Authors Note: Thank you for reading this far! I hope you are enjoying the story so far and thank you for the reviews! I love reading them to see what you guys want to say and what you think! It always brightens my mood! Well, here's the third chapter! Enjoy!
Again, Gilbert waited for what seemed to be an eternity for a reply to the letter he had eloquently written. Two months. Gilbert had waited two long, anguishing months. These two months were lonely. After all, the albino had no one. Roderich made sure of that.
Roderich. The very name made the albino sick to his stomach. He stole everything from the albino. Everything! Memories started to flow back into the pale man's mind. Memories that had haunted Gilbert for a long time.
"Mr. Beilschmidt?" A clear voice spoke. It belonged to an older male, probably in his thirties. "We are sorry to inform that your father has passed away."
After that day, things had begun to fall apart.
"We're sorry for your loss, Gilbert."
"How is Ludwig coping with your father's death?"
After that, there was a custody battle over Ludwig. Roderich had declared that Gilbert was not fit for raising an eight year old boy by himself. The battle for custody lasted two months.
"Ludwig needs a stable environment in order to grow." The brunette said, the court swaying in his favor. "Gilbert's home does not offer this stability."
When the decision was made, Ludwig was sent to go live with Roderich. The albino was heartbroken. He had lost his father and brother in a little over two months. Then news came of Roderich's engagement to Elizaveta.
"Did you hear? Roderich proposed to Elizaveta! She accepted and they're getting married!"
"They say Roderich gave her an engagement ring with a diamond bigger than an acorn!"
"They make such a lovely couple. Roderich will treat her right with all of that money he has."
Everything was taken away. Roderich stripped him of everything. Gilbert had no one left. Even his friends were stolen away by Roderich, finding the rich man to be better company than the brutish albino.
"Sorry Gil. I promised Roderich I would come over and spend time with him. Maybe next week?"
"Gilbert, I can't come over today. Roderich is hosting a dinner party and I promised him I would come to it. I'll tell little Ludwig you said hello."
All of these memories. They flooded the albino's mind, leaving him in a crumpled mess. He could not focus on writing another letter today. It was too painful. All the words he would try to form on the soaked parchment would sound just as depressing as the sight of the ink oozing down along the paper.
Dear Elizaveta,
I have lost everything.
It was all Gilbert could manage to write and even that looked like a sodden mess. The paper was crumpled and thrown into the trash.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow he would try to write another letter. This one would be filled with less painful memories. It would be a happier letter, one that would make everything right. Gilbert knew it would. He just had a feeling everything would work out.
And when tomorrow came, making it today, the albino sat down and began to write again. This time, he could focus better, the pent up emotions flowing out onto the sheet of paper.
Dear Elizaveta,
There are days when your smile brings joy to my heart. I wish that I could see your smile once again. How is Ludwig? I hope he is behaving well for you. Sometimes I worry he might be taking after Roderich too much. I wouldn't want my little bruder to grow up und be stiff like Roderich is. He is a precious child and I wish that I could see him more often rather than just on holidays.
Even the holidays were starting to become dull. Ludwig would visit but it wasn't for long and the child seemed to be growing distant from the white-haired male.
I know that you help a lot with Ludwig. You would make a great mother someday, though I cannot bear the thought of you giving birth to that man's children. Of course, I would imagine that they would be more like you.
The albino scoffed. Roderich, that stuffy prude, would never have children. That's why he took Ludwig away from him. He didn't want to have his own children so he took Gilbert's brother away and raised him as his own child. Yes. That was why!
As more time passes by, the grains of sand slipping through my fingers, I've begun to notice that I am growing lonely in this life. Sometimes I wish that you would drop by like you did. We could talk about the many adventures we had together as children. Much like the time we built that fort in the forest. Maybe we could go und visit that fort when you come to visit me.
That was an adventurous day. It was the same day Gilbert had first decided that he wanted to be friends with Elizaveta forever and that they could have a friendly rivalry. Competing to see who could collect the most wood to craft their fort with. Of course, being young, the two build a shabby little fortress. Now, the wooden structure has moss growing on it and the trees and branches used were either snapped or rotten so that when you stepped on it, it crumpled apart.
I look forward to your reply and catching up with you. Please respond soon!
Your friend,
Gilbert Beilschmidt
This letter was sent out and the albino would wait once again. He waited and waited. Summer was starting to fade away and signs of autumn were sinking in. The leaves outside were turning from vibrant greens to crumpled shades of oranges, reds, and browns. The air was crisp smelling but to Gilbert, this was not a comforting smell. In fact, it made the albino nauseous. It made Gilbert's stomach twist, bringing those terrible memories of losing everything he loved and cared for within a year. It brought back the memories of being alone and it made Gilbert feel old. There were dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep. Autumn was here. Autumn was here and so were all of those painful memories.
Authors Note: Thank you for reading this chapter! It's a little longer than the others. I got a little carried away. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! R&R F&F!