Break's Day Off ~ Chapter Two
"Ah, what a lovely day this is!" Xerxes Break exclaimed, raising his cup of tea. He peered out over the railing of the balcony at the courtyard of the Rainsworth mansion. It was overcast, the clouds completely masking the sun from view. The sky was dark; it appeared as if a storm were on its way. A vulture dove past, cawing loudly, and landed beside the corpse of a small gray squirrel for its breakfast. "The sun is shining, the birds are singing," he continued cheerfully, completely oblivious to reality. He set the cup down on its matching florally designed saucer. Break lifted a cookie from the tray in the center of the table to his lips.
Sharon Rainsworth sat across from him, her tea cup empty and a few crumbs scattered on the crisp white tablecloth in front of her. She frowned. "Break, you really must hurry with your tea! You still take way too long," Sharon scolded. She patted her mouth daintily with her napkin.
Break crunched on the cookie. With his mouth full, he said, "I'm in no hurry today, my ladyyyy!~" He swallowed. "Today is my day off! Isn't that right, Emily?" He looked gleefully at the doll, poking playfully at her.
"Yeah, day off!" Emily agreed.
Sharon dropped her head into the palm of her hand and shook her head. "That's not an excuse to take this long with your tea! It's indecent." She straightened her floor-sweeping royal blue dress and stood, walking over to the balcony. Her face grew serious. "Don't get into any trouble today, Xerx-nii-san. Please?" she begged. "Pandora is rewarding you with this day off. Don't blow it, okay?" She looked back over at him, watching in disgust as he licked his plate clean.
Break licked the remaining crumbs from the plate and looked over at Sharon, his face cheerful as ever. "Don't worry, my ladyyy!~" he exclaimed. "Break will be a good boy today." He lifted his tea cup and drank the rest of the now cold tea in one huge gulp. He dabbed at his mouth with a cream colored napkin and stood.
"You had better be good, Xerx-nii-san," Sharon warned.
Break stood and lifted his coat from the back of his chair. He put it on, leaving it hanging off his shoulders. He fastened it into place. Break adjusted the frilly sleeves of his purple shirt and let the white coat sleeves fall over his hands. He went to lift his sheathed sword off the ground beside his chair, but stopped himself. "I won't be needing this today," he mused. A cheerful grin crossed his face. "Well, we'll be going now my ladyyyy!~" he exclaimed. He began to lift the tablecloth.
"Well be going now!" Emily echoed.
"Take care, Xerx-nii-san," Sharon said, clasping her hands in front of her.
"See you later!" Xerxes Break disappeared beneath the table.
"Benjamin, catch!" the little brown-haired boy called, hurling a small ball in the direction of a slightly older boy. The older boy reached towards it, his fingers just grazing the smooth surface, but failed to grasp it. The ball sailed over his head and bounced into the bushes several meters behind him. "Benjamin! You were supposed to have caught it!" the younger boy whined.
Benjamin exclaimed, "I'll go get it, Charlie!" He began jogging towards the bushes. "You wait here!" The younger boy, Charlie, watched him disappear into the cluster of underbrush.
Benjamin stepped among the bushes, searching for the lost toy. He spotted it laying between a large rock and a tree to his left. "There you are! Got you!" The boy grinned and bounced over to it. He lifted the ball off the ground.
As he straightened up, he just so happened to glance behind the rock. When he did so, Benjamin's gaze fell upon a severed head, just laying there among the grass. Its single blood-red eye bore into him, the other hidden by a curtain of snow white hair, an eerie grin painted on its ghostly pale face.
Benjamin's eyes widened in terror, his face turning white as a sheet. The ball slipped from his grasp and bounced away. It rolled passed the bodiless head. "I-it's a s-severed h-head!" the boy stuttered, his voice a mere whisper.
"Who're you callin' a severed head?" a strange green doll perched beside the head demanded. Its creepy grin mirrored that of the head.
Benjamin fell backwards. "T-talking d-doll!"
"Tsk! Emily, you naughty girl, you! You scared the poor thing!" the head scolded, its red eye turning in the doll's direction.
Benjamin managed a frightened squeak. Scrambling to his feet, he ran through the bushes, completely forgetting about the ball.
"Heave, ho!" Xerxes Break pushed himself from the rabbit hole. His shoulders came into view first, followed by the rest of him. He stood and brushed the dirt from his clothing. Turning to look at the ball he said, "That boy forgot his toy…" He lifted it up and started out of the thicket. He may as well return it.
Once out in the park, he spotted Benjamin with another boy. "Heyyy, you forgot this!" Break called, holding the ball over his head in one hand, using the other to wave frantically.
Emily screeched, "You forgot yer damn ball!"
Both boys whipped around to stare wide-eyed at Break. Benjamin and Charlie went pale as they took in the ghostly face, the single red eye boring into them, the wide, creepy grin, and the disproportionate, talking, green doll. All they could do was stand there, frozen with fear.
Break, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to the fact that both boys were scared half to death. He continued to grin and exclaimed, "Here, catch!" He tossed the ball towards Benjamin. The brown-haired boy failed to catch it, and continued to stare at Break as it bounced to a halt between them.
And then came the delayed reaction: "It's the severed head and the talking doll!" Benjamin and Charlie shrieked. Both turned, forgetting the ball, and took off running out of the park. Their screams echoed.
Break was left standing there. His head lolled to the side, the grin vanishing from his face. "They were no fun," Break sighed. "I never realized days off were boring like this." He ambled across the lush grass and found a bench. He flopped down on it, feeling it shudder under the sudden weight. He poked absently at Emily. He'd grown immediately bored. Thinking it over, he really didn't have anything to do. Everyone was busy with some kind of work, for the most part. "What shall we doooo?~" Break sang. He tilted his head, drawing a blank. Days off were supposed to be fun, not completely dreary and boring. Sadly, Break would have much rather been working.
Xerxes Break sighed in defeat. "I guess we'll just have to go back to the Rainsworth mansion, Emily." He stood and strolled back to the rabbit hole.