Disclaimer: I do not own Pandora Hearts; it's the property of Square Enix and is being used without permission. Please forgive me. So don't sue me!

It wasn't surprising to find out that each noble duke house had their own share of secrets. So when Jack Vessalius had found out about the tower hidden on Baskerville's large property, it didn't come as anything surprising. On the day the young man found out about the girl locked up in the tower, he came to think that something wasn't right. This was something monumental; something that Jack felt would eventually take place there at that tower. It was something that would affect him for the rest of his life. Talking about such a thing with the head of the Baskerville Household was out of the question. After all, when Jack first brought up the subject he would shrug it off. As if it was something unimportant for him to know. If the duke didn't want to talk about it, then Jack would have to respect that. Such a thing would make itself known over time; it would eventually be revealed.

Unfulfilled Heart

Chapter 1: A Tower of Secrets

"Mr. Vessalius, how do you keep sneaking into this mansion!?" Charlotte had snuck up behind Jack, grabbing him by the collar and shoving him against the wall. "You can't just enter whenever you feel like it." She brought her face up close to his, giving him a rather fierce looking glare.

The young woman's intentions were clearly not making it through to the young man. He looked shocked at the moment when he was pushed against the wall but it quickly change to an all knowing smirk.

"Hey Lotti," Charlotte moaned at hearing that stupid nickname. On the day they first met he exclaimed that she had such a beautiful name. It was confusing that even though Jack had said she had such a pretty name so why give a nickname? "You look so cute like that." He was referring to the angry expression on her face.

Lotti sighed knowing that Jack would only continue to flirt with her if she continued to be angry at him. She found it hard to stay angry at him anyway. Jack had such a contagious personality, which was the most annoying aspect about him she thought. The young woman let go of his shirt before talking again.

"If your here to see Master Glen, he's in the back. Follow me…and don't touch anything here this time." The last time Jack visited, he ended up accidentally breaking a few things. As a member of Baskerville, she had to take the responsibility of making sure that Jack would follow the rules while in the mansion. This task is easer said than done. The man had a habit of only listening to the things he wanted to hear.

"How often do you talk with Glen? I'm pretty sure he wouldn't mind talking with you." Jack knew the young woman had a small infatuation with the master of the Baskerville house. She looked at Glen with a special expression, a look that she gave no one else.

"Mr. Vessalius, my must-"

"Please, just Jack is fine."

"Jack," Lotti cringed upon hearing herself address him so informally. "is there a reason why you like to bother me so much?"

"I'm sorry but knowing that you get so irritated easily, I can't help but want to tease you a bit. Besides, its fun to watch you get so worked up over the small things I say." Jack kept on that all smiley face. The kind of look you give someone you've known for many years.

As much as Lotti wanted to hurt the young man at that moment, she wouldn't bring herself to do so. I will not do anything to him…right now anyway. It's exactly what he wants me to do, she thought. Jack was observing the hallways and the many fancy paintings that lined its walls. He almost bumped into her when she stopped at the door leading to the court in the back of the mansion. Lotti once again took him by the collar and pushing him out the door. He heard her mutter the word idiot just before the door had been shut.

"I love you too Lotti." Jack gave a shout through the door. Immediately, he could hear the faint yells of the girl. He laughed a bit at her reaction, knowing that what he said had its intended affect.

&.&.&.&.&.

"I love you too Lotti."

Charlotte heard Jack shout from outside as she was walking back to the main hall. She could no longer hold in her frustration after hearing those words. "Damn you Jack! Stop saying things you don't mean you retard!" The pink haired woman felt a bit better after saying that. Even after saying that she couldn't help but continue to have ill thoughts about the blonde haired man.

How can anyone say just whatever comes to mind? It's like he thinks they'll be no consequences. One of these days he is gonna say the wrong thing and I am really gonna hurt him for it. She smiled evilly at that thought. To tell the truth, she was kind of waiting for that day to happen.

It wasn't just the things Jack said that made her mad; it was also just his presence in the mansion. Why would anyone like Master Glen want to be in the company of an idiot like Jack? He is a loud and too carefree of a person. To find out that a quiet person like Glen and a loud person like Jack are best friends was baffling. Thinking about such things brought back memories of the time when she first asked Jack about his business with Glen.

