A/N: The following text is embedded with typos. Please read at your own risk.
Before she could scream, a palm was pressed against her mouth and she was dragged inside her room. With a thump, her back was pulled into a hardened chest.
A man.
Or a dangerously flat- chested woman.
Panic fluttered it's wings inside Lea's stomach. She was not a fighter. Never had been.
She jabbed the stomach of the captor with her elbow but her shoulder was abandoned just as fast. Now, the hand encircled her waist, holding her in place, jarring any moment of her arms. She plunged her head back, hitting his face. The man— definitely a man— let out a pained groan, startled momentarily. Yet he never released his grip.
"Stop—" he groaned. Lea did not waste any time. She stomped her feet, stepping on his feet with all her weight while plunging her head back repeatedly, aiming for his face. But the man was now leaning his head back, away from her range of attack. He had moved his right feet back to maintain his balance.
"Stop it, it's Da— What are you doing?" he started with a grunt but ended with a hiss as Lea ducked down out of blue.
His grip faltered for a mere moment. Just enough for Lea to twist out one of her arms which held the silver pin. She raised her hand as she straightened up and thrusted it above her head, aiming for his face again.
He left her waist completely and moved out of the way. His palm resting against her mouth tightened it's grip as he pushed her back and in front of him. He captured her hand with the pin in his other hand as he stated hurriedly.
"Lea, stop. This is Darton."
Lea froze mid air. "Darton?" She blinked at the man in front of her.
Realization came a second late.
Darton clutched his mask clad nose. His light red eyes glinted with irritation. The hood on his head had shifted to side, some blonde locks peeking out.
Darton, Lea thought to herself as she recognized the faintly familiar face. Marquess Edith's trusted attendant.
Gloved fingertips held his nose. He shook it, eyes watering.
I destroyed his nose. And his shoes.
Panic surged in Lea as she approached the man.
"Sir! Oh my goodness, what did I do? Oh my—"
A letter was thrusted into her hand.
"We do not have time. I am leaving. Deliver it to the Lady as soon as possible; Master's order. My Goddess, your head is made of iron."
Without a second thought, the man left the room. Lea sped after him and opened the door. The hallway was silent again. The two guards stood erect beside the Lady's chamber door. Another stood near the staircase, peering down.
Darton was gone, like wind. As if he was never there.
Was it him I saw earlier? Where did he go anyway?
Lea looked around. Only two guards, who were stationed by Lady's chamber, were present.
Oh, yes. The sound down the hallway.
What was that?
She marched towards the end of the hallway. The letter was now slipped inside her dress pocket. She squeezed it from outside.
One of the guard spoke as he saw her approach, "Miss, you must not—"
"Yes, yes, sir. I would not go there." Lea gestured towards the dark turn of the hallway. "Did the guards from earlier did not—"
Before she could inquire any further, a loud hiss echoed in the hallway, accompanied by the crashing and shattering sound of vases. In the background, there were short-lived screams of utter terror.
"Miss, please get inside!" The guard shouted in urgency. Surprised and scared, Lea dashed inside the bedchamber of her mistress. She bolted the door behind her with a thump, uncaring of how loud she was.
"My lady!" She spoke in urgency, expecting the woman to be up and brandishing her dagger already.
She was met with the sight of the lump of her mistress' body lying still beneath the duvet. Which was odd. Lady Kiara always had been a light sleeper.
Frowning, Lea touched the duvet— it collapsed under her touch. She remained unmoving for a moment.
Did my— Did my Lady flattened?
Shaking the baseless thought out of her head, Lea poked the duvet two more times, just in case. She straightened before rubbing her head.
The bed was empty.
The frown marring her face deepened.
"My Lady?" She called out, knocking at the attached bathroom.
No reply.
This was another bad habit of Lady Kiara; she never answered back if someone called out for her when she was in the bathroom, or anywhere else for that matter.
Lea sighed. "What is she—" she muttered to herself halfway before she heard hissing right outside the door. The guards were muttering to themselves. Her heart thrummed.
What is it?
She approached the door and put her ears on it.
A meow.
Followed by a hiss.
A cat?
Heavens, a cat had everyone running around like that.
Opening the door, she peeked outside. At the sound the door opening, they looked behind at her. They were just as tense as before.
"A cat?"
"It looked like one. It was too big for being one however." One of them spoke. She looked at him closely. His lack of red eyes but presence of canines clearly marked him as a werewolf.
"Too big?" Lea questioned as she heard profanities from down the other side of the hallway.
"Yes, twice as big." The second one grumbled. His light red eyes flashed and he gulped, locking his jaw tightly. "It looked like it was out for blood. Scratched and attack quite a many guards."
Weren't there were about five half-blooded vampires after the cat?
Lea hummed with a frown, her eyes now wandering to the hallway. The sounds of hissing had grown faint and they came from the other side of the hallway. The guards chattered among themselves and the big cat duly contributed in their conversation timely. There were shrieks and screams heard at regular intervals. Undoubtedly, the masters of the house must be up by now.
