Burn my Shadow

If you want me to listen whisper/If you want me to run just walk/Wrap your name in lace and leather/I can hear you/You don't need to talk/Let us make thousand mistakes/Cause we will never learn

Smiling, I listen to Edgar's planned speech he's going to give to Charles tomorrow at the ball, informing the Captain and his and Emily's betrothal. My brother ends the speech, his cheeks flushed and slightly out of breath. "What do you think?" I tap my chin with my index finger, the very tip of my tongue sticking out slightly as I think about what I could tell my brother.

"Hmm, well, you might want to make it shorter so that when he tries to kill you, you won't be too out of breath to run," I point out with a laugh, walking to the room that serves as mine while I am staying in Edgar's house until the killer has been captured. Edgar follows behind me, holding his parchment tightly as he reads over it again, mumbling about cutting out a few drawn-out phrases. "Have you decided on an outfit yet? Oh, have you gotten a mask?" He chuckles at my enthusiasm, nodding his head to both of my questions.

"It appears my sister is actually excited to go to a ball," he says with mock incredulity," I do believe my heart has stopped from the shock of it." Scowling, I hit his arm lightly, fighting to keep a smile from appearing. It's true, I usually cannot stand the thought of dressing up, but tomorrow is actually going to be exciting, not to mention the fact that I can pester Detective Fields some more. He really is a good looking man; I'm surprised he's not yet married with a child. "Actually, it makes me wonder...are you excited because a certain Detective that you are attracted to will be there?" A light blush colors my cheeks as I hide my head in my wardrobe, filled with dresses and a couple of pairs of shoes.

"I have no idea what you mean, Edgar." I wince as his name escapes my lips; that was his way to know I am lying. I usually only ever called him brother just as he calls me little sister—we had no other nicknames for each other than to state the obvious. "I only like to mess with him, it's nothing serious." He sits on the edge of my bed, looking at me in sympathy in his dark brown eyes.

"But you want it to be serious." I'm glad he cannot see my face as it contorts into one of pain, tears threatening to fall. "You deserve an honorable man like Fields; you've not been close to another man after what happened to Theodore—"

"Stop." Edgar closes his mouth, hearing my voice break and undoubtedly noticing the way my shoulders are shaking. "I have not gotten close to another for the simple reason that I do not want to; Theodore was the man I love and I will not give that love to another man." Edgar sighs, shifting on my bed to get more comfortable.

"We both know that if he could, he would scold you for being so stubborn; he'd come up with some long speech that would make the one I just wrote seem as if it were written by a child." I smile at that very true fact. Theodore would be furious to know what I have done since his passing. I jump when Edgar lays a hand on my shoulder, not having heard him move from my bed. "Now, you need to pick out a dress to where tomorrow, dear sister, for the Detective's gaze must be drawn to you so he can see just how beautiful you really are." He gives my shoulder one last squeeze before retiring to his room down the hall. Edgar only said I was beautiful because I am his sister, I'm sure the Detective doesn't think of me that way—he probably only thinks of me as a whore.

I sit on my bed, picking up the mask I planned on wearing tomorrow-it was black with golden designs swirling everywhere on it. Ivan had given it to me last year on my birthday. Such a sweet man, Ivan; nicer than most men I've ever had the displeasure of meeting. As I fall asleep that night I am no longer plauged by nightmares, but by dreams of one Detective Emmett Fields.

The song lyrics are from My Obsession by Cinema Bizarre; my new favorite band.