This story is inspired by a series I am reading called Vampirates (by Justin Somper), which, like this story, is about vampire pirates. I thought the idea was a bit lame at first, but the story is actually really good. I hope you think the same for my story.
This story is rated M for violence, language, and adult themes. This is a UsUkUs story, but there is also mentioned SpUk. You can also consider a slight love triangle with UsUkUs and AmeCan, though the AmeCan is meant to be friendly and nonromantic Any of Alfred or Arthur's family are OCs (I wasn't sure if Mary and Emily would be mistaken for Nyotalia America and England since I know those names are sometimes used for those characters).
I'm sorry if there are any historical inaccuracies in this story. I like history, but I don't know a lot about it. I hope you can still enjoy the story.

Alfred walked up to the large house with his mother, having to tilt his head back just to get a full view of the enormous house that he was going to live in from now on. "It's so big mama." The little boy said before glancing up at his mother. He tugged at her dress to get her attention. "Are we really going to stay here?" His mother turned her head and looked down at him, a small smile coming across her face. "Yes, we are. We are going to live here and you get to play in this big house." Emily said as she led her son up to the home.

Alfred smiled and looked back up at the large house as they approached it. Alfred and his mother, Emily, had just recently arrived in England a few days ago. They came all the way from Boston in the British colonies to live with the Kirkland family, who promised to give them a home to live in as long as Emily would help the lady of the house take care of their home. They promised to be fair to Emily and even offered to give Alfred the same education and upbringing as the rest of the Kirkland children if she were to come work for them. It was a promising future for the two after having been left with almost nothing after Alfred's father Charles passed away. It had actually been the head of the Kirkland family, Richard Kirkland, who had gone to Emily to offer her a new home after Charles' passing. Richard and Charles had been business associates. When Richard had learned of Charles death, he took pity for the wife and child he left behind and decided to offer them a home, not wanting to leave the family of the man who helped him gain money for a time alone without a provider. It didn't take much convincing for Emily to accept the offer. What else was a single mother of a four year old boy to do?

Now, they were there, in front of the house that gave them promise to live on.

As they came up to the door, Emily took the handle of the knocker and knocked on the large wooden door a few times. It took a few minutes, but a servant eventually came to open the door. The servant let Alfred and Emily into the house after Emily introduced who they were and then left, telling the two to stay there in the entrance hall while they went to go get the lady of the house.

While they waited, Alfred looked around the inside of the house. It was just as big as it was outside and it was only the entrance area. In front of them was a large stair case that split up at the top to two different sets of stairs, one leading to the right and one leading to the left. On the ground floor and to the sides of him, he saw two different doorways leading off to different rooms. There were paintings that hung on the walls and various vases and other expensive looking antiques placed around the area. Alfred thought that the family that lived in this house must have a lot of money to have such a glorious home such as the one he was standing in at the moment. Now, he was going to live in the glorious house as well.

Soon, the servant came back, a woman walking with them at their side. The woman had pale blonde hair that she kept pinned back and bright green eyes. She wore a green dress that looked like it was made of expansive silks and garments. There was an air of elegance to her as she walked over to Alfred and Emily to greet them, a polite smile resting on her face as she approached them. "Hello Mrs. Jones. We've been expecting you."

Emily bowed her head slightly in respect to her, keeping her tone polite as she spoke. "Hello to you, too, Lady Kirkland."

The lady smiled and waved her hand a bit. "It is all right if you call me by my first name, Mary. I do not mind. Even though you will be working for me and helping me run this house, this is your home now, too. I want you to feel comfortable here."

Emily smiled as she lifted her head back up again. "Thank you, my lady. You don't know how relieved I was when your husband came and offered my son and I a place to stay."

"You're quite welcome. It was the least we could do for you after your husband's passing." Mary said before glancing down, noticing Alfred who was still holding his mother's hand. "Is this Alfred?"

Emily glanced down at her son as well and nodded. "Yes, it is."

Mary smiled at the little boy, bending down just enough to offer him her hand to shake. "Hello, Alfred. My name is Mary. It's nice to meet you."

