Chapter 4 - I Found You

1913, Revington Estate, London, England

I was still wrapped around in Gavin’s arms when I realized the danger and risk I am facing when I am close to him. I quickly pushed him away from me and scotched myself to the back, away from him and the child.

Gavin looked surprised with my actions but ignored it and turned it to the child who still looked at me with fears in his eyes.

“It is alright, Bingley. It is a friend of mine,” Gavin reassures the child.

“A-aren’t you sure she is not a witch?!”

“No, why would you say that?” he chuckles.

“Pink flowers were coming out of her mouth. Lots and lots of them! All at once.” 

The child hides on Gavin’s back, scared of what he saw earlier. Gavin pats Bingley's back and tries to calm him down with numerous shushes.

“Hush, little man. It is alright. Miss Revington can prove she is not a witch. Right, miss?” Gavin winks at me.

I nodded quickly, receiving the signal he was pertaining to. I fixed my dent wings on the back and grabbed a handful of pixie dust that came with the costume I purchased.

“Little Bingley,” I called the child. “I am no witch, in fact I am a fairy!”

Bingley looked up from Gavin's shoulders and peeked through it. I moved my hands sprinkling pixie dust around the flowers and played with them for him to see.

“Look, the thing that you saw earlier was just a magic trick I learned. But thou shall not tell the other children! Because it is my very secret. Do we have a deal?” I lent out my hand to Bingley where he whole-heartedly accepted and shaked.

“Alright, pretty fairy!” Bingley smiles, making my heart warm as well.

Bingley ran out of the bushes as Gavin stood up from where he was sitting earlier. He lends his hand out to me but I completely ignored them and stood up on my own. 

I was not being rude, of course. I just wanted to distance myself from him because in an instance I could start coughing flowers again. I can not trick Gavin like I did to the little child earlier.

“I did not know you would be here,” I said in a frank tone which made his eyebrows furrow but he remained his usual nonchalant self.

“Oh well, I did hold a sponsor for this event so I thought why not come, right?” 

“Fair enough,” I replied.

“You look amazing in the Tinker Bell costume.”

I caught my breath before I started coughing again. Seriously, what is with the compliments that I am receiving today? This is probably far the worst day ever.

“You do not look bad yourself.” 

I cringed at my comment. Because I knew what I said was a lie. He looked absolutely dashing and charming in his Peter Pan costume. His green eyes compliments the color so well and the longer you look at them the more you drown. But I could not bear to risk that.

Not now and not ever.

“Oh,” he scrambles for words until his eyes fixate on each booth.

“How have you been? I have not seen you since… you were sick,” he fumbles.

“I have been managing the Revington family business ever since mum and dad passed away. It was quite hard at first but I managed by myself.”

“I am sorry that I could not attend your parent’s funeral. You had to endure all of that alone,” he spoke with a sad stone that made me sick inside. 

I always hated how people like to pity me and view me as weak. I do not think it is because of my pride but because of my experience of it. My parents saw me weak and non-valuable before since I was sick with an unknown illness. Since then, being called or pertained to as weak was a big no from me.

“It is alright. I am used to handling things alone,” I replied with absolute coldness.

Gavin’s eyes narrowed at me as if his face showed uncertainty. He was puzzled with what sort of attitude I was showing him. It was like the first time I met him. But the difference is that now, I am noy as vulnerable as I was six years ago.

And I will not let him break me again. 

“If you say so, Miss Revington.” 

My ears darted up when he changed his tone to a serious and colder one. I was surprised but I expected it as well. He, I assumed, has also changed. He probably was not the kid I met three years ago.

We have grown up and the memories of the past have long withered and shall never be discussed again. Even if it hurts us, I know it is for the best.

“Miss Clara!” A man in silly clothes was running towards me alongside two more unidentified bodies. As they got closer, I slowly recognized them.

“Is that… Finn Quinn?” Gavin squinted his eyes.

Franklin, Finn and Blair were now in front of us, out of breath and breaking out of sweat.

“We have been looking everywhere for you, Tinker bell!” Blair pants.

“Are you fine, Miss Clara?” Franklin asks me.

I nodded repeatedly and tried to remove my eyes from his gaze since I still could not get over the fact that he called me “beautiful” earlier. I felt Gavin cleared his throat and lent out his hand to the three and gave them a charming smile.

