Our Sweet Little Secrets

South Florida: 1875

If i had one cent for every time iget chastised by my older brother due to my clothing, i'd be rich. You see, instead of wearing the frilly cupcake dresses my mother insists i wear, i simply throw on lad's garments. Yes, it seems unusual, but that's who i am. The black sheep of the family. And really, the corset tops that come with dresses are extremely tight and uncomfortable. It actually suffocates me most of the time, even when loose. This is the invigorating argument my brother and I have chosen to speak of. He's currently screeching at me but all i can think of is Marcus. The Marcus i am bound to marry, chosen by my parents. But in all reality, i don't really love him. My full admiration is pointing to Dean, the village farmer. Certainly not who a young heiress should marry. And anyway I can't marry him. Not anymore.

"Cara, can you at least bestow upon me one second of your attention? I have been telling you since you grew to the age of fifteen, that lad's garments were never meant to be thrown casually upon a woman's body? Now head ustairs and dress in your beautiful green dress?" My older brother commanded.

"Sorry, Lewbert but if you treat me in this nonsense manner one more time, you will be sorry. I AM the heiress, after all" I retort.

"Children, we have no time for arguments. The carriage is waiting patiently in front of our house to pick us off." Mother says.

"Fine" Lewbert and i grumbled.

I change into the disgusting green dress my mom insists for the wedding and pull my hair into a chignon. I don't bother with makeup, ever since the accident i haven't been too keen on looking pretty. Not even on my wedding day. Especially not on my wedding day. To Marcus.

I travel downstars and head to the front door of the house and hold it open for my mother and pig-headed brother. From outside the frame of the door, i see our vast acres of land, and trees and a beautiful carriage, made of sleek wood,waiting for us. I run outside so I don't need to lock the door and head for the carriage.Inside, Marcus is patiently waiting, with his arm wrapped around his 'friend', Victoria Anna the third. He smiles pleasantly but does not grace me with a kiss nor a hug. Instead, he turns to Victoria on his right and whispers something in her ear. She giggles and fidgets.

It is clear to my keen eye that Marcus is as interested in me as I amin him. And it's not much. Mother steps onto the coach with the help of Marcus' strong hands. Brother is next. He is required to sit next to his fiance, Victoria Anna out of respect for her. It's a strange love triangle we've got going on.

I feel the carriage wheels spinning as we were led down our narrow gravel dirt road. My family ,Marcus, and Victoria Ann start up a meaningless converstation and my mind drifts off.

My bare feet pad on the delicate ground of Dean's farm quarters, and i listen to the shining stars. Today's events have left me,well, shocked, really. Dean isn't what i thought he was. He's actually something much more sinister than I ever thought possible. But i cant abandon him, i just can't. What we have is special and anyway, i'm carrying his child. I can't leave him clueless. Suddenly, im gripped with fear.

What am i carrying inside me? Could it be some sort of demon child or something?

I gulp. No, Dean is the man I have been looking for my entire life. I will not leave him only because he isn't as human as I am. That's just too cruel to contemplate.So, what do i do now? Should i just go back in there and tell him the good news about our baby? Or should I run for my life?

I shrug.

My feet pad on the wooden floor as i run towards Dean's bedroom in the quarters. My neck runs cold as I enter the shed and I sense danger. Shake it off, it's probably your wild imagination on the loose again. That little voice tell me.

But I cant. I can't shake off this weird feeling that suddenly grips my heart and gives it a good squeeze.

I roam the small shed, trying to listen behind closed doors. Silence.

"Dean" I whimper.

Nothing.

"Dean!"

Zilch.

"DEAN!!!" i scream for all I'm worth.

Not even a peep.

I near Dean's bedroom door and kick it open.

I gasp and tears pool my eyes.

There he is, lying on his bare back, his beautiful sculpted body and face shining along with the moon that comes through the window. He looks like a Greek God.Then, i see splashes of crimson on the walls, bed where he is laying, and his clothes. This crimson pooling seems to be coming from his chest, where his heart is probably located. And a knife is buried deep inside that area.

I near him, my heart too loud in my chest and my tears overflowing.

"Dean, sweeheart? Open your eyes. Wakey, wakey." I fall to my knees and cry into his bloodstained blouse. "You need to wake up. Don't leave me like this. I love you."

But Dean is too far gone to notice. His eyes have permanently closed. For eternity. This was supposed to be a normal day. A happy day in which we love each other and continue our never ending affair. In which i tell him about our child not his terrible little secret. Well, it is nothing but little. And i find him DEAD? I grab his shirt and pull on it giving him a kiss on his wound, then neck, then lips. The last kiss I'll ever give him. I savor it.

Then, i give him a kiss on his forehead, and walk from the room. Out of his life. And into mine.

