I own nothing but my OC.
That Butler, Trick or Treat 3
'thoughts'
"speech"
"Demonic speech"
{setting/stage directions?}
SOUND EFFECTS
An entire sentence like this, without quotes, is narration for dreams or stuff like written letters.
=†=†=†=†= scene shift/time shift
Previously:
"I see, so Lacey is ' an eye for an eye' type of person..." Sebastian said thoughtfully. He decided he would have to congratulate Lacey if they saw her.
"No, She isn't. Lacey is more of 'an arm and a leg for an eye' type of person. She was just too busy helping me calm down from my emotional trauma to do more damage..." Chêne said, sweat dropping. "Speaking of Lacey, how is—"
DING-DONG! DING-DONG! DIIIIINNG-DOOOOOOONG!
"Oh, someone's at the door..." Pomona said, smiling like a Cheshire cat.
"My, my~! I wonder who it could be~?" Pomona sang, grinning as she skipped out of the room to answer the door, pulling Chêne with her. Ciel and Sebastian exchanged a looked before deciding to follow. They were starting to think that Chêne might be the normal one in the family...
"W-Wait, PomPom—!" Chêne said nervously as she struggled to break free from her mother's iron grip. For some reason her mother seemed to occasionally possess super human strength when she got over excited, like a kind of 'emergency strength at the scene of a fire' type of strength. Chêne managed to grab the frame of the entrance to the hall, and held on tight. "Is it really okay for people to see us!? What if they start asking ques—"
"Oh, you worry too much, Chêne~!" Pomona said cheerfully as she struggled to get to pry her daughter away from the wall. "Sebastian, be a dear and answer the door, please~!" She called out brightly to the demon butler. Ciel sweat dropped, and nodded to Sebastian to just do as she asked. Chêne's mother looked like she was having great fun toying with Chêne, like she was some kind of life-size doll.
'... Actually, that might not be a bad idea...' Ciel thought, filing it away for once they returned, and he could get back to work on fixing the lame toy designs they had presented to him earlier. Maybe if he could give Elizabeth a life-size doll, she'd stop trying to dress him up.
"Very well." Sebastian said as he opened the door.
"Chêêêêêênne—!!" A platinum blond girl, who had a streak of purple in her hair to match her purple eyes, cried dramatically as she flew into the house. This girl's outfit made the skinny jeans and t-shirt that Chêne had been wearing when they first met her look downright virtuous in comparison. Not only was she showing more skin than the prostitutes of the Victorian era, but she also had a tattoo. Was this girl some kind of criminal? She grabbed the first person she came to, and glomped them. "Oh my God! I can't believe you're finally..." The blond teenager trailed off when she realized that the person she was hugging was not soft, petite, and did not smell like jasmine... therefore, they were not Chêne. It was Sebastian. However, instead of letting go, the strange new girl tightened her grip on Sebastian as she glared up at the surprised demon. "Who the hellare you? Where's my Chêne!?" Lacey demanded darkly as she squeezed Sebastian until they started to hear his back crack. Chêne and Ciel winced at the sound, but if Sebastian was in pain, he was doing an excellent job of not showing it.
"Um... I'm over here, Lacey..." Chêne said, smiling wryly as she sweat dropped and waved at her crazy friend.
"Chêne, my love~!" Lacey cried happily as she dropped Sebastian like a sack of rotten potatoes, and pounced on her BFF. "Aaah... My oasis is back~!" Lacey said, sighing blissfully as she glomped Chêne. Lacey's smile was so radiant, that the air around her was filled with a sparkling aura.
'Another weirdo has appeared...' Ciel thought, chagrinned. Were all the people in Chêne's world insane?
"It feels like it's been forever since I last laid hands on you~!" Lacey cooed as she held Chêne. She looked like Sebastian when he was with a cat.
"I missed you too, Lacey." Chêne said, smiling wryly as she hugged her friend. "... But I think this could probably be considered rape in some parts of the world." Chêne deadpanned, sweat dropping, as Lacey copped a feel on her boobs. When Lacey glomped Chêne, she had knocked the petite girl onto her back on the floor, and Lacey was now laying on top of Chêne in such a way that, rather than a pair of friends, they looked like two lesbian lovers about to 'do the deed.'
"Quite..." Sebastian said in agreement as he stepped forward to remove Chêne from Lacey's clutches. He was smiling his 'scary smile' again. It irked him that Chêne was actually letting this strange girl touch her so freely. "Perhaps you should release—" Lacey hissed at him like a pissed off alley cat that thought someone was trying to steal her little mouse dinner.
"No! My Chêne!" Lacey snapped at Sebastian, tightening her grip on Chêne. Chêne sweat dropped.
