When the Bell Tolls (charlastor)

The Call

Charlie was in her mother's room again, searching for her mother's favorite perfume. After finding the nearly empty bottle, she removed its ornate cap and took a whiff of the remaining scent. The crisp scent of apples and jasmine permeated the air, transporting Charlie back to a time of innocence, to a time when she still had both of her parents.

After letting the scent linger in the air for nearly half an hour, Charlie left her mother's room and made her way towards her own. As soon as she stepped inside, she made her way towards her bed and plopped down. Safe in the privacy of her own room, she began to cry. She let out a strangled sob as she began to feel her loneliness set in. That was how she spent most of her free time now ever since her mother passed away a year ago.

Charlie's eyes wandered around until they landed on a family picture that was taken at The Squires Ball, a debutante ball for the well-to-do of New Orleans. A sad smile formed on her lips as she saw how happy her parents were. Despite Lilith's height, husband and wife were truly a perfect match. Lucifer, her father, was a handsome man who never seemed to age. Lilith, her mother, was a statuesque fair haired beauty with a sharp wit. While Charlie stood in  the center, the perfect combination of her father's good looks and her mother's graceful frame.

Charlie could remember whining about spending an entire evening with snooty rich girls she only tolerated for Lucifer's sake, as he was friends with many of the fathers present at the ball. She remembered hating every moment at the seamstress as she had her white gown prepared while Lilith looked on and advised her to be patient and to stand still. Charlie recalled how her father managed to fill up his phone's storage capacity with an entire photo album of her getting ready and walking around the hotel.

I would give up twenty years of my life if it meant I could be that carefree again.

Just as Charlie was about to doze off, she heard her phone ring and saw that Vaggie was calling her. She pressed the accept button and sat up.

"Hey, Vaggie," Charlie wdvmmurmured, trying to hide the fact that she spent the last hour crying in her room. Although hiding it was useless, since Vaggie was her closest friend.

"Charlie, you know you can always talk to me, right?" Vaggie replied, a pleading tone evident in her voice.

"Yeah, I know," Charlie answered, letting out a sigh as she gripped her phone tighter.

"If you ever want to talk, I'm always here for you. You're my best friend," Vaggie said, as patient as ever.

"I know you're my best friend. But , I just want to be alone for a bit more."

"Okay. Please take care of yourself, I'm serious." With that, the phone call ended and Charlie was left alone with her thoughts once more. Feeling sleepy, she tried to let herself drift off into a peaceful slumber, wrapping her blanket around her willowy frame for comfort. Sleep evaded her still. Turning to one side of the bed, Charlie recalled how her parents met, a story she was told multiple times but was always delighted to hear.

Lucifer and Lilith were a match made in heaven. That was something Charlie was sure of. The Magnes were wealthy landowners who made their fortune through their most famous produce, the wide variety of apples that grew on their land. A known expert on all things apple, Lucifer was only too eager to finally be the one running the family business after spending years under his father's tutelage. Under his management, the Magne family wealth grew to even greater heights, ushering in a new prosperity for the family owned company.

Lilith, on the other hand, was the rebellious daughter of an English Count. As her father's only heir, she was expected to marry a respectable man who her father deemed worthy enough to be the one to continue the family line. Despite countless remonstrations from the count, Lilith turned down all of her suitors, finding their old-fashioned demeanor unsuitable for a free spirit such as herself.