Suddenly feeling shy, Alfred pulled at Emily's dress and hid behind it. He heard an amused chuckle come from Mary and felt a small nudge from his mother. "It's okay, Alfred. This is the lady of the house. She's just saying hello to you."

Alfred glanced up at his mother when she spoke before looking back at Mary again. He reached out from behind Emily's dress and hesitantly took her hand. "H- Hello..." Alfred stammered as he shook the lady's hand.

Mary smiled when he took her hand to shake it, pulling it away after a moment and smiling down at him. "I hope that you like it here in your new home, Alfred. There are a lot of places to play and explore in this house. And I even have a son who can be your playmate."

Alfred suddenly became interested at the mention of another child who lived in the house. He came out a little bit from hiding behind his mother's dress and looked up at Mary. "Really?" He asked.

Mary nodded. "Yes, his name is Arthur. He is a little older than you, but I'm sure you two can still be good friends."

Alfred stared up at her and then smiled, happy to know he wasn't the only child on this manor and at the thought of having someone to play with.

Mary went back to talking to Emily, asking about how the ship ride from Boston to England had been and starting to explain about the different things Emily would be doing once she started working. Alfred's eyes went back to wandering around the big home. He wondering just how big the inside really was and how many places he could explore. Alfred smiled at the thought of the adventures he could have on the manor until he spotted someone standing by the stairs, staring at the two strangers in his house from afar.

It was a boy. He had short, ruffled blond hair and the same bright green eyes Mary had. His clothes were neat and clean and he looked to be a few years older than Alfred. Alfred thought that the boy must be the child Mary had told him about; Arthur.

Alfred glanced up at his mother, who was distracted by her conversation with the lady, before pulling away from her to walk over to the boy. The boy watched Alfred with a cautious gaze as he was approached. Alfred remained friendly and smiled up at the other blond boy as he came up to him.

"Hi, my name is Alfred! I'm going to be living here from now on!" Alfred said, greeting the older boy with a bright smile. "Is your name Arthur?"

The boy stared quietly at Alfred for a few seconds before nodding slowly. "Yes, it is." He answered quietly.

Alfred's smile got even brighter when it was confirmed that this was the boy Mary had mentioned, the boy that was going to be his playmate. "It's nice to meet you. I hope we can be friends!"

Alfred extended a hand to Arthur for a handshake. Arthur didn't look to keen on accepting his hand nor did he look happy when Alfred mentioned them becoming friends. Alfred didn't notice his hesitance though and was happy when Arthur eventually did take his hand to shake it.

After Arthur pulled his hand away, he looked down at the boy with the same cautious gaze from before, but slight curiosity mixing into his eyes as well. "Your voice… It sounds different. Different from mine and everyone else who lives here."

Alfred tilted his head, smile fading as he looked up at the older boy in confusion. "Huh? My voice doesn't sound different. Your voice sounds different from some of the people where I come from though."

Their voices weren't that different, though Arthur's accent was thicker than Alfred's and the older boy did seem to have better speech and grammar than the younger, even though Arthur was still very young himself.

"Where do you come from?" Arthur asked.

"From Boston!" Alfred answered with a smile.

"Oh, so you're from the colonies?"

"Yeah. That's right!"

"Oh. I see." Arthur said and nodded in understanding.

Alfred giggled before he looked around the house again. "You have a really big and pretty house."

"Thank you." Arthur muttered, not looking so cautious anymore as Alfred tried to start a conversation with him, but still seeming a little uncertain about the boy.
Alfred smiled up at him. "You must have a lot of fun here. It's so big! There must be a lot of places to explore."

Arthur shrugged at Alfred's statement. "The servants don't like it when they have to come looking for me all over the house. I have to stay where they can find me."

Alfred blinked up at him before pouting. "That's no fun! You can have so many adventures here!"

Arthur raised an eyebrow and tilted his head. "Adventures?"

Alfred nodded, his pout replaced with an eager look, and his eyes sparked with excitement. "Yeah! You could pretend you're exploring new lands or that you're hunting for treasure! Like a pirate!"

