Like I promised, this update was quicker than the last. I couldn't keep you on the edge for too long, my dear readers
I hope you enjoy this rather dramatic chapter. I actually planned to finally include Pluto, but…someone else stole his show. So, Pluto in the next chapter for sure! ^^
The pain in her abdomen was excruciating as another cry left her throat. Sweat covered her forehead and she panted fast and heavily, her nails dug into Sebastian's arm while the other's—Bard, Finny, Meyrin, Tanaka and Ciel—stood around the bed quite helplessly.
"Is this normal?" Ciel asked carefully and looked up at Sebastian whose face was a mask of panic. One look into his butler's eyes and he didn't even need an answer—which he didn't get anyway.
"It's—ah, it's too soon! Three months! Sebastian, ah, ah, I—I can't, I don't want it to be born here!"
A waterfall of tears rushed down Annie's face, her cheeks flushed, her breath fast and heavy. "Please—take me away from here!" she begged and looked up at Sebastian.
"Where do you want to go?" Sebastian asked and leaned down, brushing a sweaty lock out of her face.
"H-home. Please, take me home—"she mumbled, already on the edge of her consciousness.
"Maybe it is really the best if you leave—"Angela entered the room with a concerned look in her eyes. "Take her home."
Ciel looked down at Annie quite thoughtfully before he signaled Sebastian to lean in closer. Once close enough for no one else to hear he whispered,
"Bring her to her parents. Or a hospital. But return right after. I need you here. Once you're back I will send the servants back to care for her, too."
Sebastian nodded and turned towards Annie. "I will take you to your parents, my love," carefully he scooped her up on his arms. Her breath had calmed down a bit and she snuggled her head against his chest.
"You should leave, too, young Earl," Angela insisted and looked from Annie to Ciel. "You cannot help us here alone."
"Oh, I won't be alone for long and these four will stay with me here until Sebastian returns. And now I'd like to see the man that was attacked by that mysterious Devil Dog. Lead the way," he gestured her to go and cast a glance over his shoulder, "Come back immediately, Sebastian."
"Yes, my Lord."
Outside in the village, the people stood around a man lying on the ground. His clothes were ripped and torn, his skin covered with scratches and bite marks and Ciel knew that man was dead as he knelt down next to him to inspect the corpse.
"How cruel—"Bard breathed.
"Do you think Annie will be fine?"Meyrin whispered concerned and shifted from one foot on the other, not able to properly look at the dead man on the ground.
Finny and Bard shrugged. "Let's hope so."
Ciel took the man's hand and examined the scratched skin when suddenly a deep voice roared,
"Don't touch him!"
They all looked up as Lord Barrymore approached them. His face was hard and cold. "So, the bad dog was James?"
An elder man nodded. "Yes. He broke the rule of having five dogs per person. It seems he was keeping a sixth."
"I see," he mumbled and closed his eyes for a second before he looked at Ciel, "Then, I suppose there was no helping it."
Bard stepped forward, anger clearly written on his face. "No helping it? Are you serious?"
Lord Barrymore turned towards him and growled, "This village has rules set down by myself. Those who break the rules will be punished by the Devil Dog that serves the Barrymore family!"
The crowd began chanting some creepy lines Ciel didn't really pay attention to while they lifted the corpse up and carried it away.
"I was sure that it would be an outsider who fell prey, but it seems you were spared," Lord Barrymore turned around and glared at Ciel and the servants before he followed the crowd with Angela right behind him.
"Tell me what you want—but this Lady Angela is creepy," Bard mumbled.
"So is this whole village, but that doesn't matter now," Ciel replied and sighed heavily. "We will stay here together until Sebastian returns. He can't help Annie anyway and we can only success with him by our side. My side. You four will return to the mansion once he is back."
"But, Ciel, we are here to protect you, too!" Finny exclaimed.
Ciel shook his head and turned back towards the house. "We will see."
"How do you feel, Annie?"
Lizzy's voice filled her head and slowly she opened her eyes. Her head was pounding and she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before she turned her head to the side, watching the other girl sitting next to her bed.
"Lizzy? Where am I?"
"You are at home, at your parent's house. Sebastian brought you here last night. He called me to take care of you because he could not stay for long. Are you alright? Is something wrong with the baby?"
Annie frowned and stroked over her belly under the blanket. "I don't know. It felt as if it was about to break out of me. The pain was so horrible. I was so afraid, but now—now it feels perfectly fine again. I wonder why it happened."
"Your mother said it is normal. Sometimes it feels like this."
"No, Lizzy, you don't understand. This was no normal pain. This was as if a scalding knife tried to cut the baby out of my body, stabbing me and torturing me. Something or someone must have caused this—"she said thoughtfully and closed her eyes again, leaning her head back against the soft pillow.
They remained silent for a little while and just as Lizzy had assumed Annie was asleep again, she suddenly opened her eyes and said,
"It must have something to do with that village! Angela, she is a servant there, she came to me last night and said we should leave the village. What if she—but no, that is impossible. How should she be able to make me feel pain?" she sighed and rubbed her forehead.
"Do you think Ciel is in danger?" Lizzy asked concerned and took Annie's hand, squeezing it lightly.
She shrugged lightly. "I really don't know, but I hope not."
"Well, even if so—Sebastian will be there to protect him. And they will soon return and you will be with him again."
"Yes—"she whispered and closed her eyes again.
Finny, Bard and Meyrin sat together outside of the mansion of Lord Barrymore on the next morning. Clouds hung heavily and almost threateningly above them while some weak rays of the sun managed their way down to the ground.
