Black Jasmine

Chapter 1

"I'll take care of the details, my lord."

"Good. See to it, then."

"Consider it done."

The echoes of voices bounced down through the darkness of the alleyway, ringing in Jasmine's ears as she woke up. Blinking her eyes as the cement turned cold under her, she was suddenly gripped with shock. Why was she in an alleyway?! And in the middle of the night, at that! Quickly she stood up, shivering as she tried to brush the dirt off her pants only to find out that it was, in fact, mud. Sighing, she pulled at the wet jeans that now clung to her legs and pulled back her hand in confusion. Not just mud, but blood was on her jeans. Mud, blood, and who knows what else. Wiping her hand off on a cleaner section of her jeans, Jasmine checked over herself to see what else was amiss. She had her flannel, which was the most important thing to her next to her locket, which, luckily, was also still there dangling around her neck.

Jasmine sighed, both in relief and horror. Everything was drenched in blood. Even her precious flannel and locket had their share in the dark red that laced everything. She ran her hands through her hair, trying to get her thoughts together. What was the last thing that happened before she lost consciousness? She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists in her hair trying to remember, but nothing came to mind. It was all just as blank as a fresh canvas before painting. Finally gathering her thoughts, Jasmine shook out her long hair, ignoring the horrendous knots and the horrifying amount of grime that fell to the ground. Shivering again, she rubbed her arms as she started walking to try and find a way out of the alley. That was when she actually looked around, and really saw her surroundings. Two bodies hung against the side of a large building, strung up like meat to be harvested. They were even skinned already, and underneath them lay their skins; around them was a pool of blood, sliding along the pavement as the bodies continued to bleed. Jasmine stared in horror as the blood fell from the bodies to the massive puddle, which welcomed each new droplet greedily.

A moment passed as Jasmine realized what she was seeing, and she sluggishly started to turn to try and avert her eyes. Instead she half fell, half threw herself onto one knee and hurled the contents of her constricting stomach into the street. The second she did so, she realized that she had hardly anything in her stomach. She clutched her sides as her body convulsed again. Bile mixed with blood and sweat, making the scene more efficiently disturbed and sickening. Finally, Jasmine managed to stop and, regaining her balance, wipe her mouth with her sleeve.

"My, this is unfortunate." Jasmine spun around to face the owner of the voice, though the moment she moved she regretted it and nearly doubled over, wrapping her arms around her stomach as she leaned forward precariously. Looking up she saw a very tall man in a black tailcoat, with black hair and piercing red eyes. "A lush, perhaps?" He wondered aloud as he knelt down to see her face. Jasmine flinched at his sudden closeness. The man also seemed taken aback after a moment, and suddenly he smiled charmingly. "You're no lush." He said simply, staring at her face inquisitively.

Jasmine cocked her head to the side slightly. "And what makes you say that?" She asked in mixed irritation and sarcasm.

He smiled again. "Well, your state of being would announce the typical drunkard, although your attire is not nearly so ragged as it should be for such a person- who, might I add, is typically a man."

Jasmine stared at him for a moment, then realized, "You thought I was a man?"

"At first, I wasn't sure what you were." He admitted casually. "But then I saw your face, and realized how feminine your body is."

Jasmine stared up at him, feeling awkward and uncomfortable. "You- you were- huh?!" Her face burned, and she knew she was turning red. She glared at him, angry that he made her blush. "And you are?"

"Sebastian Michaelis," He bowed. "I do apologize for my rudeness; however, I came here with a purpose."

Jasmine raised an eyebrow at him. "That being?"

Without so much as batting an eyelash, Sebastian smiled and said, "Quite possibly the same reason you ended up here, looking like a lush."

Staring blankly, Jasmine shook her head. "I just woke up. I'm not exactly a witness."

"But you are a foreigner," Sebastian said seriously. "That much is evident. That could explain your odd attire, save for the blood, of course." He cocked his head to the side curiously. "However... Foreign or not, a woman wouldn't typically be in a man's clothes."

Jasmine's eyes widened, then narrowed suspiciously. "You're assuming I'm the killer?"