"A pirate?" Arthur stared at the younger boy for a moment before a small smile crossed his face and a chuckle escaped past his lips. He was amused by his excitement and imagination. "I guess that sounds kind of fun."

Seeing Arthur's smile made Alfred smile. The English boy was started to like him. Maybe they really could be friends. "Yeah, it does! We can play pirates together! Why don't we go play now?"

Arthur looked down at Alfred in slight surprise when he suggested that they should go play. He gave him a small smile, but kindly rejected the offer. "I can't play right now. I have to go take care of my pet rabbit."

Initially, Alfred was disappointed when Arthur said he couldn't play, but his interested was perked up again when he heard he had a rabbit. "You have a pet rabbit?"

Arthur nodded. "Yes. His name is Mint. I have to feed him and take him out to the garden for some fresh air."

Alfred stared up at Arthur quietly for a moment before speaking again. "Can I see him?"

"You want to see him?"

"Yeah. Can I, please?"

There was a slight pause from Arthur before he gave Alfred an answer, a small smile on his face as he spoke. "Yes. You can come with me if you want to see him."

Alfred beamed up at him and jumped up in excitement. "Great! Come on! Let's go then!" He said before he grabbed the other boy's hand and started to walk off in a random direction, whichever direction he thought the rabbit might be.

Arthur was surprised when the younger boy suddenly took his hand and started to lead him off. He stared down at their connected hands for a moment as he was dragged away by Alfred before he smiled softly. He held Alfred's hand and took the lead and started to make his way to where he kept his rabbit, the two boys smiling and laughing as they walked off into the big house together, a new friendship already budding between the two.

Arthur was sitting in his garden, lying down in the grass on his stomach as he held out a carrot to Mint. The rabbit hopped closer to his owner, sniffing the carrot before starting to nibble it. Arthur smiled as his rabbit began to eat the carrot, holding it for him as he ate until he heard a familiar voice calling his name. "Arthur!"

Arthur turned and lifted his head to the side to see a blond boy with eyes as blue as the sky running over to him. Arthur smiled when he saw Alfred, the boy who moved into his home with his mother four years ago. He set the carrot down in front of Mint so the rabbit could continue to eat it and sat up as Alfred came running over.

Alfred skidded to a halt in front of Arthur, panting slightly from running, but still smiling through his pants. "Arthur, look! Mama bought some treats and said we can share it!"

Alfred held a little brown bag up for Arthur to see. Arthur looked at the bag that was held practically right in front of his face before looking up at Alfred. "That's great."

Alfred smiled before sitting down beside Arthur. He opened the bag and rummaged through it. He pulled out two treats from inside of the bag, handing one to Arthur and keeping one for himself. The two boys started to eat the treats, smiling and talking with each other as they sat together in the garden. Ever since Alfred had moved into Arthur's home after leaving his own in Boston the two had been the closest of friends, despite the four year age difference between them. They did almost everything together, that is when Arthur was not pulled away for studies or some sort of family matter. Alfred received schooling too, as the Kirkland family had promised, but since Arthur's older brothers had all decided they wanted to something different with their lives, Arthur was the only child left as an heir to his father's trading business and was often pulled away by his father so he can start learning the business at an early age.

Other than that, the two were nearly inseparable.

"How is Mint enjoying being outside?" Alfred asked as he bit into another treat.

Arthur glanced over at his rabbit that was hopping around a few feet away from the two boys, having left about half of the carrot Arthur had given to him behind unfinished. Arthur had honestly forgotten about the rabbit when Alfred came out and was happy the small animal had not wandered off. He'd hate for him to get lost and possibly have some other animal take him as its prey. "He seems to be enjoying himself."

Alfred giggled and smiled. "That's good." He said.

He looked down and spotting the half eaten carrot on the ground. "Oh! You brought him a carrot!" Alfred said.

"Yes." Arthur nodded. "I thought I could feed him while he was outside so he doesn't go chewing on any of mother's flowers. She hates it when he does that."

