Disclaimer: The only character I own is Rachel White. All other characters are property of someone else. I'm just using them for fun, so don't sue.

AN:This my first fanfic, I wrote it in a days time, but I've been working it over in my mind ever since watching Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. Please R&R. And of course, enjoy.

Lost Soul

by MelodyWolfhart

Chapter 1

Rachel stood in front of the empty lot, her old worn out backpack slung over one shoulder. She wore a look of confusion upon her face. She knew that her Aunt and Uncle had a house in this very lot, but by the looks of it, the house no longer stood there. There was a voice from behind her, and she turned to see an old woman.

"Are you by chance looking for the Buckets?"

"I am, where did they go?"

"They live in the factory now?"

"What factory?"

"The Wonka Chocolate Factory."

Rachel looked at this random woman, and then looked down the main street to the chocolate factory. Still confused, she thanked the woman, and started to walk towards the factory. Questions raced through her mind as she grew closer, but when she reached the gates, her mind cleared.

The gates were locked, but that was no problem for her. She was able to get into more secure places without a problem. What worried her was why her Aunt and Uncle were now living in this strange factory. Deciding that she would concern herself of these matters later, she looked the gate over.

There was no lock, but you could not easily open it either. Rachel looked up and decided not to climb the gates. Instead she jiggled the gates and saw that they were loose enough for her to slip through. Taking a step back, she took off her backpack and threw it over the gates, then she pushed on the right gate with all of her strength. Holding her breath, she slipped through and picked up her bag.

Getting into the factory was not hard at all, the door was left unlocked, and she easily found her way into the entrance hall. Rachel looked around the hallway as she followed the red carpet towards a door that she assumed led to the rest of the factory. At first, she thought that her imagination was playing a trick on her as the hall seemed to get smaller. But as she ventured forward, it was quickly evident that it was truly happening.

When Rachel reached the door at the end of the hallway, she had to kneel down. Confused, she pushed the door open and saw the chocolate room. It took away her breath, and she did not even notice that she could easily walk through the formally too small door.

As she entered the magnificent room, the smell of chocolate assaulted her. Her stomach yearned for food, but she did not touch the delicious scenery. Walking carefully through the room, she searched for any sign of people. All the while, she knew that if she met up with the wrong person, she could be in a lot of trouble for trespassing. As this thought crossed her mind, she heard a sound from behind her.

Knowing how to deal with this situation, Rachel did not turn to look at whomever was behind her, but instead ran.She could not return the way she had come, since she figured whoever had spotted her would get in her way. She sprinted through the candy trees, desperately trying not to damage anything. She was halfway across the room when she stopped dead. Standing in front of her was her Aunt and Uncle's house. Thoughts of running from her pursuer fled from her mind as she looked with disbelief. Slowly, she approached the little cottage and walked up to the door. Not knowing what she would say, she just opened the it. Inside, her Aunt looked up at her from the kitchen stove.

"Rachel? Is that you? How in earth did you get here?"

"Hello to you too, Aunt Bucket."

Mother Bucket ran over to Rachel and embraced her. Rachel stood there, excepting the hug, but when her Aunt was done, she stepped back. Mother Bucket looked her over with an approving smile.

"You've grow so much since the last time I saw you. How did you ever find us here?"

"Some town folk told me. I got into the factory easily enough, but I think someone was chasing me."

"You probable mean the Oompa Loompas. You wouldn't havebe able to see them since they're so small."

"What?"

"I'll explain later. But come in and make yourself at home. I bet you've had a long journey and that you're probably starving."

Mother Bucket led Rachel into the cottage and sat her at the table. Rachel was offered food and she gladly took it. Halfway through her makeshift meal, the cottage door swung open and Charlie rushed in.

"Mom! The Oompa Loompas just said that someone was in the factory and..."

Charlie stopped as he saw Rachel sitting at the table. There was an awkward silence as Charlie looked at Rachel for the first time. He didn't know who she was, for he did not know he had a cousin.

"Charlie, this is your cousin Rachel. You've never met her. The last time she was here, you weren't even born. I don't even think she knew you existed."

"I didn't. But it's a nice surprise. Hi, Charlie. It's nice to meet you." Rachel said as she stood up to greet him.

Without warning, Charlie ran over and embraced her. A smile formed on Rachel's face from this act of random love. When Rachel looked up from Charlie, she saw that a strange man was standing in the doorway. Charlie let go of Rachel and turned to face him.

"Willy, she's my cousin. I didn't even know I had one."