"It's fine, Sebastian... I'm used to it." Chêne said, smiling wryly. "She's just 'recharging' she'll be fine in a moment... I hope." Sebastian and Ciel stared at her. Chêne was normally so shy whenever Sebastian teased her, but she seemed to have no problem whatsoever with practically being molested by her female 'friend.'
"I know it looks suspicious, but don't worry, Sebastian—Chêne is completely straight—She's the very definition of 'heterosexual'~!" Pomona said, smiling. She felt like they might need an explanation after seeing the looks on their faces. "That's just how Lacey shows affection for someone~ the more she likes someone, the more she harasses them~! After sixteen years of friendship, Chêne had finally gotten used to it~!"
"Then why isn't she showing you any of this 'affection'...?" Ciel asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Hahaha~!" Lacey laughed, grinning at Ciel. "'Why' you ask? That's because Cpt. LeBeau— Mrs. P's hubby and Chêne's daddy—is a jealous man, and he can kill a man twice his size with one finger." Lacey said seriously. "I'm just crazy, not suicidal."
"I see... I almost thought Miss Lacey was 'gay' for a moment..." Sebastian said, feeling oddly relieved that Lacey was merely 'playing.' He had to admit, Chêne's father sounded rather formidable... for a human.
"Oh, no, Chêne's the one who's straight—I'm bi~!" Lacey said, smirking at him.
"Bi...?" Ciel asked curiously.
"Oh, my~! Chêne, did you not give Ciel the 'birds and the bees' talk yet? He's about Laurie's age, isn't he?" Pomona asked, frowning slightly. "Even if it's embarrassing, it's important to tell kids these things before they start 'experimenting' on their own, you know~!"
"PomPom—!!" Chêne gasped incredulously at her mother. "First of all, I did explain all of that to him, and second—just what kind of image do you have of Ciel...!? He's a twelve-year-old aristocrat from the Victorian era! They only just started letting people dance the waltz in public, because they considered it to be indecent to have a man and woman dancing so close to each other! He's not going to go around 'experimenting'!" Chêne said indignantly, blushing. Lacey snorted.
"Pfft...! And to think, that's probably the only 'innocent' dance we have nowadays... Ha!" Lacey laughed, smirking at the irony.
"Ahem. Are you going to answer my question, or not?" Ciel asked, vein mark throbbing on his forehead as he blushed slightly. This was getting ridiculous.
"When someone says they're 'bi' it means they're 'bisexual'... as in, Lacey likes both boys and girls~!" Pomona explained, smiling brightly. Sebastian and Ciel's eyes twitched slightly. Ciel's twitched because he was shocked and appalled that such a thing was even possible, and Sebastian's eye twitched because he was trying to remain calm instead of pulling Lacey off of Chêne. Why was this bothering him so?
"Th-Then... you...?" Ciel stuttered, trying to ask if Lacey had a thing for Chêne, but finding it difficult to bring himself to actually saying it.
"No, Ciel, I am not Chêne's lesbian lover." Lacey deadpanned, sensing Ciel's inner turmoil. It's true that she's my favorite person, but I usually prefer men. There's only so much you can do with another girl, you know? You can't even—"
"Stop. Right. There." Chêne said, shooting Lacey a warning look. "You know I love you (as a friend) Lacey, but if you say one more word that'll mentally scar Ciel, then I'm going to have to smack you, got it? Isn't it enough that you've already corrupted me?" She asked, chagrined. Lacey stared at her for a moment. She sighed in defeat.
"Haaah... Fine, I guess you win... this time. Let me just cop another feel real quick, and we'll call it even. You're boobs have gotten bigger, haven't they~!" Lacey said, grinning. Chêne sweat dropped and blushed shyly.
"Y-Yeah... I'm about a 32C now..." Chêne mumbled shyly. Lacey and Pomona both stared at her, surprised.
"Did you hear that, Mrs. P~!?" Lacey asked Pomona excitedly as she jumped up, finally releasing Chêne, so that she could hold hands with Pomona.
"I did indeed, Lacey dearest~!" Pomona squealed excitedly as she clasped hands with Lacey.
"I take it you know what this means, then...?" Lacey asked Pomona, smirking.
"Oh, most definitely..." Pomona replied as they both turned to look back at Chêne, wearing identical evil smirks.
"It's shopping time~!" The two women sang as Pomona ran off to retrieve her credit card from her purse, and Lacey grabbed Chêne.
"Be back in time for lunch, Serpentine~! Remember to get the boys something they can wear to fit in~!" Pomona called out as she threw her card at Lacey, like it was a ninja star.
