Good evening,
I'm glad to hear that people are enjoying this fic so far.
I hope you guys enjoy the chapter.
Oxford Not Brogues
Chapter Two
Everyone was seated around the oval shaped conference table except for one. Jeremy stood at one of the heads with his arms outstretched so he could lean comfortably forward. His solemn eyes were narrowed on the glossed wood; he hadn't blinked for a long two minutes now. Seated at the other end was Imane who wouldn't stop fidgeting. She kept pinching the rubber that covered her legs while she nervously looked around at everyone before glancing back at Jeremy. The entire table was quiet as they all sat anxiously and stared at him. They all waited to see what would be said and who would confess to this murder. Seras sat across from Alucard and Sebastian. They were the only two in the room that looked so entirely calm. Both men were leaned back in their chairs. Alucard's leg was crossed over the other one while he casually kept his fingers interlaced over his flat stomach. Sebastian sat a little more properly while he kept his eyes glued to their cyan colleague. Sitting between Michaelis and Charlie was Thomas. On either side of Seras were Lily and William.
"Where was everyone?" Jeremy finally spoke. He lifted his head to first look at Imane before at everyone else. His eyes scanned the whole table as he waited to hear everyone's positions. When no one spoke, he stood up straighter with a heavy sigh and he proceeded. "I can absolutely clear Charlie, Thomas, and William. All four of us were in lab and med bay together. Now, where was everyone else?" He raised his voice. He folded his arms over his chest and Seras couldn't help but think that he was trying to be intimidating. Sadly, the man wasn't very intimidating at all. He was just an inch or two taller than her and was fairly skinny. The man wasn't capable of scaring anyone. Still, when no one spoke up, he decided to pick on a person. "Lily, what was your pathing? Where did you go and what did you do?" Jeremy asked carefully as he turned to look at her. The shy, petite girl slumped in her chair. She immediately felt like she was being accused of the murder, even though she wasn't.
"Well, first I went to O2. I saw Seras, Alucard, and Sebastian in the hall and Leslie was in the tree room." Lily explained as she tried to recall everything she did. "I went into the tree room with her, but Leslie didn't stay long. I didn't really see where she went, but I think she went to the compressor to refill some oxygen tanks."
"How do you know?" Charlie asked with furrowed brows.
"You know that loud…puff sound the tanks make as they're being filled?" Lily attempted to explain. Jeremy and Charlie nodded theirs heads. "I heard that, so…I'm assuming she was the one doing it." She then sat there quietly and looked between both men over her round glasses.
"And?" He questioned her further. "Did you see Leslie leave? Did she leave with anyone?" Lily shook her head with a negative hum.
"No," She whispered timidly. "I didn't see her after that." Jeremy sighed in frustration. Before he could question anyone else, Charlie was speaking again.
"What about Sebastian? Where was he? What was he doing?" Their dark blue colleague asked. He looked around Thomas to give Michaelis another look of suspicion.
"They were with me." Seras answered immediately. Alucard and Sebastian's heads snapped forward to look at her in astonishment. They had told her specifically not to open her mouth or to draw attention onto herself. But she couldn't just sit there and let them be accused.
"What did you guys do?" Jeremy asked with a shrug.
"We first went to the tree room, Leslie walked in to fill out a chart of the tree's progression, and then we left to go to weapons. I uploaded a few things and targeted some asteroids before heading to comms, and that's when I…we found Leslie." Seras answered. She could feel the stern looks she was getting from both Alucard and Sebastian, but she avoided their gazes. Instead, she focused solely on Jeremy and his expressions.
"So, the last person you saw with Leslie was Lily?" Jeremy asked to be sure. Seras nodded her head before giving a side glance towards Lily who looked like she was about to cry.
"Hold up," Charlie interrupted with a wave of his hand. "I don't think Lily did this. Seras, are you absolutely sure Sebastian and Alucard both were with you the entire time? From the moment you left the tree room up to the point where you found the body?" No. Seras answered internally. They both had left her. Sebastian was gone far longer than Alucard. But they both left her at some point before the body was discovered!
"They were with me the entire time." Seras knowingly lied to him. "They didn't commit this murder." Even Seras was unsure of this. She didn't know if Leslie's blood was on one or both of her lovers' hands, but she decided to blindly trust them.
"Alright," Charlie responded and he put his hands up in surrender. "I was only asking."
"I don't understand why you're accusing them so hard when you got more than one witness that saw that they were with me." Seras raised her voice as she shot the man a dark look. But Charlie didn't take offense. Instead, he just snickered while a smug smirk swept across his face.
"One of your two witnesses is dead." Charlie stated. "And I don't think we should rule out that there could be more than one killer." Something snapped in Victoria's eyes. Her jaw tightened as she gave him such a dark look.
"Are you accusing me now?" Seras asked.
"Okay, stop." Jeremy interrupted with a wave of his hand. "Charlie, you are accusing a lot of people right now."
"Yeah, that seems kind of suspicious." Imane agreed as she swiveled lightly in her chair.
"Charlie didn't kill Leslie." Jeremy reminded her. "I was with him the entire time."
