Tainted | Kuroshitsuji ✔️

Chapter 1: Hide and Seek

Edited: 10/06/2019

Light met her eyes harshly when she tried to crack them open, and so she shut them with a wince. The nasty headache pounding between her ears seemed to elevate upon her attempt to open her eyes. She cursed weakly under her breath.

It took her what felt like a painstaking hour to finally adjust to the prodding brightness. Now, there was another problem – why was the world spinning?

She scowled in discomfort.

Her throat felt extremely dry as she painfully swallowed down her saliva. She licked her dry lips but hissed in pain when her lips that were as dry as parchment cracked and a metallic-tasting fluid entered her mouth.

Her gaze was immediately drawn to the water gleaming invitingly at her through a glass jar sitting on the dainty table next to her, and so she sat up with teeth gritting at the sharp pain that rippled through her body.

Eager, shaky hands reaching out towards it, she drank the water in big, greedy gulps the moment the jar touched her lips, not bothered by the small splash of water which had managed to escape down her chin.

When she was done, she found herself wiping the remaining droplets off her face with the short, flared sleeve of a simple white dress she did not recognize.

The pounding in her head seemed to escalate as a fresh collection of memories finally set in, with a single name causing her heart to skip a beat.

SIGMA.

Her eyes wandered over to the window across the room and widened as a realization slowly dawned on her.

This place clearly wasn't the hell she'd been trying to run from. Did this meant that...she had succeeded?
A wisp of doubt was quick to diminish her hope.
She didn't dare to celebrate too soon – a curt slap across her own cheek left a sting that made her grin.

Her eyes roamed the room across appreciatively, the high quality in the detail of the room immediately captured by her.

The dark crimson drapes that hung over the opened window was probably thick enough to block out the light even on the sunniest day. The spacious poster bed with its thick mattress was so extremely soft and cushy that seemed to fit right around the contours of her body. The plump cushions that surrounded her made it even better.

No, it wouldn't even matter if the bed was hard and lumpy – she would gladly choose a lousy bed over trying to catch some sleep on a cold, hard floor!

Everything here reeked class and wealth.

She couldn't tell where she was, but this was her reality now – she did it! She was really no longer in that horrible place.

Her glee was, however, found to be shortlived when a knock was rapped against the door. She was quickly reminded with dread dampening her high spirits.

She might not be in SIGMA anymore, but her safety was still uncertain. If this wasn't SIGMA, then where was she?

There wasn't time to think about the unsettling question; the intricate door handle was already pushed down – whoever behind the door apparently did not care enough to wait for her response.

The door swung open.

And the only thought that ran through her head was whoa.

A man looking young enough to be in his late twenties with a face she wasn't sure she could describe as 'perfectly handsome' since she had been kept away from society for years to judge. But she did know it was a face she was not expecting to see on the other side of the door.