They had been searching eighty-five years for her, Mary Alice Brandon. Though when they finally found her; they found much more than they ever expected. Hero had always had an aversion to doctors... Until she fell in love with one.
Carlisle Cullen X...
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BILOXI MISSISSIPPI, 1915
Hero Kelly's breath came out sharp as she raced along as fast as her little legs would carry her- she was late home, she knew that just by the darkness of the sky though what she didn't expect, were the many people who seemed to congregate around her house, her father stood among them with a solemn expression that instantly set her heart racing in newfound, ached, palpitations as she progressed toward him, her own frown painting into place when his dark, vaguely mischievous eyes flashed across to her.
"Father, who are all these people? Is everything okay?" she frowned, flattening her hair against her head where it had been windswept during her run- sometimes, it was good that she had a brother who had her running around town with him because it meant that she wasn't too out of breath now that she came to a stop in front of her pretty family home. It seemed a lot less welcoming now with all the people surrounding with unreadable expressions. Hero couldn't help but notice the very evident absence of her older brother in the perplexing circumstances.
"Victoria" he clipped, forever refusing to call her by her chosen name, the name that her mother had so lovingly given as her first and last gift to her daughter. "Where have you been?" he demanded and she swallowed a cringe at the iciness of his tone, it promised a harsh punishment far before she even answered. Truthfully, it didn't matter what she said, he would not forgive her for missing her curfew.
"Oh- Um... I was out for a walk, the time just ran away from me" she put her most pleasant smile into place but he rose an eyebrow, dark stony eyes flickering away from her and to a particularly smart looking gentleman who stood a few feet away. Now that she considered it, she noticed that all three of the men on her porch stared straight at her, unspeaking.
"Where were you really, Victoria?" he clipped and she knew from his tone alone that he already knew the answer- he just wanted her to admit it. Truthfully, the warmth of home was completely lost on her as many unsettling thoughts swirled around her head, what was happening here? And where was her big brother?
"I was helping Judith" she sighed in resignation and something lit in Joseph Kelly's eyes- as though, somehow, she had just provided him with a burst of inspiration.
"At the hospital? What were you helping with, Victoria? You are only fourteen, you don't have a single medical qualification" he smirked, a twisted grin that set her heart racing in panic and her skin prickling in discomfort. Joseph wanted her to admit the secret he'd forced her to keep all these years- the secret some people in the town loved her for and others feared her for. He wanted her to say what she had been doing with Judith all this time.
"Father" she frowned, dropping her voice to a whisper. "You know that I have... Certain abilities, I was helping some people, there was a fire over the river" she frowned and he grinned as though she had walked directly into a trap- Hero had no idea what was happening but it did not seem very good for her.
"You see gentleman, this is what I have been telling you. She is clearly deluded just like her brother- a poisoned batch you might say. I blame it on their mother; she was always too kind, always entertained Simons fantasies and he went on to do the same for Victoria here. And now she believes that she is some hero, some healer and he thinks he's seeing dead people. He speaks to people who aren't even there. I really worry of what the two of them will do with these fascinations" Joseph Kelly finally revealed the punchline to his own joke and marvelled in the look of horror that dropped like a heavy curtain across Hero's features as she stared unblinkingly at him for a long pause.
"Well sir, we will take good care of them both, I assure you." One of the men stated calmly, though there was a glint in his eyes- something that Hero didn't understand; it was an assurance of an untold promise, an assurance that Mr Kelly would pay up well for what he had done on the porch that day. With the right amount of money- you could get rid of anybody, even your own children.
"Miss Kelly, please, come with us." A second, brisker voice clipped and she turned to him in confused shock- her entire body felt stiff, cold because in the darkest regions of her mind, she knew exactly what was happening. The saner, optimistic side of her refused to believe the obvious and in a strange futile defence, she stepped back- only to be shoved back forwards again by her father into the waiting arms of the men who were adamant on taking her away. As they grabbed her elbows tightly- Hero panicked and floundered, a bubble of strange nonsensical pleas leaving her lips because she knew now, she knew that they were taking her way to the building over the hill, the places the neighbours had always hissed about her needing to be- the place she had heard so many dark horror stories about.
"Please Father!" It was a last beg as they dragged her along the pavement she knew so well, the last words she had ever hollered toward her father and Joseph Kelly did not even flinch, the man did not so much as look guilty, he watched her be dragged along with as much uncare in his eyes as if she was merely a stranger.
That was the last time Jospeh Kelly saw his fourteen year old daughter, Victoria Hero Kelly and when the asylum reported five years later of her death- he was as uncaring as he had been as he watched her be taken away...
