Chapter 30: Danny POV
Sebastian startled me as I came from around the dressing screen. He smiled slightly and then fixed his lips back into the thin line of seriousness. I wanted to kiss them so badly, to lace my fingers into his hair and make him smile, to hear his chuckle, but his hands did not move toward me as I moved to stand beside him. I looked into the mirror and brushed my hair; it was getting a bit long - for a man.
"Green suits you," he said at last. I looked down and smiled a bit. The young Master had gone into town with the Earl and Sebastian the previous weekend and had come back with the green vest. I took up my pocketwatch and snapped it into place, tucking the other end into the small pocket.
"Yes, I noticed you also like the color," I said, turning to look at the mannequin that held another new dress on it, also in a pale green and pink. I now owned two exquisite ball gowns. "But we are not here to talk about my dressing habits. You are here to make sure I am okay as you and the Earl head to Bury St. Edmunds." I turned again and walked up to him. "The last two times something happened - my powers came up - I was able to control them. And," I added as I kissed his cheek. "They have settled. Things seem to come to me easier when something arises." I looked over him and then met his still worried gaze. "I am quick, agile, I can see like a hawk, can catch flies with my bare hands, and I can hear even the young Master eating with his mouth open from here."
His lips quirked up and he finally breathed a little. "They do seem to be better managed. But… one remains yet to be mastered."
I blushed. Intimate moments were still troubled with me blacking out or going wild and not remembering. Sebastian was ever so patient and insisted that he would not do anything unless I was in control of myself.
"I am but a call away," he finally said, breaking the silence. "Please, call me when you need me."
"I can defend myself," I said, slightly miffed at his insistence to rely on him. I wanted him around, and sometimes I needed him around, but I also had to learn what it meant to be a Demon on my own. I was looking forward to the few days I had as the top commander of the Manor.
"Yes, I do recall a certain sparring match you had with Lady Phantomhive," he said, finally breaking into a smile. "Shall I take all the sharp objects with me?"
"No, I'm sure you have already raided the silverware and left us with the essential number of knives and forks for us to use for the few days we are left on our own."
He nodded and pulled me into his embrace, resting his cheek on my head and I listened to the blood - the substance that passed for blood - pump through his veins.
"I must go."
I nodded, having felt the zip of the Earl's call. Sebastian had said it was powerful because of the Contract and where it was placed. "Be safe," I finally said.
"Yes, my Lady," he breathed as he kissed me gently.
He left before I could open my eyes and I sighed, leaning into the doorway where he was a second before. I watched as he and the Earl got into the automobile and began their journey north, and I went down to start my day with the young Master.
"Mister Hyde! There are blooms on the tree!" Vincent said as I came into the conservatory. He pointed to the trees near the side path and grinned. "Mister Finnian said there would be a few already - and look! There they are."
His smile was infectious and both the Lady and I were laughing and pouring over the books with illustrations of the stages of trees developing. The day was bright yet chilly enough for us to put on jackets as we sat in the gardens, on a bench and read books about Spring and aided in planting some new plants. Finnian brought me a basket of bulbs and the young Master and I worked to dig holes and place them gently into the ground. I sat back on my heels and watched in wonder as the fully Human boy laughed and chatted, patting the Earth as he placed the bulbs into it. I wandered back into my own mind as I moved to sit on the bench and watched him.
My two sisters had always loved helping us plant new saplings and drag branches away as we pruned the orchid. They would find sticks and poke me and my brother when we stopped paying attention to them, or would hit the trees, squealing when the small petals would shower down around them. They died when they were 9 and 12, almost on the cusp of adulthood. They were kind and hard working, quiet and serious by that time. It was a little over a year after Papa was killed in a horse accident on a nearby farm, and my sisters had helped my brother and I keep the orchids maintained.
"Mister Hyde? Are you sad?"
I looked at the young Master and shook my head. His small hands came up and wiped at my face. "Thank you, Vincent," I said. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and hold him, but that would be improper as a man. My heart struggled once more; it was easy to stay a man to the outside, but becoming a Demon had woken my feminine side to the point dressing and acting like a man had become difficult.
He put his hand on mine and tugged. "I'm hungry."
I took my watch out as we walked, Vincent's hand curling into mine. "It's only 10:20."
"I want something sweet!" he said, almost pouting. "Please?" he added quickly before I could scold him.
Sighing I nodded. "To the kitchen. We can help Baldroy peel carrots."
He groaned but continued on. As we neared, Baldroy opened the door and watched as we came closer. "Ah already ready for more hands on work, I see," the Cook laughed as the young Master climbed the three steps. "Common then, I'll see to peeling and you can put them in the bucket."
I moved past them and checked in on all the other staff members. They were around the Manor, doing their duties. Lady Phantomhive was in the Parlor, and I walked that way, merely to keep an eye on each member, much as Sebastian did throughout the day. I paused at the door and heard her carrying on a conversation, and peeked in to see she was on the telephone. She had several stacks of papers and was writing things on a pad beside her. All was well.
The young Master was placing the peas in the bucket as Baldroy was telling him about the planting of the various vegetables. Finnian was sitting with them now and had a basket as well.
"Young Master," I said, walking back toward the group. "I do believe it is time to study some Math."
He looked at me and then back at the baskets. "I can count these."
"Young Master," I said, looking at him.
"Best you go," Finnian said, nudging the boy in my direction. "You need to know more about math then counting."
He scowled for a moment and then looked up at me as he came closer. "Does my father know a lot about math?"