Alfred placed his bag of treats on the ground before reaching for the half eaten carrot. "He didn't finish it. Maybe I should make sure he isn't still hungry."
Arthur shook his head. "I don't think he's hungry anymore. He would still be eating it if he was."

"Maybe he just wanted to take a break from eating for a bit. He might be hungry now." Alfred turned to look towards Mint and started crawling to the rabbit with the carrot in his hand. "Mint, here. You left your carrot behind."

Arthur watched Alfred as he crawled towards Mint and chuckled. Mint showed little interest in the carrot or Alfred. He was about to tell Alfred that Mint wasn't hungry anymore when he heard another person call his name.

Arthur looked in the direction of the call and saw a man standing just out of the house, looking towards Arthur and waving him over. "My father's back!" Arthur suddenly chimed when he saw the man.

Alfred heard Arthur and looked at him before looking over to the house where Arthur's father was standing in front of. "Oh yeah. He is."

Arthur's father called for him again and Arthur stood up on to his feet. "Watch Mint for me, Alfred. I'll be right back."

Arthur started making his way over to his father once he received a nod from Alfred. He ran up to his father and looked up at him with a small smile, happy to see him back after been gone on a trip for a few months now. "Welcome back, father."

Richard smiled down at his son as he welcomed him home. "Thank you, son." The dark ginger haired man said, lifting his hand to pat his head. "My, my. You sure have grown a lot since I last saw you. Soon enough, you'll be all grown."

The young boy smiled as his father patted his head. When his father pulled his hand away, he knelt down in front of his son so they were at eye level. "Listen, Arthur. I won't be here for long. I just came to stop by to see how things were going at home."

Arthur looked at his father in slight disappointment when he spoke and heard he would be leaving again soon. "You're leaving again?"

"Yes, I am." Richard said with a nod. "But I should only be gone for a few weeks this time. I also came here to ask you something Arthur."

Arthur tilted his head curiously. "What is it?"

"I wanted to know if you wanted to come with me on my trip." Richard asked, a hopeful smile crossing his face and a shocked looked crossing Arthur's.

"Come with you? Why do you want me to come?" Arthur asked.

"Well, you'll be making these trips yourself once you take over. It's best if you get use to travelling now." His father explained.

Arthur stared at his father and frowned a bit. He didn't want to go away. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to take over his father's business. He just went along with all the teachings and whatever else Richard said because he was his father. Arthur wanted to be able to make his own choices, like his brothers made, but he had been yet to be given that privilege. He couldn't just flat out reject his father though. That would upset him and he would likely force him to come anyway.

"I… um…" Arthur muttered as he tried to think of a way to convince his father to let him stay. The boy looked down at the floor, rubbing his arm awkwardly as he tried to think of something to say.

Richard seemed to notice the hesitation from Arthur. He lifted his hand again and placed it on his shoulder. "You know it will be easier for you to get the hang of the work the earlier you start."

"I know, but…" Arthur still hesitated. "But what about mother? And what about…" Arthur glanced around the garden, trying to think of something he could use to convince his father to let him stay when his eyes landed on Alfred, the boy still sitting in the grass and playing around with Mint.

Arthur's eyes widen slightly when he spotted his friend, realizing that if he did leave then he would be able to see Alfred for a while. He didn't want to be separated from him. He would miss him. He was sure Alfred would miss him as well and would be upset if Arthur told him he had to leave.

"What about Alfred?" Arthur turned back Richard, staring at the man with a pleading gaze. "He'll miss me if I leave. I don't want to leave him behind."

Richard frowned at his son's response, obviously having expected him to agree to come with him. "Your mother will be fine, Arthur. The servants in the house will be here to take care of her. And you will not be away from your friend for long. It will only be a couple of weeks. You are growing up, Arthur. It's time you start learning how to be an adult."

Arthur pouted and lowered his gaze to the floor. He did not want to go away with his father. He didn't want to run his business. He wanted to be able to make his own choices and stay with his friend. Why couldn't he just be allowed that?

"But father… I…"
"Arthur." There was sternness in Richard's voice when he said the boy's name and Arthur knew he was starting to get impatient and upset. Arthur stared silently at the ground for a few moments before letting out a quiet sigh and nodding his head. "I'll go with you."

