Blood and Snow

Chapter Twenty-Three

[Day Ten]

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!"

Belle almost fell out of the bed as she was startled awake. "What?" She asked quickly, only to realize a moment later that she was alone. "... Oh." She sighed. Deciding to sit there and listen, she closed her eyes and listened carefully. "Sir, calm down!" Fredrick's voice nearly yelled in alarm. "Mason, listen to Fredrick." Baron's voice agreed, "Your face is turning red. Another second and smoke will start coming out of your ears."

"I DON'T CARE IF I SET THE WAREHOUSE ON FIRE!" Mason practically screamed, "I SWEAR, IF HE THINKS THAT HE CAN JUST—!"

"Then think of it this way;" Fredrick interrupted sharply, "if you continue to raise your voice like this, you'll wake up the lawyer. We wouldn't want Miss Belle to hear any of this, now would we? And it would be rude to wake her up at this ungodly hour."

"It's six in the morning." Baron grumbled. There was a sharp inhale from right beside her door. "No." Mason growled. There was a snort of disbelief. Most likely Baron, since he muttered something along the lines of "Can't believe that worked" after that. Belle tilted her head, 'What?'

"Good," Fredrick said in a calmer voice. Mason huffed. "If that pig thinks that he can just arrive early and drop by because he's in the area, that I'll just let him stay for longer than necessary? Ha! I think the hell not!"

Belle's head tilted a bit more, 'Is he talking about the man he hates? The one from last night?'

"Relax." Baron said, "If he does come crawling to your door, you can just say no and slam the door in his face. Or I can just throw him on a frozen lake and see if he makes it off."

Mason chuckled darkly, "I'd love to see him fall through the ice."

Belle shivered at that and wrapped her arms around herself. 'Well, he certainly likes the idea of homicide...' she thought, tilting her head downwards and keeping her eyes closed. Mason sighed, "I'm sorry fellas. I know I'm overreacting on this."

"It's alright, Sir Mason." Fredrick reassured him. "But... what makes you think he's here early?"

"Remember the man on the news who fell off of a building?" Mason asked rhetorically, "That was no accident or suicide. He was thrown off the roof. The Headliners are in town."

"Are you sure about that?" Baron asked. Mason must have nodded or made some sort of "yes" gesture, because Baron groaned in irritation. "I know it was them. They always make sure to make the front page. Hence their group's name." Mason stated. He sighed, "God, I hate this."

Fredrick chuckled, "We may have to restrain you when that man and his crew arrive."

"Please do," Mason said, "Because if you don't I'm going to kill Lefte."

Belle froze, '... What?... No, I heard them wrong...'

Memories that she buried over a decade ago threatened to resurface. She curled in on herself, trying her best to remain calm. 'There's no way they're talking about him... right?' She thought. Then Baron's voiced spoke loud and clear, "You're not the only one who wants to kill Lefte Barbarossa."

Belle's eyes flew wide open. Her breath quickened. Her heart rate began to pick up. 'Don't remember. Don't think about it. He's not here!' Her thoughts became panicked. Lefte Barbarossa. Lefte Barbarossa. Lefte Barbarossa was coming here. Soon. He's coming here, and he's going to taunt her again.

Belle gripped the sides of her head. She can't even hear the others outside her door anymore. Memories of that monster started working their way into her vision.