The Fire That Lights Itself

"Are you ready to go Sophie?" said Fredrick Van Buren. He was standing in the doorway of Sophie's bedroom, looking at her in that way that made her want to hide.
Sophie wished he would just leave, though she would never say that to his face. Instead, she said in her quite voice. "Yes, father," and obediently followed him to the carriage waiting outside.
Sophie stepped up into the interior of the stagecoach, hating that the cab was so small, that she had to sit that close to her father. She carefully positioned her china doll so that most of her lap was covered and made a point not to look at him, choosing instead to stare out of the window at the passing scenery.
Fredrick reached over and squeezed his daughter's knee, causing her leg to jerk, though he didn't seem to notice. "Are you excited for your thirteenth birthday, Sophie? You're almost a young woman now," he said with a smile.
Sophie did not answer. She knew what he was thinking and that was the chief reason she was not looking forward to coming of age at all. In fact, she was dreading it.
Fredrick tightened his grip on her knee, so much so that it hurt. 'You mustn't cry out. You mustn't show that you are in pain. That will only make him angrier,' Sophie told herself as her father berated her through gritted teeth. "Answer me when I speak to you, Sophie," he said sternly.
Sophie fought her tears as she replied with her usual, "Yes, father." 'The only good thing about being another year older is the possibility of getting away from this man,' she thought bitterly.
Sophie's father seemed satisfied with this response. He released her leg and peeked out the window. "We're almost at our destination now. I have a special surprise for you, Sophie," he said with a smile. Sophie didn't dare wonder what he had in mind.
It wasn't long before the carriage came to a halt before a grand estate. Sophie exited the cab before the driver even had the chance to open the door, eager to put some distance between herself and that horrible man.
She and her father were greeted instantly by the servants. Sophie's eyes strayed to those of a particular butler with a very handsome face. Though the smile he directed at her was kind, Sophie quickly looked away. There was something very odd about him, something frightening.
They were led inside the manor into a beautifully furnished sitting room where a very serious looking boy no older than Sophie was waiting for them. Fredrick bowed deeply in greeting to him. "Young Master Phantomhive, it is an honor to make your acquaintance. I am Fredrick Van Buren and this is my daughter Sophie," he said, his tone impressive. As he mentioned Sophie, he grabbed her shoulder and held her before him as if she were a trophy. "Say hello, Sophie," he prompted as if she were a small child.
Sophie mumbled hello and kept her eyes on the carpet in front of her, fearful that she might lock eyes again with that scary butler who was standing faithfully by his master's side.
Fredrick squeezed her shoulder in what could be interpreted as a parental sort of way. "You'll have to excuse Sophie. She can be very shy," he said, his voice sugary on the surface, though Sophie could detect a hint of annoyance.
"Please sit down and we'll get started," Master Phantomhive said, seemingly uninterested in their greeting.
Sophie took the seat farthest from the butler and her father sat right beside her and started to absently stroke her hair. Sophie gripped her doll tighter and tried her best to ignore him. "Master Phantomhive, I come to ask of you a favor," Fredrick began.
"What do you have in mind, Mister Van Buren?" answered the boy. He seemed distinctively bored.
"My daughter's thirteenth birthday is in three days and I was hoping you could custom make for her a music box," Fredrick explained.
"You understand, Mister Van Buren, that this will be extremely hard to do," said Master Phantomhive, gazing at him intensely. Sophie couldn't help but smile when her father began to squirm just as he had made her do plenty of times before.
"I'll pay you handsomely. Name your price," Fredrick said. It was obvious he wanted to gain his daughter's favor through this trivial gesture, but Sophie would never be bought. What he had done to her for all these years would never be forgiven. Still, negotiations continued.
"The cost will depend on the quality of the music box in question. Miss Sophie --" Sophie jumped when she heard her name and turned her attention to the young master. "What kind of music box do you want?"
A memory from long, long ago came to the front of Sophie's mind. She was on a carousel, bobbing up and down on a plastic pony to the tune of "It's a Small World". She looked so happy. There was a beautiful woman beside her, laughing with her, her mother. Suddenly Sophie was back in the Phantomhives' sitting room and everyone was watching her expectantly. Sophie knew what she wanted. "A carousel."