Richard's smile suddenly returned to his face and he patted his son on the head again, but Arthur took no comfort from the action this time. "Good. I'll let your mother know and tell one of the servants to start packing a bag for you. We'll be leaving tomorrow."

With that done, Richard stood up and walked back into the house, leaving Arthur in the garden. Arthur lifted his head and watched his father walk away. Another sigh escaped from him before he turned and started walking back to Alfred, trying to figure out how he was going to tell his friend that he would be leaving for a while.

Alfred saw Arthur coming back and smiled, not noticing the look on Arthur's face as he walked back over and greeted him with a bright smile. "You're back, Arthur! So, what did your father want?"

Arthur didn't meet Alfred's gaze as he walked back over to him, keeping his eyes on the ground and rubbing his arm awkwardly again. "He… He said that he would be leaving again tomorrow…" Arthur muttered quietly.

"Aw. He's leaving again already? That's not fair." Alfred said with a pout.

That's not the only thing that's not fair… Arthur thought to himself before shaking the thought away. "That's not all he said though."

"What else did he say then?" Alfred asked as he tilted his head and stared up at his friend.

Arthur took a glance over at Alfred before quickly looking away again. He wished he didn't have to tell him. He wished he didn't have to go, but he knew he had no other choice.

"He said he wants me to go with him. He wants me to go with him on his trip."

"Oh." He heard Alfred murmur. There was silence for a couple of seconds before Alfred suddenly perked up with an excited voice. "I'll just go with you then."

Arthur lifted his gaze and looked at Alfred in slight shock when he declared that he would go with Arthur on his trip. "What?"

"Yeah. I'll just go with you." Alfred nodded determinedly and then smiled. "It will be fun Arthur! It'll be like we are going on a real adventure together! Oh, maybe we'll see a whale or discover a new land or find some rare treasures or-"

"Alfred!" Arthur had to shout to get Alfred's attention and break him out of his fantasies. When he got the boy's attention, he was staring at him with a sad gaze. "You can't come with me."

Alfred went silent, the determination and excitement fading from his eyes and being replaced with disbelief and disappointment. "What? But why?"

Arthur shook his head and looked away. "My father wouldn't allow it. He wants me to go so I can start learning his business. He wouldn't want you to come."

"But… But…" Arthur could hear Alfred staring to sniffle. When he looked up to look at him again he saw tears starting to form in the corner of his eyes.

"But I don't want you to go Arthur!" Alfred shouted. "You can't go! You can't! I'll miss you! You can't go!" Tears started to drip down his cheeks as Alfred lifted his hands and buried his face into them, crying and sobbing softly into his palms.

"Alfred…" Arthur frowned sadly at the display and knelt down in front of Alfred. "I don't want to go either, but I have to go. My father is making me go." Arthur had to try hard to be the stronger of the two and not to cry with Alfred. He did his best to offer the younger a small smile and tried to cheer him up. "I won't be gone for long. I'll only be gone for a few weeks. I'll be back soon."

Alfred peered out from behind his hands at the older boy in front of him before he reached forward and hugged him tightly, burying his face into his chest. "Don't go, Arthur! I'll miss you!"

Arthur stiffened for a moment when the other boy suddenly hugged him. He looked down at him, watching him cry into his shirt, and softened his gaze as he relaxed and wrapped his arms around him to hug him back.

"I'm sorry, Alfred. I promise I'll be back soon. I promise." He said as he patted the younger on the back, trying to calm him down. "I'll even bring you back a present. Okay? I'll bring you back something special."

Alfred, still sobbing, lifted his head and looked up at Arthur, speaking between sniffles. "Do you promise you'll be back soon?" He asked.
Arthur nodded. "I promise."

Alfred sniffled. "And… You'll bring me back a present?"

Arthur nodded again and tightened his hug slightly. "I promise I will bring you back a present."

