The Dawn Breaking Over Our Horizon

Untitled Part 4 unedited

My eyes widen in fear and I spin to face the door just as it opens, my ears flattening against my head painfully, and dropping the ribbon out of surprise. Through the door Sebastian walks into the room, a sly smile on his face as he takes in the scene before him. Silver hair flying about my chest and shoulders, bright blue skirts flaring, and a light blue ribbon stained with blood fluttering to the floor.

"Well, what do we have here?" he asks, bemused.

I take a moment to clam my racing heart and close my eyes, allowing myself a few deep breaths before smiling kindly, "I was looking for any extra white ribbon for Lady Elizabeth, she had told me that the extra laundry and linens closet was supposed to around here."

"And what about your ribbon, I could not very well let something so tarnished adorn the head of such a beautiful lady such as yourself." His comment causes me to look once again at the ribbon on the floor, now wrinkled and heavily stained with blood.

I crinkle my nose in confusion, "Where did that blood c-" I look down at my right thumb again, suddenly remembering that I had cut it with my kodachi in my haste to put it away and never tended to it, "Oh my."

Before I know it, Sebastian is kneeling before me. Although it is hard to tell because even kneeling the top of his head reaches the bottom of my chest. His gloved hand gently takes hold of mine and my heart stops, even with my ears flat against my head I should have been able to hear him move, but I didn't. Or couldn't, I don't know.

The cut on my thumb is long and deep, but not so much as to cause concern, just enough to require attention. It's Sebastian's attention that as me on edge and forces me to focus on my breathing so I do not alert him to my own issues. His face is inches away from my palm, its as if he intends to utilize all of his senses to assess my wound. Then, as if he has heard my thoughts and seeks to prove my hypothesis correct, a cool, wet sensation trails the cut along the pad of my thumb as his tongue flicks out of his mouth.

I let out a quiet yelp and jump back, away from him, and try to release myself from his grasp, but he just stands up and moves with me. Almost as if he had planned for my reaction and prepared for it, "Just as I thought my kitten. Akatsuki was it? Now," those red eyes of his begin to glow a bright fuchsia as he moves to stand closer to me, pushing me into the pool table, "Let me test one last thing," our eyes lock onto one another. Daring the other to make a move.

What feels like an eternity passes, neither of us even twitching, despite how badly I want to pin my ears back and growl at him, I manage to keep myself in check. In one moment I let myself blink, my hands are pulled in front of me and held in a tight but gentle grip, and the feeling of someone scratching just behind my left ear tickles my senses. My eyes snap open with fear and defiance shining through as I battle with my instincts to not relax into the touch of this strange being and show him my true nature. Even knowing how futile this resistance is, he can easily feel the anatomy of my ear as he scratches it, I stare directly into those red eyes furiously.

The red begins to grow harsh, unhappy with my defiance, and Sebastian's gloved fingers grab hold of my ear and force it to come out of the camouflage my hair offers. I twist my head and pull away, trying to escape his hold, only to yelp in pain when he pinches my ear between his fingers. A moment later, after a quick examination to confirm his suspicions, Sebastian releases me with a triumphant smirk.

I take one moment to rub my ear tentatively then pin my ears back and growl viciously, my elongated canines beared wildly in anger, "I will tell you this once and only once, I do not fight unless necessary. And I will most certainly not allow you to take advantage of me in any way or expose my secret. I know that you are not human, so rest assured, I will not stop until I find out what you are."

Sebastian just chuckles and reaches out to ruffle my hair like a child, no doubt some patronizing remark will follow. I will not let him touch me without my permission ever again, another growl tears through my throat and I slap him hard across his cheek. His moment of surprise grants me enough time to sprint out of the billiards parlor and down the hallway. I let myself run as fast as I can, desperate to find some ribbon for Lizzie and escape the madman behind me.

As soon as I reach the stairs in the foyer I hear a low rumble, as if a low growl was reverberating through the many hallways to reach my ears. My tail twitches in anxiety and I cower slightly into the wall before covering my ears with my hair and returning to Lizzie's guest room.