"Miiiiika..." The torturing voice sung lazily, echoing through the vast hall "Remember when I ripped your arm off? That was fun…" the torturer chuckled composedly "We should do it again some time…" his voice trailed off into a hiss.
Mikaela did remember. And though he could feel a quick blow of lancinating pain, sample of the one felt that day; and though he cursed how sturdy his neurons were to preserve unpleasant details with such richness, he had learned to show no trace of his feelings on his face.
That didn't keep Lord Ferid from deriving the silent pleasure Mika's hardened expression provided.
When they met, it was by an unfortunate accident that Mikaela never stopped wishing it had never happened.
He had climbed a tree to spy on the imposing royal mansion. He watched the dull color in amazement, and giggled in excitement, anticipating the conversation in which he would describe the place to Yuuichirou, how the children would round up to listen to it, and how their eyes would shine with as much wonder as his did then.
But what happened next he couldn't tell them: The branch giving out with his small, 12-year-old body, his clothes getting caught on the gate's spikes, the bruises all over his knees and elbows as he rolled to the ground and downhill. The guards captured him, and would have promptly twisted his neck if it weren't for a member of the loyalty who had been bored enough to watch the little child through all his curious examination.
Sure, the guards were scary for Mika: Their expressions were hard and emotionless, their eyes were wide and red, thoughtless and determined as their inflexible hands bound him by the narrow shoulders… but it was only Lord Ferid's landing that really frightened him into silence as the vampire jumped from the balcony, some 200 meters off in the distance, and spotlessly stepped down on the court next to his held down body. He didn't need to say a word for the guards to stop what they were about to do to Mika;
Mika's blue eyes traced the vampire's face, taking in his cynical, pitiful smile and the burning glow under his lazy lids of full, pale lashes. He could see his fangs projecting out, but an overall friendly expression receptioned him. For some reason, he knew greater fear then than he had ever felt before!
If Mika had to describe Lord Ferid in one word, it would certainly be 'creepy'.
"My, my, what do we have here!?" The tall, slender vampire laughed, arching forward and seizing Mika's chin between his two fingers. "A little human?" he turned the child's face from one side to the other, slowly examining him with penetrating red eyes that peered from behind a silver fringe of bright, long locks.
Mika felt the bitter taste of panic on the back of his tongue and his muscles burned with the will to pull his face free form the vampire's gloved hands and either run back to the gate hoping to cross it to the other side or fight them brutally, like Yu would do…
…Sadly, he was smarter than that. Too smart for the blind determination that animated Yuuichirou's chest; too smart for any positive hope. His small, frail body started shaking.
"I thought it was a colorful little lamb come to entertain me… but lambs don't climb trees, do they?" The vampire's eyes narrowed and his smile stretched.
"Forgive-me, sir!" The child shouted from his panic.
Mika wasn't only smart. He was also sociable… political, even!
"Oh?" The vampire let go of his face and stood back, watching the kid with delighted eyes, as if surprised that it could talk.
"Forgive-me, sir!" Mika insisted, this second time succeeding in modulating his voice enough to sound more like respect and less like a desperate plea "I didn't mean to trespass!"
Ferid carried on examining the child with fascination. Mika jerked his body, pulling his shoulders free from the guards, and, kneeling down, he bowed, touching his forehead to the wet grass and crossing his hands over his head. "I apologize!"
Ferid chuckled.
"Why, will you look at that?!" Mika heard Ferid's smooth voice sing "A lovely demonstration in deed, but… Am I worthy of all that reverence? Come, child…" Ferid laughed, almost incandescent with pleasure "It is I who owe you an apology now, for where are my manners?!"
The gloved hand touched the boy's face again, pulling his head up and taking the time feeling his petite jaw.
Mika could feel the fingers under the smooth silk were cold as marble, and it sent shivers down his spine – but he had already spotted Ferid's weakness to be a bloated ego – an almost unnatural smile of glee illuminated his face after Mika kneeling down – and Mika felt that as long as he appealed to the other's own narcissism, he could be spared.
"What is your name, little lamb?" Ferid asked, salivating.
With subtlety, Mika took a step back to get rid of Ferid's cold, uncomfortable touch. The gesture was neatly camouflaged behind another bow:
"Mikaela Hyakuya!"
"Mika-kun, eh?" Ferid chuckled "I am Lord Ferid Barthory"
Immitating Mika, Ferid bowed forward with a hand held on his chest. When he stood straight again, same hand returned to Mika's face:
"It is a pleasure to meet you, young Mika-kun!"
Mika observed the golden lines and golden buttons on the noble's wrists, feeling uncomfortably intimidated. Ferid's eyes narrowed, noticing that, too.
"It's my pleasure, Ferid-sama!" Mika blurted out, feigning enthusiasm.
"You're a good boy, aren't you?" Ferid smiled "Come, Mika, I'll have you be my special guest tonight!"
As the noble turned around expecting to be accompanied, Mika took a sudden step back that made the guards agitatedly materialize behind him. Ferid turned back, his stretched lips curled down in a distasteful expression.
"I-I'm sorry, sir, but I'm late! I must return to my family! I-It was nice meeting you!"
"Your family, huh?" Ferid walked graciously ahead "You are very far away from your district, aren't you, Mika-kun?"
"hmm… Yes." Mika replied.
"And you are already late, I suppose?" He chuckled.
"Y-yes sir, I'm very late!" Mika flinched, dropping his head down.
"How do you know that, when you don't even have a watch, Mika-kun?" Ferid cocked his head to the side.
"I… hmm…" left answerless, Mika looked aside, surrendering.
"That's what I thought. I'll tell you what, Mika-kun…" Ferid sighed, coming to the boy's side and stopping, looking down at him from his superior height: "…Since you are already so late, and your house is so far away, and there is no way you'll get there in time unless a vampire escorts you, you should be a little gentleman and accept my invitation. That won't hurt anybody, will it?"
He passed his hand through Mika's shoulder and squeezed the child's little body against his hard hips.
"I don't know…" Mika wavered. "My siblings, they will…"
" Oh, don't tell me you'll feel guilty if you enjoy yourself without them?! What a delightful spirit you humans have! It makes me… oh!" Ferid smiled, dropping his eyebrows in a pitiful expression. Mika felt slightly despised…
"If your siblings love you as much as you love them, Mika-kun, I'm sure they won't mind it…"
"But… Yu-chan might…"
"Here here, you willful little child!" Ferid shoved his hand inside the pocket of his black and white suit and pulled out a golden watch. It made Mika's blue eyes sparkle with how much gold it concentrated. Thin platinum hands moved, telling the time with charming roman numerals. Mika tried to memorize them to later tell the children what it looked like. Harder than before, he wished he would escape unscathed to be able to amuse them with those stories.
"If you come with me, I will give you this little trinket so you'll never lose the time and disappoint your friends again. You can even let Yu-chan hold it, this way he won't be so mad at you, will he?" Ferid whispered.
Mika's timid hands jerked, threatening to go for the watch. It made Ferid's slender chest shake with a restrained laugh:
"Go ahead, you can have it!" Ferid deposited the delicate object on Mika's fingers.
The weight… the color… How fantastic it would be, if he could show it to the children instead of just talking about it!
"Come now, my little sad lamb…" Ferid pulled him closer, squeezing his shoulder, and walking forward in short paces, having consideration for the child's small legs and the distracted, unbelieving eyes that focused on the watch instead of the way ahead. "Let's get you cleaned up!"