Thursday 30 April 2009, Dublin, Ireland
"Soon another of the missions to go stealing was about to start, this time I had even done one more andseen Diana and ended up making a promise to go on her birthday, which would be risky, until then I had onlydone it when Daryl clearly left for a while, this time the chances of her being at the Cavendish mansion werevery high, but I wasn't going to stop going to celebrate my little sister's seventh birthday, which I managed toconvince Anna and Carter of, they were helping me to finally put this idea into practice and it was preciselythis that convinced my mum to let me go."
"It was too much of a coincidence that you went just for Diana's birthday, I really thought it was suspiciousand strange, but now I know why you left, it's all clear, luckily you came back, but it's still very risky to do amission like that."
"It was a risk I had to take, all to see a smile on my sister's face, it was worth it, mum, I know you reallywanted to be there to see her birthday or even give her a present and find out about it, but unfortunately itcan't be done."
I'm already getting ready to go out for a while, I'm even getting ready to go out again, I look at Daniella in the living room, she's at the computer typing something, I go over to my girlfriend, giving her a little kiss on the cheek followed by one on her smiling face, how cute, it had been so nice to go out with her during the spring holidays, to see Rebecca, to visit some places with my girlfriend, but today I have to go out.
"Travelling again, love? You've been travelling a lot lately, it must be something really important, can't the house get cleaned soon?" She has no idea.
"I'm always going round to renovate the Du Nord family home, I get a bit angry, but it's necessary to make the place comfortable for the day we start living together in our own little corner" I say, stroking her cheek.
"I want to be able to come and help one day, to see our future home, it would be marvellous" Damn, I really have to find new excuses.
Then I get up from the sofa, after chatting to my beloved, I wave, heading outside, arriving at the car, I even huff, this is going to be very sad, having to leave like this, well at least I can enjoy the day when I arrive, it sucks not being able to tell Daniella about this, but it's for a good cause, she can't know what's going on around here.
I get in the car and start driving to the airport, well this is going to be a long journey, I'm risking a mission with a very high chance of Daryl wandering around the mansion, this is going to be very risky.
"It's a coincidence that it's Diana's birthday, if you could I'd give you something to give your little sister" I really wish I could, but the mission is important.
"A great coincidence really, I think Daryl is going to leave the house on Diana's birthday to make her suffer some more, so it'll be the golden opportunity to start the mission... I feel bad knowing that I'm going to steal while she's there crying" I say, huffing.
"Unfortunately, we're still going to have to do a lot of crying, Chariot, if you already feel bad about this, who knows what I'm going to do, I'm manipulating all of this so that Diana will think that it was something more gradual than a fire at the mansion and Daryl's end will be saved by you, before any disaster, that I'm going to make a scapegoat get the worst of it? I feel the weight of my actions and my plan right here" said my mother, "and I understand, but we can't give up.
"We have to keep going, we won't give up" I say with motivation and she nods.
"Well come on, now it's time to go to the airport, we're arriving" I'm so excited to see my little sister again, she'll appreciate me being there.
I know I'm doing something wrong by having to get close to Diana, but to see her smiling, to see the little girl having little moments of happiness, that's what fills my heart, I'm happy to see her so well and happy, I'm being her reason, my sister feels good to see me doing things that Mum Bernadette used to do and I still remember many of them, both she and I still miss them very much.
[...]
I've arrived at the mansion, I'm about to change, I'm going to be so relieved to see my sister, according to Anna, Daryl ended up going out with the girls today and went to an amusement park with the two of them, leaving Diana alone on her birthday, very typical of my aunt, wanting to be mean to her niece, but now I'm going to show her that all is not lost, she won't be so sad.
Well, everything's almost ready, I've put on all my clothes, I've got my wig and my glasses, Chariot Du Nord leaves and Charlotte Dupont comes on, that name was quite cheeky, but it's still working, I leave the room and I see that Anna is waiting for me.
"Well done, Master Chariot, you're managing to maintain the class of a good maid in this weather, come on, Diana's waiting in the dining room, with a very closed face by the way" said Anna.
"She's not going today, I'm sure she'll enjoy spending time here having fun, I've brought some things for her that I've saved for the best" I say more cheerfully.