"I'm stating that most people would assume that. However, I know better." Sebastian smiled again. "Although it should help your situation with the authorities if you go in as a witness."

Jasmine stared at him in confusion for a moment, then nodded. "Oh- uh... I'm Jasmine."

Sebastian crossed his hand over his heart. "A pleasure to meet you, although I'm sure it would have been more tasteful to have met under different circumstances."

"Yes, I agree." Jasmine said, remembering the horror scene behind her and keeping herself from turning toward it. "Is there...somewhere I could...wash up?" She couldn't continue speaking, or she knew she would lose her stomach again. Rather, whatever bile was left in it.

"I suppose I have no choice but to take you back to my master's estate. You are, after all, a protected witness." He took off his coat and laid it over her shoulders, making her look up in surprise. "You'll catch a cold if you stay like that."

Jasmine stared, then gave a small smile back to Sebastian. "Yes, thank you." She said as she pulled the jacket close around her. She scoffed slightly. "I'm positively filthy..."

"Well we'd better hurry home before you catch a cold." Sebastian said with a smile, picking Jasmine up.

"H-hey! What are you-?!" Her question ended in a choked scream as Sebastian started running. Jasmine involuntarily buried her face into Sebastian's chest, hiding her eyes from the relentless wind. When they finally stopped, her hair was even more tangled, though now it was also tangled into her glasses. "What was that about?!" Jasmine asked suddenly, looking up at Sebastian only to be caught off guard by how close his face was to her. Then she realized that she was in his arms, being held close to his chest. "...put me down." She demanded faintly, looking away.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear you," Sebastian claimed knowingly as he continued to walk up to the door of the manor.

Jasmine glared without looking at him. "I said to put me down." She paused, then spoke less aggressively. "Please put me down."

Sebastian smiled his charming smile. "Of course, miss. Just not here."

"Not here?" Jasmine asked as Sebastian managed to open the door and enter the mansion, then shut the door. "Then... Where, exactly?"

"In the washroom. You can't expect my master to allow you to run throughout the halls as filthy as you are." He smiled down at her. "Besides, I'm sure you'll be much more comfortable after you've had a bath."

Jasmine was speechless for a moment. "Oh...uh, right." She agreed uneasily, hiding her face.

"You're not uncomfortable, are you?"

"No, no. I'm just fine."

"Are you sure?" Sebastian asked, sensing her sarcasm.

"I'm fan-tabulous, thanks." Jasmine said, her sarcasm even thicker now.

"Fan-tabulous? Is that a word from your country?" Sebastian asked, sounding curious. Jasmine face-palmed.

They came to the washroom and he set her down. The second she caught her balance, Jasmine took a step away from Sebastian and cleared her throat self-consciously. "Uh... Thanks..." She said stiffly.

"You're welcome, Miss Jasmine." Sebastian bowed. "I can take your clothes for you."

"You- you want...my clothes?" Jasmine stuttered, not moving to remove even her flannel, unsure of how to react to this.

"We can supply you with proper garments. You can't exactly run around the mansion in those dirty rags, now can you?" Sebastian claimed, still smiling pleasantly.

Jasmine stared at the floor, clenching her fists at his redundancy. "I can wash them."

Sebastian looked surprised. "You want to keep them?"

"Yes I want to keep them!" Jasmine yelled, clutching her flannel. "I'll wash them, and I'll keep them. There is no way I'm getting rid of my flannel!"

Sebastian sighed in defeat. "Alright, but at least allow me to have them washed properly. I'll be sure they are returned to you."

"...thank you," Jasmine said happily, though she didn't smile. "Just make sure they get back to me. All of them."

"Consider it done," Sebastian said with a smile, and Jasmine remembered the voice that she'd woken up to. She thought for a moment, then Sebastian brought her back to reality. "Unfortunately, our maid is away with my master and the others to preform another duty at this time, so she won't be able to assist you tonight." His smile had a hidden sense of mischief. "You'll have to make do with me."

Jasmine was unamused as she pointed at the door. "Get out."

