Basilisk (Dark Ominis Gaunt x OC gothic romance)

Chapter 87: A New Direction

~~Sebastian~~

He woke up groggily one morning, stretching in bed before looking up at the ceiling with a deep sigh. It had been a few days since he'd gotten a letter from Veela, and he was starting to get worried again. Maybe she wouldn't write back ever again... maybe she had moved on, thinking her good deed was enough to make up for what she did.

He really wouldn't blame her for wanting to move on, especially because she'd gotten so scared by Ominis. He just wished he could talk to her again.

It was strange to be yearning for a woman so much, it wasn't normal for him. Sure he'd had flings that had gotten beyond the bedroom, but none of them had felt like this. This ache to be around her, to want to see her smile and hear her voice. It certainly didn't help that he'd oddly become the house bachelor now, with Ominis and Ariadne constantly flirting and now Damien and Marie stealing glances toward each other. He was happy for Damien, he really was, but... Merlin, he wished he could see Veela again.

He sighed wearily and sat up, flexing his shoulders to loosen them up. Time to go make breakfast. He rather liked being the house cook, it was fun to find different things to make, and they didn't mind if he experimented a bit. Ominis had a really refined taste though, that was for certain. The man had never eaten a casserole before in his life. Who hadn't eaten a casserole?! He'd liked it though, so at least there was that. Ariadne had even requested it again.

He had laundry to do today, too. He'd shoved most of his clothes in a sack before he'd left Feldcroft in a hurry, since most of his time was spent preparing Veela for being unpetrified. He wondered if she was at the house, now. Was she doing alright? That potion she'd taken had looked like it really made her sick before she'd been petrified. Maybe she was better, now.

Agh, he needed to focus!

He rolled his eyes at himself that his thoughts always seemed to turn to her, huffing softly in frustration before he went over to the sack in the corner of his room and opened it to take his clothes out.

He was blasted with a smell that made his head spin, gasping as it overwhelmed him. It wasn't a bad smell at all, in fact it was the best smell he'd ever sensed in his whole fucking life.

He gathered himself and rooted through the bag to find the source, his hands shaking as he threw articles of clothing through the room in his desperation. At the very bottom he found his vest, still stained with the Amortentia he'd spilled on it. He took it out and stared at it in shock, because it was impossible for it to smell like anything. It had never smelled before, so why would it now?!

He looked around frantically, needing confirmation. He needed someone to check it for him, someone who had smelled amortentia before.

He burst out of his room and nearly ran into Marie in the hallway, who yelled in shock at Sebastian suddenly appearing in front of her in nothing but his night pants.

"Sebastian, for Merlin's sake, put a shirt on!" She said in shock, turning away from him quickly.

"Smell this." He said, offering it up to her with wide eyes. "Please, what does it smell like?"

"I don't want to smell your dirty clothes, Sebastian." She wrinkled her nose at the idea.

"Please, just try! This is important!" He said desperately.

Footsteps ran down the stairs toward the servant level, and Damien came down the steps fast enough he ran into the wall at the end in his haste, looking around with wild eyes that were rimmed with gold. He saw Sebastian and furrowed his brow in confusion. He'd apparently heard Marie yell and had come running.