"A carousel? Any particular theme?" Master Phantomhive prompted.
Sophie closed her eyes, trying to call back details from the memory. "It's red and gold with circus ponies," she said when she opened her eyes.
"What song will it play?"
" 'It's a Small World'."
Master Phantomhive turned his attention back to Mister Van Buren. "The cost is roughly $500 regularly. $200 extra for in being on such short notice," he said.
The two of them talked business for a while and Sophie allowed her thoughts to drift back to that happy memory so long ago. It was the last happy memory she had because after her mother's death her father had started to change.
"Would you care for a biscuit, Miss?" said a polite voice, yanking Sophie back to the present. Her eyes widened in fright. It was that butler. She vigorously shook her head no, wishing he would return to his place beside Master Phantomhive. When he remained standing there, Sophie buried her face in her doll's brunette curls.
Fredrick chuckled. "It's okay, Sophie. You can have one if you like," he prompted.
Hesitantly, Sophie reached for the tray. The sweets did look tasty...
"Sebastian, why don't you take Mister Van Buren on a tour of Phantomhive house? I'd like to talk to Miss Sophie, if that's alright?" he said, looking to Sophie for consent.
Too terrified to refuse, Sophie nodded.
*****
“…and this, Mister Van Buren, is the smoking room.” Sebastian gestured to a medium-sized room, the walls decorated with lovely magenta wallpaper and exquisite paintings. A few chairs and couches filled the room, presenting the most comfy and calm atmosphere.
“Very, very nice…” Fredrick slowly walked into the room and allowed himself to stroke the wall, tracing the designs of the wallpaper. “Absolutely beautiful. The Phantomhive mansion is quite amazing, I must say.”
Sebastian simply nodded. “Would you care to see the garden, Mister Van Buren?” The butler led Fredrick out of the smoking room and down a long hallway, where they then made a right and continued walking until a door at the end of the hall stopped them. Sebastian delicately pulled it open, ushering the man outside. The butler followed close behind him as Fredrick started down the stone steps and onto the cobblestone pathway.
Fredrick simply glanced around at some plants and a small pond, not showing much interest. The cool, crisp autumn air brushed against the two as they strolled down the path.
“So, Mister Van Buren, I took note that you very much want to please your daughter on her birthday.” Sebastian chuckled lightly. “I may just be a curious butler, but why go for such a gift as an expensive music box from my master?”
Fredrick seemed to stiffen at this question, but when he spoke he kept his cool. “Well, she is becoming a young lady after all. I just want her to have some of her valued childhood things before she has to take responsibility.” The path curved at this point, and so the two snaked around it until it grew straight again.
Sebastian narrowed his blood red eyes. “Oh? Is that so? Well, how extremely kind of you. Such a great father to care about his daughter’s interests like that.” Sebastian’s tone grew darker as the wind grew cooler, but which one Fredrick was shivering from was not clear. “Though, it seems to me that you really want Miss Van Buren’s attention, and that you will acquire it by almost bribing her with what she wants.”
Here, Fredrick abruptly stopped on the path. It appeared as if he was about to protest, but Sebastian interrupted him.
“This is the garden, taken care of by our kind gardener, Finnian-” Sebastian had to leave his words hanging, for the garden was a horrible mess. Mud and dirt was thrown everywhere, pots were tipped over and broken, gardening tools were sprawled all over the place. The dreary, usual sky didn’t add to the scenery.
A blond head popped up out of a bush. “Oh, hello, Sebastian! We have a guest? Don’t mind the mess! I swear I’ll get it cleaned up Sebastian! There were just a few problems…”
Fredrick’s face had grown a shade paler, and didn’t seem to know how to respond. Sebastian sighed. “I apologize, Mister Van Buren. Instead, let us head to the kitchen, shall we?” Fredrick nodded uneasily, but followed anyway. They repeated the path they had taken to get outside and went back into the hall, where Sebastian opened another of the many doors and led Fredrick into the kitchen. However, the result was not much better than the garden.
Foods of all kinds were splattered on the walls and on the counters, pots and pans were scattered about on the floor, and a tall, blond man wearing a cook uniform was digging through a cabinet. He was covered in a black substance, almost seeming to have burnt himself.
