Selcouth || A Vocaloid FanFiction

2. James den Wunderbaren

I could hear a low growl and faintly see something black and furry in my face. Suddenly, what appeared to be a young woman replaced the thing. Had her hair been blue? She had something in red ink written on her left shoulder, perhaps it was numbers. I could barely see anything through the blurriness, though.

I felt a little peck on my cheek. Then another... then another. My eyes fluttered open and almost immediately I sat up. It was still that rainy darkness, perhaps an hour has passed. I didn't even think about checking my pocket watch. I just needed to get home.

Besides me was my hat with the goldfinch inside. Gratefully I took it. "Thank you, little bird," I said as I picked up the hat, the bird flying out. I then stood and immediately ran, slipping a few times in the mud.

Soiled and tired, I put an attempt to open the doors of my parents' home. Locked. I then knocked. No answer. Knock knock...

The door flew open and there answered Birgit, the maid. "My God, Oliver, are you all right?" Her voice was as sweet as pie. I liked Birgit, she actually cared for me.

I nodded and entered, she closed the door and stopped me, turning my body to face her. "I mean this with no offense, but you look terrible. Come, let's get you cleaned up."

On our way to a small room I asked, "Were mother and father worried?"

"Hm?"

"I arrived late. Were they worried that I had been killed or kidnapped?"

She opened the door to the room and we entered. "I am sorry, but I do not think they had noticed you were missing between you and your siblings."

I undressed all except for under-wear and sat down on the edge of the big water-filled basin. They had forgotten about me.

She placed my soiled clothes in some sort of washing bin. I didn't know the name; I didn't have to. "Oh, boy, you're all cut up. Do you see your legs?"

I looked down; bruises and scrapes. I couldn't feel them. My hands were pretty scratched up, too. I just shrugged it off.

I nearly jumped when I felt the cold water hit my back as she poured it out of a glass. Birgit cleansed me very gently and carefully. Through her dark calloused hands on my skin I felt her care. She ran her fingers through my blond fluffy hair.

"Birgit," I started.

"Yes?"

"Are you a mother?"

She gave no immediate reply, but I felt her hands stop. I could tell she was lost in thoughts and memories, even though she was behind me. "Well," she began, her tone of voice sad, "I should have been. I wanted to be. I've always wanted to be a mother." Her cold hands descended to my shoulders, but not how Mr. Steiner had done. "I had a husband. We both worked and brought home great money. I got pregnant, and we were ever so elated. A family. But—" Her tone became sadder than it was all of a sudden. "He did not make it through the birth." Her voice had broke like her heart.

I was a little shocked, but not too surprised. Truly, I felt terrible for her. I couldn't imagine her own pain. "I am...so sorry. What of your husband? What did he think?"

She grabbed a child's night-clothes and I stood up. Her eyes were lined with salty tears, her lip quivering. "He was...disappointed. But not heartbroken. A year later I had gotten pregnant once more, but the child died before I even had to give the birth." She had been clothing me as she talked, her voice breaking. "Then, after a little while, he divorced me for a prettier, younger woman, one who could successfully deliver him a child."

I was finished getting clothed. "And this child?"

"I hadn't been able to meet him. Now I work here, tending to your family and the house."

We walked to my chamber in silence. I laid in bed and she adjusted the expensive linen covers. "But, at least I was blessed with you, and so were your parents. They just haven't seen it yet." She kissed my forehead and placed my pocket watch on the stand next to the bed. "You will be great. I can feel it. You are blessed as I am. Good-night, Oliver." She then blew out the only lit candle and walked out, shutting the creaky door behind her.

It was cold. Even under the blankets, I shivered. I was tired, but not sleepy. I stared blankly into the dark room, as I do every night I lay in this bed. Normally I sing myself to sleep; but not this time. My music was the rain pouring down. It hadn't slowed, but rather it had a crescendo. The longer I laid; the louder it became. One day I would be like this rain; so loud every person could hear and every person could appreciate without annoyance.

A pecking noise brought me back to reality and my attention to the window. I noticed it was a—the—goldfinch. I quickly got up and opened the window, the bird flying in. I sat back down on the bed, lighting the lantern on the stand.

"What do you want from me?" I asked, not irritated. Just curious.

It shook the rain out of its elegant feathers then looked to me. It tilted its little head.

I chuckled. "Theia mania? Am I blessed, as Birgit told me?" I picked it up. "What is your name?"

No answer.

I shrugged. "You are no fairy tale creature. What am I thinking, a talking bird? Hmm...how do you like the name James?"

He nodded. I nearly dropped him; he replied! It may have been just body language, but he understood!

He then flew over to the stand beside the bed and pecked his tiny beak on the pocket watch. I gently grabbed it and examined it, James watching very carefully.

I gently opened it and was curious why he wanted me to look at it. Then, I noticed something strange as I slightly moved it. A reflection on the glass of the blue-haired girl I saw when I fell unconscious. Did I get a concussion, or am I really seeing this girl? I blinked and she was still there. I noticed her hair was in twin pigtails with square pink and black hair-ties. There was some pink and black device on her head that went about her ears and a little part to her mouth.

"Ol...Oliver..." she began. Her voice sounded almost artificial, but nice and comforting. Though, she was very muffled and I couldn't make out what else she was saying. She seemed rather scared. "Stop the watch...come here...save us."

I thought it over for a moment. "If I stop the watch," I said slowly, making sure she could hear, "I will be directed to you. Are you alright? Why must you and whomever you are with be saved?"

"Yes, that is...correct. No explanation...please hurry—" Her voice stopped and her reflection disappeared altogether.

I sat, baffled. Do I stop the watch and see what happens? Or, rather, do I fall asleep and dismiss this as it is all in my head?

Well, I chose the latter.