If it is that big, is it even a cat?
"They will capture it in a while, it is but an animal. Rest assured, miss."
Lea glanced at them with uncertainty but closed the door nonetheless. Muffled sounds of crashes still came through the closed doors.
Heavens, is this cat or a demon in disguise?
She moved her eyes towards the unmade bedsheet and duvet, all crumpled and creased, as if someone had been laying on it and then woke up. Lady Kiara never left her bed unmade, though. She always folded the sheets. She folded it in a certain way, and hated it if someone else did them.
She remembered the time she tried to learn doing it the way Lady Kiara preferred it. Thirteen years old, with small pimples magically appearing on her face and hair growing all over her body rapidly, like trees on a fertile land; Lea was a quiet child of a maid in Douglas mansion.
Upon the advice and counselling of the Countess Daisy Douglas, a well-known prosecutor herself, Lea's mother, Sally finally had gathered the courage to leave the abusive husband back at home and moving in the mansion with her teenaged daughter after facing years of abuse.
The life was easier after that, but ghosts of past kept haunting the mother-daughter duo. Sally flinched at the sound of the spoon being tapped against the plate, scrambled to find words if asked a question, shivered at the sight of the Count, anticipated a harsh sound of the palm crashing against the Lady's cheek whenever the Countess sassed about "what a genius man" her husband is.
And though, the tapping sound was never followed by a bash on her head, her stutters were always answered by a reassuring squeeze on her shoulders, the sight of the Count was always followed by a respectful nod, her anticipation was always proved wrong by a raucous laughter in private and a quiet "Thanks to you, my darling" in public— Sally often jolted awake at nights screaming and sobbing.
Lea was no good either. Her father had scarred her enough, both mentally and physically, and her mother's progressively worsening state marked the onset of panic and nightmares in her as well.
Doctors were employed to help the duo cope. The Countess made sure on her end that the husband can not see past the bars of the jail. The Count made sure his sight was as non threatening as possible. Everyone co operated, but Sally could not. A year after moving in, she was found dead, a knife implanted on her side.
And that was the first time Lea met Lady Kiara.
Five years older than her, Lady Kiara had returned from Iredale institute, a boarding school near the capital of the Dukedom. It was a week after the night Lea's mother had died.
She could not sleep. Her mother's face, dead and cold, with blood painted all across her body stared back at her morbidly. It called out for her, it's black slithering tongue slipping out of it's mouth. It's arms, bent at odd angles, raised up in her direction, open as if asking to embrace it. Sometimes, it would be closer to her, a maniacal smile wedged on it's lips, eyes filled to the brim with a diabolical craze. Those were the nights she would sit up straight, screeching and screaming.
Those nights, when it said nothing, but smiled.
Smiled and stared.
The night was one of those nights. Her visions were filled with the distorted images of what looked like her mother, but never acted like her. Mourning quietly, she was sitting at the edge of window sill, her legs dangling outside as she stared at the grass brushing against her feet.
"What—" Someone spoke.
Startled, Lea screamed. Scrambling to get inside the room again, she hurriedly shifted back and fell down on the floor of her room. She screamed again, this time in pain.
"Oh my Goddess! Are you okay?" She had heard a feminine voice above her. She raised her head up and found herself staring at a girl. The moon shone brightly over her head and it's rays weaved into her long flowing brown hair delicately. As the light was limited, she could not see much, however, as the girl stepped inside and took a hold of her hands to pick her up, a fresh flair of the sandalwood wafted towards her.
Another aristocrat. Lea had realized.
The female guards, along with some maids, had busted inside her room just some moments later and confirming her suspicions, had bowed to the girl.
"Lady Kiara." Wonder laden greetings were offered to the Lady as she explained that she had seen her sitting on the window sill and since she did not remember seeing the younger girl here before, she only wished to enquire.
That was her first encounter with Lady Kiara. She was left intrigued, for whatsoever reason, with the Lady.
She saw her walking around with a sword in her hands, challenging her father for a duel time to time. She heard her discuss laws and courtroom dramas with her mother. She loved to tease the maids and servants of the mansion, often engaging in gossips. She would buy cosmetics and then yell profanities when they did not turned out as good as the shopkeeper had promised they would. She brushed her mare clean when she got time from reading the books in the library.
Lady Kiara had made an impact so profound on Lea's young mind that her eyes always searched for her when she was not there and lingered on her whenever she was.
Maybe that was why, one morning, when she had entered the Lady's room to borrow a book and had seen the Lady fold her bed sheet a certain way, she had wanted to learn how to do that as well.
It was a weird obsession but she wished to do that. She felt shy asking the fellow maids, for no particular reason again— so she often came in Lady Kiara's room in the morning, when she was still asleep. She would wake her up and then ask for a book. Lady Kiara would wake up, after several pushes and pleas— yawning, stretching, grumbling about how she is forced to wakes up so early in the morning everyday for a damned book.
Lea, on the other hand, observed how Lady Kiara's hands moved in a fluid, practiced motion, folding the duvet in a matter of seconds. But whenever Lea tried it with hers, she failed.
