Serving House Beneviento

2

With books that fueled my knowledge, and two on me for good measure, I walked to the greenhouse with confidence. I saw the huge jungle that laid inside and the tree limbs that blocked the sunlight. My confidence dwindled slightly at the broken clay pots and mass of weeds. Dead plants littered the area. I took in a deep breath.

I asked Lady Donna and Angie for the afternoon off. It was granted after a bunch of arguing from Angie. The food was prepped for their evening meal in the oven. The dolls were arranged properly earlier this morning. The manor was spotless. I had full confidence that Angie would not mess it all up in one afternoon. I glanced around. Where do I start? I wore my trousers and white button-down shirt today. My sleeves were rolled up to my elbows and the scars were prominent on my arms. I glanced up at the tree limbs again. That would be the hardest part for the sunlight to shine through the canopy that was created by nature. I should probably start there.

I grabbed a blade from my side holster and held the dagger to my forearm. I made an elongate cut up the length of my forearm and the blood poured out slowly. It had been a while since I did this. I formed the grip in my hand and the blood did not drip from my arm. Instead, I was able to bend the blood into a huge scythe. I held the blade in both of my hands. The blood was warm, and I had to take steady breaths to keep it all steady. It had been a long time since everyone experimented on me to understand this power. Years of painful experiments caused me to shiver. The RP virus was what it was classified as. A rare blood disease that only I held currently. A specific mutation laid in my blood that could not be recreated in a lab no matter how hard they tried or how painful they tested everything.

Mother Miranda took me from there. Literally, she bought me off of Umbrella under the pretense of sending data from time to time. However, she sent me here and nothing ever happened. Being caretaker of this estate was the best job that I ever had compared to the rest of my life. I sighed as I started to cut at the canopy. It took some major hacking, but sunlight finally fell through. I created a clear spot in the trees. When I was satisfied, I drew the blood back into me and healed the wound. A fresh scar that will need wrapped just in case.

My next objective was to clean the outside of it all. I grabbed some burlap sacks and cleaned up the clay pot pieces. I grabbed at the weeds around the perimeter. One filled bag sat by a tree when I was done. The sun beat down on me as I rubbed sweat from my brows. I walked up to the door of the greenhouse and saw the locked chain on the door. I grabbed my dagger and hacked away at the rusted metal. It gave way quickly and I walked into the half dome of a greenhouse. Cracked cobblestone created a path for me to follow. Broken pots, overgrown plants hung from the walls, garden beds were disasters, and grass was overgrown on the ground. I sighed as I stared at this mess. This will be the death of me.

I worked on the greenhouse for most of the afternoon. I found an abandoned waterfall fountain that was covered in green moss. Six burlap sacks sat outside the greenhouse. I felt pride as I stared at my surroundings. I still had grass clippings that needed taken care of, but the weeds were gone, and pottery cleaned up. I need a ladder for the hanging plants, and I had an idea of what I was working with when I de-planted the garden beds. Ideas sprung to mind of irrigation and stone beds. I have a lot of requests for the Duke when I went out tomorrow.

When I walked back into the manor, stars poked out of the sky. I lost track of time when I was burning the burlap sacks and extra sacks from around the manor. I was sweaty, dirty, and ragged from the work. I shut the door behind me quietly. I needed a bath. If I drew it now, I would have a chance to soak for a while since Lady Donna would be sleeping soon. I walked up to the second floor and toward the bathroom. I opened the door to the bathroom.

"There you are!" The chime of Angie's voice visibly irked me. I was hoping for quiet. I turned toward Angie and Lady Donna stood at her side like a shadow. Angie, for herself, walked on the ground. Two feet high, she was still quite as loud as if she were face to face. "Wow, you look absolutely terrible!"