Another sniffled and a sob and Alfred buried his face back into Arthur's shirt, his voice muffled when he spoke. "Okay…"

Arthur hugged him tightly. "I'll be back soon, Alfred. I promise. I wouldn't want to be away for too long. You're my best friend. Maybe more than that…"

"More than a best friend?" Alfred murmured, glancing back up at Arthur again. "You mean, like a brother?"

Arthur stared down at Alfred and nodded. "Yes… Like a brother."

"So, does that mean I can call big brother then?"

Arthur suddenly felt uncertain about declaring himself Alfred's brother when he wanted to call him 'big brother.' When he heard those two words, he thought of his three older brothers, who he didn't exactly get along with. He never knew why, but his brother always liked to ridicule and pester him. The three would gang up on him and he could do little to defend himself except run to his mother or one of the servants for protection. He didn't want to be referred to someone like them with the title of 'big brother.'

"You don't have to call me big brother." Arthur said. Alfred pouted when Arthur rejected the title, wanting to be able to call him his big brother. "Why not? I want to call you big brother." He said, starting to look teary eyed again.

He saw his pout. He didn't want Alfred to start crying again so Arthur quickly tried to defuse the situation. "I- I mean… You don't have t call me that. We'll still be brothers even if you don't call me that."

Arthur gave him a pat on the back and smiled down at him. "You'll be the best brother I have."

Hearing that he was the best brother made Alfred smile and forget about calling Arthur his big brother. "All right. And you'll be my best brother, Arthur."
Arthur smiled softly at him. "Yes, I will be. And I promise I will come back for you, Alfred."

Two weeks had passed since Arthur had left with his father. Emily was glad to see that it didn't affect Alfred too much and the boy mostly spent his days playing Mint. At least the boy had found a way to distract himself with his friend gone. She had just checked on Alfred and he was in the kitchen trying to convince one of the servants to give him some extra carrots for the rabbit. Emily was sure that by the time Arthur came back that he would have a fattened pet with how much Alfred fed the animal.

After checking on Alfred, Emily went to go find Mary. If Alfred wasn't the most saddened by Arthur having to leave, it was Mary who was. She seemed to miss her youngest child a lot, but she couldn't go against her husband's wishes to take Arthur with him. She had been calling on Emily more often since Arthur had left and would sometimes even spend time with Alfred, as if he were a replacement for Arthur. Emily didn't mind it too much. Alfred seemed to like the attention. Emily also got to see Alfred more often since she was usually near Mary and helping her around. If it distracted both of them from Arthur being gone, then at least it helped.

Walking through the house, Emily eventually found where Mary was, in a sitting room seated on a sofa by the fireplace. What Emily didn't expect to see was Mary crying and sobbing and her three older sons, as well as a few panicked servants, in the room with her.

What was the matter? Why was everyone gathering around all of a sudden? What had happened?

"No! No! It can't be true! It can't be!" Mary sobbed, shaking her head frantically and staring at a man, one Emily didn't recognize and dressed in what looked to be a naval uniform, in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, Mistress Kirkland, but that was the report. One of our naval ships saw it happen, but they couldn't reach to help in time." The man said and Mary only sobbed more. "No! No! You're lying! You have to be lying!"

Emily wasn't sure what was going on or what to do. Her mistress was frantic and she no idea know why.

"As I told you before, I am not lying. Pirates attacked the ship your husband was on. The naval ship in the area could not reach them in time and the few survivors we did find were not your husband. Or your son." The naval officer said before giving the distressed woman a sympathetic look. "I am sorry."

"No! Richard! Arthur! Arthur! My little boy!"

Mary fell into one of her son's arms, clinging to him and sobbing into his shirt. The boy almost didn't know how to react to his mother clinging to him and crying hysterically. It took him a moment to wrap his arms around her to hold her and try to comfort her.

Pirates? Attacking Richard's ship? Now, Emily understood what was happening. She understood why Mary was frantic and why the servants who looked as if they wanted to do something, but were confused and unsure as to what to do. She knew why there was a man in a naval uniform sitting in the living room and why two of Mary's older sons were sitting on the sofa with their mother trying to comfort her while the eldest stood in a corner of the room with a grave expression on his face. Richard and Arthur were dead. They were attacked by pirates and they were killed.

