Sweet Songbird (G/T)

Chapter Twenty-Six

"Now, Maddie, where do you think they could be?" Eric asked, sitting in his comfy dining chair and using a white cloth napkin to dab the sides of his mouth. The food was simple, which was fine, as the other servants have been a little on edge after what happened. They're all nervous. Jumpy.

"Th-There was a secret place, out in the garden. Before the incident w-with the jar K-Karen, Thompson, a-and I would go out there to hide and talk a l-little more freely." Maddie kept her silver-eyed attention on the surface of the dining room table. She stands closer to Seraphina rather than to Eric.

"And you are going to show me this, yes?" The massive nobleman placed a hand on his chin in thought, his right eyebrow arching.

While she didn't want him knowing where she could disappear to, she cared more about Seraphina not getting hurt again. Glancing over at the black-haired woman she loves, she gave Sera a reassuring nod before looking back up at Eric. A clear determined look was in her eyes. "Yes. I can." She spoke with a respectful, strong tone, surprising not only Eric and Sera but herself too.  "Please, follow me."

Eric watched as the white-haired maid climbed down the ladder, waiting until she reached the floor to lift Seraphina from her own place on the table. "Let's go then my sweet singing dove."

Seraphina only nodded her head and turned to watch Maddie walking out of the giant dining hall. Once all of this was taken care of, she planned on trying to help Maddie find someone that will love her back. Someone the maid deserves.

Following the maid, Eric watched as she walked from the mansion out behind to the garden. He couldn't see anywhere any servants could hide, but then Maddie got on her hands and knees, pushing mulch off of a small wooden hatch only humans could fit through. 

"I see." A slight smile began to make its way onto his face. It was quite smart of them. "Now, go down and see if they're there."

Maddie's face paled even more than it already was. "B-But...yes sir." Too afraid to object, she gripped the metal handle of the hatch.

Sera reached out, tugging on Eric's sleeve. She pointed to herself then to the hatch, trying to tell him she wanted to go with her. It was clear she didn't want to go down on her own, so Sera wanted to help the only friend she's ever really had. 

He caught the gist but didn't want to let Sera go down there. But the worried look on her face churned his stomach and made him feel a little bad about sending the maid down there herself. "Fine, fine. Just...please be careful Seraphina."

Again, Seraphina nodded her head and ran to where the maid stood, reaching out and placing a hand reassuringly on her shoulder. 

Maddie looked gratefully at her friend and silently lifted the wooden hatch, revealing an old wooden ladder leaning down into the ground. She took a small glance toward Seraphina, who now was the one looking nervous about going in. "Don't worry, it's actually furnished and everything. Like a little lounge of sorts."

Taking a deep breath through her mouth, Sera was the first to climb down. She had to move her dress out of the way, her long hair running down each rung of the ladder as she climbed. Nearing the bottom, she could hear quiet voices. She decided to stop and try to listen to what the voices were saying, and sure enough, she could hear Thompson's familiar voice, along with Karen's.

"You shot Matthew!" Thompson's smooth voice hissed.

"He was going to rat us out not just to the giant freak of nature, but to Scotland Yard! What was I supposed to do?" Karen's controlling tone made Sera's stomach churn. 

"Poor Matthew." She whispered to herself, a small frown beginning to fall upon her lips. A force gripped the bottom of her dress and yanked her to the bottom of the ladder, and looking up, Thompson and Karen both stood over her with glaring eyes.

"How the literal hell are you alive?!" Karen's hand gripped her pale arm, yanking the blue-eyed female to her feet. 

Seraphina didn't want to give away Maddie, worried they would go after the timid maid. Instead, she stayed silent, doing her best to return the fierce glares despite her weak limbs and the fear that rose and fell inside of her chest. 

"It doesn't matter." Karen stormed across the small room, giving Sera a quick chance to look around.

Sure enough, the walls, floor, and ceiling were simply wooden boards. A few chairs sat around a table, and shelves with bottles of wine and other alcoholic beverages hung on the other side of the wall. Besides that, the room was pretty bare.

Returning her focus to the ex-maid Karen, her eyes widened when she saw herself staring down the barrel of a gun. As far as she knew, Maddie was still up the ladder. Eric couldn't get to her. She was stuck between a rock and a hard-headed woman. "You should be dead!" Karen spat angrily, her finger on the trigger of the pistol.

Before Sera even got a chance to say a word, a loud bang made her ears ring, and her eyes shut when she expected to feel pain. But the pain never came. Slowly she began to open her eyes, a horrifying sight quickly filling her vision.

Maddie stood in front of her, the white-haired maid glaring at Karen with angry silver eyes. An intense pain continued shooting throughout her abdomen, and she fell to her knees with teary eyes. 

"Maddie!" Sera was immediately by her friend's side, looking at the blood that soaked the off-white apron. "H-Hang on, I'll get Eric and he'll get you out of here...somehow. Just hang on." She pleaded, taking both of the maid's hands in hers. She ignored the fiery pain that emitted from her throat when she spoke. In truth, she didn't even feel it. That wasn't where her mind was.

"D-Don't." Maddie grabbed onto Seraphina's hands tight, weakly smiling as dark red liquid trickled from her mouth and down her chin. "I-I'd rather d-die protecting someone I love th-than to die alone."

"Y-You won't die alone, I promise, please just let me go get help." Sera tried to pull her hands away, but the maid kept her grip firm. "Maddie!"

Already her vision was going blurry from blood loss. She knew her hold on Sera's hands wouldn't last much longer. Maddie kept one hand tight around Sera's and lifted her other to gently wipe tears that had began to run down the ebony haired girl's face. "D-Don't cry for me. I don't deserve it."

"No! You do! You don't know how much you do!" Sera exclaimed. "Eric! Eric, we need help!" She screamed, desperately trying to get the giant's attention on the surface above.

Maddie again wiped a stray tear from Sera's cheek, her hand slipping to the floor. Her vision went fully black, and she felt strangely warm as she was dragged into a cold, welcoming darkness.