I remember walking through the court and that's when I first heard the music. It's such a sad melody. But somewhere, you can feel a bright light. As I searched for the source of the music, that is when I saw Master Glen standing by the trees. The music sounded like it was coming from his direction so I made my way over to him. That is when I saw another person walking up to him from the side. That person was wearing a cloak with the hood up. The first thought that came to mind was that this suspicious person was an intruder. I grasped my weapon, my knife, and tried attacking him. The suspicious man sidestepped my attack and I was able to see the lower half of the man's face.

"This is really such a feisty lady." The man said, a friendly smile appearing on his face. I was only able to see the lower half of his face.

"Who are you?" No matter how friendly the man acted, I still kept up my guard.

"Ah, you don't have to worry. Although I'm a suspicious looking person, I'm really just a nobody." He kept that friendly smile plastered on but I still couldn't see the upper half of his face.

"A normal person would have said I'm not a suspicious person." I countered with a logical explanation. My words caused him to laugh a bit.

"If I was the one causing the suspicion, but I declared myself as not suspicious, wouldn't that make me more suspicious in turn?"

"Jack…stop messing with Charlotte." Glen finally spoke up, knowing that the logic game would only make the woman angrier. He had been a bit amused at their conversation.

"Charlotte. It's such a beautiful name! Then, can I call you Lotti?" The man said very enthusiastically. "Nice to meet you, Miss Lotti." The man now pulled his hood off. He had blonde hair, green eyes, and a long plait. "I'm Jack Vessalius. I'm just an insignificant music box maker."

Music box maker…

I was well aware that the Vessalius Household was just a third rate noble house that's not very wealthy. And Jack is the third son of that family. It might be due to their status, but his parents don't have high expectations for him. He is far too carefree, and does things by his own pace, even if it annoys others. After seeing him sneak in the Baskerville mansion a few times, I finally decided to ask him what his connection was with Master Glen.

"Those things…why don't you ask Glen yourself?"

"But that…isn't that obviously impossible? He's not the kind of person you can just talk to!" To me, Master Glen gave off the impression that he didn't like being talked to.

"Baskerville's, huh?"

I think what I just said before about talking to Master Glen went in one ear and out the other.

"Hiding their existence in the dark. The duty of the heir is to draw the lines with the other noble houses. And the only master to take care of that is Glen Baskerville."

Something's not right. It seems as if he knows too much information.

"Master Glen, he…how much did he tell you?"

"I don't know…I'm not really interested, so I don't really know. I don't care about the heavy status. To me, he's only a person with an important existence, who embraces the value of others. That's right…in other words, he is my best friend."

I was stunned. How could such a thing be true? At first I refused to believe those words but it became apparent as I saw them together very often. There was a time when I saw them talking and Master Glen actually smiled! This is very surprising seeing as how I've never seen him smile before.

&.&.&.&.&.

"You really should stop messing with Charlotte."

Jack turned around, seeing the person he had snuck into the mansion to talk to. Not far off, Glen was sitting at his table, a tea set out on it as well. The black haired man didn't even look at Jack when he spoke. Glen kept his gaze up at the sky with a look of someone deep in thought, the look of someone a little angry while slightly out of mind. Such a thing was completely normal for Glen. Jack joined him at the table, taking a sip of the tea Glen offered.

"Glen, you know why I'm here today. You plan on keeping your promise right?"

After much nagging over the past few days, Glen finally gave in. He would bring the blonde haired man to the tower where that girl was locked up. It couldn't hurt to let him meet her once and it would definitely be the only time. When Jack asked why, Glen wouldn't give a direct answer. He told Jack that this was something he truly didn't need to know and that he shouldn't ask again. Glen put down his tea cup and began walking in the direction of the tower. For Jack, just the thought of learning why that girl was kept locked up in the tower was very alluring. Maybe he would get the chance to ask that girl himself for the reason though it was a very unlikely chance. If Glen didn't want to tell him why then it was ok to reason that he wouldn't let the girl tell Jack either. Normally, Jack could read a person's facial expression and tell what they were thinking but the case was different when it involved Glen. All this thinking had caused Jack not to realize that the two of them had reached their destination.