"Roger, Candy Apple! I'll have 'Eve' prepped and ready to go by noon, military time~!" Lacey said, catching the card as she dragged Chêne out the house before she had a chance to react.
SLAM!
Ciel and Sebastian stared as the door shut behind them, and they heard tires squealing as Lacey peeled out of the driveway again.
"So... would anyone like something to eat or drink? Raise your hand if the answer is 'yes'~!" Pomona said cheerfully as she raised her own hand and smiled brightly at them, as though she hadn't just let Lacey drag her daughter off to God knows where.
=†=†=†=†=
"... Hey, Lacey... I just realized something... Why aren't you in school? Isn't today Friday?" Chêne asked, sweat dropping. They were already on their way to the nearest Target, on the I-12W.
"Well, it is Friday, but I'm in college now, Chêne. I'm going to SELU right now, in Hammond. That's how I knew you were there—You were within rang of my 'Chêne radar,' so when you 'pinged' on it, I just had to drop by for a visit. I don't have any classes scheduled on Fridays, so it's all good. You would know all this if you hadn't gone off to a parallel universe tohave such an interesting adventure without me." Lacey deadpanned, narrowing her eyes slightly at Chêne. Chêne sunk further into the passenger seat of the car, feeling a little guilty. Lacey probably would've loved chasing after Jack the Ripper with them.
"I'm sorry, Lacey..." Chêne said apologetically, biting her lip, as she looked sadly at her best friend. Lacey started at Chêne. Chêne looked just like a lost little kitten that had been left out in the rain. Lacey sighed. Chêne's natural 'sad kitty' eyes were even more lethal than all of her planned 'sad puppy' eyes combined.
"Fine, I get it. It's not like you can plan something like that... but I have to say, your natural talent for getting into trouble just keeps escalating... You're defying the laws of physics now..." Lacey said, grinning wickedly. "Only you could pull that one off~!" She said, laughing. "What's next? Are you going to get bitten by a radioactive bug, and become a superhero?" Lacey joked. Chêne sweat dropped.
"Actually, Lacey... there's something I have to tell you... but you have to promise me that you won't tell a anyone, and I mean anyone!" Chêne said seriously. Lace smirked.
"I'll take it to my grave, if that's what you want." Lacey said solemnly. If Chêne was this serious, it was bound to something good.
=†=†=†=†=
{Back at the LeBeau residence...}
"Would you like some more pancakes, Ciel?" Pomona asked, smiling.
"No, thank you, but I really couldn't eat another bite." Ciel said politely. Pomona had been a very gracious hostess to them so far... this must be the 'Southern Hospitality' Chêne had mentioned before. So far, their status as 'guests' seemed to have granted them a kind of clemency against the same type of harassment she had been giving Chêne before... Ciel and found it rather strange that the two of them, who were strangers, were being respected more by Chêne's mother, than Chêne herself... not that he was complaining. These 'pancakes' were delicious. He should've let Chêne make them for him, instead of turning her down when she offered last time.
"Are you sure you don't want anything, Sebastian?" Pomona asked the demon butler.
"Thank you, Pomona, but I am perfectly fine. Are you certain you would not like my assistance for anything?" Sebastian asked, smiling politely. Pomona had barred him from using the kitchen, since he was a guest, but he had still managed to find a way to occupy his time. When Sebastian complimented the framed color photograph of Chêne and Jasper I hanging on the wall, Pomona had decided to show him the family photo albums. They were quite amusing. Not only was Jasper I quite the beauty, but there were several photos of Chêne in the middle of and after a few amusing mishaps... like almost being decapitated by the 'garage door' of their old house, and Chêne ducking as her younger sister's flaming marshmallow flew towards her head after her sister panicked and threw it away from herself without any thought of the consequences... little amusing scenes like that. In all the pictures of Chêne's childhood (aside from the ones of her as an infant), she seemed to be constantly smiling. She was like a little ray of sunshine... but there were a few where Chêne's bright eyes looked disturbingly dull, like she was just a shell of the mischievous and happy child she had been in the others... There were some nasty bruises on her small face.
"Ah, so that's what has you looking so thoughtful... These are from the days right after my husband saved Chêne from her kidnappers." Pomona said, smiling sadly as she looked at the album over his shoulder. That got Ciel's attention too. He stood up and walked over to see what they were talking about. He almost didn't recognize the young, depressed girl staring back at him.
"... What happened...?" Ciel asked, furrowing his brow slightly as he frowned. Chêne had once told him she went through a situation similar to what had happened to him that day, but she had never gone into details before. She had only said, that his situation was worse than hers, so he was right when he said that she would never be able to fully understand, and that she wouldn't insult him by pretending to.