She understood why everyone was crying and upset and Emily felt like crying herself. Richard, the man who came to her and Alfred when things were looking hopeless for them, was dead. And Arthur, who had still only been a child and her own son's best friend, was gone as well.

Emily was in a state of grief stricken shock as she stumbled out of the room, leaving the remainder of the Kirkland family and their servants behind in the room. She couldn't believe what she had heard. She didn't want to believe it. Why did it have to happen to Richard and Arthur? Why them?

Alfred is going to be devastated when I tell him...

She started searching for her son, trying to remember where she saw him last and what he had been doing, having forgotten after hearing the recent news despite having just known a few minutes ago. She did eventually find Alfred in a room with Mint, feeding the rabbit some carrots and smiling as he watched him eat.

Alfred noticed his mother before Emily could speak, greeting her happily and not noticing the distressed look on her face. "Hi, mama! I'm feeding Mint. I have to keep my promise to Arthur and make sure he stays fed while he is gone."

Emily could feel her heart breaking as she looked at Alfred who still had no idea his best friend was dead and still expected him to come back, keeping his promise in taking care of Mint until Arthur's return that would never come.

"That's nice, dear." Emily said softly, trying to keep her voice calm and not to let it crack. She walked over to her son and knelt down in front of him. "Alfred, I need to talk to you." She said, sitting down and pulling Alfred into her lap.

Alfred looked up at his mother in confusion when she reached forward to hold him. "What is it, mama?" Emily took a deep breath before looking down at her son.

"Alfred, do you know why people don't come back sometimes?"

"Is it because they get lost and lose their way home?" He answered innocently.

Emily sighed and shook her head. "No, that's not it." She then tried to explain a different way. "Do you remember your father?"

She didn't expect him to actually remember his father. Alfred had been so young when he died. She just wanted to know if he remembered anything she had told him about Charles' death.

Alfred stayed quiet for a moment after being asked about his father before shaking his head. "No. I just remember you telling me that he went to live in Heaven."

"And you know that when someone is in Heaven, it means that they've passed away, right? That they can't come back anymore."

Alfred nodded slowly, looking confused by the sudden talk of death and not being able to come back. "Yes, I know. Why did you ask me that, mama?"

Emily sighed softly and looked down. "Arthur won't be coming back, Alfred. He's in Heaven now, too."

"Wh- What..?" Alfred stared up at his mother with disbelief in his gaze. "B- But... He can't be... He promised he would come back."

Emily shook her head and stared sadly down at her son. "He's not coming back, Alfred."

"N- No… He has to come back. He promised… He promised!" Tears started to gather in Alfred's eyes, denying the fact that he was never going to see his friend again. "He has to come back! He said we were brothers and that he would bring me back a present! He promised! He promised!"

Emily stared down at Alfred as he continued to deny that Arthur would not be coming back. She finally felt tears starting to form in her eyes and she pulled Alfred closer when he began to cry, the little boy starting to sob into her chest as tears began to run down her own cheeks. "I'm sorry, Alfred. I'm so sorry. Those damned pirates. I'm sorry."

Sorry if this was a bit of a read. Word said this document was about eight pages long. The chapters should be shorter from now on.
Did you guess Mint was named after Flying Mint Bunny? I couldn't think of another name to call Arthur's rabbit.
The whole thing with Alfred having a different accent than Arthur, I realize that when The United States was still a British colony that they would have probably had the same accents from wherever the people came from, whether it be Britain or some other place, but I figured that Arthur had a better and more wealthy upbringing so his accent and grammar would be better than Alfred's. Alfred's accent might be a little more diluted if he grew up in a larger city like Boston where there were more people from different places. Correct me if I'm wrong. As I said, I don't know a lot about history. But then, I couldn't really picture America with an English accent. In this story, Alfred may have a slight accent, but it would probably be a mix of a few different types of accents.
I hope you enjoyed the prologue. I will try to continue it soon, as well as eventually finish Sweet Devil. I'm in college now, but the semester is almost over so I should have a lot of free time soon.
Cover picture by Haku.