hurry!" She bustled off; back in the direction I had just come from, and left me struggling behind her, wondering how in the world she could move so fast in all those skirts.
Cassian was still in the front hall, though he was now seated in a comfy armchair near Marie. She glanced up at my mother and me as we walked in, her face full of worry. "Miss! If Cassian is her, then what does…?" She let the question trail off.
My mother knelt by the armchair, taking the man's dazed face in her hands. "Cassian? Can you hear me? "
His eyes blinked slowly, owlishly. "Mary Weather? I have to warn you…"
"Warn me of what? What's happening, Cassian?" My mother's voice grew frantic. She glanced at Marie. "Did he say anything?"
The maid shook her head. "No, miss. He just smiled and said 'Look, its heaven.'"
"He's sick. They did something to him," Mother deduced as the man began babbling, singing softly under his breath a nursery rhyme.
Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?
"What's going on?" I asked, looking from one adult to the other. But they ignored, instead conversing in low tones.
"What did they do to him? He's still half lucid, miss…"
"Not for long, he isn't. We need to get him some comfrey…"
"I'll bring him to a spare room. Arthur!" Marie clapped summoning a scruffy puppy from under the chair. He danced around her ankles, barking softly. "Arthur, go fetch Johnny. Go, boy!" the dog barked once, as if in acknowledgement, then bounded off, skidding down a servant's corridor.
"Cody, come with me!" My mother ordered. She whisked off upstairs, skirts swishing.
"What is going on?" I demanded once we were in my room. "Who was that man?"
"It's a very, very long story, Cody," she stalled turning to my wardrobe. "But, do you remember when I told you the story of my brother, Cain, and Delilah? His father Alexis? Jizabel?"
"Yes, I do, "I remembered. "And that man- Cassian- he said something like that. He said that Cain was dead, Alexis was dead, and Jizabel was dead. Does he have something to do with Delilah?"
"In a way. But the story is far too long to tell now; just trust me. Can you do that?" She turned back to my, holding m face in her hands. She searched my eyes with her own, whose normally care-free blue depths were marred by concern and… fear?
"Of course I trust you. But why? Why now?"
"I can't tell you. But you are in danger; we have to get you out of here. I'm going to send you to Demetrio Benson's house; he was a friend of Oscar's during the war. They won't expect you to be there."
"Who won't? Why do I have t leave? Mother!" I protested wildly, standing up. But my mother seized me in a giant hug, burying her face in my shoulder. I awkwardly patted her back.
"I am going to miss you so much," she whispered. "But this is for the best. If they find you, I… I don't know what they'll do to you. I don't know what I'd do." She pulled away now, wiping her eyes. "Pack your things. And, please, hurry. You need to be out of here before nightfall.
I still didn't know what was going on. I still had questions; too many, with too few answers. But the sight of the hot tears pickling my mother's eyes hardened my resolve. I would do whatever she wanted me to.
"Alright."
A/N: oooooohh… that took a bit longer than I expected. Though this chapter is kind of boring. But now I want to know what happens next!!! Don't you?
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