"Prisoner" - Bastille/Dan Smith Fanfiction

Castle of Glass

Sunday, 8th November 2009

After I've had the probably best time of my life with Jamie yesterday I felt like I had something very important to do today. It was Will who told me I should go and see my sister Gemma at the cemetery again. Well, actually 'see' isn't the right word in this case. "Are you sure this won't bring back any memories?" I asked with a stuttering voice "You know I just got out of the mental hospital".

Will shook his head and put one hand on my shoulder. We were standing side by side in the kitchen at his flat, I had agreed to cook for us tonight, as my cooking skills were much better than his. "Absolutely not" he said. "I'll be with you all the time, which means I'll be waiting inside the car and you can call me whenever you want to. You really should go there alone". If I was perfectly honest, his words didn't really reassure me. I swallowed and tried to calm down. He knew how much I had loved Gemma when I was a kid and I still did. But he didn't know the story. He didn't know why she was lying 10 feet beneath the earth on the cemetery. Should I tell him?

"You don't know the story" I suddenly heard myself say. "I mean, you don't know why I have to visit her at such a strange place. You don't know why none of my family could see her grow up and become a beautiful young woman". I felt one single tear streaming down my cheek and when it reached the corner of my mouth I could taste the salt. My voice was trembling now.

"Well, I am here if you want to get it off your chest" Will replied with the most soft voice. "But I think I've already read it in your file."

"She was only seven years old" I said. "I was twelve. And we were playing in the garden. It was summer, one week before my birthday." I stopped. Will now took my hand and squeezed it softly. He wanted to hold me. "We had this big house with a pool in the garden. It was a very hot day and us kids were all playing in the pool, somehow Brooklyn and I got out of the pool and left Gemma alone. I don't know how it happened, I can't even recall what this wire was for but I touched it and it fell into the pool where Gemma was improving her swimming skills." My voice broke. Nearly unintelligible I whispered. "The electricity killed her."

Now more and more tears were streaming down my face and I rested my head on Wills shoulder, who slightly rubbed my back. "It's my fault!" I suddenly screamed. "My very own fault!" – "It was an accident!" Will stated with a loud voice to drown my shouts.

I can't really remember what happened next. I think Will gave me an injection with a liquid that made me calm down again. I was too agitated and the next thing I remember is that I woke up on the couch this morning with no one else in the flat. Will must've been off to work already. Suddenly I noticed a note on the table:

Dear Dan,

I'm sorry but I had to go to work before you woke up. Hope you feel better now and please don't blame me for giving you this injection; it was for your own good. If you like, we can talk again tonight when I'm back (I guess I will be back at about 8pm). Food is in the refrigerator or in the freezer, if you'd like a microwave meal for lunch. Take care of yourself!

Love, Will

I didn't care about food at the moment. I just put my clothes on, took the key which Will had also left for me and made my way to the cemetery. It would've taken too much time to go there by foot so I decided to take one of the red London busses. Thank God Will had also left some money for me.

When I reached the cemetery I met this familiar gravestone again after an indescribable amount of time. To be precise, four years had passed since I visited my sister last. I examined the white gravestone, made of marble, with an engraved portrait of my seven year old sister, smiling more happily than ever before. The inscription said:

                                          Gemma Smith

Born on 12th June 1992             died: 7th July 1999

Beloved daughter, sister and grandchild

I took a look at the flowers which had been planted recently. They looked beautiful and let me know that my sister was still as alive as them, no matter where she was at the moment. "I miss you" I whispered, looking at the portrait on the gravestone again. "And I can't tell you how sorry I am." I felt tears streaming down my face again. "I wish I could bring you back. I wish I could show you the world, see you grow up, be the brother you deserve." My voice broke again. Suddenly I heard a foreign voice behind me.

"Dan?"

I turned round. And directly stared into my mother's face.