Episode 5 Continued - The Mark of the Eye
Yumi pulled back then, and I let go of her as she stumbled back. “Ten seconds ago, you were going on about me lying about my vengeance! And now you don’t care?”
My eyes narrowed in warning. “Master, do not change the subject. It is time you tell me.”
“Sebastian, I do not have to tell you anything!” she yelled then, getting frantic and almost too enraged. “You are my butler! I am your master! I tell you what to do! You do not talk back to me!”
I raised my head, lips thinning in annoyance. “Master.”
She just spun around and headed straight to the door, but I was there in seconds, making her stop in her tracks.
But—unlike everyone else who always freaked out when I appeared out of nowhere—she just stopped calmly, lowering her head as her fists clenched.
“Step out of the way,” she demanded.
“Master,” I warned.
She just gritted her teeth. “I ORDER you to step out of the WAY!”
My eyes darkened. “I will not unless you tell me.”
“I said I ORDER!” she screamed then, shooting her head up as her face scrunched in rage. “I ORDER!”
“Your life is in harm,” I told her, and she froze, starting to shake. “I do not follow orders if your life is in harm. I am not leaving until you explain everything.”
She just slapped me across the face, making my head shoot to the side.
I just closed my eyes, sighing as a handprint burned into my cheek, and I gazed back down to her to find her eye glowing in anger, and her expression completely covered in rage.
“Move,” she ordered.
“No,” I answered calmly.
“I said to MOVE!” she screamed then, raising her hand to strike me again.
I caught it this time, making her freeze in place.
Her hand shook as I stared down at her, still holding onto her wrist as I let my eyes lock on hers.
“Hurt me however you want,” I told her, eyes darkening. “I’m not leaving until you tell me.”
I let go of her arm, and she pulled away in a quick motion, stepping backwards.
“I said to leave it alone!” she screamed then, eyes starting to boil in rage. “How dare you talk back to me like this?! I am your master! Your MASTER!”
I just remained there, not fazed by her anger in the slightest.
She just screamed and ran off further into the bathroom, catching a vase of red flowers and tossing it straight toward the wall beside me.
It shattered at impact, raining shards of glass and red petals around my very form, but I refused to look fazed, just waited patiently.
She caught another one that I freshened up this morning and threw it, and I watched as it shattered against another wall, this time a ways away from me.
“Is this helping your anger, master?” I questioned as she swiped the counter, the soap dishes, vases, and holders all shattering when they hit the floor. “Or is it just making things worse? If you’re trying to stall, there’s no point. You’re only wasting daylight while I wait here.”
She just screamed and shoved her fist into the mirror, and I watched as it gave into her fist and caved in.
She does know that punching mirrors is going to hurt?
She suddenly cried out, drawing back and looking at her hand, and my lashes lowered when I saw blood forming along freshly sliced cuts.
But she ignored it, making my anger spark, and she immediately went to strike the mirror again.
I just appeared behind her and caught her wrist, wrapping my other arm around her stomach as she shrank back in surprise.
I collapsed to the floor with her, feeling her freeze in my grip and start shaking. “That’s enough, master,” I said quietly, holding onto her wrist as blood slipped onto my own hand, trapping between our skin. “That’s enough.”
It seemed like she suddenly snapped out of whatever she was doing, because she was still, frozen, and trembling.
“You had quite the anger outburst,” I said as I held onto her shaking form. “I bet it hurt, punching that mirror. Look at all that blood. You’ve never done such a thing, master. You’re usually composed.” My lashes lowered when I kept a hold of her wrist. “It’s that bad, huh? What they did to you.”
She just closed her eyes and tremors racked her body, and my eyes softened when tears slipped down her cheeks, and she silently started crying.
I let go of her wrist then, returning to wrap my other arm around her torso, currently not caring that I was staining her shirt with blood.
I pulled against her, setting my cheek on her shoulder and closed my eyes, and she continued weeping, tears dripping onto our hands.
“I’ve never seen you cry,” I whispered, still holding onto her. “You hide everything well, master. Ciel did that, too. It never ended good for him. He learned shortly after he signed the contract with me to tell me everything that happened to him. He knew I would fix it and he wouldn’t have to worry. So why are you so resistant?”
She sucked in a breath, breathing shakily as she sealed her eyes shut.
“I can protect you,” I said to her quietly. “That is my duty, master. Nothing can hurt you anymore.” I just closed my eyes. “Only me, and you know I will not.”
She just lowered her head, brows drawing together as her crying calmed. “There’s a basement…” she whispered, voice shaking, “in the hospital. I went there a couple months ago. You usually go with me everywhere, but…” she lowered her head more, “you were preoccupied because I ordered you to find something, I can’t remember what.”
I kept holding onto her. “What happened?”
“I was searching for clues of something,” she explained uneasily, “because we were trying to find medical reports of a person that the King wanted to know about, and I knew there was an office in the basement that had them.” She just breathed for a moment. “I didn’t know which room it was… so I opened every door.”
