I have burned my tomorrows/And I stand inside today/At the edge of the future/And my dreams all fade away/I faced my destroyer/I was ambushed by a lie/And you judged me once for falling/This wounded heart will rise/And burn my shadow away/And burn my shadow away

I fix my corset before turning to face Ivan, a kind smile on my face. "I'll see you bright and early tomorrow," I promise him, planning to join my brother at the Baltimore Patriot. Ivan nods, placing a kiss on my cheek and walking down the stairs. Ivan is a sweet man who came to see me daily, but he gave off this dark, unnerving presence sometimes and it was nothing like the comforting one my elder brother gives off.

Sighing, I brush out the knots in my dark brown hair and start down the stairs to find my next client. I meet many people in my profession and that helped me keep the dark thoughts locked away, the same type of thoughts that made Edgar stand out in his writings. My brother and I are close and he hates the profession I've chosen, but mostly keeps such comments to himself.

I'm surprised he's not here getting drunk yet.

I make my way down the stairs and over to the bar, lounging on one of the stools after paying Raegan for a drink. Another thing Edgar and I have in common: we like to get as drunk as we can. The sailor next to me grins, wrapping a burly arm around my shoulders.

"What d'you know, a woman after my own heart," he chuckles. I send him a flirtatious smirk and angle myself so I can see him better; close-cropped brown hair, grey eyes, muscles that came from hard work, and the calloused hands to prove it.

"How 'bout we bond over that upstairs? I happen to have an extremely comfortable bed that's mighty drafty with only one occupant." He starts to lean forward to kiss me, but jerks back in surprise when a man begins to shout about a free drink. The man is tall, thin, and dressed in black with equally black hair sticking up all over his head that made his skin seem pale as marble.

"A drink to the man who can finish this line," the man shouts," Quoth the raven..." Well, now I know where my brother's at.

As other men yell at him to piss off I stand with one hand on my hip and shout," Does it have to be a man to earn that drink?" Edgar spins to face me, quirking up one of his brows. Walking over, I wrap my arms around his neck in a hug. "Nevermore." Unfortunately, this sends Edgar into one of his rants about everyone around us being "ignorant mouth-breathers that wouldn't know genius if it bit 'em on the ass." Kind of have to agree with him there.

As his speech drones on, two larger men each grab one of his arms and throw him out of the tavern, grinning as the others in the room cheer them on. Raegan would give them each a discount if they did that on a regular basis, but I'll be hearing about it tomorrow and probably the one after that.

-+-+-+-+-+The Next Day-+-+-+-+-+

Edgar stands in the middle of the street, a hand held in front of him so the coach coming at us would stop. The driver, Percy, looks exasperated as he recognizes Edgar and I. "Not again, Mr. Poe." Edgar walks to one side of the coach, mumbling a good morning before climbing in. "Why do you let him do that," Percy asks as I climb up to sit next to him, straightening his hat. Inside is one Emily Hamilton, the woman who has captured my dear brother's blackened heart.

"Oh, why shouldn't a man indulge himself in the simple pleasure of having a woman's father threaten to kill him," I quip with a smirk. Percy shakes his head, not finding the humor in my sentence. "Come now, Percy, do show a little emotion now and again. I hear women love that sort of thing." He scowls down at me. "No, dear, I meant something like a smile."

Before Percy's urge of smacking me is enforced I hop down, my brother steadying me as he rushes out of the coach before Charles Hamilton could shoot him. Percy flicks the reigns and the coach starts down the street, a spray of water coating my dress and Edgar's pants from the knees down.

"Another abject humiliation," Edgar frowns, eyebrows drawn together. "Come on, little sister, don't want to make Henry wait for too long, he might begin to think and that's never good." Laughing, I loop my arm through my brother's and we continue to the Patriot. "Good morning," he calls out as we enter the business, taking his gloves off. Ivan sends me a smile as we walk over to him, handing Edgar a bottle of Brandy.

"I'm afraid you might need more than this, Mr. Poe," Ivan warns sweetly.

"What has that idiot done now," I groan, knowing Edgar would probably throw a fit soon. Ivan hands Edgar a paper and I look over his shoulder to see it. "He didn't touch the review, did he?" Henry was good about doing that and it made me want to beat the man till he was bloody.

"I told him not to touch it," Ivan swears, looking a bit sad. He loves to read my brother's writing and it's often one of the things we'd talk about when he came to see me.

"Where is it," Edgar asks, leafing through the paper, growing more and more furious. "Where is it? What has that urchin done?"

"H-he said there was no more room in the layout." Oh boy, this isn't going to be good.

"Pray tell, what fine twat did he deem more worthy?" Edgar's dark eyes widen as he finds the correct page. Please, Lord, don't let it be Longfellow. "LONGFELLOW!" Edgar storms into Henry's office, ranting the entire way while Ivan and I share a look, mouthing there he goes.

Just another day at the Baltimore Patriot.