Fredrick’s reaction was similar to his reaction at the garden scene. Sebastian’s eyes widened for a second, but quickly fell halfway down again, for this wasn’t exactly new. “Bardroy…may I ask what happened?”
The man spun around. “Oh, heh, Sebastian…well, ya see, I heard we were having a guest, and I was gonna try and prepare something nice for him. I didn’t know exactly what to cook…so I threw in a bit of random ingredients, but I don’t think I cooked it right…” Bardroy answered, scratching the back of his head.
Sebastian simply muttered for him to clean it up and was turning to lead Fredrick out when Mey-rin was entering the kitchen at the same time.
“I got those dishes you wanted – oh!” The red-haired girl collided with the men, sending the dishes flying into the air. Mey-rin began to fall, but Sebastian grabbed her around the waist and with the other hand, managed to catch all the falling plates with a clatter after each one landed on one another. Mey-rin’s face grew red, but she stood up and Sebastian set the plates on the counter.
“Well, that could’ve been messy…” Sebastian sighed once more and opened the door for poor Fredrick, who seemed to be paralyzed by all that he had witnessed within such a short amount of time. Sebastian turned back to the other two workers. “You two will work to get this cleaned up, yes? Without any other damage…” The two nodded, and Sebastian left, seeming at least somewhat pleased.
Back in the hall, Sebastian suggested that they end the tour with that. “I’m sure Miss Sophie and my master are done speaking by now…it would be best to return back to them.”
Fredrick nodded, still a bit in shock. “You reacted so fast…it was…amazing…”
Sebastian chuckled darkly. “Well, I am merely one hell of a butler.”
*****
Victoria shut the apartment door behind her, and the cool autumn air greeted her by rushing at her face. She ignored it and began walking down the sidewalk. The wind whipped her hair around, making it seem like a dancing fire because of its colour.
A man was walking the opposite way on the same sidewalk, and as she passed by his eyes scanned her body. He finally whistled, but Victoria simply smirked and waved him away. She then began quietly muttering to herself.
“I don’t think I’ve paid the family a visit recently…” She glanced up at the gray sky. “How is my older brother doing? What’s his job again…? Right…that…” Victoria laughed, her red eyes even giggling a bit. “Guess I’ll make it a surprise visit…wonder if he’ll see it coming.” Her thoughts drifted back to the man who had passed her only a few minutes ago. “Maybe they’ll even have better guys there…” She licked her lips and continued walking with a smirk plastered on her face.
*****
Sophie was uncomfortable to say the least. The intense way that boy was looking at her -- as if he were trying to see into her very soul -- was unnerving to say the least. "So Miss Sophie, you seem rather fond of that doll you're holding. Are you aware that it was one of my first creations? She's quite rare, actually," he said finally.
Sophie stared silently, unsure what to say. She didn't like this place. Something was seriously wrong here. Master Phantomhive spoke again. "Do you really want this music box? You don't seem very excited," he observed.
Sophie nodded mutely. She hadn't really wanted anything for her birthday until the memory of her mother had given birth to the carousel music box. Now she wanted it more than anything in the world.
"Your father seems rather handsy. Is he normally like that?" Master Phantomhive asked, quite suddenly.
Sophie's entire body tensed up. How did he deduce so much in such a small amount of time? This boy.... he wasn't normal. Finally, Sophie spoke up. "He is not a nice man like he pretends," she admitted. Now that it was out, Sophie was somewhat relieved. She didn't have to keep her dark secret locked inside any more. She had someone to share it with. God bless this mettlesome boy.
A sound from the corner of the room caught Sophie's attention. She went stark white. There was the butler, and there, face contorted in fury was her father. "We are going home, Sophie," he said, his words a barely audible whisper.
Sophie shot up to a standing position, filled with guilt, shock, and a fear that overwhelmed all other emotions. She was really in for it now, her and her big mouth. In her haste, she had bumped into a tea tray. She reached out to steady it before even a drop of tea was spilled. Taking a deep breath, Sophie calmed her shakes and straightened her posture. She looked her father straight in the eyes and said in what was a strong, clear voice, "Yes, Father." Boldly she went to his side, knowing she would have to face him eventually.