“You found something,” I stated.
She nodded. “Yes. I opened one door, and… it was some kind of patient hospital room, and I found it odd because there weren’t supposed to be any in the basement, just in the main building. But I saw it…” she closed her eyes tightly, making my lashes part, “there were two beds… containing two bodies…
“My parents.”
I immediately gazed up in shock, breaths stilling. “What?”
“They were my parents, but they weren’t.” She breathed shakily. “They were experimenting on them… they had their eyes closed and their skin was paled. But the wounds from the stabbing were gone.” She gazed up. “But they were under some kind of remodification, my mother’s arm was separated from her body and a couple inches from under her, and my father’s head was separated from his neck.”
I closed my eyes tightly.
“There was blood…” she said, shaking her head as if recalling the memory thoroughly, “everywhere on the floors, on the walls, on the—”
She suddenly gazed up, lurching forward as she covered her mouth.
I let her go when she scrambled to the toilet, and she hurled into it, coughing seconds later.
I just picked up a rag when she hovered over the bowl, stepping over to her when she sank back on her knees and breathed shakily.
I just kneeled down and ran the towel along her lips, drying them as she breathed uneasily, sweat breaking out on her temples.
“How did you get the scar on your arm?” I asked quietly.
She breathed shakily. “I tripped and fell… and I spilled some kind of chemical on my arm. It burned my skin immediately.” She then closed her eyes tightly, breath shuttering as her cheeks started becoming flushed with fever from vomiting.
“Don’t say anymore, my lord,” I said gently. “I understand now.”
I guided her to lean on the wall, so she was comfortable, clearly knowing that she still felt ill, but I walked off briefly to get her a change of clothes.
Her current ones were covered in blood.
I gathered some bandages, as well as a glass of water left on a side table, and knelt down in front of her. “Are you still nauseous, my lord?”
She nodded, breath shaking.
“Very well,” I set the clothes and bandages beside me, “drink this.”
I pressed the rim of the cup to her lips, and lightly caught the back of her head to guide her forward.
She drank the water as I tipped it into her mouth, swallowing slowly as her eyes remained closed.
I pulled away when she was finished, and I guided her head back down.
“Did it help, master?” I said.
“Yes.” Her voice was small. “I feel better.”
“Do you want more?” I asked her.
She shook her head.
I then set the water aside. “I’m going to change your clothes again. Your shirt’s dirty now, my lord.”
I guided her forward and out from her button-up, finally slipping a new T-shirt over her head and tucking it in her skirt. “There you are. That’s better.”
She looked numb, and I just glanced up at her before I returned to clean out the wound on her hand and bandage it.
“I made quite a mess,” she said quietly.
“Indeed, you did.” I continued wrapping.
“You’re going to have a hell-of-a-time cleaning this.” She chuckled sadly. “I think the other servants have done worse, though.”
“They have, yes, my lord.” I kept a straight face as I finished wrapping. “Shall I help you up now, master?” I quickly checked my pocket watch and gazed down at her. “It’s currently eight in the evening. Would you like to go to bed?”
She shook her head, making my lashes lower.
“Then where would you like to go, my lord?” I wondered.
She just looked away, eyeing the room as if she’d never seen it before. “The study.”
“Shall I carry you?” I said then. “You still look a bit queasy.”
She nodded.
I just leaned down and scooped her up, sighing as I carried her out from the room.
“You’re mad,” she stated as we entered the hallway.
“Not at you,” I told her. “At the circumstances.”
She was quiet. “I never asked if you were mad at me, Sebastian.”
“It was implied, my lord.”
She just gazed down at my chest. “Promise me something.”
I turned and nudged the door to the study open. “Yes, master?”
“After your done cleaning the mess I made,” she said as I helped her into her chair, “promise that you’ll go to town for a bit and eat something.”
I just smiled. “Master, do you feel bad? Is this your way of asking me to treat myself?”
She was quiet but sent me a look.
“Yes, your ego is inclined to refuse answering that question,” I said then, bowing in front of her. “I understand completely. I shall be back in an hour-or-so, master. Can you hold out until then?”
“Take your time,” she answered, setting her cheek in her hand. “This is your single vacation, use it.”
“But, master, what if you’re in danger? I’ll have to come back, and then my vacation time is over.”
“No, just don’t come back.” She gazed up at me as my eyes grew in shock. “We picked our servants for a reason, didn’t we? Just send one of them to tend to me for a little. I can handle you being gone for a night. It’s not like I can’t.”
“You’re being oddly kind,” I said then, smiling. “Is there a reason?”
“I’m in a mood,” she glared at me, “and you commenting like that is going to make me angry again. Do you seriously want that?”
I bowed again. “I do not.”
“Then go grab Scarlet or something and go do whatever you demons do.” She opened her eyes. “Just… make sure to be back by morning.”
I stared at her for a moment, and then smiled, bowing before her. “Indeed, I will, my lord.”
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