A rose to grind

-2-

Being stabbed over a thousand times would be better than this.

     Was my first concluding thought when I peeled my eyes open, suddenly wide awake and came face-to-face with a white ceiling. I groaned as a swift movement from beside me caught my attention. Whipping my head to the other side at once, I found my savior. Did I sound sarcastic? Well, I was trying to be. My savior was wringing a wet cloth, and stared back at me with equal intensity as I was staring at her. Together, we both stared at each other in silence in what seemed like years. Finally, I cleared my throat, and spoke slowly, with great difficulty since I felt something heavy on my chest. "I...Did you bring me back here?" I inquired in a slightly imposing manner, no doubt scaring away the small little girl.

      "Y..Yes!" She squeaked in return, and dropped the soaked cloth into a bowl filled to the brim with water. Because of her hasty actions, a teddy bear which was placed close by, had gotten a splash and was drenched. She immediately picked up the bear, and hugged it close to her chest. I could only guess it was her most treasured possession. I narrowed my eyes and glanced back at the thing laying on my chest, and it was a cat. A white cat. Its fur was as white as snow, and the blue bottomless eyes staring back at me would have melted my heart if I wasn't so pissed at the moment. I could vividly remember smelling a sock. How it travelled up my nose and stayed there. I instantly covered my nose with my hand, and couldn't help glowering a bit at the other child in the room. She shrunk back into her chair.

      "Arnigale seems to like you a lot. Usually he's not this vocal about his thoughts, but he seems to have taken a liking to you somehow," she fumbled with the hem of her white, dress shirt and looked somewhat disappointed, pouting. She continued to grumble on about how 'Arnigale' didn't even pay any attention to her, or even spare a glance. The only time the cat stuck around her was when it was time for it to eat. Otherwise, the animal was just wandering around this large mansion, soaking up the sunlight or sometimes just lazing around under the shade of an apple tree.

Well me? I hated cats. I always have disliked them from the very start, since my past life. Those home-wrecking creatures knew exactly what they were doing. Their intellect made me awfully nervous. It seemed as if they were laughing at me, or judging me. Well, I just hated animals in particular. Part of the reason being how their fur sometimes found their way onto my clothes, no matter how much I wash, even when I scrub with all my might. The strands of fur never seemed to get out. Extremely annoying, if I do say so myself. "Would you please get this...this animal off of me?" I asked irritatedly, acting like a measly spoilt brat in a temper. Perhaps a part of me (which I never really liked) had never changed. "I feel like I'm going to suffocate any time soon."

    "Oh..I'm sorry!" The little girl squeaked once again, and hurriedly reached over to grab the cat. The animal narrowly dodged in return, and hopped off my chest onto a table, meowing at its owner, blatantly expressing his dislike. The child could only pout in return, and sank back into her chair, with disappointment evident on her face. "Arnigale doesn't seem to like me at all, even when I shower him with affection. Maybe you have a special talent to communicate with animals? Would you mind teaching me your skill? I'll ask mommy to reward you. I promise."

      A part of me died at the very moment. I went stiff at the mention of 'mommy.' Why, this wasn't a girl at all. How could I have forgotten such an important detail? This was Etienne Magonnal, or should I just refer to him as Etienne Karrina? The angelic, yet secretly demonic younger step-brother of Yugo. I recalled reading about how Yugo hated his brother, who drove him away as soon as he took after their father's company. Yugo lived his life worse than a dog, and finally, killed. Etienne was a demon with the appearance of a pure young master, a master favored by all the maids and servants around the place. But I knew better. What was he thinking about now? I observed him with much intensity, and Etienne looked taken back at the sudden change of manner coming from me. "I apologize, young master Etienne. This...this lowly servant didn't know any better."