"When Chêne was seven, there was a very small group of terrorists who decided to target a few military families... we were one of them, since Chêne's father is a Marine. I had left Chêne at home with a baby-sitter, since her sister Laurie was still a newborn, it was hard to watch both of them at the same time, and I had to run a few errands... but I should've just brought her with me anyway." Pomona said sadly. "After I left, Chêne went to go play outside in the front yard, and race the little makeshift sailboats she liked to make out of left-over plastic sushi trays, like she always did after it rained... and they took her. Jasper was with Chêne, so she tried to protect her. Haha... I heard from the neighbor that rather than just a normal housecat, Jasper had done enough damage to those bastards to rival a lioness—she was a much better guardian than that lousy baby-sitter I had hired!" Pomona said, smiling sardonically at the memory. "But she was still just one small cat against a group of three violent men... They pulled Chêne into the van, and threw poor Jasper under the wheels of their car as they drove off, killing her." Sebastian's eyes narrowed dangerously at that. He frowned. These terrorists were truly monsters... doing such horrible thing to such a majestic and valiant creature. "The neighbor who saw all of this was just an elderly woman, and since she couldn't do anything about it herself... She decided to call my husband and warn him, since he often helped with her yard, whenever he was home. The baby-sitter finally realized my daughter was missing, and called me a little while after that. I immediately called the police, and my husband on my cell phone as I rushed home, but he didn't answer me... I was so scared—I thought I was going to lose my baby forever, but... the next day... My husband returned, and he had Chêne with him." Pomona said, smiling softly as she gazed lovingly at a photo of Chêne and her husband. Cpt. LeBeau was a rather handsome, and solid looking man. Chêne had inherited his warm, chocolate-brown hair. He was cradling the young Chêne protectively in his arms. "They tried to make a video of Chêne, as 'poof of life,' but she refused to do anything they asked her to after they killed Jasper. They beat her when she wouldn't cooperate, but she still wouldn't give in... She's always been so stubborn..." Pomona said, smiling wanly. "... But she's always been a smart girl, too. She only listened to them enough to avoid being killed, and she managed to 'accidentally' break the camera so that they would have to get a new one... That's probably the only reason she was able to stay alive long enough for my husband to find her... all the other kids were too scared to fight back, and once the other members of the terrorist group made their 'proof of life' videos... they executed the children... Those bastards just murder those poor children, and dumped their bodies in the swamp like they were nothing!!" Pomona cried, wiping her eyes. Ciel clinched his fist. Chêne was right... her situation was different from his. He had thought she meant they were different because she still had her family, but... Chêne was much younger than he had been when she had been taken, and yet... unlike him, she had actually managed to fight back against her captors on her own. Unlike Chêne, he had simply been a powerless child in the hands of the cult—just like the other children who had been kidnapped by the terrorists who took Chêne. Sebastian silently watched Ciel out the corner of his eye as they listened to Pomona's story.
"A-Anyway, my husband told me that after he called in a few favors from some of the guys who owed him one, he managed to track down the terrorists, and when he got to their base, an abandoned shack in Terrebonne Parish, someone was using a flashlight to signal 'S.O.S.' in Morse code. Chêne had tricked them into giving her a small flashlight by crying and pretending to be afraid of the dark, and since hitting her wouldn't make her shut up, they decided to humor her... just until they could make the video. They left Chêne locked up in a room by herself, with a guard outside the door, so none of them noticed when she started flashing Morse code through a hole in the wall. My husband had taught her Morse code so they could play a game by signaling to each other, so you can imagine just how proud he was when he saw her using it to call for help." Pomona said, smiling proudly. "Long story short, my husband beat the crap out of those terrorists, and saved our Chêne. The terrorists were handed over to the Louisiana branch of NCIS (a government agency that is like a Naval version of the police), and they shut down the entire terrorist cell. It took a while for Chêne to recover from watching Jasper die, and being kidnapped, but as you probably know by now, nothing can keep her down for long. That's why my husband wanted to name her 'Chêne.' So she'd grow up to be strong and dependable, yet still as flexible and playful as the live oaks in the New Orleans' City Park that Chêne loved to play on as a child!" She said, smiling brightly.
Author's Note:
The reason the think Lacey might be a criminal when they see her tattoo, is because people who were ordinary 'respectable' citizens and considered themselves members of 'polite society' would never have even dreamed of getting a tattoo, so only unsavory characters sported tattoos way back when.
Hammond and Covington are both on the Northshore.
Terrebonne Parish is in the very southern part of Louisiana, even farther south than New Orleans.