"But, it's like he said, we shouldn't rule out that there could be more than one killer." Imane repeated. Jeremy sighed in exhaustion and threw his head back to stare up at the ceiling.
"Accusing each other is getting us absolutely nowhere." Jeremy announced. "We need to think rationally and find out where everyone was. So far, the only dodgy person here is Lily."
"WHAT?!" Their pink colleague exclaimed in disbelief.
"She was the last one seen with Leslie." Jeremy proceeded as if he hadn't been interrupted. "Now, where were you, Imane?" The brunette blew air out of her mouth before she started playing with another article of her clothing. She mindlessly picked at the tips of one of her gloves.
"After fixing comms, I went up to storage to fill some gas cans so I could refuel the Skeld's engines." Imane answered with a light shrug. Everyone waited for her to say something else, something more that would help her alibi, but she said nothing.
"That's it?" Thomas asked.
"That's all you did?" Charlie pushed further. Imane gave them a bizarre look and just lightly shook her head.
"That's what I did!" She exclaimed. "And then Sebastian reported the body!"
"No one saw you to confirm your story? You didn't run into anyone or see anyone?" Jeremy asked. Imane frowned and she slowly sunk further into her chair.
"No," She whispered, knowing how badly this looked for her.
"So, both Lily and Imane were both alone at one point." William announced. "Either one of them could have done it."
"What are you talking about, William?!" Lily shrilled as she threw out her arms. Tears welled in her eyes, but she didn't cry. "I would never! Leslie was my friend!"
"She was everyone's friend, but yet, she's dead." Charlie reminded her. He then looked back up at Jeremy. "I don't think a girl did this anyway. So, I definitely don't think it was Lily or Imane."
"Oh, but you thought it was me?" Seras growled as she threw him another dark look. But she went unacknowledged, though she did get another warning look from Alucard and Sebastian to keep her mouth shut.
"Why do you say that?" William asked, focusing solely on Charlie and ignoring Seras' comment completely. "Lily and Imane were the only two that were alone with nobody to confirm their alibis. Nobody can vouch for them."
"The way Leslie was stabbed." Charlie put simply as he glanced over at William. "She was stabbed in a downward motion, meaning that…"
"The person was taller than her!" Thomas finished with wide eyes.
"Yeah, but everyone is taller than Leslie." Jeremy grumbled as he rubbed over his face. "She was the shortest one out of all of us."
"So, that still makes Lily and Imane likely suspects." William added.
"But what would our motive be?!" Imane raised her voice. "We had nothing against Leslie!"
"Yeah!" Lily chirped in. "We were her friends!"
"What if we're not alone?!" Imane perked up in her seat then. Everyone looked at her in bewilderment. "What if the killer isn't in this room, but out there somewhere?!"
"You think someone else is here?" Jeremy questioned with furrowed brows.
"It's been months since another crew has been out here." Charlie spoke up. "The lights and power were off. Don't you think all of those things would be turned on if someone else was here?"
"Besides, how would they have survived for so long?" Thomas asked. "It just wouldn't be possible."
"Actually, that isn't impossible." Charlie corrected him. "There's plenty of food stored away, at least a year's worth, maybe more. He has the lava pit to keep him warm and there are a number of small cabins, not to mention these buildings. He had plenty of resources to keep him warm and well fed. But," He looked back at everyone else. "I don't think there's anyone else here, but us because the lights and power were off."
"Oh, like he couldn't have turned all of that off as we were landing?" Imane asked as she gave him a foul look that implicated that he was being stupid. Charlie just dropped his hands onto his lap and lightly shook his head in defeat.
"Maybe," He sighed.
"We didn't really get any information out of this meeting." Jeremy muttered. "There's a small chance that someone else is here and had killed Leslie. If not, then…Lily and/or Imane are awfully suspicious. Either way, I want all of you to be careful."
"Wait!" Lily exclaimed as she looked up at him in surprise. "Are we going back to work?!"
"We have to." Jeremy stated with a shrug.
"I can't believe you're seriously telling us to go back to work after someone just died!" Imane shouted. "How can we possibly get anything done after that?!"
"What else can we do, Imane?!" Jeremy shouted. "I already contacted HQ and reported what happened, but there's nothing that can be done right now! They're sending someone out, but it will take weeks for them to get here to deal with this issue! All we can do is just keep doing our tasks to get our minds off of all of this!"
"Why don't we just pack up now and get the hell out of here before another one of us ends up dead?!" Imane asked as she shot up out of her chair and slammed her hands down on the table.
"We're following orders is what we're doing, Imane. They told us to hold our position, so that's what we're doing." Jeremy put his foot down.
"It is suspicious why you want to get out of here so badly." Charlie noted. "Are you afraid of what HQ will find when they get here?" Imane shook her head.
"No!" She exclaimed. "I'm just thinking like any other rational, sane person! I don't want to risk my life over some job! What's suspicious is that you keep accusing everyone, Charlie!"
"Stop," Jeremy interrupted and raised a hand before this argument could proceed. "We're staying and finishing our tasks. Now, everyone be careful, try and stay in groups of two or more, and get to work." With that, he left the conference room. Furious, Imane growled and left the room with her fists clenched at her sides. Even if she was completely innocent, she was making herself look very bad. One by one, everyone else got up and left, leaving Seras alone with an annoyed Alucard and Sebastian.