Sebastian chuckled slightly, earning a suspicious look from Jasmine. "I can't, I'm under orders."

"Under orders, or under contract?" Jasmine said suddenly, catching Sebastian off guard. "Oh, wait, I'm not supposed to know about that, am I? Oops... Oh well, what's done is done. Now, get out." She waved a hand at him to shoo him away. "I'm not taking a bath with you in here, so go."

Sebastian looked at her suspiciously. "If you know about the contract, then you know that I cannot leave until my orders are fulfilled. Besides, you can't wash all that blood from your hair on your own. It's far too tangled for just you to undo."

Jasmine glared at him through narrowed eyes. "Look, Bassy, I'm not-"

"What did you call me?"

Jasmine stopped and thought back, then hung her head in realization. "Crap..." She muttered, then threw her head back and sighed. Finally, she looked at Sebastian again, and shook her head. "I'm done. I am just so done..."

Sebastian cocked his head to the side. "Are you going to take a bath or are you just going to stand there and talk to yourself?"

Jasmine glared at him. "Are you always going to be a douchebag?"

Sebastian looked confused. "Why do you keep using foreign words like that?" Jasmine face-palmed, and he added, "Exactly how long have you been in the streets?"

"Since I woke up," Jasmine admitted. "I don't remember anything before that."

"...You must be a lush." Sebastian muttered to himself.

"I'm not a lush, but you, sir, are a-"

"Douchebag?" Sebastian repeated, cutting her off. "Yes, I believe you used that term not too long ago." He stared blankly at her. "I'll start your bath, seeing as you won't be doing it anytime soon. Come to think of it, you don't know what to do for a bath, do you, Lush?"

Jasmine's eye twitched. "Did you just-"

"I'm sorry, do you need something? We don't have any alcohol for your use here." Sebastian smiled mischievously.

"Oho, so that's how it is." Jasmine joked, taking off her glasses and flannel, as well as her locket. "Keep talking like that, and you'll become the lush."

"I can't get drunk." Sebastian said simply as he prepared the bath.

"Well you aren't exactly perfect either. I'm sure you'll come up with some other impurity to defile yourself with." Jasmine said, then suddenly burst into laughter at a memory.

Sebastian stared at her in complete confusion. "What are you laughing at?"

Jasmine just laughed harder and fell to the floor. "It's- even- funnier... Cause- you- don't- know!" She was laughing so hard that she no longer made any sound. Jasmine laid her head on the floor and continued to laugh.

"You're getting blood everywhere," Sebastian spoke calmly, but he was obviously irritated.

"IT'S EVERYWHERE!" Jasmine bawled her laughing was so uncontrollable.

Sebastian sighed. "Nothing is ever going to get done at this rate..." He tried to undress her himself, but she curled up against him, still laughing. Now it was all a game to her.

"Jasmine, we need to get you in the bath." Sebastian scolded her, but she only laughed at him.

"I'm sorry- no, I mean it- no, really-" Jasmine said between giggle fits. "Okay, I'm going. I'm getting in the bath."

"Jasmine!"

"What?"

"Your clothes." Sebastian said in exasperation.

"Oh..." Jasmine looked down at herself. "Yeah, I really don't think it's a good idea-" Suddenly Sebastian had her arm in one hand and was pulling her shirt over her head with the other. "Whoa- hey! What are you- ah!" Jasmine instantly covered herself. "Hey! That's not-"

"Now the rest," Sebastian ordered, and Jasmine's eyes widened. "Don't worry, I'll have them washed for you."

"That's not what I'm worried about," she admitted, trying to hide herself behind her arms.

"What, are you afraid I'll take advantage of you?" Sebastian asked softly, bringing his face close to hers.

Knowing her face was redder than a tomato, Jasmine put her hand in front of Sebastian's face. "Sebastian, back up or so help me I will-"

"You'll what?" Sebastian asked, then laughed. "Don't worry, I don't plan on violating you tonight."

"What- tonight? Oh, so you planned it for some other night?!" Jasmine demanded, but immediately regretted the question.