Rachel looked at him for a moment. He was dressed in a crimsonvelvet coat and was carrying a cane. A black satin top hat sat upon his head. He walked into the cottage and looked at her with a childish interest. As he approached her, keeping his distance of course, he smiled.

"My name's Willy Wonka. Welcome to my factory. What's your name?"

Rachel looked at him with disbelief as he circled her.

"My name is Rachel White. It's nice to meet you Mr. Wonka. You know, the last time I was in this town, your factory was closed for five years. I was quite surprised to see that it was open again. When did you reopen?"

He did not answer her, but instead sat at the table. Charlie followed suit and sat across from him. Rachel stood there, feeling like she had missed something very important. Wonka and Charlie started to talk about some new candy idea while she stood there, looking at them.

"I guess I'll just go outside for a while and check things out." Rachel said, starting to leave the cottage. Charlie looked up at her with an excited smile.

"Why don't we give you a tour? It would be lots of fun. Come on, Willy." Charlie said as he stood up from the table.

"It would be great, but Charlie, you have to finish your homework that you've been neglecting for so long. Why doesn't Mr. Wonka take her? He does know the factory better than you." Mother Bucket said to Charlie.

"Mom, can't you just let me do that later? I want to be with my cousin. I just met her." Charlie pleaded.

"Honey, you have a while to catch up with her. I just want your homework to get done."

"Okay, mom." Charlie said, returning to his normally good natured self.

Charlie looked at Mr. Wonka and waited for him to stand up and take Rachel for a tour. Rachel noticed that he did not seem to want to take her anywhere, so she tried to refuse the offer.

"I don't really need a tour. It's quite alright if Mr. Wonka doesn't want to take me through his factory."

"Don't be silly, dear. He'll happily take you. And when you return, you can catch up with Charlie. I'm sure he's eager to here of your journey, as am I." Mother Bucket said, shooing her out the door. Shortly, Mr. Wonka followed her out.

"You really don't have to take me anywhere, I've seen enough just being in this room."

"But there's so much more to see. Of course, a proper tour would take at least a week. But we have time. Let's start." Mr. Wonka said with some excitement.

"Actually, Mr. Wonka, we don't have that much time."

"Call me Willy. Anyone who's family of Charlie is my family too."

"Mr. Wonka..."

"Willy."

"Willy, you don't really know my situation."

"Very well, let the tour start. We'll take the boat for the first part. Then maybe the glass elevator. This is going to be so much fun!"

Wonka started to walk away from her towards what looked like a chocolate river. He did not seem to hear anything that she had tried to say. Running to catch up to him, she realized that he had started explaining everything around him.

"Everything in this room is eatable. And that waterfall mixes the chocolate so it is nice and frothy. No other chocolate factory in the world uses this method and you can take that to the bank."

"Mr. Wonka..."

"Willy."

"Sorry, but Willy, there's no really reason to give me a tour. I'd rather be with my family right now."

"And over here are my workers. They're Oompa Loompas. And I saved them from Loompaland."

"Mr. Wonka! Please stop."

Wonka turned to her, his broad smile seeming to falter a bit.

"I told you, call me Willy."

"You said that any family of Charlie's should call you Willy."

"Yes, so what's the problem? I don't understand."

"You don't need too. I'm trying to tell you that I just want to be with my family right now. I'm leaving tomorrow morning, so there's no reason to give me a tour."

"Why would you possibly want to leave so soon. This place is wonderful."

"I didn't come here to see a factory, I just wanted to see my Aunt and Uncle."

"Oh. 'kay. Well then, I guess we should go back to the cottage." Wonka said with disappointment.

They retraced the short way they had come and reentered the cottage. Mother Bucket turned with surprise.

"Why are you two back so soon?"

"Aunt, I just need to talk to you and my Uncle. I'm leaving tomorrow, and..."

"Tomorrow, what for? You look so tired. You can't possibly want to leave so quickly."

"I need to talk to you and Uncle Bucket."

Mother Bucket looked at her and realized that this was rather important, so she turned to Charlie and Wonka.

"Well, boys. I think that you should go and try to find Father Bucket. Rachel and I need some time to talk."

Mother Bucket said this with some concern. Charlie and Wonka took this as their cue to leave, as Rachel sat down at the table and faced Mother Bucket.

"So what's so important that you came all the way here, just so you could leave tomorrow?" Mother Bucket said, sitting across from her.

"It's about your sister." Rachel said.

AN: Hope you enjoyed. I already have the next couple chapters written, I just need to find time to edit them. But until then, don't be shy. Please review.