"What are you doing, Seras?" Alucard hissed while he glared at her. But the small blonde didn't seem to be paying any attention. She was leaned far back in her chair as she kept her eyes on the hall outside of the conference room. "We told you not to open your mouth, and now Charlie has suspected you of killing Leslie."
"And your temper is going to get you into more trouble." Sebastian added. "When he accused you, you looked like you were ready to murder him right then and there in front of everyone. That doesn't make you look good, Seras. We're just trying to help you. Will you please just take our advice and listen to us?" When she didn't acknowledge them, Sebastian clicked his tongue. "What are you looking at?" Their lover shifted her head to finally look at them.
"I just wanted to make sure that we were alone." She answered before getting up out of her chair.
"What are you doing?" Sebastian asked as both males watched her walk around the table. She first stopped to close the blinds of a long, rectangular window that was directly behind them.
"I wanted some privacy." She muttered.
"For what?" Michaelis asked with an arched brow. Seras' face went red before she turned her head to try and avoid their gazes.
"I don't know if you guys would understand which is why I don't want to discuss it." Their lover whispered under her breath. But this only confused Alucard and Sebastian all the more. What was she talking about? What wouldn't they understand? And why was she being so secretive? "Please, let's not talk or ask any more questions. Let's just…lose ourselves. That's all I want right now." Seras proceeded as she turned and slowly made her way over towards them.
"Seras?" Sebastian whispered when she refused to say anymore.
"Do you guys still love me?" Seras asked softly with a small frown on her lips. When reaching him, she wrapped her arms loosely around Sebastian's neck.
"Of course," Michaelis answered with a nod while he placed his hands on her hips.
"Do you still think that you killed Leslie?" Alucard questioned. Is that why she was acting so strange and didn't want to talk?
"I don't know," Seras answered truthfully. "But it doesn't matter right now. I just…need you both." Their lover whispered before she swept down to kiss Sebastian hard on the mouth. His eyes widened in surprise and he gasped in her mouth. She was randy?! When he didn't immediately kiss her back, Seras quickly pulled away to bite down hard on her bottom lip. The look she was being given by the both of them made her realize that she perhaps made a mistake. They stared at her with open mouths and wide eyes, looking at her as if she had just confessed to being the killer. "Oh, god." She murmured in embarrassment. Were they repulsed that she was aroused at a time like this? If they truly didn't believe she killed Leslie earlier, they must be wondering it now! Shamefully, Seras covered her mouth. "I am so confused." She groaned in misery. She was so damn turned on, but she felt so god damn guilty for being aroused. And now, she was absolutely mortified because it seemed that Alucard and Sebastian were highly concerned for her and didn't have mutual feelings whatsoever! "I'm so sorry!" Before she could say another word, Sebastian calmly cupped her chin. He pulled her face down, making her look back at him so he could stare deeply into her eyes.
"You're aroused?" Michaelis spoke in a gentle tone. She could feel him searching her eyes for what she was truly feeling. Seras, too ashamed to even answer him, lowered her gaze. "Because of what happened?" He probed, trying to get something from her. The small blonde winced before burying her face in her hands and groaned. She lightly shook her head at how horribly depraved she was. She was most definitely going to hell, a place she certainly deserved to go to rot. What was wrong with her? Why was she like this? Seras just about jumped out of her skin when Sebastian unexpectedly cupped her womanhood, as if he was trying to see just how damp she was. Her hands flung away from her face and her eyes widened in disbelief.
"Sebastian!" Seras exclaimed in shock and instinctively grabbed hold of his shoulders. Her eyes flickered down to see him smirking while his eyes glimmered heatedly. His fingers lightly caressed her folds through the material of her suit and he chuckled.
"Are you aroused, my dear Seras? Do you need us to fix you?" Sebastian asked her in a low, seductive tone while his fingers proceeded to play with her. The girl trembled from his touch and his alluring words. Without even thinking, Seras nodded her head frantically. Yes! She needed to be fucked! She was aching to come! He snickered when seeing her eagerly nod her head, desperate to get off. "Thank God." Sebastian then bolted out of his chair to crush his mouth against hers. Seras whimpered when she was aggressively pulled to the side and pushed onto the conference table. His lips didn't leave hers a second as he kept her trapped beneath him, crushed between his body and the table. Wait! The small blonde stared up at him, purely confused and bewildered. Were Sebastian and Alucard aroused too?! Even asking that question, Seras knew the answer. She could feel Sebastian's hard cock pressing into her lower stomach. She was so entirely relieved to know that her lovers, or at least Sebastian, understood how she felt and wasn't repulsed. The small blonde buried her fingers in his hair and kissed him back hard.
"I love you," She whimpered between kisses.
"I love you," Sebastian moaned softly. His hands gripped her thighs and he roughly pulled her legs apart. He fell into the cradle of her thighs and immediately started thrusting against her. He earned sweet moans and whimpers from his lover as she eagerly moved her hips with him. A zipper that ran down the front of her suit was aggressively manhandled by Michaelis. Anxious to undress her so he could bury himself into her tight warmth he yanked the zipper down, nearly breaking it in the process.