Glen sighed at the stupidity of his friend. Instead of taking the stairway up the tower like a normal person would have done, Jack had decided to climb the tree that stood next to the structure to get in through the window. Jack could barely see the girl up through the leaves and branches, the only thing he could see was her black hair. A sudden thought came to mind; he would surprise her and burst through the leaves.

"Hi! My names Jack, what's your name?" He had finally reached the window.

The girl let out a small yell followed by almost falling backwards and she took a few steps back. It was very shocking for her to see a new person; the only people she had ever met were Glen and a few of his servants.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you like that." Jack had climbed in through the window; he could now get a good look at the girl. She looked to be about fifteen or sixteen, long black hair, purple eyes, and very fancy dress.

Though she's very pretty, she's a bit too young for me, he thought, after all, he's twenty four years old.

He put on a friendly face before talking again, "My name is Jack, what's your name?"

"I…I'm Alice." She looked down at the floor when talking. Maybe she's shy Jack thought.

"Alice, huh? You have such a cute name!"

Those words were much unexpected; no one had ever said such words like that to her before. She was not sure what to say or how to react. Jack's words caused her to blush and look down at the floor.

"So, you like collecting dolls?" Jack took notice the many dolls that lined the shelves around the room. Alice snapped out of her previous state. That was a topic she could feel very comfortable talking about.

"Very much! They are all my friends. There is also Cheshire, my cat, but he seems to be hiding at the moment."

Calling a doll your friend would seem a bit absurd to anyone. Even thought Jack found it a bit weird himself, he would respect that and not say anything more about it.

"Do you have a favorite among them?"

"The black rabbit and white rabbit sitting on my bed."

Alice wasn't sure how to explain the feeling she had while talking with Jack. It's a feeling you only get when having a good conversation with someone. That was something she didn't get to experience before.

"Jack, enough is enough. I let you meet her now its time to go." Glen had been watching their conversation. He was standing by the door leading down the spiral stairway.

It's obvious that Glen didn't want the conversation to go any further; he didn't want any information getting leaked out. Jack sighed knowing that now he had no choice but to leave. It pained the young man to see the sad look on Alice's face; she knew he had to leave now. Jack waited for Glen to go out the door first and before he could get too suspicious, Jack quickly walked back to Alice who was looking out the window again. She didn't notice him as he walked up right behind her. He lowered down a bit and whispered into her ear.

"Don't worry; I'll come back here tomorrow. Ok?"

Alice jumped slightly at his voice. She turned around and looked up into his green eyes.

"You promise?"

"Of course, I'll be here tomorrow morning."

Jack began his trip down the stairs but not before looking back at the girl one more time with his all smiley face. It was the look he gave to all girls he found cute. Jack saw her blush and couldn't help but grin as he closed he door behind him.

&.&.&.&.&.

It had certainly been a long time since she had felt this happy. Jack was such a kind person and listened to the things she had to say. Her cat, Cheshire, exited its hiding spot from underneath Alice's bed.

"Today was such a curious day. Don't you think so Cheshire?" The cat was down by her feet, rubbing itself against her leg.

Alice continued looking out the window; she could see Glen and Jack making their way back to the mansion. Standing soon became tiresome and there was nothing more to look at outside. Now would be a good time to think about what to do tomorrow when he arrives. She could show him her other dolls, favorite books, and ask him about some of his hobbies. That bit of excitement soon died down when she realized that there was still a large portion of the day left before tomorrow. She did not feel like playing with her dolls or reading any books at the moment. The best thing to do at a time like this with nothing to do would be to take a nap, she thought. It was time to sleep, let sleep pass the time; it was time to enter Wonderland.

&.&..&.&.&.

Authors Notes: Those who have read the manga will realize that I borrowed a bit of the context. I can assure you that this will happen one more time but I'll make it known now that 95% of this fic will be in my own words. I hope no one complains too much about me borrowing a bit from the manga. I only used it for the flashback. Also, please give me your most honest reviews. I'd appreciate getting your criticism and advice.

Next Chapter: Freedom