The first thing Serena heard ,was an incredibly loud clang. To her it felt like a marching band was holding a rehearsal right next to her and she grimaced in pain. When she slowly opened her eyes, however, contrary to expectations, she was in bed in her current accommodation.
But in contrast to the last few days it was far too loud and also far too bright. Serena groaned in agony and screwed up her eyes again. Her whole head ached as if someone had pushed her against a wall over and over again.
Very carefully and slowly, so as not to cause even more pain, she straightened her upper body a little and blinked against the bright light that fell through the narrow windows into the room. What did she do yesterday? How did she get here in the first place? These and many more questions flashed through her head as she slowly looked around the room.
Then she discovered Sebastian. He was standing in a corner of the room, apparently cleaning some of the pots that had been in the room when they moved in. The metal pots rattled again and again, making the loud and unbearable noises that woke Serena.
"Does that have to be?", she muttered and looked at him plaintively with small eyes. His gaze wandered to her and finally he stopped moving, so that the room became calmer. An almost mischievous grin crossed his face for a moment and Serena knew that he had done it all on purpose.
"It's supposed to be clean and tidy here, Lady Serena.", he replied innocently. Serena just rolled her eyes grumpily and carefully lay down again. Even speaking was still too strenuous for her and in the short time in which she had straightened up, it had turned her up and down considerably again.
She tried hard to remember the night before, but that almost gave her more headache. A picture of the pub popped into her mind and how she had ordered an ale. From then on her memory became more and more indistinct. How much did she drink that she didn't know anything anymore?
Sebastian put down the pots with a noise that was far too loud and came over to sit next to her on the edge of the bed. Very slowly she turned her head and looked at him. There was an amused grin on his face.
"Are you feeling better, my lady?", he asked politely and exuberantly, and Serena slowly began to suspect that she must have done something stupid yesterday evening, otherwise he wouldn't grin like that.
"You can probably answer the question yourself.", she croaked, because her voice seemed to be a bit weak too. Sebastian chuckled briefly and continued to just look at her.
"How did I get here?", Serena finally asked and briefly closed her eyes to be able to rest a bit.
"I carried you up the stairs.", Sebastian answered her question, "But you walked bravely the way from the pub to here, Lady Serena.". Serena grimaced a little. He sounded like he was praising a little child who had finally eaten with a spoon instead of with his hands. Something must have happened on the way home, she guessed, or he would definitely not be so happy. She carefully opened her eyes again and looked at him warily.
"Why are you so happy?", she asked, trying to turn on her side as slowly as possible. Challenging, he raised an eyebrow and looked at her slightly mockingly.
"Can't a butler be in a good mood?", he answered her question with another question. Barely noticeable, Serena snorted and continued to look at him.
"Demons don't grin so happily to themselves.", she said dryly, "So ... What else did I do yesterday that it amused you so much?", Serena was also a little afraid of his answer, but at the same time she really wanted to know. It wouldn't be that bad, she told herself.
Sebastian's smile quickly turned into an evil grin. With a cheeky expression in his eyes, he leaned down so that his face came very close to hers. Serena's heart immediately jumped uncontrollably again and without wanting to, her eyes widened noticeably when he got so close to her.
"So you can't remember that you practically attacked me on the street?", he whispered in her ear in a velvety voice and Serena's eyes widened.
"I am ... I have ... what?", she managed. She strained her brain for any images of this event, but in her head it was completely empty. For her it was as if last night had never happened.
"Oh, don't worry, my lady.", he whispered further without changing his position, "I can't say that this caused me displeasure.". Serena felt her cheeks grow warmer. Of course, it was no longer a secret that there was a certain attraction between them. But judging by Sebastian's statements and his amusement, she must have acted quite aggressively yesterday evening. Suddenly a disturbing thought occurred to Serena and despite her miserable condition, her upper body shot up. Sebastian could of course avoid her thanks to his demonic reaction speed, but looked at her as if she had lost her mind.
