Well, now, I know I said I wouldn't be posting this until I finished it, but I /need/ some encouragement. Plus this actually allows me to skip around my ban-ment from fanfict. But anyways, this is my story that I've been working on for... several months. And so far I have nine chapters. I'll be posting another chapter in about a week unless I get a good response, or my excitement overrules me. I hope you all like it, and keep in mind my writing gets better as time goes on (in my opinion). Enjoy!
The cruel wind blew across the hill and the grass with it, as the small funeral procession slowly broke apart in ones, twos or threes and went home. All, except for two. The first was a young girl at the tender age of seven. She stood facing away from the grave site staring out into the shimmering ocean, her eyes wet with salty sorrow. The second of the two, came to stand besides her, not looking down as to give her a chance to hide her tears. She didn't, instead she turned towards her grandfather, catching him in a tight hug, and wept, hard and long, for her parents' untimely deaths. The old man was startled, but smiled sadly and he knelt down and picked the small girl up as she continued to cry and shudder into his shoulder. He hushed her as he walked down the hill with her in his arms, not trying to stop her tears, but perhaps to just make her and himself feel a little better. She had lost her parents and he a son, but they had both gained each other and they would love each other as much as possible until the day they would be parted.
"Ella? Ella, where are you, sweet-pea?" called the voice of Greenbury Lane as he looked up from the papers spread on his desk, to see that his granddaughter was no longer sitting in her normal place by the window.
"Grandfather, that's not my name! Here I am!" said a petite girl as she jumped up from her place behind the other side of the desk. Her grandfather feigned a frightened look and her bright smile widened. "Did I scare you? Were you really frightened, Grandfather?"
"Yes, I was. I nearly fainted right then and there!" The young girl giggled at the little antics he made to look like he was fainting.
"Grandfather!" the little girl scolded as she placed her hands on her hips and Lane was once again reminded of how much she looked like her mother. She had grown so much over the past year since he had taken her in, he hadn't believed it possible.
"Oh, I'm sorry." he half grunted as he lifted her up onto his lap. "But, Cinderella, my dear, you're just so beautiful, I couldn't help it." He smiled as she let loose her giggles again. He glanced at the clock on the wall. "And I'm afraid this little beauty needs her rest. We'll be in London by tomorrow evening and I can't have her falling asleep on me, eh?" He chuckled as she pouted.
"Just a little longer, please? I'm ever so excited, I won't be able to sleep!" she whined.
"Yes, but you'll need plenty of sleep if you're to move in to a new house tomorrow. You don't want to miss out on all the goings-on."
"Oh, Grandfather, are we really going to own a house?" she asked excitedly. She had barely been on land in so long and she missed the way the ground didn't move when you stood.
"Yes, yes, of course, but you'll miss out on it if you don't get your sweet little self to bed." he said as he placed her down and gave her soft shove on the rump. She walked a little ways and turned back to him, smiling deviously. Lane raised an eyebrow and made to get up. She yelped, turned around, and ran out the door, laughing all the way.
Lane leaned back into his chair, chuckling softly, and let his head fall back as he closed his eyes. That's when he heard it. At first it was a soft and quick whisper, but it slowly got louder until it was yelling in his ears.
"Greenbury Lane!" came the startlingly familiar Jamaican lilt. His eyes shot open and he sat straight in his chair as he looked around the room. When he saw her, he did a double take and his eyes widened.
"Calypso . . ." he whispered and she stepped into the light to confirm what he had said. She had long dread-locks, her brown skin was blackened at her mouth, and she was glaring at Lane with her eyes looking almost red. Behind her fury was a look of triumph at finally finding her enemy.
"Not anymore, Pirate Lord of de Caspian Sea. Now, t'anks to you, I am no longa de goddess of da ocean I once was. Now I am Tia Delma of da slums." she bit the last part out so that Lane flinched back slightly.
"What do you want? I am no longer a Pirate Lord, I cannot undo what has been done. I-"
"You t'ink dat I do not know dis? I am here for revenge!" she interrupted him darkly. "You will pay for what you have done to me, Pirate Lord. It was you who lead de court dat night, all dos years ago. You managed to dodge me dis long, but now . . . I have come... to show you what it feels like... to lose what you love most!" she yelled in between sobs. She lifted up her hand as though she were grabbing onto something and Lane was thrown against the wall, knocking his chair over in the process. He squirmed at the invisible grip on his neck.