I'm walking through the corridors, accompanied byAnna, where I'm already thinking about Diana, she must be very sad today, I get to the dining room and I see a nice cake, but she's all sad looking at the food, looking at everything she has to eat and also at the half-extinguished seven-year-old candle, which I wave and call the girl and she quickly changes her expression to smile a lot at my presence.
"Charlotte!" She shouts and comes running towards me, and I hug her as soon as the little girl arrives, throwing herself into the air.
"Oh Diana, I promised I'd come and see you" I say happily, stroking her hair.
"I've been waiting days for you to come, I even thought you wouldn't turn up for my birthday, I've been saying all these days that I have an imaginary friend called Charlotte, since my aunt listened to me, unfortunately my cousins and my aunt have been taking it hard on me, calling me crazy and that they're going to throw me in a mental institution" They're not going to do that.
"Now let's have some fun, I've brought a few things for us to enjoy" I say smiling, I've been able to bring something she'll like from my rucksack.
She gets up and takes me to another place, I think she wants to show me something first, I follow her up the stairs, how cute, we get to her room, when I open the door I see the place is quite normal, I've been here a few times, she goes to a box where she usually keeps jewellery and she takes something out of it, when I show it to her it's a Shiny Chariot card, I'm surprised to see one of these, how cute.
"I know you know the Shiny Chariot, I want to show it to you, it's something precious that I treasure" said my little sister.
"Oh how lovely, it's a letter from Shiny Chariot" It's hard to speak in the third person.
"I'd like to know about the many adventures you had with Shiny Chariot Mrs Charlotte, you said you were good friends, that's the only way to get to know her" I take a deep breath because I don't want to reveal myself.
"Oh I only knew her for a while, we studied together at Luna Nova, she was a very exemplary student" Lying as usual, I was pretty awful at first.
"One day I want to study and graduate from Luna Nova, just like Mum, just like Chariot, and one day I want to meet my love there too" she was all inspired.
"Your love? Why do you dream of meeting your love at an all-girls school?" I ask my sister.
"So you promise not to tell anyone, do you?" I nod my head and we even shake hands.
"A friend's promise" I say smiling.
"Mrs Charlotte, I don't like boys, they're disgusting, they're not pretty, girls are much prettier, I want to have a girlfriend, I want to have a life with her, to be happy, I don't want a boyfriend, that's my dream when I get to Luna Nova, to meet a girl and be her girlfriend" How cute.
"And how are you going to have a family?" I ask her.
"I don't know, I'll adopt a child or find a way, I don't want to have to date a boy for that, there are families where there are two mums, I've seen it in books" I smile at her and stroke her hair.
"And if I told you that two girls could have a child, that they could get married and start a family, would you believe me?" She has no idea where she came from.
"Really? I want to know a lot about it" I nod.
"There is a magical relic called the fertility stone. Two witches use it with a lot of love to have a child, where the child has part of both mum and mum, together they can form a family and be happy"
"Is that true?" You're proof of that, Diana, but I can't say, unfortunately, so I'll just nod my head.
"When you get older, you'll be able to have one, but remember that you have to love someone very much for that to happen, by the way, what you say has a name, you're a lesbian, just like me, just like? Never mind, one day you'll know things" I almost reveal that Mum Bernadette is also a lesbian.
"I know what lesbian means, I'm glad that one more person here is like me, at least I'm not alone here" And I won't, I'll even hug the girl.
"You're not alone Diana, I'm still going to be very important in your life, wait here and I'll bring you a present, I know you'll like it" I'm very close to her.
I could see her very happy and excited, I leave the room, and I'm thrilled, it's good that Anna didn't hear anything, although she doesn't care much about these issues, kind of like mums, maybe she has a fear and concern about what happened, but it has nothing to do with the two being lesbians, but with Daryl's evil.
I get to my room and pick up a box containing a special present that I know Diana will like, she probably didn't get anything interesting as a present, I walk through the corridors, looking around, which I return to. I get back to my sister's room and there I bring her a present, I hope she likes it, she opens the box and when I reveal it she's surprised, she's even happy, even though it's too big I know she'll treasure it.
"It's a signed Shiny Chariot T-shirt! I've always wanted one, it's too big!" My little sister said.
"When she's older, I know she'll treasure it and be able to wear it, it's a long-standing present" I tell her and she hugs me all excited.