About half an hour later, Seras was hastily fixing her suit and combing her fingers through her hair to tame wild strands. Thank God, nobody had walked in on them otherwise they would've been caught trying out a new position. The small blonde couldn't help but blush with a bashful smile. As instructed, she had gotten down on all fours on the floor. Needless to say, there was a male on either end. Thinking about it, she hid her mouth behind her hand as the blush on her cheeks worsened. She had given oral before, but never while she was having sex. It had been a bizarre and almost intimidating position, especially since the males had been so needy that they thrusted hard with very little control. She could still taste Alucard in her mouth and instinctively gulped to clean away whatever was leftover. Afterwards, she glanced over her shoulder at her lovers to see if they were dressed again. Sebastian was in the process of pulling on one of his boots while Alucard fixed his gloves.
"Hopefully that will satisfy you guys for a while so I can do my tasks without any more interruptions." Seras teased them with a small smirk. Alucard and Sebastian casually glanced over at the little blonde to give her a warm, but almost sadistic smile.
"Satisfy? I already want to take you again." Alucard practically purred.
"And what about you?" Sebastian questioned. "You're the one who insisted on being 'fixed'. Have we fixed you, darling? Are you satisfied for the moment?"
"For the time being," She responded with a playful wink. But it wasn't long when all that playfulness vanished to be replaced with tension in the air. A look of seriousness crossed over Michaelis' face.
"Are you alright, Seras?" He asked her carefully. Feeling that this was completely out of the blue, her smile faltered and her brows furrowed together in confusion. "Are you bothered at all by what happened?"
"You mean..." She drawled as she tried desperately to understand what the hell he was talking about. Noting that he had lost her, he sighed with a deep frown.
"Leslie's death and...what just happened. Are you alright? Do you wish to talk about it?" Sebastian asked. The small blonde frowned then.
"Oh, you mean...the sex." She muttered.
"Are you feeling guilty at all?" Alucard pressed. Her frown deepened.
"Should I be?" She questioned. The small blonde didn't really feel guilty for getting off on Leslie's death. Should she feel guilty for not feeling guilty?
"It's alright by us if you don't. I just wanted to be sure that...you were alright and weren't feeling guilty." Sebastian responded.
"Do either of you feel guilty...having sex...because of what happened to Leslie?" Seras asked timidly. She was somewhat relieved when the males smirked in amusement.
"No," Alucard snickered. At least he was being honest.
"I didn't...force you guys into that position, did I?" Seras asked as she nervously rubbed the back of her head. This earned her strange looks from both men. She elaborated a little further while the blush on her cheeks spread to the rest of her face. "You guys didn't feel that you had to have sex with me because I was pushing it or something, right? And...I didn't freak you guys out...being...aroused by...her death?" Sebastian chuckled after understanding what she was talking about.
"No, Seras." He responded through soft laughter. "We didn't feel pressured to sleep with you nor were we repulsed by the fact that you get off on death and quite possibly murder." With that said he pushed out of his chair and approached her. "If it wasn't clear, darling," Sebastian whispered as he reached out to stroke his thumb over her warm cheek. "We get off on it, too." He then leaned down to kiss her tenderly on the mouth. The kiss was over a second later. The girl subconsciously licked over her lips while she stared up at her man with such a loving, but needful look in her eyes. "Now, young lady," He purred as he playfully tapped her nose. "Go back to doing your tasks this instant or else." Seras was more than tempted to disobey him just to see what kind of punishment he would conjure up. Sebastian was always threatening to put her over his knee, which sounded like a rather good punishment to her. A small smile crossed over the girl's face. She had never been spanked before. Would she like it? Seeing that look in her eyes, Sebastian wagged a finger at her. "No," He said in a stern voice.
"What?" Seras asked in an 'innocent' manner. The smile on her face only widened while the blush on her cheeks darkened. "You have no idea…"
"I know exactly what you were thinking." Michaelis corrected her with a snicker. Such amusement shone in his dark brown eyes while he smirked at his little lover.
"I'm not even looking at you, and I knew what you were thinking." Alucard chimed in. Peeking around Sebastian, she found Alucard sitting back at the conference table. He was bent over and pulling on his boots.
"I wasn't thinking…" Before she could finish, Alucard sat up right to give her a look. "If you guys believe that I'm having dirty thoughts, then you're both mental." Seras scoffed as she nonchalantly turned on her heel to leave the room. "I was just trying to think of what you guys think is a proper punishment. It wasn't like I was…hoping to be punished or anything. That's just…weird." The small blonde proceeded to lie to them, even though they could see right through her. Chuckling and snickering like sly school boys, Alucard and Sebastian followed after their little lover who tried so desperately to prove them wrong. "Anyway," She cleared her throat and quickly pulled out her tablet to distract herself from the embarrassing situation. "I have a couple of tasks over in comms." Suddenly, the small blonde picked up the pace and practically bolted out of the office. Snow crunched under her feet while snowflakes floated down gently to land in her hair, but she didn't pay it any mind. Alucard and Sebastian easily kept up with the short girl who was taking larger steps than she normally took and still couldn't escape them. "Hmn," Seras hummed negatively while staring down at her tablet.
