"Mr Lin!" Mai hurried forward and fell to her knees in front of Lin, who was sprawled on the floor.
"What's wrong with him?" Lord Pembridge asked as he joined her.
"He has a cut on his face and his leg is bleeding," Mai said.
Lin groaned.
"Lin, wake up man, what happened to you?"
He stirred again. Lord Pembridge growled and slapped him across the face.
"What are you doing?!" Mai cried. "Leave the poor man alone!"
Lin coughed himself into consciousness.
"Lin, what happened?"
Lin clutched his head, one of his eyes had swollen itself shut.
"He attacked. He escaped and jumped from up there," he said, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the top of the staircase. "He did not look like himself, Oliver. I fed him. I swear I fed him…"
"I gave him a bottle to drink before I left," Lord Pembridge admitted. "It is not enough."
"I…" Lin winced. "I was looking for the cook. She was the only one unaccounted for."
"We will find her now," Lord Pembridge insisted. "Lady Astley, help me move him to the door."
"I'm fine," Lin argued weakly.
He was unable to hold his own weight, but between the three of them, they moved Lin closer to the front door. He sat against the wall, still clutching his head.
"I think we reopened his leg wound," Mai mumbled.
Lord Pembridge followed her gaze to the increasing amount of blood on not only Lin's clothing, but Mai's too. He swore and pulled his own coat off.
"Lin, how bad is your leg?"
"It's numb, I cannot feel the pain."
"That does not sound promising," Mai said. "We need to stop the bleeding, else he'll smell it…"
Lord Pembridge pulled off his cravat and folded it over into a makeshift bandage. He tied it around Lin's leg.
"That should stop the worst of it," he muttered. "Here, take my coat to keep you warm."
He slung his coat over Lin's body.
"I'll try not to bleed on it, my Lord."
"Well if you do get blood on it, you can clean it later. Stay awake, Lin. Shout for us if he comes back this way. I assume he went towards the kitchens?"
"I don't know, I'm sorry."
"We can't leave him here without a way to defend himself," Mai said. "What if he comes back and—"
"Do you have a weapon?" Lord Pembridge asked.
"Well, no, but—"
"Then we have nothing here to leave him."
"I will be fine," Lin insisted. "Lady Astley, you ought not be here. It is not safe for you."
"It is not safe for any of us," Mai countered. "And I am not the one bleeding all over the place."
"Come on, we should search the house, the longer we wait, the more chance there is of Miss Matsuzaki being dead."
Mai followed Lord Pembridge to the staircase that led down to the servants quarters.
"We should—"
"We are not splitting up," Lord Pembridge interrupted.
"Then there is no use for me being here," Mai said. "Let me be useful. I will check the maid's quarters. You take the men's rooms."
Mai hurried away before Lord Pembridge could argue with her. As he did not follow, she concluded that he agreed to her plan. Mai searched all of the maid's rooms, finding no one. By the third or fourth room, she had relaxed somewhat. It was quiet in the servants' rooms.
She picked up a long candlestick holder from one of the bedrooms for use as a weapon. It would not do well as a stake, but she might manage to hit any attackers over the head with it and cause some damage.
Bolstered by her makeshift weapon, Mai headed towards the kitchens. If Matsuzaki was not in her room, then the next most likely place would be the kitchen or one of the adjoining rooms.
She pushed open the kitchen door to find it empty. Mai let out a breath she did not realise she had been holding. If the cook was not in her own domain, then where on earth was she…?
Mai made to leave the kitchen, but as she turned, she felt something sharp at her throat.
"Oh no, I don't think you're going anywhere."
"Are you going to hurt me, Eugene?" Mai asked.
"Why don't you drop that thing in your hand, else my hand might slip with this knife."
Mai dropped the candlestick holder and Eugene kicked it away.
"You sound like yourself," Mai said. "I am surprised. The way the servants described you was like a wild beast."
"I have fed."
"On the cook? On Miss Matsuzaki? She is a tall woman with reddish hair."
"Perhaps."
"Did you kill her?"
"She already smelt of blood! How was I to resist her?"
"Did you kill her?" Mai repeated. "Where is she?"
"I don't know!" The vampire jerked as he said it. "There were plants. She didn't see me."
"What do you want now, Eugene?"
"I want you to die. I want my brother to join me!"
"He's here too," Mai said. "He's looking for you. He's worried about you."
The vampire all but pulled Mai back further into the kitchen.
"Call to him. Call to my brother."
"Lor—"
"No. Call him by his given name. Call him Oliver."
"That is improper—"
"Do it!"
Mai closed her eyes.
"Oliver."
