Four
The Trouble Begins
Those three days go by even more quickly than I would like. On the morning of the fifth day, I wake Michael up and toss the work uniform at him. I’ve explained as much as I could over the last few days and I just hope I covered enough.
“Cassandra!” Venus shouts, from somewhere downstairs.
I lock eyes with Michael. “I’ll be back. Be dressed by the time I return.”
He nods and I bolt, actually choosing to use the stairs this time. Venus is waiting by the front door.
“All hell broke loose and I’ve been called in to go referee some stupid argument that Pluto and Mars have gotten into. I’ll be back later. I expect the boy to be busy at work when I return. Also, it looks like things are going to get a lot crazier around here, so be prepared. I have a feeling this argument is going to escalate very quickly.” With an irritated glare at me, she turns and heads out the door, making sure to lock it behind her.
The demon of death and the demon of war in an argument? That can’t possibly end well. No wonder Venus was so annoyed.
I stop by the kitchen and update Emily on the news in the demonic world. “It looks like war’s going to break out, Em. Be ready.”
She nods a thanks and I duck out, rushing back up to Michael’s room. When I walk in, he’s having difficulty buttoning up his shirt. With a half sigh, half laugh, I go and button it for him.
“Okay, come on. We have work to get done.”
“You don’t have much patience, do you?”
“To have patience one must have time. I don’t have time, so I can’t have patience. Now, come on.”
He rolls his eyes as I drag him out the door and up to the third floor. We enter the first room and I pass him a mop and bucket. He starts in the far right corner and I begin in the far left one.
We clean until the floor sparkles and then we move on to the next room. Halfway through mopping this one, Michael asks, “What are you humming?”
I pause a moment. “I, uh, don’t know. Didn’t even know I was doing it. Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. I just wanted to know. I’ve never heard it before.”
I shrug. “It’s probably something my parents taught me, but I don’t know.”
We go back to work and I think about it. More than likely, it was the lullaby my mom used to sing to me. I have long since forgotten the words, but the tune will probably be forever in my mind.
Another room spotless and we’re onto the next. This room is rather like a library and needs more dusting than mopping. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Venus touch the books in here. They just sit on the shelf, collecting dust. I used to read the titles while I was cleaning, but that has long since ceased to be entertaining. Venus has a book on practically everything supernatural. From Angels to Zeus to everything in between. If it pertains to her job, she owns it.
Dusting completed, we go to the next room over. Our morning continues on like this, going from room to room, polishing furniture, vacuuming carpet, or otherwise cleaning.
The pair of us make it through almost all of the rooms on the floor when the sound of the front door slamming echoes throughout the house. I cringe at the sound, in turn receiving a strange look from Michael.
“She only slams the door that hard when she’s mad,” I explain.
“Ah.”
We fall silent and go back to work. An eerie quite falls over the house making me more nervous than ever. If feels like the calm before the hurricane hits.
“Cassandra!” she screams. There it is, the first echo of thunder. I drop everything and sprint to Venus’s room.
She paces back and forth, clearly irritated. She reminds me of a caged tiger, ready to pounce.
“The council of demons is meeting here. Pluto and Mars have declared war and the council must come to an official decision on this. They’re reaching this decision here. We have two days to be ready for their arrival. Eight of you will have to give up your rooms while they’re here. The meeting room on the third floor needs to be spotless. The kitchen needs to be orderly. I expect all of you to be wearing your best clothes. Is this clear?”
I nod. “Yes, Miss Venus. Crystal.”
“Good, child. The boy?”
“Upstairs, cleaning. Just as you wished, Miss Venus.”
“Good, good. I should hope he behaves, Cassandra. Particularly while the council is around. You’re dismissed.”
I curtsy and exit her bedroom. Once more I stop by the kitchen and update Emily before rushing back upstairs. Michael has already moved on to the next room.
“What’d she want?” he asks.
“To ruin my life,” I mutter to myself. Louder, I tell him what she told me.
“So what does that mean for us?”
“It means this house will be even more of a hell than it already is.”
We fall silent until we finish, several hours later. The house has been scrubbed from top to bottom. We even made sure to go back upstairs and perfect the meeting room, as much as humanly possible anyway. Once we’re gone, we meet up with Emily in the kitchen.
“Servant’s meeting in the dining hall, honey. We need to discuss the council’s arrival.”
Michael and I move off to the dining hall. With a total of 204 servants (including our latest addition), not all of us can fit into the room. Twenty of us represent the majority and hold a meeting when something like this occurs. I’m still not sure how I ended up being chosen for this council when the spot opened up, but I don’t really question it. It’s a handy spot to have.
When Michael and I arrive, most of the group is already here. Already here and already bickering. I sigh and take my seat at the table. Em arrives a few minutes later and the meeting begins.
“First order of business is to discuss who’s giving up their room,” a senior council member named Adam mentions.
“We should just do it by seniority, the eight souls who’ve been here the shortest amount of time can double up with someone else,” Yvonne, another senior member, suggests, glaring pointedly at Michael and myself.
Twelve people in the room agree with her. Four argue. Three, including Emily and myself remain silent.
“We could try a volunteer basis,” Lexi (one of the eight who would loose their room) proposes.
“Who’s going to volunteer to give up their bed?” Yvonne demands. More bickering ensues. I roll my eyes at this.
“You guys are so spoiled,” I snap. “How difficult is it to go without your bedroom for a couple of days? It’s not even like you’re out on the street! You can go and ask someone else to share their room! It’s not that hard. I will voluntarily give up my room for a couple of days just so that it means someone else doesn’t have to.”
Yvonne glares at me. “You are such a self-righteous little hellion, you know that? Every time we hold a meeting you guilt trip us all into doing something. It’s highly irritating.”
“I don’t guilt trip you into anything. I just choose to do something and then you feel guilty for not doing the right thing. That is not my fault. You know what’s right, you’re just sitting there hoping someone else will take care of it. And I do, because goodness knows none of you will,” I retort.
Several other people jump to Yvonne’s aid and a few join in and argue for me. I sigh as the yelling and the shouting gets ridiculous. I turn to Emily.
“Mind if I room with you?”
She smiles apologetically. “Normally, no. But Richard already asked me, since he already agreed to give up his room.” Her last eight words are said loud enough for most of the council to hear. She receives a few irritated glares, but most people continue on with their argument as though she hasn’t spoken at all.
I sigh. “I shouldn’t be surprised. I’ll figure something out.”
Slowly, reluctantly, and with lots of arguing, six more people agree to give up their rooms. We move on to the next topic and arrange the work shifts for the time of the council’s visit. Once that’s done, the meeting concludes and we all head off to our rooms or to work, depending on our shifts.
“You can sleep in my room,” Michael offers.
“Thanks,” I reply. “I’ll stay in my room until the demons arrive. See you in the morning, Michael.”
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A/N: Sorry for the late update. I had a crazy weekend. Friday consisted of seeing my bestie, who's been off at college and was up for her nephew's birthday. Saturday was going to that nephew's birthday party and then Winter Formal. Sunday was all homework. (D:) Anyway, I'll try to update twice around Wednesday to make up for being late. Enjoy!