It was clearly visible that they felt more than miserable.
"It turned out to be a terrible trip, huh?" Bard sighed and leaned his chin on top of a wooden box.
"Indeed—"the red haired maid mumbled, her voice full of sorrow.
The sound of nearing footsteps made them look up. Finny gasped and jumped towards Sebastian.
"You are back! Where is Annie? Is she fine?"
"I think she feels better now, yes," he replied. "Did anything happen while I was gone?"
"No, the rest of the night was silent," Bard said. "Too silent, if you ask me."
"Well, maybe we should do what we were about to do in first place," Sebastian mumbled. "Get in the water. We are here to test this place for a resort."
Later in the afternoon, the servants had some fun in the water while Ciel sat in a chair, reading a book. Sebastian looked down at him.
"Won't you go swimming, young Master?"
"No. If you're still able to swim here in this season, it may yet have some merit as a resort," the boy replied.
Sebastian cocked his eyebrow. "Are you truly thinking of making this place a resort? After all we've witnessed so far and what happened to Annie."
"We cannot say for sure that what happened with her had anything to do with this place.
"Yes, but what about that Devil Dog?"
Ciel sighed lightly. "You have noticed it as well, right? The truth behind that Devil Dog?"
Sebastian nodded thoughtfully and looked over to Angela who sat on a blanket with Tanaka. Finny waved at her merrily. The butler sighed. He had seen how much Finny liked Angela. But something about that maid was wrong. He just couldn't say what it was, but Annie had sensed it right from the beginning and he trusted her instincts. He would keep an eye on that maid, just in case she tried to make them leave again.
Ciel signaled him to lean in closer. Quietly he whispered into his ear. A smile curled Sebastian's lips.
"Yes, my Lord," he said amused and left immediately.
It was early evening, the sun was already setting and painted the sky in a beautiful indigo.
Annie was snuggled into her pillow when suddenly she opened her eyes in panic. Her breathing quickened and she sat up. Her hand rubbed over her tummy, aware that the baby inside moved a bit.
'It is too early. Or isn't it? Would a half demon baby be quicker evolved than a normal human?'
These questions whirled through her head as she called,
"Mom? Mom!"
Within the blink of an eye, Mary Ann entered the room. "What's the matter, my dear?"
"I—I think it's starting. The baby—"she panted a bit and tried to get up but slipped and nearly dropped out of bed. Her mother rushed to her and helped her back onto the bed. Annie groaned.
"We have to bring you to the hospital!"
"No! I won't go anywhere now! I'll have my baby here!" Annie protested and hissed in pain. She grabbed her mother's hand and panted, her hips began moving in slow circles.
"Let me at least call a doctor to come here!" Mary Ann insisted and finally Annie nodded. Her mother left for a moment and returned soon after. "The doctor will arrive soon. Calm down, my love. Everything will be fine. Breath calmly. Breathe in—and out—in—and out. Yes, you're doing fine," she smiled and stroked over her daughter's head.
It took not long and the doctor, a woman older than Mary Ann, entered the room. She immediately examined Annie and smiled at her, signaling her that everything was perfectly fine.
Suddenly her whole body began swaying with each contraction. Her heart was racing and a thin layer of sweat covered her forehead. She bent over again with another contraction and dug her nails into the sheets.
"Seb—astian! I need him—here, now!" she cried and panted heavily.
"He cannot come now. You have to make it without him," Mary Ann said calmly. "I will be there. I will help you."
Finally she stopped struggling and tried to breath normally again. "That—that was really tough—"she chuckled weakly.
The doctor examined her again and said, "You are ready to go—"
Annie's face changed again and her mother stroked over her head. "Easy, breathe gently."
She couldn't calm down anymore. There was just one thing she could do and that was pushing.
"I can see it! There is the head!" the doctor said quietly and looked up at Annie. "Rest for a moment and push again."
Annie inhaled deeply and pushed again. And all of a sudden, a tiny body slid into the doctor's waiting hands. "Welcome, little one," she said to the girl and cuddled it up into a small cloth.
Annie's head fell back into the pillow and reached instinctively for her baby. As the doctor handed it to her, the baby girl took her first breath. She was fascinated by that pink little thing. "It's a baby," she said giddily and added, "I have a baby!"
Mary Ann laughed and watched Annie cuddling the little girl against her breasts. "It's my baby. Our baby. Sebastian and I have a baby," she mumbled, still too overwhelmed by the situation.
"What will be her name?" Mary Ann asked curiously.
Annie looked down at the little girl with its thick, black hair and those big round emerald eyes. She was a perfect mix of Sebastian and herself.
"Lucy—Lucy Michaelis. That sounds nice, don't you think?" she said with a smile. Her mother nodded proudly.
"Hello, Lucy. I am your grandmother," she whispered and lowered down on the edge of the bed. "I am so proud of you, my love. And I am certain Sebastian will be, too."
"I wish he could be here now," she mumbled.
Mary Ann leaned down and kissed her daughter's and granddaughter's foreheads.
"Take some rest and call if you need me," she got up again and thanked the doctor as well, so did Annie.
"The same counts for me," the doctor said after packing her bag again. "If you need help, just call me and I will come and see what I can do. But your baby is healthy and fine. There shouldn't be any complications."
"Thank you," Annie mumbled and fondled her daughter's hair tenderly.
Once she was alone with her she felt a silent tear run down her cheek. She couldn't wait to see Sebastian's reaction once he was back.
She closed her eyes and sighed contently, both Annie and Lucy fell asleep quickly.
Yes!
Lucy is finally there! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and stay tuned for the next!