"I loved Charlotte! I loved it so much! I'll keep it with all my heart!" She said excitedly.
We hug, I cry a little, but discreetly, I'm so happy to see her react like this to a present, it makes my heart fill, my little sister being able to smile, I know that one day we'll be together more and that she'll discover the shocking truth, but I really wish that day wouldn't come so soon.
Unfortunately I have to prepare the ground, I know that when things come to a head she'll trust me more, without knowing that I'm to blame for all this, but come on, we still have a whole day to have fun.
"So what do you want to do for fun today?" I ask her.
"I don't know, I usually stay in my room playing Witchtale, which is my favourite game, or the Shiny Chariot game, which are my favourite games to play, but I don't really get out of my room, sometimes I play with my teddies and dolls" now I know what we're going to do.
"Come with me and I'll show you a way to have fun too" I tell her, holding my little sister's hand.
We leave the room, walk around the mansion and go outside, now there's no need to get all sophisticated, we can just act in a refined way, but not here, she has a whole space to enjoy herself and she doesn't make the most of it, just like I usually do when I go to Lake Ennel, I'm sure my little sister would love to go there, I think now she can get to know a little of what it's like to get dirty.
When we go out into the yard, it's a bit sunny, even though it's cold, we'll have a lot of fun, at least the way I think, I take a deep breath and think about what I'm going to do.
"Why are we out here, Charlotte? Are we going horse riding?" Well, I'd think about using the lake, but the water must be freezing, I know what to do.
"We're going to call in more of the house staff, we're going to play volleyball out here, what do you think of that idea?" She gets all confused.
"What is volleyball?" She doesn't know, that's shocking.
"Well, come with me and we'll find out" I'll call the employees one by one.
I'll get at least six of you who have offered, we went outside to play, even though nobody knew as much as I did, we even took a section of the mansion's tennis court and I used magic to make the net bigger, which confused my little sister even more, she must think it's a crazy tennis game.
"I don't understand, is it like a game of tennis with a higher net? I've played tennis a few times, my aunt always beats me, and my cousins fight with me when we play together" It's very different.
"Let's show Diana how to play volleyball, then she can play a bit of tennis with me, I've always wanted to play in real life, but I've never been able to, this sounds interesting, watch us play and then you come Diana" she nods.
I take a deep breath and I start to hit the ball, which is getting to the other side and it looks like one of the employees is playing a bit, he's done it, even in a suit, and he's passing it to another employee and with that he's throwing the ball to another one of them who's throwing it to my side, but I'm intercepting it, so I give the pass and the ball is getting perfect, I jump and I win the first point with a shot with everything to the ground with the ball and that makes my sister smile.
"See, that's how you play volleyball, do you want to play?" She nodded in agreement.
"I want to, I really want to, I'm going to have a lot of fun, it's interesting, do you have to throw the ball to the other side then?" That's right.
I'm letting her hit the ball this time, but the first time it wasn't strong, so I give the ball back to Diana, who tries again, but gets it wrong, she can't hit it that hard and I show her two ways, one is to throw the ball up in the air and hit it, the other is with the ball in her hand, which is easier, She does it the second way and the ball goes to the other side, which we clap, then they play back here, I play the ball to someone who plays the ball to me and then Diana appears in front and receives the ball in my place and plays it to the other side falling and giving us a point.
"Well, you don't have to let me win to get points, I can play, I want to learn by playing for real" she said, and well, I think I'll give it a go.
"It's just that everyone here is a bit inexperienced too, Diana, apart from the fact that we have one more, but let's go" I say with motivation.
I think she'll have a lot of fun, it's good to play again, they pass the ball to me and I serve, with a bit of force, which I can do and they've already intercepted the ball, but it was our point, since they ended up hitting it wrong and the ball fell to the ground, I think I'm playing with employees, I shouldn't play with people like that, but I'm one too, anyway they'll be able to have a bit of fun.
[...]
The staff were leaving the tennis court and I could see that Diana was even sitting on a stool, they couldn't play more than one game up to 10 points, where I won with Diana, she played well for someone who has never played, even though she missed a few passes and let the ball fall to the ground, she was to be congratulated, I'm proud of my little sister.
"It was great fun Charlotte, I loved playing this volleyball, I want to be able to play more, can you teach me more? I want to play as well as you" Maybe one day.
