The Keepers' Evil

Seven: Listen to me, I know you're angry and frustrated

Song- Angel of small death and the codeine scene: Hozier

"Listen to me, I know you're angry and frustrated, but charging ahead now could undo all the progress we've made."

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I could tell time had passed.

It smelt warm, it felt comfortable, I could hear the faint clacking of the clock's hands, wherever I was.

There was a gnawing terror that glued my eyes shut, just in case I opened my eyes and it was all just a coping mechanism, and my fingers were still strained under the restraint of my father.

Please be in the Undercroft.

Sebastian didn't see my eyes flicker open at first, but I saw him. Although my eyes felt glazed with a shimmery mist that was a blend of a peaceful sleep and a torturous panic, I could see the outline of him and it was entirely unmistakable.

The baseboard of the bed was a dark wooden brown, it seemed to match the colours of the decor around me. It all seemed rather dark, moody, it somehow calmed the colours in my mind that were all too bright. I crinkled the bedsheets in my fingers, they were softer than mine, almost velvety and slippery, they were also green.

Not the Undercroft, maybe even better.

Sebastian stood at the base of the bed, his arms propping him upwards to lean on the baseboard, his head hung forwards towards the floor on his shoulders, his eyes blinking a mile a minute. His shirt hung somewhat awkwardly from his body as he leant forwards, completely untucked and stained slightly with his own blood on the collar, and I was sure a few buttons were entirely missing along with his tie. He looked tired, but not to an unusual for level for him. He just looked done.

I let the moment hang between us for a minute, me watching him entirely unaware of my presence whilst his cheeks flushed a deep red with the confusion of what had happened between any of us. I too was none the wiser, unsure of why my mind had become susceptible to a memory I buried years ago even in the company of them.

When Sebastian's eyes finally held mine, it was as if our pupils opened a gateway to the emotions neither of us wanted to say. It was okay for those few minutes, the silence welcomed so that the words could be heard, only to us.

Only Sebastian Sallow could make me feel safe in the unsafe. Only he could be the safe and the unsafe.

He didn't try to catch the tears that toppled from his eyes, he just let them be- he just let the silence hold him and the moment in.

"Hi, Madeleine." his tone was terrifying. Sebastian was fuelled by emotion, he constantly rode the waves of anger and distrust so that he didn't get dragged under into the underworld of love. I could've been Sebastian's biggest treasure or his worst enemy in that moment; it was a game of treading lightly to just see.

"Hi, Sebastian." An almost relieved smile pulled slightly to his cheeks, enough to dot the dimples around his lips, a reaction to the softness in my voice. I think Sebastian found comfort in the soft, because of Anne. Anne had the softest smile to pair with her doe-like eyes and Sebastian had always told me how much like their mother she was. Sometimes the calm is good.

My eyes followed his figure as he adjusted the cuffs of his muddled shirt sleeves, walking towards the edge of the bed where I propped myself upright. He perched beside my legs, a sensitive smile still toying with one side of his lips.