Maybe it's the material, she had concluded one night after the hundredth attempt and picked up the book she was done reading to give back to the Lady. But when she had reached the room, no one was there.
The bed was left rumpled and creased, with the bedsheet unmade. And Lea had grabbed the opportunity to use her skills of folding. Placing the book on the nightstand, she had quickly rushed towards the duvet and started folding it. The guards stationed outside had peeked inside to find the younger girl aggressively making the ends of the bed sheet meet and then trying to flap it.
One of them had called out to her, "Don't do it, child. Lady Kiara doesn't like it."
But being too focused, she was deaf to the guard's words of advice.
It was not until the Lady slapped lightly at her knuckles, did she realize that she was trying to fold it for the past one hour and failing at it miserably.
"What are you doing?" The Lady had raised one eyebrow at her, tilting her head to the side, one hand clutching against her stomach while the other dangled freely.
"Not— Nothing, my Lady," scared, she whispered back.
"Really?" There was a peculiar hardness to her words, frightening the younger girl more, "Does not look like it." She gestured towards her bed.
"I promise—" Lea had gulped. "I promise it was nothing, my Lady."
"I hate liars." The Lady had rubbed her temples as she mumbled."So do not bother to lie. Tell me what were you doing."
As Lea looks back at it sometimes, what she was doing was not something she should have been scared to do. It was an innocent curiosity, a childish wish. But it seemed like a muddy sin back then. A mistake big enough to be expelled out of the mansion, to be thrown out in the middle of the night, to be left alone in the wild, vile world. Hence, tears flowed freely after that, surprising Lady Kiara.
"Something that bad? Were you putting poisoning powder in my bed?" Lea remembered Lady Kiara trying to joke and lighten the mood but she only cried louder, causing Lady Kiara to put a hand on her mouth and muffle her cries.
"My Goddess, do not tell me, but stop crying, my head hurts." She had made her sit on the plush chair. After she had calmed down, Lady Kiara had, at last, took off the cloak and sandals she had been wearing the whole time, revealing humongous patches of blood all over her dress shirt. It was only then Lea had realized that Lady Kiara had actually entered the room from the window and not the door.
She was horrified at the sight of the blood but Lady Kiara calmed her down, telling her that most of the blood was actually from a butcher shop and the wounds were from falling down as she played with her friends back in the village. If she knew any better, she would not have believed her. But she ate that lie right from her palm, believing every word the Lady said with a convincing smile and sat down with her, leading to a rather eventful night.
She had learned about yet another side of Lady Kiara— the eloper side— and talked at lengths with her as the Lady patched herself up. She had even gathered enough courage to ask her to teach her the way she folds her blankets. She only received a confused smile and a quiet, "I fold it... normally. There is no special way."
But they had talked and that was more than enough for her.
I can extract out how to fold the bedsheet some other day, she had thought to herself as Lady Kiara had handed her yet another book and sent her off for the night, for now this will be enough.
Or so I had thought.
Lea huffed to herself, again failing to the fold the bedsheets properly.
Presently, she waited for her mistress to come out of the bathroom while wrestling with the sheets.
What is taking her so long? Lea heaved out a sigh and sat down on the bed.
The mattress, it is displaced.
Frowning, Lea stood up again and stared at the bed. The mattress was askew. Lady Kiara had a habit of making sure that the mattresses aligned to the outline of the bed, it drove her senile if she saw a mattress not placed properly.
This is so unlike her.
The mattress was pushed from the other side so Lea walked there and starting pulling it back but then she froze.
The dagger is not here. It is not beneath the mattress.
Her heart beat quickened. She gulped and swiveled around to see the cloak— it was gone as well.
"Oh my..." her words trailed off. With a thumping heart, she pushed open the bathroom door to find it empty.
She is gone.
Gone.
Lea bit her lips as she stared at the empty bathroom.
Gone.
She staggered out of the bathroom, into the bed chamber, sweeping her widened eyes across the length of it.
Gone.
Her gaze fell upon the window which over looked at the forest surrounding the mansion. It's flaps were wide open, letting the cold air in. The lush scarlet curtains flailed softly each time the wind swept inside the room, producing gentle lapping sounds.
Such a tranquil atmosphere for a night as turbulent as this.
My Lady, you are such a chore!
Lea whined to herself, stomping her feet on the floor. She dashed towards the bed, adjusting the mattress properly, before placing the pillows in the mid of it and covering them with the duvet.
Like a cat, she padded towards the door and checked the lock.
Then swiveling around on her feet, she ran towards the window. Peeking outside, she realized no guards were patrolling at the moment. She didn't waste anytime and hastily jumped out.
My Lady, why are you such a chore?
A/N: woah, so this is a long chapter :) We have, like, five people— Lady Kiara, Paris, two unknown and now Lea— roaming in the woods at night like it is a park. Surely their parents failed to teach them the importance of early bedtime.
What do you think is going to happen next? Who do you think is going to join the slumber party?
Thanks for reading XD