"What's the matter?" Sebastian asked.
"Other than our hands not meeting that round, supple ass of yours." Alucard muttered under his breath.
"Alucard!" Seras exclaimed. The small blonde's head swept around to look at him over her shoulder. Just as their gazes met, she quickly looked forward and dropped her head in absolute mortification. "That is so dirty." She mumbled under her breath. Subconsciously, she bit her bottom lip. Though, how right he was. It was strange for her to be aching for something she's never had before. But she was curious and wanted it ever so badly. The small blonde then shook her head to get rid of those filthy thoughts. God! She thought the snow would at least help cool her body down! But she was still randy as ever! Damn it! Seras decided to ignore her arousal and Alucard for that matter, and only focus on Sebastian and his question. The trio stopped just outside of comms. Across from them, just in weapons, they could hear two or three people working, though she was unsure of who was all there. But she didn't bother to check. "The tablet is running kind of slow; I'm not getting a strong enough signal even though I'm right here next to comms. I need to reboot the Wi-Fi." The girl then frowned. "You guys would know that if you bothered doing your tasks every now and then." She mumbled under breath.
"Pardon? What was that?" Sebastian questioned as he leaned down a little more to her level as if he was trying to hear her better.
"Was that a snide remark?" Alucard snickered. The small blonde glanced up from her tablet to look at them.
"That depends," Seras responded. "Do snide remarks earn me punishments?" Sebastian arched a brow in consideration before standing up properly.
"Perhaps," He replied. A mischievous grin graced their lover's lips.
"You guys suck." She stated without hesitation. "And you're both awful at doing tasks. The absolute worst! Honestly, a chimp can do better than either of you."
"Tell us how you really feel." Alucard snickered as he folded his arms over his chest.
"You're really craving for a punishment, aren't you?" Sebastian laughed in a mocking tone.
"For someone who is against punishments, you sure are asking for one." Alucard teased her.
"Do your tasks and maybe we wouldn't be having this conversation." Their sassy lover added on as she smirked at them. There was such a victorious look flashing in her eyes. It was as if she truly believed that she won something. Of course, Alucard and Sebastian were well aware what the girl wanted, but it didn't mean that they were going to give it to her. It was too much fun watching her work for it. They couldn't wait to see what other ways she would come up with just to get the punishment that she oh so craved. How long until she starts begging for it? They couldn't wait to hear her beg.
"You are an odd one, darling." Sebastian responded as he and Alucard both walked past her to enter comms. Almost immediately, that smirk slipped off of her face when she was once more denied a pleasurable punishment.
"Hold up!" The small blonde exclaimed as she whipped around to look at them. Her face then turned a brilliant red from embarrassment. "I wasn't…I'm not trying…I wasn't asking to be punished! I was truly…"
"Insulting us?" Alucard questioned with an arched brow. The grin on his face alone said that he was beyond amused by her bashfulness as she desperately tried to cover the obvious fact that she wanted to be spanked. His eyes simmered as though they were laughing themselves.
"No!" Seras answered and her face darkened further. Her eyes bounced in different directions as she tried setting her gaze on anywhere but them, their smirks, and the knowing look in their eyes. "I was just stating a fact!"
"A chimp could do our jobs better than we can?" Sebastian reminded her of what she said. For the time being, this quieted the little blonde. "You were purposely saying these things so you could be punished. We know it, you know it, so don't bother hiding it." Seras didn't argue.
"I was just a little curious." She mumbled under her breath with a very light shrug. She kept her gaze on the floor to continue to avoid eye contact.
"You will be punished for those remarks, but not the way you want to be punished." Michaelis added. Instantly, Seras dropped her head with a groan of misery.
"You are quite the naughty girl, Seras. Probably more than you realize." Alucard chuckled. "You most definitely need to be punished."
"In the meantime, why don't you finish up your tasks while Alucard and I come up with a suitable punishment for you?" Sebastian breathed, sounding so sinister and sexy. It sent tingles up and down her spine, making the girl shiver in pleasure. How were they going to punish her? The small blonde gently bit her bottom lip in anticipation. She honestly couldn't wait. Obediently, Seras pulled back out her tablet before heading over to a switch on the wall that was opposite of the exit. The switch was a simple lever that she had to pull down, wait a few seconds, and then pull back up. That should reboot the Wi-Fi and get her tablet to run smoothly again. Seras did just that and waited a good fifty seconds before pulling the lever back up. "Well?" Sebastian asked a moment later. The small blonde glanced at him over her shoulder. The two males were standing in the center of the small room, only a few feet away from her. While Michaelis stood there watching her with a haughty smirk on his face, Alucard was shockingly on his tablet. She had to wonder if he was actually looking over his tasks. That would be the first. She laughed to herself. "Did that fix your signal?"
"Um," Seras murmured before looking back at her tablet. She played with it a little to see how fast it loaded in and she was quite pleased to see that it loaded pretty fast. "Yes, it's fixed now."
"Then proceed with your tasks. The sooner you get done, the sooner we can punish you." He couldn't help but play with her.