"I-I am ready- to accept- my death!" he choked out, sputtering his words. He hoped with all his heart Ella wouldn't choose now to say good night to him.
Tia Delma raised an eyebrow at him as she stepped closer. "You do not listen, Greenbury. As I said, I am here to take away from you what you love de most."
Lane looked confused for a moment as he pondered her words. Then, once he realized what it was she was saying, he began to squirm against the wall even more. A wide, crafty grin spread across Tia Delma's face and she called out, "Cinderella, chile... come here."
"No! No, Ella stay there! Don't come in here!"
"Grandfather? What's wrong? Why are you yelling?" came Cinderella's soft voice as she appeared in the doorway with curiosity written on her face. Then, as her eyes landed on Tia Delma and her grandfather, her expression became one of shock.
"Come here, chile. Do not be afraid. Your grandpapa needs your help." Tia Delma beckoned to the small girl with her free hand. "Come, chile, come."
"Grandfather?" Cinderella whispered as she stepped closer to the other two.
"No! Ella, no! Calypso, stop this madness! Ella, stay there!" Lane desperately cried, but his words were lost in the soft chanting coming from Tia Delma as Ella continued to walk towards her. The chant was almost like a song and it seemed to echo hauntingly through the air. As Ella got closer, the music got louder and louder, until it shook the windows of the cabin. Finally, Ella reached Tia Delma and the girl reached out to touch her outstretched hand. Suddenly there was a bright light and Lane called out his granddaughter's name once again. When the light slowly dimmed Lane could vaguely see two figures, one slumped into a tight ball and the larger one standing over her. He heard a small whispering and had to step forward, which he now found he could do, to hear better.
"I have been deprived of love and for dat him shall be punished, for him do it for himself, but . . . I have found dat love is a wicked curse and I do not wish it upon anothar. And so, since it twas not you who have done anyt'ing wrong, I will leave you a gift, of sorts. Whomever dis gift is set upon, shall be judged and if dat person loves somet'ing as I have loved dey will face wot I have faced and will no longa feel dat emotion... nor anyt'ing else." Tia Delma stared at the child once more, then turned and was gone.
All was silent on the boat except for the swishing and sloshing of the water outside. Then: "Ella?" The silence pounded on Lane's ears. "Ella, are you alright?" Lane asked louder and this time there was a small movement in the ball on the floor.
"Grandfather?" a small voice sobbed.
"I'm here, Ella, I'm here." Lane said as he swiftly ran over to where the child sat and knelt down beside her. "Oh, my dear Cinderella, I though I'd lost-" He stopped suddenly, and fear passed over his face.
As he had been talking Ella had begun to lift her head up to see him and now she was staring him in the face. What had shocked him, however, was the fact that he was staring at one beautiful sea green eye and another, just as beautiful, but a deep, velvet red. As Lane looked on, he began to tremble and feel oh, so very cold. His shaking became more prominent and the coldness gave way to numbness, a heavy and hard numbness that seemed to eat slowly up his body. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came out. He tried to take a breath, but he found that he couldn't move and, suddenly, he couldn't think. The last thing Greenbury Lane saw was a deep red eye staring at him in shock as he slowly turned to stone under it's gaze.
"Grandfather!"
Soft, dry sobs came seeping through the small openings and cracks of the ship, echoing along the halls, but the men on board were blatantly ignoring it. They had sent two men down to see what had caused all the ruckus earlier that night and only one had come back, speaking of the stoney fate of the other and the captain, and of a deep red eye reflected in the mirror across the room. From last night on the men had steered clear of the captain's cabin and had made sure to lock and secure it, so that no one could step out. They continued their trip to London at a much more hurried pace and reached the port three hours ahead of schedule. Word immediately got out about the strange creature being held captive aboard the new ship in port and it reached the ears of a man by the name of Mercer. The information was quickly relayed to one Cutler Beckett, who thought it right to drop in and visit Ella's late grandfather's ship. He brought along with him a group of fifteen or so men, for back up of course, and as he stepped onto the ship they split and formed a line behind him with Mercer coming to stand next to him.
