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01

"the sky broke like an egg into a full sunset and the water caught fire."

01 | STOLEN

June, 1863

The door pounded loudly, awakening the entire house with the chaotic sound. A young girl shot up in her bed, blue eyes wide as she assumed a storm had taken her small town into its clutches. The pounding on the door downstairs sounded like thunder, and she could practically see the flashes of lightning from behind her thin curtains while the chimney whistled with the wind. The noirette could almost feel the tension in the air, and she furrowed her eyebrows together.

She jumped again at the loud noises from downstairs, brushing away the thick comforter of her bed and standing up, feeling the cold hardwood underneath her bare feet. She shivered at the connection, quickly grabbing a coverup to keep her decent. She slipped the thin, light blue jacket over her long, white nightgown, pulling it closer to her as she opened the bedroom door. She poked her head out, looking back and forth as she noticed that not many people were reacting to the sound, and then she remembered. Her father was doing business out of town for a few days and while Damon was participating in the war, Stefan and Katherine were staying in the guest house for the night. Quite frankly, Charlotte didn't want to know what her brother and the lovely Miss Pierce were up to, but that meant that she was relatively alone in the large house.

Bitting her lip anxiously, Charlotte walked over to the banister of the stairs, looking over the dark railing to see one of the servants, Janice, approaching the pounding door, looking like she had just jumped out of bed herself. The woman—a nice lady that Charlotte saw as a friend—wobbled over to the threshold, bringing her own jacket close to her body as she opened the heavy door.

Charlotte had walked slightly to her left as she watched Janice, now standing at the top of the staircase so she had a clear view of who was waiting on the porch.

When Janice opened the door, he almost fell on his face, quickly having to regain his balance before he did so. He swayed left and right on his feet, his hair ruffled and his eyes low-lidded. His clothes were extremely disheveled, a far cry from the gentleman he usually portrayed himself to be. Even from this far away, Charlotte could smell the alcohol on him, and she wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Mr. Silverton," Janice spoke in surprise, her hazel eyes widening as her light brown hair fell out of the bun she had thrown it in. Her back straightened, and Charlotte watched as the woman gave the man a look a wariness, her voice dropping. "You are back very late."

He seemed to wave her off, his movements looking like he had strings attached to his body and an amateur puppeteer was trying to get them untangled. "I was out," he slurred, and Charlotte seemed to make a decision then and there.

"It's alright, Janice," Charlotte said, drawing attention to herself at the top of the stairs. She nodded her head to the servant as she slowly walked down to where they both stood. "I can help John back into his room."

Janice sent an uneasy glance to John, whose full attention was now on the blue-eyed maiden. His eyes roamed her form, but Charlotte's focus was preoccupied by Janice. "Are you sure, Miss?" She asked, and Charlotte sent the woman a kind smile.

"Yes," she answered, reaching the bottom of the stairs and gesturing to the servants' quarters. "You may go."

The older woman still seemed to hesitate, which greatly annoyed Charlotte seeing as she was doing all of this to please her father. She had promised, after all, to give the man a chance, even if she hated that he drank so much. But, it was only another moment before Janice nodded, silently turning and walking away from the couple.