A/N: Another lengthy chapter! I'm getting carried away but I'm looking forward to getting into the heart of this story. I have something very, VERY interesting coming up. Thank you to those who reviewed and I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 2: An Innocent Lost
It was early in the morning, before the sun rises when the tide is low and the air is crisp and cool. The sky was beginning to fill with a soft light announcing the sun's climb over the horizon. It was unusually early for me to be awake; especially this alert but I didn't feel a tinge of drowsiness in my body. I got out of bed and tied on a light robe and put on a pair of slippers. Was last night really a dream? Was that mysterious creature real? Even though I couldn't remember it I knew I dreamed about him.
I headed towards my vanity but stopped mid-step and sniffed the air. For a moment I thought I'd smelled his all too sweet scent. No, nothing but salty sea air. I sat down and absently began braiding my long hair. My head was a mess of questions and speculations. I stopped halfway. There was a necklace on the table. A deep red teardrop shaped gem hung on a gold chain, connected at the top by an intricate design.
I cautiously picked it up. The gem, while no bigger than my thumbprint, was mesmerizing. It was too deep a color for any ruby I'd seen and beneath the glossy surface the color seemed to swirl like smoke in the wind. Red eyes flashed in my mind. His red eyes. I sucked in a breath. I knew he hadn't been a dream. Could this be from him? My gut told me to leave it alone but I chose to ignore it.
I pulled my hair aside and fiddled with the clasp behind my neck. As I finally latched it on, a shiver ran through my spine. There was something wonderfully wicked about the necklace. I admired the gem's brilliant flicker in the mirror, feeling a sudden surge of vanity swell up. Gems were for the wealthy and well-to-do of society. When we lived in England I had a few gems of my own, nothing special, and when I married Edmund I'd been given jewelry that fell between the areas of extravagant and gaudy, certainly not pieces I would wear willingly.
When my father was stationed to be the new governor for a popular Caribbean port town with a growing piracy problem, I was still in England. Then Edmund died. Since I'd bore no children and I refused to be a mistress to my former brother-in-law, who was first in line to the property and status regardless of Edmund's death, I was stripped of everything and shipped here. Even with the new prestige behind my family's name, I didn't feel important or worthy. But this necklace made me feel different, almost prideful.
Footsteps from down the hall ripped me from my thoughts. It was a little early for the help to be roaming the house already. Curious, I headed for the door and peeked out. My mother. She was standing at my sister's door and the look on her face told me she was distraught.
I furrowed my brow. She looked more upset than I'd seen in years. When I was little, my mother was nervous and severely overprotective of me. I assumed it was because I was her only child at the time. My twin brother had died shortly after birth and my mother struggled to conceive another, suffering multiple miscarriages. I remember my father openly taking mistresses, and I'm sure he fathered several illegitimate children, as mother slowly began to slip into an unstable state of mind. The memories were far from pleasant.
When Claire was born, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Mother became happier. She laughed and smiled every day from then on. It was like the past years had been a nightmare that she only had to wake up from. The beauty everyone envied had returned once more. Her slender frame carried a grace and elegance I could never accomplish, that surpassed even royalty. She was the beauty that could truly launch a thousand ships.
I felt blessed to inherit her looks, from the facial features to the golden hair. But most of the time, I felt cursed. She was older and had the poise to carry her thin, lean frame. I had the curse of curves and attracted wandering eyes that I didn't want. Even with the faintest signs of wrinkles and age she still garnered respect and high praise while I received the vulgar and lewd gestures. I was called "Beatrice's daughter" rather than my own name, making me feel like a shadow or ghost and not an actual human being. Sometimes, feeling selfish, I resented her for it even though it was something she couldn't even control.
But now, with that look on her face, I felt a pang in my heart. I didn't want to see her fall once more. The fits, the catatonic spells. I stepped into the hallway. "Mother?"
She turned and hastily brushed tears off her face. "Evelyn, my dear heart, what are you doing up this early?" She was struggling to keep a smile on her face and her voice was wavering. The familiar feeling of pity for her rose up in my stomach.
"I couldn't sleep and heard someone in the hallway." I tugged my robe closer trying to hide the pendant. I hadn't come up with a viable excuse for it yet. I nodded at Claire's door. "Is something wrong?" When she was 'sick' as I learned to call it, she would check on me while I was asleep, sometimes going as far to lock me in my room at night. I hoped she wasn't starting again with me or Claire.
"I only wanted to check on your sister," she said, her voice shaking still. I glanced down to see her nervously fidgeting her hands.
I stepped forward and placed my own over them. She stopped and I saw her sigh with relief. "Don't worry," I said using the same soothing voice I did with Claire. I wasn't a motherly type but I knew what it took to comfort someone, what I wanted when I had no one to comfort me. "We'll check on Claire and then take you to your room to rest."
She nodded silently and I led the way to open the door. Trying my best to make as little sound as possible I cracked open the door and peered in. The sheets on the bed where tousled but my sister wasn't there. I walked in the room and scanned around. Nothing.
My heart jumped in my chest and I knelt down to check under the bed. "Claire?" Again, nothing.
"Where is she?" I turned to find mother standing in the room, frantic. "Oh, God!" She stared openmouthed and pointed at the window. It was open, something I knew she wouldn't allow to happen. Claire couldn't reach the lock from her height. No, someone had to have done this.
Panic set in and I shuddered out a deep breath. There was no ladder outside the second story window and no trace of my sister. Claire was gone. Mother was about to breakdown, I could see it in her face. There was no possible way she could have just vanished into thin air. Then, it struck me. My stomach flipped as the conversation from last night flooded my mind. When dawn breaks, head towards the beach by the docks.