"Good evening, gentlemen." Beckett said as he faced the crew, all of whom were taller than him.
"Who're you?" said one crew member as he eyed the men behind him. "What d'ya want?"
"I am Cutler Beckett esquire and I require an audience with your captive." he replied, seemingly not obligated to give further explanation.
"What for? She's some kind of a monster, you won't last one minute down there, bub. I barely got out wif me life." the sailor said with dignity, for he was the one that had been sent down before and had lived to tell the tale.
Beckett sighed, quietly and impatiently. "Yes, well, I'll just have to take my chances, won't I?" he said in a low monotone voice as he waved for his men to step forward. They did as they were told and pushed the protesting men aside as Beckett slowly stepped forward towards the cabin's door. He stopped in front of it, motioning for two other men to follow behind him, and didn't hesitate to open the door. Stepping in, he shut it behind him. Silence greeted them inside and Beckett's eyes weaved back and forth searching the room. He motioned again for his men to move forward and they did, with much reluctance.
Their foot steps echoed slightly in the large room and the men found the need to turn around several times in case someone, or something, was standing behind them ready to attack. After a few minutes of scared looks and weak searches around the cabin, the men relaxed enough to feel comfortable talking.
"Th-there's nothing here." one man chuckled. There was a small creak behind him.
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that." Beckett mentioned in his uncaring voice as he slowly stepped forward, motioning for his men to take a look behind the man who had spoken. They did as they were told and slowly brought the lantern towards the dark corner. Suddenly a small voice crept out of the darkness.
"Don't come any closer!" it called, wavering slightly.
Beckett's eyes narrowed a tiny bit and he waved his men to continue, for they had stopped at the sound of the voice. It had sounded like a child's. "Why? What are you hiding?"
His men had reached the corner, now, and the lantern's light fell upon a small figure huddled as far as possible into the corner. Beckett held up his hand and his men stopped. He slowly stepped forward and turned the form around. He immediately felt cold as the gaze of a beautiful red colored eye stared back at him. Then he heard two screams start and fall short as his men fell to their fates. He stared at the small girl as her eyes slowly widened. He hadn't turned to stone! The young girl blinked and Beckett was released from her gaze. He looked down at the stoney remains of his men.
"Interesting." He glanced back at the girl who met his almost mock curious gaze with one of her own green and red ones. "Very interesting."
"Why aren't you turning to stone? That's what all the others did, that's what happened to all the others. I couldn't help it, all I did was look at them. I don't- I didn't know what to do. I didn't mean to!" the small girl continued on as Beckett stood there, listening. "All I did was walk into the room, I didn't know what was happening. I wanted to know why grandfather was yelling and some strange lady grandfather called Calypso kept saying my name over and over and then she started chanting and I don't know why, but I started walking towards her. I couldn't help it! Then when I took hold of the lady's hand, there was this horrible pain behind my eye and I heard grandfather call my name. I must have fallen asleep because I woke up and the lady was talking and she said such strange things about Grandfather being punished and giving me a gift to those who love and how they would never feel anything again. Then she was gone and Grandfather was calling my name and then- then . . . Oh, Grandfather!" the poor girl rambled until she heaved with dry sobs that held no tears.
Beckett stood there a moment longer, putting together all that the young girl had said. He turned sharply, went over to a small dresser at the side of the room, and picked up a handheld mirror. Then, without so much as looking at the wide eyed girl, he left the cabin and headed straight for his right-hand man, Mercer. He whispered something into his ear and handed him the mirror. Mercer looked surprised for a moment, but quickly hid the emotion and motioned for six of their men to follow him into the cabin. After they had entered the cabin all was silent and Beckett went to stand at the starboard side of the ship, looking out at the ocean. A few moments later Mercer and the men returned with the very skinny and tiny girl that was once Cinderella Lane and who now had a piece of cloth tied around her right eye. The crew stepped back as she came into view, for she was a haunting sight with her dirty and torn clothes that hung on her small frame. She stood wide-eyed and fearful as she looked around her.
