Disclaimer: I don't own a series of Unfortunate events
Family is All that Matters
We haven't talked about it. The big elephant in the room. Sunny is fast asleep in her pile of curtains. The kiss. My first kiss. Her lips burned mine like fire. It was over too soon. We need to talk about it. Sunny can sense our tension. Violet turns onto her side in her sleep. The bed we share feels like a chasm that I can't cross. So close and yet so far. The curve of her developing body entrances me. She is the only girl I have ever noticed. I know it is wrong. That we are siblings and I shouldn't feel this way. But I do. I remember before the fire I was just noticing changes in my own body, different thought patterns about sex and everything to do with romance. Our mother and father were expressive with each other when they thought we didn't notice. I noticed. I wish I felt differently. I yourn to put my arms around her and hold her and never let go. Never let Count Olaf hurt her like I know he does. I place my hands behind my head and sigh as I look up at the ceiling.
She doesn't know I know. That some nights one of his cronies fetches her and takes her away to be molested. She comes back eyes rimmed with tears as she crawls into bed trying to be quiet. The things he does to her make me hate him even more. If I could murder him and get away with it I would but I am only 12. The fact that he plans to marry her tears me up inside. The marriage is only a few days away and my stomach is in knots. Violet turns towards me. I study her face. Her beautiful face and beguiling brown eyes. Her small button nose and big full lips, they mock me. I reach out and touch her face, it is so soft in my hands. She smiles a sleepy smile and her eyes open. I am caught. Then she does the unthinkable. She kisses me again. She clutches me to her and our faces press together like molded plaster. Our breathing starts to pick up and she pulls me closer onto her lap. I can hear her breath hitching in her throat. We hold each other in an embrace. It is so good it must be sinful. Then I try and pull away from her put she won't let me go.
"Violet, we need to talk."
"What's wrong Klaus?"
"We need to talk about what this is. You can't kiss me and then act like nothing happened... You know I know what he is doing to you. It isn't your fault. Violet look at me!"
Her eyes won't meet mine. She bites her lip and fiddles with the hem of her nightgown. She moves and sits on the edge of the bed and puts her head in her hands.
"Do you feel it too? The burning afterwards."
Her eyes water as she nods her head. Her lip trembles and she curls herself away from my body.
"When did you first know what was going on? How did you find out?"
I tentatively reach out and put my hand over hers. My thumb rubs small circles around her knuckles.
"After the first week. I heard... I heard you crying and I noticed you started acting differently so I looked up molestation symptoms in Justice Strauss's library. I am so sorry Violet. I wish I could do more. I hate it here. Sunny is becoming malnourished you know. He gives us barely enough money for food for us that we have to get formula from Strauss. If they had never died we wouldn't be in this situation." I say.
"If our parents had never died I wouldn't have found my first love. Klaus, I am sorry. I am so sorry for kissing you. I am the eldest and I am doing the same thing to you that Olaf is doing to me." Violet says.
She cries with her head in her hands again. I feel something lodge in my throat. She feels it too. She feels it too. She feels it too. That is all my mind can think as I brush her hair away from her eyes. Slinging my arm around her I hold her and take in her smell and feel her body shake from silent sobs. I comfort her as best I can and try to warble out the song our parents would sing to us before bed. It helps her. As her sobs slow she looks at me with her beautiful eyes as her cheeks are stained with tears. She sings along in a whisper not daring to sing any louder than I am. As she wipes her eyes she smiles a small little smile.
"Father was always off key." Violet says.
"Mother was the one with the talent." I say.
We reminisce for a while about old memories of life before the fire. She looks at me again and kisses me again, this time it is a soft slow burning feeling, I feel it all the way to my toes. Every sense is on fire as she caresses me. I feel wet on my cheeks, I pull away slightly and notice she is still crying so I kiss away her tears. Nothing else matters but family. We pull away and I check on Sunny. Her little body takes deep breaths with her small hands resting at her side. I crawl into bed with Violet.
"Klaus don't touch me unless I say it is ok. On the nights when it happens I don't want to be touched."
"I promise Violet. I love you."
"I love you too Klaus."
Soon I hear her breathing begin to deepen as she drifts off to sleep. We still have so much to talk about but for now all I can do is hope that things will get better. What else can I do? I engulf her and fall asleep holding her. My sister and my first love. After all family is all that matters.