“It is an honor to be in your acquaintance, Miss Campbell and Mister Quinns,” he smiles as the three all shook his hand.

“Are you kidding? It is an honor to be in yours! I mean, it’s not everyday you get to see the Marquess of Anglesey and be able to shake his hands!” Blair proclaims, making me cough a bit out of shock.

“What do you mean? Who is a marquess?”

The group chuckles as Gavin speaks again.

“When the last living member of the Darcy family died, the Anglesey march had no more descendants but us, the Vaughns. Mother is already old enough to handle such matters so the king appointed me to handle it,” Gavin explained.

“Yes! If it was not for it, we would be calling you “My Lord” now!” Finn laughs.

“Oh no, Gavin is already enough. We are all friends of course.”

“You’re a marquess? That must mean so much responsibility.”

I had to be honest but I was worried for Gavin. He was already the head of the Vaughn family but now he is also a Marquess. And if all of this isn’t enough yet, his father, Mister Vaugh just died months ago. I felt sorry for him because he probably was too busy to even attend his father’s burial. Unlike me, he was undoubtedly close with his father and so was his mother.

“I, uh, try my best to keep my feet in the soil.” Gavin tried to smile.

“Well, since we all are here after all, shall we not explore the carnival?” Blair proposed.

“We did pay for it. I suppose we should check it out,” Franklin chimed in.

The five of us roamed around the carnival and tried different booths, games and food.

Blair introduced us to a game of shooting. We had to shoot the rubber duckies in order to win prizes such as stuffed toys and different sorts of snacks.

“Sweet!” Finn said when he was able to win three different kinds of candy.

Blair also had a perfect score but refused to accept the prizes because they are too “fluffy” for her. So she gave Finn the toy she won.

Franklin was next in line. He aligns his toy gun to the targets and starts shooting one by one. The rubber duckies flew away the stands as Franklin was able to remove them in a swift move.

“Golly! I have never seen someone shoot this great since the last decade,” the old man remarked and shook Franklin's hand.

He hands him a big giraffe stuffed toy and he immediately hands it to me, making me surprised.

“For you,” Franklin said with a smile.

“Me? But you won this by yourself.”

“Yes, but I am not really the kind to keep toys and I want you to have something that reminds you of me.”

I heartily accepted the stuffed animal and shared to him my appreciation. After the shooting games, Finn showed us a booth where a man wearing a white apron and hat was spinning a stick into some sort of machine.

“Behold, the king of all sweets! Candy floss!” Finn exclaims as he excitedly grabbed a stick and flaunted the blue candy on our faces before shoving it in his mouth.

“I refuse to believe it is the “king of all sweets”. Chocolates are much more scrumptious,” Blair insisted.

As Blair and Franklin continue to bicker at each other for another time, Gavin and Franklin both went together and got themselves their own candy floss.

Gavin stands beside me and taps my shoulder gently making me look at him. He was holding a green and blue candy floss and offered me the green one.

“It is a green apple. Your favorite fruit,” Gavin smiles making my heart pound again.

I remember telling him this back when we were both eating biscuits in the garden. I was both surprised and shy that he still remembers what I told him three years ago. I mean, who knows what else I shared with him back then for I fairly even remember.

As the day came to an end, the skies turned orange. Like the scenery was carved out of the painting and the sky shone on our faces. 

“Let us get a better look over there!” Gavin points at a small ferris wheel over the edge of the festival where the sunset is more visible.

The five of us walked towards the spinning machine and went to buy our tickets. 

“Alrighty. Who sits with who?” Finn exclaims.

“Let us sit together. I do really want to catch up on you,” Gavin proposed to me.

“I w-would also love to sit with you. I mean, we could talk about uh, business? or anything perhaps,” Franklin respectfully butts in.

I was in a pickle. I wanted to pick both of them but I also do not want to pick any of them since I know how much my emotions affect me whenever they are around. And I can’t bear to let them know about my sickness.

“Hey! Give the gal some space. Let her sit alone. Franklin, you sit with me and Gavin you go with Finn,” Blair instructs them as she quickly grabbed Franklin and went to the first ferris wheel cart.