Hearing his men come back, Beckett turned around. He stepped closer to the small girl and bowed slightly. "Pleased to meet you, Miss. May I be so bold as to ask your name?"
Ella looked up at the short man that managed to not be turned to stone. "I-it's Cinderella Charity Lane. Who are you?"
"I am Sir Cutler Beckett. Tell me, Miss Lane, do you have a place to stay?" Beckett asked with a small, sly grin spreading over his face. This girl would come in handy.
Small and hurried footsteps could be heard running through the little forest outside the Beckett residence, muffled by the soft, moist ground. Cinderella Lane's breaths came in short huffs as she ran as fast as she could toward the back door of the mansion. She heard the yells and taunts of the other children behind her and she sincerely wished that her governess had not decided to dress her in such a ridiculous outfit. Suddenly, as if by magic, a root appeared in front of her foot and she went hurling to the ground, bruising numerous parts of her and completely ruining her dress. She quickly turned around and began pulling at the root that held her ankle captive. From the way it was aching, she guessed it was sprained.
"There she is!" yelled a young boy by the name of John. Ella had grown fond of the other children she watched out of her window as they played next door, but Sir Beckett would not hear of her going outside to play with them and forbade her from stepping foot outside without her governess. Needless to say, Ella, being the crafty nine-year old that she was, found a time when Miss Smith had fallen asleep while she watched Ella practice her sewing, and Ella slipped quietly out of the house after laying a blanket atop of her governess. Now that she was outside, actually with the children, however, Ella found them to not be as much fun as she had first thought. "Quick, hold her down!" John continued.
Three boys hurried past him, while the two girls remained behind watching and giggling at this new game. The boys grabbed hold of each of her free limbs and held them to the ground, while John began to step towards them.
"Don't! Please, you don't understand!" Ella yelled as she squirmed against her captors. John was reaching closer and closer to her silk eye-patch. He gripped it's side, ready to pull. "No!"
The patch slid off and John seemed to pale considerably as he locked eyes with Ella and her one red eye, both he and she unable to look away. All at once John felt cold and began to shake. The other children not having the full capacity of the eye, but still feeling very uneasy and weary, began to back off and run away, leaving Ella and John alone. John seemed to freeze for a moment, then his eyes widened and he was engulfed in a stoney numbness. The deceased boy fell across Ella, pinning her down. She squirmed with all her might to get away from the heavy granite carcass, but it was to no avail and she suddenly felt very cold and afraid. She glanced around as if to look for someone to help her. Seeing no one, a deep and sickening aloneness spread through her gut and she began to scream with all her might.
"Help! Someone help me! Anybody, help!" Only after what felt like ages and the dark had taken it's hold on London, did her screaming fall into a low murmur as she fell into a fitful sleep. It was only then that two straight-backed figures detach themselves from the foliage surrounding the girl and her stone captor. The taller figure tore off the dead boy as the shorter one picked up the young girl. As they began to walk towards the house the shorter man said to his lacky, "Not a word of this to anyone. After she is in bed, I want you to head straight back there and dispose of the boy. And see what you can do about the other children. I don't want any rumors getting out."
"Yes, sir, and what about her?" Mercer asked once they had reached the top of the stairs and the light from the house shone down on Beckett's light brown wig and Ella's golden flowing hair. Beckett looked down at the girl in his stiff arms
"I'll tell her it was a dream." he said as he looked back up and continued to walk towards the house. Mercer followed close behind. "Oh, and Mercer?"
"Yes, sir?"
"I think it's time we put the plan into action and put Cinderella to work."
"Yes, sir." Mercer nodded as they made their way back into the warm house, finished with the day that would change Ella's and Beckett's lives forever.
"Miss! Miss Lane, please get up! M'Lord will have my head if you're late for your duties!" came the distressed voice of Miss Smith as she opened the enormous curtains of her charge's room. "Cinderella!"
"What is it now, Margaret?" Cinderella Lane's voice mumbled. "It's my birthday. I'm allowed to sleep in."
