"Are you finished, Mistress?" The sight of the red-orange eyes staring to the girl could always send a shiver of hatred and fear up her spine.
No matter the way I turn, he is always there. Can I not escape this fate, brother?
Cecily set the spoon she held to her lips back to the half-empty bowl of soup. Various chunks of vegetables and meat floated around the mixture, swirling into a large portion of nutrients left uneaten.
The butler lifted the bowl from the table as he peered into it. His eyes flashed back to the avoiding girl.
"My mistress, you've barely eaten anything in the past week. How are you to regain your lost strength if all you consume is broth?" He seemed to be mocking her in his condescending words.
Cecily remained quiet even as a sigh erupted from behind her chair.
"I suppose it cannot be helped-"
"Demon," Cecily interrupted the butler for the very first time. Upon the hearing of her squeaked voice, the man peered back down with interested eyes.
Cecily tightened her fists under the weight of the pupils.
"I-I have a.. Question." She stated.
The butler remained quiet as though this were a silent push for Cecily to continue.
"You've made contracts with many others, correct? Just.. How many souls have you taken? How many people have you killed?" It was a question that had been eating away at the girl for so very long. Were the hands carrying her around the manor soaked with far more blood than she had originally thought?
The demon let a smirk come to his face as the question fell from her lips. He came into her field of vision as he stepped forward.
"My mistress, I have lived for many hundreds of years. Though I was trapped in that accursed book for a small percentage of them, that does not denounce on my time spent here. I have out-lived millions of beings. Whether their death be by accident, natural causes, or myself, it does not change the fact that they are gone. You too are simply a flash of lightning when compared to my long life. What does this tell you?" He could tell her of the hundreds of lives he had devoured, or simply let the girl find it out for herself.
Cecily thought a moment before the first words came to her mouth.
"You're alone."
The words the girl had blurted out without thought hung in the air for several minutes as the demon stared on with confused eyes. Just what had the girl dared to say to him? What insult of his species had come from her soft pink lips?
Soon enough, however, the demon regained a smirk.
"Isolation is not an emotion that demons feel, my mistress. I assure you, such weak feelings do not exist in my heart. Now, please, let me accompany you to your chambers."
He's calling me weak without even directly saying it. I feel lonely and all he can do is mock me.
The girl reached towards her water to clear the dry throat his words had caused. Her frail fingers wrapped around the wet glass and lifted it from it's position on the table. The sudden violent cough erupting from the girl's throat nearly flung the glass across the room. The shattering of glass and spreading of the liquid caused just an uninterested glance from the butler. His red-orange eyes traced towards the girl curiously.
Cecily covered her mouth as she stared down to the shards of glass across the floor.
"I'm sorry." She apologized to the butler, knowing he would be the one to clean up for her stupid and sudden mistake.
The butler bent down to the sharp edges with no new expression. He began to pick up the pieces without an eye looking towards the girl.
"Do not worry of it, mistress. It was a mistake, and nothing more. I shall clean it up with haste before we set off to your chambers." It took only several minutes for the man to pick up the shards. Soon enough, he was back to standing straight next to Cecily.
"Are you feeling unwell, mistress?" The butler set the collection of glass shards back to the table Cecily sat to. Without a word, the man placed a large hand over the girl's red forehead. She flinched, rearing her head back into the hand the butler had placed behind her. The girl stared up to red-tinted eyes glancing at her.
For several seconds the man kept his hand pressed upon his mistress' head.
"You have a fever. Have you experienced any other symptoms?" The demon lifted his fingers from her skin before wrapping an arm around the girl's waist. Cecily was hoisted back to the close position the butler often used to carry her throughout the house. While she detested it heavily, there was no other option. She was useless.
Cecily shook her rather dizzy head to dismiss the notion of being sick.
"Nothing strikes me as odd. I'm not ill. I feel fine." In truth, the girl was feeling paranoid of just about everything. Cecily couldn't be sure that every corner they turned down wouldn't be the last. What if one of the men had come back?
Along with such thoughts, the girl was experiencing odd flashes of the day when a shadow would catch the corner of her eye. The shape would turn and twist, but when her evergreen pupils faced it head-on, nothing was revealed. Was she going insane?
The demon continued forward up the stairs with no accusation against the girl. Her body pounded lightly against his as they finally reached the top floor of the manor. It was only a few turns later until the girl was able to be set to the ground.
"If that is all you need of me, mistres-"
"Wait, Demon." Cecily dared once again to cut the butler off. His eyes flashed downwards towards the girl sitting on the edge of her bed. The butler's high position above her allowed leverage above the girl's chest. The man narrowed his eyes to the dotting red streaks seemingly painted onto the skin of her chest. Cecily didn't seem to notice, as her eyes avoided him as usual. The girl shifted uncomfortably to escape his sharp look.
"T-The contract... Has anyone ever... Dissolved it? Is it possible?" Her voice became of a whisper as red-tinted pupils glared downwards.
"You wish to back out of our contract, mistress?" The demon did not seem happy with the words. His daggers dug into Cecily as she struggled to recover.
"I-I was just asking. I had no intention of-"
"Whatever intention you had, it matters not. A contract is not void until it is fulfilled. I saved your life and eliminated six of your oppressors. If you attempted to back out, I would find you, mistress." A smirk spread across the thin lips of the man.
"As I said, you cannot escape. It is impossible. Your dissolution would only bring about your inevitable death more quickly." His words were of venom, yet he spoke with a certain happiness that could only come with a man acting out a job he loved.
Cecily swallowed hard, the faint burn of her throat growing steadily worse. She nodded slowly.
"I know."
The demon swung the girl's foot from the floor and onto the bed. He gentle reach pulling the covers over her chest did not reflect upon his previous words. Neither did the slight pause to stare at the girl's chest once again. Cecily watched his red-orange eyes carefully before they slipped from her image and back to the tending of the bed. The butler turned towards the lit candle before making his exit.
"Have gentle dreams, my mistress." The light of the room was blown out in a single breath to throw Cecily's view in darkness. She could still feel the red-orange eyes pressing into her, though. They never really left her throughout the entire day. The burden of the split-second contract she made weighed heavily on her shoulders as a cross. Would her brother despise her if he knew of it? Would he be ashamed that his younger sister had succumb to the pressure and weakness that was her own solitude? She hoped he wouldn't. After all, the girl already felt the very same about herself.