"I'll teach you, but let's play some tennis, you must be very good and I don't even know how to play" I say, scratching the back of my head.
"Let's go! You're the best maid in the house and my best friend Charlotte!" She picked up the racket and let's go.
She starts playing and I go after the ball hitting it, luckily on the first one it was kind of bizarre, it went over the net, hit the ground and Diana played it back, it's just like in Ree, I didn't know it was so much fun in real life, I'm going to try a lot now, I even manage to hold my own against Diana, she's really good at it, even so small, it's funny that she screams while she plays, I even get a bit, since I run from side to side and wearing a dress with trainers doesn't help much, until Diana scored the first point and she went celebrating.
"The first point is mine! Wow Charlotte, you play very well for a first time, your reflexes are really fast, I'm impressed by your agility" little does she know that this is a training thing, that's why I can be so fast.
"I'm only well-trained, but come on, I want to see how good you really are" I say excitedly and start playing again.
She's very young, but she knows how to play, I think Daryl's really pushing her too hard, you can see that this isn't just a child playing, this way her aunt will end up training her, well anyway, come on, I have to get at least one point, that's because I'm even holding back a little, both because my clothes won't rip and because I'm well trained for this.
It's a fun day today, her birthday is going to be a well-deserved celebration, where she'll be able to have a lot of fun, unlike what bloody Daryl wanted to do.
[...]
We're back in the dining room where we're eating the cake and things, you can see how much she's tired playing tennis with me, we've been playing for a couple of hours, it's been a lot of fun really, I didn't imagine I'd even get tired from running around so much, but it's nice to see how much fun my little sister has had today, I can see a smile on her closed little face.
"Thank you for today Charlotte, you've finally made me have a happy birthday... I haven't had one for two years, you came here to give me a great time, I wonder if you're not Mum in disguise" I wish I was, my disguise is someone else.
"We'd say I was good friends with her too" I say, smiling at Diana.
"That's whyAunt Daryl would pick on you, that's why you know everything Mum knows how to do, you're very good friends with Mum" I've actually learnt a lot from her and from the other Mum that she has no idea about.
"Of course, she doesn't want to see you happy, but I do, I'll respect Mum's last wish... Master Bernadette's last wish" I almost ended up saying too much.
"Did she ask you to make me happy?" She didn't tell me that, but I'm sure she told Mum Laura to look after Diana and I'm here for her too.
"She asked, she asked me to look after you and always make you smile" I lied, but it will be necessary.
"That's why you're the best" said little Diana until Anna came to talk to me.
"Char... Charlotte, Daryl's about to arrive, you have to go now, then you'll turn up, it's not safe now" she said and I nodded to my girl and left.
I think I've been able to have a better day today, I left the room and was followed byAnna, so it would be a safe walk, I'm going to stay in my room, I made sure to leave a tape recorder, I won't be able to stop listening to what they're going to say to each other, I get to the room and there I breathe a little relieved, then I take a device, I left the recorder under the table, Daryl won't even notice it.
"Well well, it seems that the birthday girl was left alone at home, what a shame, we had to tell her, but Mum bought everything for us and nothing for you!" Said one of the girls, I don't know who she is, but she's so mean.
"How pathetic, did you really bake her a cake? Look what I'm doing with it all!" I heard the sound of things being broken and the whole table was thrown on the floor, with all the food, what a waste.
"Stop it! You don't even leave me alone on my day!" Poor Diana, I'm already bubbling over with rage.
"That's for you to learn! No perks for the girl without my permission! I've already told you not to spoil Diana, she has to learn the hard way! Now come on Diana, it's time for you as the birthday girl to get your present, it's going to be fun, we've brought you something" I wanted to punch this woman in the face so badly, but I can't.
"What's it going to be this time? Last time I fell for it and you rubbed horse faeces on my face in a pie" That's awful.
"This time it won't be shit, we felt bad about it, apart from the fact that it stank for a few days" I then hear some banging and then eggs breaking, they've been thrown all over Diana, I could hear it, she's then crying, this will one day serve as proof, Daryl can do whatever, she'll still be an abusive woman, I know this can help.
"Why is that? Why do you only hurt me?" My little sister said, crying.