"Yes, he does. He is very good in math," I said.
He sighed as I opened the door and we walked back to the library. "I guess if I am going to be as good as my father I need to be good at math," he finally said.
We sat down and did math, some mapping of where his father and Sebastian were going, and how long it would take them to go and come back. Mey-Rin brought lunch and we munched on sandwiches and went back into the conservatory to look at the row of plants that we had planted the week before, giving them their daily water. All was pleasantly smooth.
Lady Phantomhive announced late afternoon that she would be visiting her brother and his wife for the evening, and wouldn't be back until after the young Master's bed time. Baldroy offered to drive the coach, but she telephoned her brother and he came to pick her up instead.
After we ate the evening meal, we went to the second floor, and decided the Gallery Hallway was where the young Master wished to sit on the floor, flipping through a book on maps. I read a book on old English traditions, and finally looked up to see the young Master curled up and asleep, his head on the map book and his hand resting lightly over the map of Suffolk, where the Earl and Sebastian were.
I reached down and brushed his hair out of his face; it really was rather long and shaggy. I would have to cut it in the morning. I gently picked him up, surprised how light he was in my arms, and walked down the hall to his bedroom. There was suddenly a bright light that went across the window as I passed it and I turned. I felt nothing out of the ordinary and surely if Baldroy were shooting of flares he would have told me. A crash outside made me pause and shift the still sleeping boy in my arms.
"Mr. Hyde!" I turned when I heard the panic in Mey-Rin's voice. She raced down the hall, her glasses up and her brown eyes clear. She slowed down. "Mr. Hyde," she said softer, seeing the young Master in my arms. "Best get him safe. We are under attack."
"Under attack? What on Earth -" A loud boom rattled the glass I stood beside and I turned to keep it from shattering on the young Master if it fell. "Let me place him in the Earl's study," I said, following Mey-Rin. I felt a ripple across my back and I could sense that what was outside was not Human. I could smell what was outside was not Human. I blinked rapidly at the sudden invasion to my senses and the shift. What a time for Sebastian to be gone!
"Mister Hyde?" the young Master said as I put him on the couch and turned to grab a blanket. "Why am I here?"
"Shh, young Master," I said, kneeling and pulling the blanket over his body. "Something is happening outside and you need to stay here. I'll be back."
"Don't go!"
Another flash lit up the room more than the fire behind us and I could see the panic in his eyes. A gunshot was heard and then another one. I could hear screaming, a primal scream and knew in an instant it was Finnian. Another gun went off - Mey-Rin was scoping the targets. The young master flung himself on me and my arms wrapped around him as well.
"Please don't go. Please," he sobbed. "I'm so scared. I'm… I'm so scared! I'll be good if you just protect me!"
"Oh love, you are a good boy, such a good boy. You will be protected - by me, by Finnian, by Baldroy, and by Mey-Rin." I pulled back and brushed the tears out of his eyes for a moment. "You know if your Mother and Father and Mister Sebastian were here, they would protect you too, right?"
He nodded and I felt the surge of energy shake through me again. I leaned over and kissed his forehead, forgetting polite society, only comforting the young Master. "Get under the covers, and lay as still as possible," I whispered, my eyes on the door. Something was coming.
He pulled the blanket over himself and I stood, feeling my senses on fire, but all pointing to something - someone - moving fast toward the room. I leaped over the couch, hardly registering I had done so. I moved with the fluidity I didn't even have as a Reaper. My ears picked up two objects - the smell utterly Human and UnHuman in equal measure. I closed my eyes for a second - the Human wa running away, toward the room, was being chased. I opened my eyes and I could see the specks of dust in the dim fire light. The door flew open and I flung out my hand, suddenly dimming the fire to a mere speck.
"Mr. Hyde!" Mey-Rin yelled, as she crossed the threshold. She turned and fired her rifle, the other object - the UnHuman object - stumbled back for a moment and then I saw it.
I saw the Demon like the one Sebastian had fought. Claws dug into the wood frame, splintering it up to the top, making it bow in. It snarled. I crouched down, instinct and the rumbling power I had felt ebb and flow for the past few months, flashed over me. I felt ready for this, to control this, to possess this. It lunged at Mey-Rin and I flung myself in front of her, knocking her down, making her resight the Demon, and I felt the whiz of a bullet go past my head as I dug into the floor and leaped into the Demon as it once more flinched at the hit.
"Let me," I snarled. And I flew across the room, watching how the distance seemed to close in quickly. My vision bursted with colours and I heard an unearthly scream - coming from me. I drove my hands into the Demon and ripped. I ripped it apart like it was paper. I watched as the Demon's red eyes widened and the satisfying feeling of fear settled into them as they dimmed and the Demon dissipated.
"Mr. Hyde!" I turned and saw the young Master looking over the couch. His outline was blackened against the dimmed firelight. But there was a light in his eyes, so bright I gasped. I didn't have to know I was looking at his Soul.
I didn't have to know I wanted it. I spun around and sped out the Manor, my only thought was to protect the boy, to protect the ones I had come to care for. The ones who cared for me.
As I ripped the last Demon, I sank my teeth into its neck, the need for blood, carnage taking over me. I snarled into the darkness as it moved, and it moved away. I looked down at the inky black blood on my hands, on the ground, and staining my white shirt. My world suddenly spinned again and I staggered crawling away and grasped at the iron gates, trying to get my legs under me. I heard feet running, a shout, and then a hand under my head as I slumped back into the ground.