"Did we then ... well ... did we ...", Serena stammered, unimpressively. In itself, she wasn't embarrassed by the thought, she just wouldn't have endured it if she couldn't remember the first time with him. Sebastian looked at her briefly with cocked head. Then his eyes widened a little too, as he slowly began to understand what exactly she wanted to ask.
"Oh ...", he uttered and laughed very briefly to himself, "I can't deny that it initially seemed like it would amount to that. However, you fell asleep as soon as I put you on the bed.". A little too obviously, Serena let out a sigh of relief and sank down on the bed again. Everything was spinning in her head again because she had moved too fast.
"Good.", she mumbled to herself and only then did she realize that her butler had excellent hearing. He looked at her a little offended when her slightly guilty gaze wandered to him.
"So ... I mean ...", she tried to put her thoughts into words, "Not ... Not that I wouldn't want it. It's just ... If that were the case, I would like to be able to remember it, you understand?". A little embarrassed, she looked away. There was brief silence between them, until Sebastian put a loving hand on her cheek and stroked it gently.
"I see, Lady Serena.", he said softly and when she dared to look at him again, he looked at her with a friendly smile. Relieved at his understanding, she closed her eyes again and sighed a little. Although there was still a lot of rumbling in her stomach, she felt a little better now.
She felt how Sebastian pulled the blanket over her body again, but stayed right next to her. It was good for her to feel him so close to her, because it gave her an unalterable feeling of security.
Serena hoped that everything in her head wouldn't be spinning the next time she woke up before she went back to sleep.
The next few days were pretty uneventful for both of them. They kept trying to gather information and from now on Serena avoided indulging in the ale again, even if it was extremely difficult for her to do so with such a delicious drink. However, the longer they stayed in the London underworld, the harder it got for Serena. Of course she could still cope with the circumstances of such a life, but what bothered her and Sebastian the most was the behavior of other men. More than once, Sebastian had to pull his lady with him quickly, as she was often mistaken for a prostitute.
Serena wasn't entirely sure whether to take this mix-up as an insult or a compliment. What was certain, however, was that Sebastian was not at all enthusiastic about it. Each time she heard how he almost growled at the men and how his demonic eyes began to glow slightly red.
But despite these incidents, they still managed to gather some information about Wyrodd. They weren't particularly conclusive yet, but Serena told herself it was better than finding out nothing.
Less than a week after Serena's "alcohol incident", which she had of course not yet mentioned with a syllable, the two were once again walking through the dark streets of London. It was already getting dark and that was what really brought life to this part of the city.
Just as Serena was about to turn to Sebastian, he suddenly stopped and looked around with a confused look. Serena looked around immediately, too, but hadn't the faintest idea what to look for.
"Sebastian?", she asked quietly and automatically took a step closer to him. If he stopped and looked around carefully, in most cases it meant something was weird to him.
"Here's someone we know.", he mumbled an answer and Serena could tell from the wrinkles that were forming on his forehead that the presence of this person surprised him.
"But who?", she asked softly and continued to look around. Instead of answering, however, her butler started moving again. He walked purposefully along the street past several houses. Serena ran after him, of course, making sure to stay as close to him as possible.
Sebastian turned several times, stopped every now and then and seemed to pick up the track again like a sniffer dog. Serena had to smile slightly at the sight of him. Even if she mostly thought of a dark panther when she looked at him, he was now more in the shape of a dog.
But she would be careful not to tell him that thought. Ever since they found a runaway dog while out for a walk, she'd known Sebastian had quite a dislike for these animals.
Eventually, he slowed down again and moved directly towards a person leaning against the corner of a house. The person wore a dirty, brown cloak and the brim of his hat pulled quite far over the face. As they stepped closer, Serena thought she saw a slightly grinning mouth under the hat. Serena frowned in confusion because she still had no idea who this person was.
"I did not expect to meet you here, Lady Sinister.", the person now said and slowly raised his head. Serena blinked in surprise and had to look twice before she recognized the person in front of her. But she recognized the deep and velvety voice in seconds and her heart immediately began to beat a little faster.
"Earl Phantomhive?", she asked in a low voice disbelief and took a step toward him, "What do you do here?".
Published on 12-11-2020
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