"You both have far too much teasing me about that." The small blonde grumbled as she walked over to a computer with dual monitors. Gathering the files and data she downloaded before in weapons, she uploaded all of it to the main system to send them straight over to HQ. Like before, it said that the upload would take six days. But instead of panicking, she waited patiently and was relieved to see that the time was decreasing. She watched the completion bar fill up slowly with a vibrant green. Just as it was reaching the end, seconds from being finished, everything went black. Seras jumped when the lights suddenly turned off inside the small building they were in. She didn't hesitate turning around to see if the floodlights were still on outside. But when she couldn't even find the exit to comms, she knew that the entire campsite was pitch black. Her tablet barely penetrated the dark, making it useless for a flashlight. A fear welled up inside of Seras when she couldn't even make out anything around her. Where were Alucard and Sebastian?! She thoughtlessly dropped her tablet as she flung out her arms in search for something, anything to grab so she could make out her surroundings.
"Alucard?!" Seras whimpered, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. "Sebastian?!"
"Seras," Came Sebastian's soothing voice just to her left. Instinctively, the girl lunged right for him. She nearly pushed the man right over as her body rammed into his solid form quite hard. He grunted from the impact as the wind just about knocked right out of both of them. But this didn't stop Seras from wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and bury her face in his chest. Michaelis didn't hesitate wrapping an arm around her securely while his other hand cupped the back of her head. "It's alright," He whispered to help calm her. He could feel her chest heaving against abdomen. If focusing intently, he could even feel her heart beating uncontrollably against his very chest. It was obvious to him how scared his darling was. Sebastian frowned in concern and held her closer to him. "I'm here with you. No one will touch you." He stroked over her hair, doing his best to stop her from shaking. "Why are you so scared of the dark, Seras?"
"I can't help it!" She answered, though her voice came out muffled because her face was still buried away in his chest. "Bad things happen in the dark! You never know what's there staring back at you! It creeps me out!"
"As I said before, I won't let anything touch you." He promised her. His arm wrapped tighter around her and he pressed his lips to the top of her head. "You're safe with me, Seras. You always will be." Hearing this relaxed her some. She slowly stopped trembling and even loosened her hold on him a little.
"Do you think…someone is being killed…right now…in the dark?" The small blonde asked him in a whisper. She then shifted her head to look in the direction where she believed the exit was. It was still pitch black outside and inside the building. "The lights have never done this before. Do you think…someone is tampering with them?"
"I don't know, Seras." Sebastian answered. He sounded so calm to her. She never did understand how level headed Alucard and Sebastian both could be even when being in an absolutely terrifying situation such as this one. How could they stay so brave? She envied them for it. Something then occurred to her. Wait, She thought. Despite it being dark, the small blonde looked around as if she would be able to spot the thing she was looking for. "The lights are old, maybe it's faulty wiring or…"
"Where's Alucard?" Seras interrupted and she glanced up at Sebastian, though she couldn't see his face. There was sudden silence. She was unsure if he was now noticing Alucard's absence or if he was trying to study her through the darkness between their faces.
"He went to go fix the lights I believe." Michaelis answered a second later. Even though she believed he would have answered by now, Seras had to be sure that he wasn't there.
"Alucard?" She called out to him. As expected, she got no answer. It worried her a great deal. Alucard was somewhere outside in the dark and most definitely alone. What if he gets hurt, or worse, what if he ends up dead? "Sebastian, I'm scared." Seras whispered as she clung desperately to him. Tears burned her eyes at the thought of Alucard ending up like Leslie. "What if Alucard doesn't make it back? What if something happens to him? Should we try to go look for him?"
"No, let's just stay put. I'm sure he'll be fine, Seras." Sebastian attempted to ease her, but for once he couldn't calm her. The lights came on overhead, brightening the room. Seras jumped when they came on, causing her lover to snicker. He brushed his hand up and down her back to further soothe her, but it was clear to him that she was far too anxious. She kept looking around and biting deep into her bottom lip. Her eyes repeatedly flickered to the exit, waiting impatiently for Alucard to come waltzing in. Only a few seconds passed since the lights came on before Seras was full on panicking. The small blonde looked back up at Sebastian.
"Where's Alucard?!" She asked him. "Sebastian, we need to find him! Please, help me find him!" She latched onto his hand with the intentions to pull him out of the building. But before they could even take a step, Alucard was walking in. The second Seras saw him, her heart lurched in her chest and she was acting before she knew it. "Alucard!" Seras exclaimed. She ran across that room and tackled him with a tight hug. The male was bewildered when he suddenly found his little lover wrapped tightly around his neck. She didn't seem to be concerned that she was basically hanging off of him with her feet dangling a good foot or two from the floor. The grin was so quick to be swept off of his face as a look of concern appeared in his eyes. He cautiously wrapped his arms around his little lover to help console her. When hearing her soft sobs and feeling her face nuzzle into the crook of his neck, his arms tightened around her.
"Seras?" He whispered. What had happened while he was away? Why was she so upset? "What's wrong?"
"You left! Why did you leave?! Something could've happened to you!" Seras cried.
"I'm alright," He promised her. "I left to fix the lights. I know how scared you get when they're off." There was a small moment of silence before his lover was speaking again.