"Well, you can get your twenty-year old rump out of bed and tell your Uncle that. That is if you live long enough, your going to be late!" screeched Ella's governess.
"Oh, alright." Ella said as she threw back her covers, stepped out of bed and grabbed her eye-patch from it's place on her night stand, before she put it on and opened her eyes. "I suppose it's not going to be any different from any other birthday. Just like any other day." she sighed and walked over to her governess who was hiding something behind her back with an excited grin.
"I've got something for you. Unless you're too down in the dumps to open up a present." This perked Ella's ears up and she raised an eyebrow. "I thought so." Miss Smith quickly pulled her hands around front and showed Ella her gift. Ella smiled and took the offered parcel as she sat down on the bed and began to unwrap it. She gasped when she saw what was inside. There, seemingly shining in the light, was the book from Walden's store about every single pirate known to man. Her smile brightened considerably and she looked up at her governess.
"You like it?" asked a nervous looking Miss Smith. "I saw you staring at it when we visited the book store around the corner the other day. I know how much you like pirates and how Lord Beckett doesn't allow any books on them, but I thought if you just kept it a secret, no one would be the wiser."
"Oh, Margaret, it's wonderful, thank you! I'll start reading it right away." Ella said as she hid the book beneath her mattress.
"I'm glad, dear, and now I have another surprise for you. Lord Beckett's, actually."
Ella groaned. She truly didn't want any gifts from Beckett. The last had been a lesson on proper eating manners and somehow Ella had the feeling that he had given it to her just to see her flustered face at the interpretable insult.
"Oh, I think you'll like this one." Miss Smith said as she brought out a rather large box from it's place atop of Ella's desk. Intrigued, Ella lifted off the top of the box. She raised her eyebrows as she pulled out a deep sea green dress that would more than likely bring out her green eye.
She looked up at her governess with a sardonic look of expectation. "What's the occasion?"
"Nothing, that I know of. Just a kind guardian doting upon his ward?" They both chuckled at that.
"Well, I better get changed into it. He'll be expecting it." Ella mentioned as she stepped behind the changing screen with Miss Smith following behind her.
After a few minutes of fussing from Miss Smith and gasping from Ella, as she tried to take a breath in the skin tight dress, she stepped out from behind the screen and walked over to the mirror across the room. She stood there examining and evaluating herself. Really, she wasn't all that bad looking. She had long, flowing hair that was a dark golden brown color and it framed her face nicely. Her one visible eye was a deep sea green and it was placed upon one of her high cheek bones. As for her other eye . . .
"Ah, wait a minute. There's one more piece." Ella looked up to see Miss Smith holding up an eye-patch that was tinted a light green and held the picture of what seemed to be a black raven in flight. "You want to forget about it?"
Ella shook her head, knowing that her governess knew how she felt on that matter. "No, he'll be expecting it." she answered rather defeatedly.
Miss Smith gave her a understanding look and handed her the eye-patch as she looked away. Ella sighed and took off her usual eye-patch, placing it on her dresser, and strapped on her new one without so much as glancing at her red eye. Now that she saw the whole thing together, she had to say that the eye-patch did indeed help the dress in bringing out her green eye. She sighed again and told Ms. Smith she could turn around.
"Oh, dearie, you look beautiful! I knew the dress would look nice on you." Miss Smith exclaimed as she caught sight of Ella in the light. She quickly looked at the clock sitting on Ella's desk before politely shoving her out the door and to the stairs. "Quickly now, go and eat breakfast and then hurry to the carriage. M'Lord'll be waiting for you.
"Alright, alright, I'm going." came Ella's reply as she stepped down the stairs gracefully.
"Don't be late!" called Miss Smith as she watched her charge head towards the dining room. She sighed and walked back up the stairs to clean up Ella's room.
So, yeah. That's the first chapter. Yes, that's her real name. If you really think hard it fits with the title. Also, please forgive for any mistakes. Oh and, beware, I screwed up and wrote the third chapter with some characters that shouldn't be there, but I liked it so much, I kept it. I hope you all enjoyed. Please, please review. This time 'round I'm in it for the responses. So, please, do a girl a favor, feed my obsession. Thanks for reading! -Ebo