Sebastian turned to look at her playfully. "Maybe."

Jasmine's eyes widened, but then she huffed and rolled them. "Sebastian, let's get something straight. You will not touch me. Ever. Got it? This whole thing right here, never gonna happen."

Sebastian laughed, sending chills down her spine as he said, "Never say never."

"I swear my eye just twitched," Jasmine muttered. "I'm getting in the bath. If you so much as turn my way-"

Sebastian only glanced at her and she stopped talking. His eyes had changed, and it threw her off. "Don't do that!" She scolded him. "I'm getting in the bath, jeeze!" Once Sebastian had turned around, she slid off her pants and got into the bath. When she was covered by the water, she threw the jeans at the back of Sebastian's head.

He quickly spun around and caught them, not allowing a single drop of blood to fall onto anything other than the jeans. "You're ready, I take it?" He smiled, folding over the jeans and setting them with her flannel.

Jasmine rolled her eyes. "Show-off."

Sebastian smiled. "Don't tempt me. Now let's see about your hair..." He removed his gloves, bent over Jasmine and started to wash her hair. As it became cleaner, he realized that there was blood coming from a wound in the back of her head. Moving her hair to the side, he saw a shallow gash on the side of her skull, starting a little ways behind her right ear. The gash trailed down diagonally to the back of her neck, stopping just above the center. Sebastian thought about saying something about it, but then just kept his mouth shut and simply washed away the blood.

"Finally, I'm clean." Jasmine sighed in relief as Sebastian held up a towel for her. "But this bathwater is horrifying." She giggled slightly as she quickly accepted the towel. She wrapped it tightly around her body, holding onto the top to make sure she stayed covered. She turned to face Sebastian, but her vision suddenly went dark and she felt her body teeter forward dangerously.

Sebastian saw her demeanor suddenly change and he caught her before she could hit the floor. "Jasmine?" He called her name, shocked at her sudden limpness.

After a moment she moved and slowly looked up at him. "Sorry," she smiled somewhat sheepishly, seeming tired. "I guess I should have warned you that I have a habit of starting to black out when I get out of hot water too fast."

Sebastian sighed, a slight smile forming on his lips. "It's a good thing you didn't injure yourself. I'm not sure how I would have explained your injuries while under my care."

Jasmine rolled her eyes, standing up straight. "You'd come up with something." She said with a small smile, taking a step back. She rubbed the back of her neck, then looked surprised as she felt the cut that was there. "Huh? Was I..."

"It's only a shallow scratch, not worth mentioning." Sebastian lied easily. Though it was too shallow for stitches, it was still very significant. "No need for you to worry yourself over it."

"Oh." Jasmine said uneasily. "Alright..." She smiled up at him, and he plopped a towel on her head. "Huh?"

"We need to dry your hair." He said simply, concentrating on gathering her hair into the towel and drying it.

"R-right... Thank you," Jasmine stammered. She knew now exactly how pointless it was to fight him on things like this. That lesson was learned when he stole her shirt... She immediately shooed the thought from her head, trying not to blush. "Uh... So, you're pretty used to this, huh?"

"Hm?" Sebastian hummed, looking at her. "Oh, I guess you could say that." Silence followed, and Jasmine felt odd as he finished drying her hair. "There now, the rest of it should dry rather quickly." He looked at his watch. "There's still time for you to get some rest. I'll take you to your room."

"Okay..." Jasmine nodded, knowing that she wouldn't sleep, no matter how much she wanted to.

Sebastian led her down the hall to a spare bedroom. "There's clothing in the wardrobe that should fit you. Get some rest," Sebastian smiled, then left.

Jasmine smiled back, but sighed a little while after the door was shut. She gazed around the large room, which was fairly furnished, to find the wardrobe. She walked over and opened it, gaping at all the different dresses that hung there. Looking below, she found nightgowns and undergarments. Quickly she changed, hanging the towel up on the bed frame. Then she laid down on the bed, not expecting to sleep and was surprised by the level of tiredness that consumed her. The bed was so comfortable that she drifted into sleep faster than she ever had before.