"You didn't fix the lights." The small blonde stated hesitantly, almost as if she was afraid to say it out loud. The walk to electrical from here should have taken a little under a minute. But a walk to electrical in the dark and snow would have taken a little more time. There was no possible way Alucard had turned on the power only to waltz in roughly fifteen to twenty seconds later. Unless he ran back, Seras thought to herself, unsure if she should trust what her gut was telling her. "You got here only seconds after the lights came back on." Slowly, she unraveled her arms from around him, allowing herself to rest on her tip toes so she can look at him. Alucard stared at her with uncertainty in his eyes along with confusion. She knew that she had said stumped him. He opened his mouth to respond, but he didn't speak. Finally, after taking a second to gather himself, he gave her an answer.
"Lights were fixed before I got there, Seras." He told her simply. "Admittedly, I had a hard time finding electrical in the dark." When Seras just stood there and stared at him with a look of suspicion, he spoke again. "Do you not believe me?" His little lover's eyes widened and she jerked back.
"What?" She murmured. "Of course I believe you!"
"Then why were you interrogating me?" Alucard asked with an arched brow.
"I didn't mean it like that! I'm sorry!" She quickly reassured him while lightly waving her hand. "I'm just highly paranoid about everything and extremely tired. It's been a very long and weird day." Alucard stared at her for a moment more before he gently pinched her chin between his fingers.
"Are you alright?" He questioned her in a soft voice. Seras gave him a small smile and nodded her head in agreeance.
"I'm better now. I'm just glad that you're alright. You gave me such a scare." She whispered.
"I'm sorry I scared you." He responded while a subtle grin settled on his lips.
"Is everyone still alive in here?" Someone interrupted with their 'funny' comment. Seras frowned when recognizing the voice. She peeked around Alucard to find Charlie walking in. The blue crewmate barely looked at any of them as he carelessly played on his tablet. He headed straight for the back of the room to upload some of his own files off of his tablet onto the main computer.
"We're fine," Seras practically growled as she gave him a foul look. Charlie had accused each of them of killing Leslie so far. Needless to say, the small blonde was not exactly happy with the man. She glanced back up at Alucard. "Come on, let's go. I have to finish some stuff over in O2." Seras naturally interlaced her fingers with Alucard's. She turned to leave, but was soon stopped.
"Hey," Charlie spoke, causing Seras to pause. Hesitantly, she glanced over her shoulder to look at the man. "Have you three been in here the entire time?"
"We were in office for a majority of the time, but we immediately came here afterwards." Sebastian answered before Seras could. She forgot that they didn't want her speaking to anyone. They thought it would help her look less suspicious, but she felt it only made her look more suspicious. However, she found herself obeying them and keeping quiet. "You are the first person we've seen in a while."
"Okay." Charlie answered while he gnawed on his bottom lip and thought deeply about something. "If you can, the three of you stick together as much as possible. Try not to let any of you out of your sight and stay safe." The girl gave him a strange look for the friendly advice. Was he suddenly starting to trust them? Why now? "The more groups there are, the easier it will be to figure out who is behind this." Charlie added as he turned back around to finish doing stuff on his tablet. Seras wanted to ask him outright why he wasn't sticking with anyone then. She opened her mouth to ask just that, but it seemed Alucard and Sebastian knew her pretty well. Before she could get a word out, both men grabbed her by a shoulder and gingerly pushed her out of comms.
"You are both incredibly over protective." Seras stated. She managed to shrug their hands off of her shoulder and walk ahead. When seeing their lover distance herself from them, Sebastian frowned with a deep sigh.
"I'm assuming that's not a good thing?" He spoke. She stopped further up the path to turn and look back at them. Annoyed and slightly frustrated, she rubbed over her forehead before crossing her arms over her chest.
"It's okay to be protective every now and then, but today you've both been so...controlling. Honestly, it's suffocating. I shouldn't be told what to do or what to say. It's not right and I don't like it that you both think that it's alright." Seras admitted.
"We're in trouble because we're just trying to keep you safe?" Alucard questioned. The look on his face was twisted as he fought to not scowl at her. He didn't need to make the situation worse. However, his eyes did show his fury and annoyance while he practically glowered at her.
"We don't mean to be controlling, Seras. We're only looking out for you to make sure nobody suspects you of killing Leslie." Sebastian reminded her calmly. "Please, just trust us."
"I do trust you." Seras corrected him. "I just don't understand why you guys can't trust me. You both act like I'm going to fuck everything up if I so much as speak or breathe in another person's direction."
"Well, the last time you opened your mouth when we told you not to, Charlie immediately made you a suspect." Alucard responded. A flare of anger seared in Seras' eyes. Instinctively, Sebastian hit Alucard's arm as a silent warning that he was entering dangerous territory.
"He also made you both a suspect, along with everyone at that fucking table!" Seras raised her voice. Before anymore could be said she spoke again. "I'm going to go finish my tasks in O2. Why don't you two go do something for a change?" Seras turned to enter O2, but Sebastian quickly latched onto her arm. Of course, this earned him another glare as she looked at him over her shoulder.
