The colour of devil eyes (Black Butler love story)

Chapter 39 - Blood

"I'm finished, Lady Serena.", Sebastian had only said to her when he came out of the much too quiet house. Despite the darkness, Serena had seen the blood on his white gloves, but she had said nothing. Sebastian hadn't said anything since they left. Only when they stopped over in Manchester had he exchanged a few words with her.

It was three days since Wyrodd's death and it was late in the evening when they moved to their temporary accommodation in Bristol. As is so often the case, they had looked for a small boarding house that they would leave again at the crack of dawn. Even though Serena didn't feel like talking big either, she was beginning to be frighten by her butler's behavior. She wasn't used to Sebastian being so silent.

"What do you have, Sebastian?", Serena finally asked into the silence. She sat on the bed in her small room while Sebastian stood at the window and looked out into the dark night. Very slowly he turned his head to her and looked at her for a moment in silence.

"It's nothing, my lady.", he said and a faint smile formed on his face. Serena frowned suspiciously and looked at him appraisingly.

"But you don't act like that.", she commented and Sebastian closed his eyes for a moment, smiling very weakly and shaking his head. Then he walked slowly over to her and kneeled on the floor directly in front of her.

"It's really nothing, Lady Serena.", he protested and gently took her hands in his. His gaze bored into hers and once again Serena couldn't help but notice what wonderful eyes he had.

"Please don't worry for no reason.", he added and his smile widened a little. Serena eyed him appraisingly for a few moments, then slowly cocked her head and then nodded weakly.

"Okay.", she relented in a low voice and ran a hand through her hair. So much had happened at once in the past few days that she had become more and more tense. She gently withdrew her hand to cover her mouth when she tried unsuccessfully to suppress a yawn.

"You must be tired, my lady.", Sebastian stated and straightened up again, "You should go to sleep.". She looked him in the eye for a moment. In other situations she would have made a little joke and called him sensitive, but although she was so glad that he was by her side, Serena was not in the mood to laugh. Her thoughts wandered again and again to the still distant Cornwall and to her little Hyder. She now was so close to finally being able to see him again and this filled all of her thinking.

"You're right.", she said after a short pause and was already pulling her shoes off her feet. She got up slowly and let Sebastian help her out of her clothes. The moment she stood in front of him, naked, he leaned down gently and pressed a light kiss on her collarbone, exactly where the dark purple symbol of her contract was emblazoned. Then he straightened up and watched her as Serena put on her nightgown.

As in so many nights before, Sebastian went to bed with her. He had taken off his shoes and jacket and unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt so it was more comfortable for him. The bed wasn't very wide so they had to be very close together. Serena cuddled up to the side of his torso while he put his arm around her and closed her in a loving hug. Shortly after she closed her eyes, Sebastian gave her another quick kiss on the top of the head.

"Sleep well, my little star.", she heard Sebastian mutter before Serena fell asleep plagued by exhaustion and tiredness. But her sleep was by no means restful.

Serena ran across a large, dark meadow, lined with numerous fir and spruce trees. Her cottage was at the end of the meadow. She recognized it immediately, although it looked even more run down and neglected than it already was. Determined and without making a sound, Serena ran across the meadow towards her cottage. What was already worrying her was the fact that she was alone. No Sebastian ran behind her. At some point, Serena's feet quickened and she ran towards her cottage, only to see that when she arrived the building had crumbled into ruins. The glass in the window had shattered, the front door, half broken off, hung on its hinges and only a good quarter of the roof was left. Serena entered the house cautiously and stood in a completely filthy entrance hall. Pieces of furniture that didn't really belong there were lying around in ruins and crooked, and under a few scraps of fabric that had probably once been curtains, she could make out a few skeletonized hands.