The docks, I thought to myself. Could she really be there, of all places? Was she already on a ship about to be taken away from her family? Fort Charles was close by and I knew they had guards patrolling around the clock. Surely someone would have noticed her. I stood at the doorway, caught in between staying here and doing nothing or following some ambiguous warning from a creature that clearly wasn't human. If it meant potentially saving my little sister from harm, I'd do go. The last line of the threat echoed in my ears:
And I advise you, be quick about yourself.
"I'm heading for the docks," I shouted over my shoulder. Without a second thought, I ran out the room. I ignored my mother's cries and shouts as I raced down the steps and quickly unlocked the door. And I ran. We lived above the town and the docks were far but it would take too long to gather a horse or a carriage and I knew I didn't have the luxury of time right now. If I avoided the town and took the short cut I could save more time.
I headed for the thick foliage that had been neglected over the years. The dirt pathway was faint but visible enough to guide me to the beach. Nothing else mattered in those moments and I did my best to block the pain of branches whipping against my skin and ignored the mud splattering up my legs. I felt the guilt and regret of missing out on so much of Claire's life during those past three years weigh heavy on my heart. But most of all I felt fear.
Ragged and damp with sweat, I stopped short when the soil became soft sand and the ocean was fully in view. I looked to my right. Fort Charles stood out in the view like an eyesore on the pristine beach. I didn't spot any guards from where I was and flagging one down would take too much time. I decided to go left where I could see the docks in the near distance.
Exhaustion was setting in but I forced myself to run as fast as I could down the beach. When I reached underneath the nearest dock, I paused and my breath caught in my throat. There was something—no, someone on the ground. I immediately recognized the soft brown curls splayed out and the pale blue dress. I took a step forward. There was also something dark tainting the stark white sand.
I ran out into the open where Claire's little body laid, barely touching the outstretched tide. I sat down on my knees beside her with hot tears stinging my eyes. My heart fell in my stomach as I lightly moved her hair aside from her face. I stifled a scream with my hand. She was barely recognizable. Both eyes were swollen shut with dark bruising marring her skin and dried blood caked around her mouth. The skin around her tiny wrists was bright pink and raw from what looked to be rope burn.
I looked down to find more blood and the tears begin to fall. Her dress had been hiked up, showing finger-shaped bruises on her thighs and was stained red there. I looked away as bile shot up my throat and I struggled to keep it down. They had defiled my little sister, the one who truly had ever held a piece of my heart. I had tried so desperately to give her the happy childhood I had wanted while I had been around. And now this? I tried to keep my sobs inside. I leaned down and felt her cheek. It was still warm.
"Claire? Claire!" I looked up to find my mother running down from up the beach, appearing from nowhere that I'd seen. I noticed she was still in her robe and nightgown as she knelt down on the other side of Claire, gently stroking her scratched cheeks. She stared in shock at the condition her daughter was in, choking out a sob when she saw the blood and bruises below.
"She's still warm," I strangled out quickly.
Mother nodded and gently placed an ear over Claire's chest. Her eyes widened and fell. "Her heartbeat is there, but it's too faint and her breath is…" She trailed off, gazing down at my sister. She carefully gathered her in her arms, cradling her head and crying in her hair. There was so much love in my mother's heart for Claire. She held a special place in everyone's. Claire was light and innocence and everything good that was left in this world. Her life brought my mother's back from the brink and the memory of her smile kept me going when I didn't think I could myself. And now, seeing the pain on my mother's face, I knew I was watching her heart irreparably shatter.
She slowly stood up, still cradling Claire. I was a little surprised to see her able to lift my sister with no problems. "Oh my sweet Claire," she whispered sorrowfully as she rock back and forth, tears streaming furiously down her face, "I am so sorry I could not protect you from him."
I wanted to ask what she meant, to know what monster had done this to my sister but mother looked back at me and the words slipped away. "Hurry to Fort Charles and get someone. A soldier, a doctor, anyone." She was starting to shake, struggling for calm in a situation like this. Without another word she began walking into the ocean, still holding Claire but with a strong look of intent on her teary face.
My legs were cemented in place as I watched her ease into the water. "What are you doing?" I blurted out.
She didn't what she was doing, nearly knee deep in the oceans currents already, nor did she turn to look at me. "I am going to send her somewhere I know she will be safe," she answered quietly. "It's the only thing I can do now." I didn't move and she glanced over her shoulder, a harsh look on her face. "Now, get someone. Go."
The sternness and urgency in her command drove me forward. If Claire made it through this, if she survived… No, I couldn't think like that. There was still hope. But what about mentally? Could an eight-year-old really comprehend what had happened to her? I thought back to what'd happened to me, my own nightmare years ago… It didn't come close to Claire's. I would give anything to be in her place, to save her from this horror.
As I tried my best to run down the shore, my sobs held me back little by little. The situation was surreal. This couldn't happen to my little sister. No, anyone but her. This was one of the horrific stories you hear from lonely drunks on the street who'd lost everything, not my family. Not a governor's daughter. I kept going, my body numb but my heart painfully swelling with emotion in my chest.
I was at the gates when I heard a woman howling in the distance. The sound was filled with a sorrow and pain that could still the very ocean and every creature that resided in her bosom. It voiced a hurt that no parent should have to endure. It frightened me down to my core, more than anything else in this world. I didn't need to look back to see what I knew had already happened.
I collapsed to my knees, where the guards would later find me covered in grime and sweat and tears, sobbing uncontrollably while my heart finally burst.
(End of Chapter 2)