"Try and be reasonable, Seras. Do you think it's a good idea to wander off by yourself when someone was murdered? It's best to stick together." Michaelis told her in a stern voice as his fingers tightened around her arm. He was doing everything in his power to stay calm and not let his anger show like Alucard and Seras. But it was so frustrating. Why was she being stupid about this? Why was she choosing to pick a fight with them now of all days? Was it really just because they were being a little 'controlling' and trying to keep her alive?
"I'm fine," Seras growled and jerked her arm out of his hold. "Imane is here. I'll stick with her." Alucard and Sebastian looked passed Seras to find Imane standing in the hall of O2. She seemed absorbed in their little argument and was gawking at them until noticing that Alucard and Sebastian were looking at her. Embarrassed being caught staring, she turned her head away and acted like she was throwing something into the trash chute that was just on the wall behind her.
"Yes, that definitely seems smart. Going off with a suspected killer, one of the people who couldn't get her alibi cleared. Perfectly brilliant, Seras." Sebastian spoke in a sarcastic tone as he finally allowed his anger to glimmer in his dark brown eyes.
"Leave. Me. Alone." Seras warned them. "We'll talk later." Ending their argument, their little lover walked away from them. Alucard and Sebastian stood outside the entrance of O2 in utter disbelief of how stupid she was being. They just couldn't comprehend what went wrong. They were just trying to protect her and they were in the wrong for that?
"God damn it," Alucard hissed under his breath. Furious by her behavior, he turned on his heel and walked away from O2. Sebastian sighed, letting out a mist of condensation, and followed after Alucard. "She is absolutely infuriating!"
"Calm down, Alucard. Your yelling is certainly not helping." Michaelis grumbled while he rubbed his forehead and temples from a headache.
"I would just like to know what she's thinking." Alucard growled as he clenched his fists at his sides. They passed by comms and weapons as they headed for admin. "If she keeps acting like this, they're going to suspect her even more. She's going to get herself killed!" Sebastian stopped on the path just to rest his head in his open hand and sigh once more. This was utterly exhausting.
"Much like you, Alucard, I am very confused. But as you can see I'm not yelling, so please keep your voice down." Michaelis requested. His hand then slid from his face and he looked up. He stared at something for a moment or two before his brows furrowed together in what appeared to be confusion. "Hmn," He hummed afterwards.
"What?" Alucard muttered and followed his gaze. All the way over near dropship they spotted Lily standing just outside of storage. It didn't look like she was doing anything but just standing there, looking kind of lost. It was definitely a strange sight. Why would she be just standing there doing nothing and all alone? And why did she look so lost? They've been here a dozen times; she should know the place rather well. After a few seconds of just looking around, she walked around to the other side of storage, out of their sight, and was gone.
"Perhaps it's because she's afraid, but her behavior does seem odd." Sebastian noted before the two men proceeded into admin. "And I'm astounded she's not with other people. You would think she would want to be around others. Wandering around alone is idiotic." They walked through the building towards the back where people normally clocked in. Currently, Charlie was there swiping his card through a little machine to prove he was working his shift. With them entering it must have messed him up because he ended up scanning his card too fast for the machine to process. His hand jerked and he gasped before looking over his shoulder at them. But once seeing who it was, he relaxed.
"Oh, hey." He greeted them with a nod. He then turned back and successfully swiped his card with no mistakes this time. "Where's Seras? I thought she was going to stick with you guys." Charlie asked as he picked up his tablet from on top of the bookshelf.
"She decided to go off with Imane." Sebastian answered with a displeased look.
"God, that sounds like the worst choice." The blue suited crewmate snickered while he walked over to vitals. But the second he looked at vitals, the smile fell from his face and his eyes practically bulged out of his head. "Oh, my god." Before Alucard and Sebastian could hear what he saw, their tablets sounded simultaneously, alerting them of a new message. Hastily, Charlie raised his tablet to read the message, even though he already knew what it was going to say.
"Another body has been found?" Sebastian asked calmly as Charlie just stared at the tablet in horror.
"Who?" Alucard questioned.
"Thomas, in storage." Charlie answered a second later. And then adrenaline clearly set in for the man. He pushed off the desk and ran past Alucard and Sebastian. "Let's go!" He shouted. The three men hurried to storage only to see a horrific sight. Just inside, in the back near gasoline, was Thomas' lifeless body lying on the floor. It was clear what killed him. A large metal stake, usually used to hold down tarps and tents in the wind, was embedded deep in his eye socket. William, the one who discovered the body, stood there holding himself while he tried desperately to figure out what the hell was happening. Lily stood crying with her arms wrapped tightly around her. And Jeremy was in total shock that he showed no emotion and didn't speak at all. Imane and Seras were the last two to show, and the second the girls saw the body they both gasped.
"Oh my god," Imane exclaimed softly and covered her mouth with both hands. As expected, she ran out of storage to empty her stomach in a small corner of some shipments that were piled against the building. Seras, on the other hand, stood there while so many different emotions crossed over her face. First she looked horrified, then relieved, and then, like before, there was a brief moment of excitement until she disguised all of it under the false look of confusion.
"When did this happen?" Seras whispered, drawing everyone's attention onto her.
End of Chapter Two
I hope you guys enjoyed.
Oxford Not Brogues