"Put yourself in your place Diana, you've got to realise that I'm in charge here, girl, so bow to my decisions, your mum is no longer here to protect you, you'd better be smart or else I'll show you the hard way that I'm the owner of this place, until you learn, mature, you're not a child anymore Diana, it's me and you here" said my aunt and I heard similar things but not with such humiliation.
"Bleh, Mum's in charge, she's the eldest, you're just our servant" said one of the twins.
"Now come on, let the maids wash this dirt off, and then let this same girl wash it off, one day the dirt has to go, I don't want to dine in a place that stinks of... Are you trying to attack me? What a cutie, a pity that..." She's not going to do that.
I keep listening in horror, Daryl is beating Diana, he's torturing her with magic, this is horrible, I already have enough evidence on that SD card, one day I'll reveal it to my mum, there's no way this woman can get away with all this, worst of all is knowing that she has nowhere to go if Daryl goes to jail, damn it, it's going to be worse for her and the twins.
[...]
Dawn has arrived, I'm bubbling with rage, I was able to record on an SD card the recording of Daryl assaulting Diana and treating her badly, if I keep this up I'll put together a whole dossier that will get her arrested, better than coming up with the most radical version of the plan, I'm sure Mum will agree when it's all done.
I leave the room and start the robbery mission, I get to the room of things that have to be stolen and impressively it's very little, it's still the leftovers from the last time I didn't do it, so it'll be quite easy to deal with, well just swap a few books and relics.
"Are you still sure you want to get attached to Diana? She was horribly beaten today, Master Daryl isn't messing around, I recommend you don't keep getting so attached" She has no idea what I can still do.
"Trust me Anna, I recorded everything, I left a bug under the table when I left, I wanted to make a point of recording it, it's all on an SD card, now all I have to do is gather evidence and more evidence, I'll get her arrested and pay for everything she's done" I tell her.
"Be careful mistress Chariot, it's not an easy mission, focus only on your mission, this way of doing things outside the plan can make you fail badly, I know you want to save something, but I recommend following it to the letter, okay? I know you won't listen to me completely, but I'm going, have a good mission, now it's safe at dawn, good night Chariot" she said leaving.
I know Mum's decision seems smart, but I want justice to be done, we don't need to kill Daryl, just use your brain and spy on Daryl, I'm sure that way I'll gather enough evidence of the monstrosity that is this woman, I'm not doing anything stupid here, it's not just an alternative plan, it's what's fair.
I leave the room with all the last books in the trolley and head for the library, it's going to be a long night, but it'll be worth every minute, I'm sure my plan might not be that good, but Daniella will think it's better than Mum Laura's plan to get Daryl killed, as evil as she really is, nobody deserves to die.
I get to the library and it's time to change the books, well it was marvellous while it lasted, but I have to do the mission, the plan, I came here with the excuse of doing the robbery when they didn't even make enough copies, but in reality I just wanted to visit my sister and make her smile, after all I know she smiled at my presence
I fill up the trolley with books and on the way I pick up the bug I left hidden and leave. Daryl will suspect that there's a bug around here that recorded all this, I'll still keep an SD card in case things get worse, I'm sure that one day this will save a lot of people's skins, in the future I hope so.
I'm back with the book trolley and well, the mission for today is just beginning, now we're missing the relics, the Cavendish really do have a museum feel t
"So you have recordings of Daryl, that's kind of important for a dossier that took us years to get to incriminateher, none of our evidence is enough, but those of assault could have yielded an arrest for her at the time thatwould have done enormous damage, how come I could never get my hands on them?"
"I ended up leaving this evidence with someone else, I think when we get back to the Cavendish mansion wecan leave the evidence of this to be revealed, this time there's no way Daryl can escape, I wasn't so stupidthis time, I know my plan was risky, but I was doing everything I could to make things better."
"Apart from Daryl the day was marvellous, she just kept humiliating me with the magic showing herself to besuperior and evil, which I was trying as hard as I could to beat her, but it was practically impossible, everytime she was superior, I've faced her so much and it was always the same result, look anyway thanks forbeing the maid Charlotte, after you left I really sank into depression, there was no one else, I got very coldand everything."
"I'm sorry I left, I didn't want to abandon you Diana, know that despite everything I always remembered youlittle sister, now we're getting to the most tense parts of this story, close to when I left."
Happy birthday, lesbian witches...