“At least I am not sitting next to Finn. Good luck, Mister Vaughn. He is a handful.” Franklin gave them a cunning smirk before he went inside the wheel cart with Blair.

“Well, let us go Lord Gavin!” Finn yells as he pulls an uncomfortable Gavin inside the cart.

“Have fun, Clara.” Those are Gavin’s last words before he sat next to Finn and their cart started moving.

An empty cart stopped in front of me as the man helped me hopped inside.

“Room for one more?!” A voice shouted from outside the gates. 

A man, around Blair and Gavin’s age perhaps, was holding a white ticket to the ferris wheel. All the carts were full and the only seat was next to me.

“Sorry, miss. But this is the last ride. We got to let him in,” the man apologizes as he opens the gate and lets the man walk in.

He wobbles as he steps on the stairs and sits to me with a big plop. He placed his arm behind the seat as if he was wrapping it on me. And to make matters worse, he reeked of alcohol and kept on having hiccups.

(WARNING: MILD DETAILS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT ON THIS PART. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED. SKIP A FEW PAGES IF UNCOMFORTABLE.) 

“Hello, little lady. What are you doing out here all alone?” The man leans closer, making me hitch my breath. 

“P-please move away.”

“If I move away, then I would fall. But already fell for your pretty face, so I do not think it would be a problem anymore.”

His shoulder touches mine as he moves so much closer than before. His breath was all over my face. I held back my head and faced away from him. But the next thing he did shocked me to the core. He harshly grabbed both of my cheeks and forced me to face him. 

“Do not fight it! Just let it happen!” His voice grew deeper with a hint of anger in it making me shut my mouth.

His hands work his way to try and touch my skin but luckily I was wearing a thick costume so he could not pry in. Despite that, the fear I felt was still there. The image and feelings of someone working their way inside of you is haunting and scarring. I just closed my eyes and tried to pull myself away from him from time to time but he was persistent.

Before he could do anything more inappropriate, our cart stopped as the man walked towards us. Blair, Franklin, Gavin and Finn were all looking at me with smiles but Gavin was not. Which surprised me since he was usually a bright person. 

The mom hopped out first and tidied himself as he offered his hand to help me. But before I could accept it, Franklin shoved the man away and lent out his hand.

“I believe she is with us.” Franklin’s voice was rough.

The man stared down at Franklin but sooner went out of the way as Franklin helped me out of the cart. Finn was the first to approach me.

“So, did you have fun? I mean, there was that sleazy man though but the view was quite majestic!” Finn exclaims with giddiness.

It made me sad that I was not able to see the view and the sunset. I was too focused on ignoring the man beside me to even enjoy or fathom the idea of looking at the view.

“Are you all right?” Blair asks as she puts a shoulder on me making me flinch. Her hand pulled back out of surprise.

“What did you do to her?” Franklin was the first to speak and pulled the man who was just trying to get out of the place. 

He was all smiles and even squinched his eyes, trying to recognize us until his eyes landed on me. His mouth formed into a smirk as he traveled his vision on my body making me quiver.

Franklin’s hand tightened around mine, calming himself from doing something irrational. But Blair spoke up once again.

“Answer the question, scum!” she spat.

“Alright, alright. Easy! Me and your little friend were just playing. No reason to hustle me.” The man shrugs.

Finn turns to me, eyebrows now arched as his veins popped from the side of his neck. 

“Is that true, Clara?” Finn asks.

“I-“

“Oh, Clara. So that’s your name!”

I tried to answer Finn’s question but the man cut me off again, making me shut my mouth. The very tone and sound of his voice was enough to send shivers down my body.

“Did you force her?!” Blair’s voice started to go higher, slowly drawing a crown before us. 

“Aw, sweet cheeks don’t put it that way. I just placed my hand on her-“ 

Pow!

The sound of a punch echoed throughout the festival was able to make it stop and so was the guy who assaulted me. Gavin lounged at him and without wasting a second, he set his fist in the air as it landed on the man’s face.

He topped over him and kept giving numerous blows to his face. Franklin went in to try and stop him, Finn was holding the man why Blair ran to me and hugged me. 

Suddenly, the man pushed Gavin and held his fist out, launching a punch on his face but Gavin went out of the way to dodge it. 

But I was behind them and when I had the chance to step out of the way, my world turned black.