"Louder," Eugene hissed.
"Oliver!"
They heard steps outside of the kitchen.
"Lady Astley? Mai?"
"In here, brother," Eugene crooned.
Lord Pembridge entered the room and his eyes widened in alarm at what he saw.
"He has not hurt me," Mai said quickly.
"Eugene, let her go. You can have me. But let her go."
"I want her blood, brother. I know she will taste so good."
"Eugene—"
"Join me, Oliver. Let me turn you. Then you can feed on her too. We can share."
"Eu—"
"Don't you remember? Don't you remember how we used to share food as children. We shared everything! It was you and me against the world…"
"Eugene, we are still together. Nothing about that has changed," Lord Pembridge said in a level tone. "You do not need to hurt Lady Astley."
"But she is taking everything from me!"
"No, she—"
"She took Yasuhara from me! He was mine! He loved me!"
"You know as well as I that Yasuhara had to marry. People were suspicious! He had to protect himself and that never changed his feelings towards you."
"I don't understand," Mai whispered. "What does my husband have to do with—"
"He was mine! You stole him and you are trying to steal my brother too!" Eugene spat, glaring down at her.
"I am not trying to steal anyone, Eugene. I did not know—"
"Do not lie to me!"
"I—"
"Eugene, please. Let her go. I will come with you," Lord Pembridge pleaded.
Mai winced as the knife held to her throat cut into the skin. Eugene sniffed and emitted a guttural groan.
"She smells so good, brother…"
He reached down, his tongue protruding from his mouth ready to lick at the beads of blood on Mai's neck.
"Stop!"
Eugene and Mai both looked up to see Lin in the doorway, the knife in his hand pressed to Lord Pembridge's throat.
"Let her go, Eugene, or I will kill your brother. And we both know you don't want that."
Eugene snarled and flung Mai to the side. She crashed into the wall and clutched the side of her head where a bruise would no doubt form..
"I should have finished you off when I had the chance!"
"Yes, perhaps you should have," Lin said. "I was surprised you didn't."
"Oliver likes you. I thought he would want you alive. I can promise you I will not make the same mistake again."
"I like him less with a knife to my throat," Lord Pembridge muttered.
Mai, ignoring the pain in her head, began looking again for a weapon, but saw nothing within reach. Nothing she could grab without drawing attention to herself.
"Oliver, perhaps you could empty your pockets of any weapons you might have," Lin stated. "I know you have something."
Lord Pembridge scowled, but reached into his various pockets and emptied them. He pulled out a watch, a letter, some scraps of paper and a familiar looking chisel.
"Throw them down."
He threw the objects down. Mai watched where the chisel went. It was not far. It was not in reach. But it was not far.
Eugene had not noticed this, his eyes were still locked on Lin and full of loathing.
"Let my brother free, Lin. You got the whore. Now leave us be like a good little servant."
"I can't do that, Eugene, you know that."
"You vowed to my father to protect us! You promised to him on his deathbed that you would care for us!"
"Yes, and I have made my decision to amend that promise."
Mai inched forward towards the chisel.
"You cannot do that!"
"I think if your father knew what you had become, he would want the same thing," Lin stated. "I will protect the living."
"You oathbreaking swine!"
Eugene lunged at Lin, who pushed Lord Pembridge to the floor in order to defend himself. Mai reached for the chisel, but Lord Pembridge got there first.
Eugene pinned Lin to the floor and fought for dominance. He pressed into Lin's injured leg and Lin roared in pain.
"Stop!" Mai cried. "Don't hurt him!"
"I'm sorry, Eugene."
At the sound of his brother's voice, Eugene turned around to see the chisel plunge into his chest.
He whimpered in pain.
"Noll?"
"I'm sorry, brother."
"Noll, it hurts…"
"It's okay, Gene, it's okay."
Lord Pembridge cradled his brother.
"I'm sorry…"
"Rest now, Gene, you can rest now. I won't let you come back again, I promise. You're free now."
Mai watched as the light faded from Eugene's eyes. Lord Pembridge lowered his brother to the floor with tears in his own eyes.
"You had to, Oliver," Lin said quietly.
"I know."
"Are you hurt, Mr Lin?" Mai asked.
"No more than before."
"I need to find Miss Matsuzaki, I suspect she might be in the greenhouse from what he said. I will… I'll go and look now," Mai said. She hurried out of the kitchen, leaving Lord Pembridge and Lin to their grief.
Author's note: If you didn't cry, then just...
also sorry i didn't update before i got ill, not covid, i'm okay now though! I want to write a oneshot for valentines, but i'm lacking ideas so I'm open to prompts if anyone has one...