"We're here!" Victoria snaps me back from my reverie. I hadn't noticed before, but she's practically sitting on Marcus' lap. What a worthless piece of crap. It's true, when I glance out the window, i see the chapel where Lewbert and Victoria Anna the third are to marry next to Marcus and I. It's beautiful and kind of Victorian-style, made of wood panelings and a crucifix is alaborately placed at the entrance.The coach driver makes sure that everyone exits the coach properly so not a soul falls. When he notices my swollen abdomen,his eyes widen and he stares at me in disgust. Marrying a non-virgin is disgusting so I understand his reaction. And so does Marcus because he knows it's not his. Marcus and I have never kissed, let alone had sex.

The coach driver gets over it, though, so he manages to unload me from his fancy coach before he drops my arm as if it's burned him.

We enter the chapel and stare around us in awe. It's a beautiful place, with super-high ceilings and everything made of wood and the front is extravagantly made of marble and painting of all saints line the walls. I feel at peace and connected to Dean. Somehow.

The hours pass and guests start piling in, taking their assigned seats and looking on in awe. When it was time for me to dress in my white dress, i did so without a complaint. Then, a bell chimed and i knew it was my cue. I didn't even sweat because I know I'm marrying the wrong man, but i can't stop it. To receive my fortune, i must wed. And the only way i can support this baby inside me is with the fortune. So i part ways with my old life and step into my new one.

The ceremony is a bore, so i just blank out while the priest says a bunch of rubbish. Then, when it is time to say our vows, Marcus gives this lovey-dovey gooey speech but while he recites it, her stares at Victoria Anna, not me. Lewbert and Victoria Anna are next to us reciting their own, so it's hard to focus. But i manage.

"Marcus, you are an amazing man that has stepped into my life unexpectedly and I can say I am very grateful that you have seen light in me even when others have not. So here we stand today, to make two become one." If you haven't noticed, I'm making this up as i go. And i never said i like him, let alone love him.

The priest looks confused for a few seconds, before he recovers and says "You are now men and wifes. Lewbert, Marcus, kiss your beautiful wives."

And that was our wedding, blah, blah, blah.

My life continued like any other normal life, except Marcus and I never loved each other and he would not stop having affairs with Victoria Anna the third. But i managed. Especially when Dean Jr. was born. I didn't want to give him Marcus' last name, so his birth certificate's say he's Dean Birkinson. Just like his dad. Not only his name was like his Dad's, hewas an exact same replica, except he inherited my stupid red hair. Dean growing up was a sight to behold, saying his first word at 3 months and walking at 8 months. And running and jumping at the year.

I had other children, ofcourse. And those children Marcus loved with all his heart. Sad thing is, he completely ignored Dean all his life. My favorite child. I had four other children, all dim-witted like their father, but fair like me. After Dean, Heather, Luisa, Sarah, and Jon, all in that order, i looked like a cow. But did i care? Not at all. All I did was sit in my reclining chair, smoking tobbaco's and watching the children play in the yard. Watching them grow.

Dean changed before my eyes. As the eldest, he felt a duty to care for his younger siblings, especially Luisa who always had a problem withthe lad's and her beauty. He was definitely the most caring but also the most unusual. His round face and his earnest eyes gave him a childlike appearance, but he was anything but. He was the mature one who lead his sibling away from trouble and disgrace. And he did great.

Heather was the smart one. At the age of 3, she had an extremely adept vocabulary. One day she came up to me and said, "Mum, you see deese seashells? I find them at da pond. But ponds not have seashells. Seashells are at beach, momma." And it seemed strange, because she's never been to a beach before.

Luisa, like I think i mentioned before, was the beauty. At the mere age of nine, she developed breasts, and ever since then lad's come all round and frollick to her like a bunch of bees and she's the honey. She may have been a looker, but not the brightest rock in the sea.

Sarah was the rebel one. And by rebel i mean knocked up at the age of sixteen and runnning away with some random man who was definitely NOT the father of the child.

And lastly, precious little John. The sick one. Since he was the last and i smoked and drank with him in me, he developed grave medical issues. He was born with heart problems and risked his first heart attack at the age of 29, though i wasn't around to see that. He died soon after.

And I had passed away before him. At the age of 48. The reason: stress and depression. Soon after i passed away, Marcus remarried to -guess who?- Victoria Anna. My brother Lewbert had passed away two months before the wedding. Reason: Victoria Anna lodged a bullet in the back of his head. Though that was not found out until she died of old age and left a note confessing to it. Too late.You should guess this is where it all ends, right? That my life was crap, the end? Well no, there was one thing i told Dean before i passed away. Something very important.

That was.......... to have many children, at least one boy to pass on the Birkinson name. Dean was my soul mate, and there's one thing he always wanted. To pass his powers to four generations after him. So three generations from now, and we will have the next Soul Trapper.

Who will choose the path of good or evil. And meet the Strangler who will choose if the apocalypse is yet to come. So the delicate webbings of society can stay intact.