Chapter 5

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"A-are you going to kill me?"

"No, I don't kill people. I just torture them in a friendly way then take them to the hospital after. Don't worry, I also pay the hospital bills."

The woman with a blindfold tried to distinguish the direction in which my voice and footsteps were coming from, but as soon as she turned to face me, I immediately slapped her with a hardbound book.

In a snap, the impact made her face the opposite direction as the loud thud became a harmony to my ears, especially when I heard desperate coughs that even came with marvelous blood.

Was it because I inserted a small hammer inside the book or just simply because of my strength alone? Well, either way, this woman who's currently tied upside down to a thick pole is still doomed because I was just warming up.

A sinister smile formed on my thin lips as my gentle hands slowly removed her blindfold. And as our eyes finally met, her screams immediately surrounded the whole place as if it could actually make a difference in her fate.

But sure. Let her react as much as she can because that'll be the last time she can use her tongue to scream.

Too bad she won't be able to French kiss with anyone after this.

I chuckled at the thought and decided to casually throw the book with my favorite hammer away. I then modeled my ancient necklace with a razor blade pendant in front of her. Hell, I even sang a nursery rhythm about chopping off someone's head to even match my mood.

But I guess spitting in my face and cursing me to the core wasn't a sign of amusement, so instead of continuing, I ended up pouting. I couldn't do anything but remove the pendant and pointed the now sharp blades at her.

With that, she again struggled against being tied, but it was too useless. I harshly just pulled her hair and made her face my direction, upon skinning her alive.

"Don't overreact like that, it's just your entire eyebags! Now let's proceed to the eyelids!" A wide smile plastered onto my face as I did what I said, with her sweet blood gushing out of her skin. Now here's the finished product, I've managed to open her eyes wide enough to see the cruel reality of life!

"I'm such an eye opener!"

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***

"You're enjoying the job so much, huh?"

I was dragged back from reality when Zayde sneaked into my room. And in an instant, the sinister smile that was painted on my face vanished. I even tried to give him an innocent look as he was now approaching the table where I was, but of course, that won't fool him.

Not this guy.

"Keep going. I gotta go to work too," he said and almost leaned in for a kiss. I was taken aback for a while, but when it dawned on him, he just simply moved his face towards my ears instead.

"Make sure to finish the chapter before sleeping. Goodnight," he even said and pulled himself away.

I was left in that state, blinking a few times while trying to forget the sensation of his lips on my earlobes. Because as much as I wanted to karate chop his neck for closing the distance between us, my knees and entire body just casually betrayed me, leaving me to be motionless for the nth time.

Good thing he diverted his eyes from my direction and had already turned his back. But even up to the point that his feet left the room and closed the wooden door shut, things still don't feel right within me. For it's been a week since I started working for him, and he's always like that every time he's about to leave for work.

He'll lean closer as if he's about to kiss me but will immediately stop halfway, then leave me hanging. Like dude, what the hell?

Wait, don't get me wrong. It's not like I wanted a kiss or something, but he shouldn't have done that in the first place if he's too pussy about it. That's so no no!

But dang it, why am I still nagging anyway? What's done has been done, and I'll just shove him to the floor next time. With that thought in mind, I rested my back on the comfy chair and continued writing the part I needed to be done before twelve midnight.

Since it's Wednesday, I have no choice but to finish the chapter at night because I have classes in the morning. It doesn't help the fact that Zayde was on a night shift in his Funeral Business, so we rarely see each other even if we're somehow living in the same place and literally sharing the same bedroom.

And I know the word strange is an understatement for everything that's happening, but let me just use the word. Because since he's basically an owner of a Funeral Home, he should be hands-on with his work and would be at the building more often. Because duh? Death doesn't choose what time it will knock someone out, so their business should always be one call away.

But there he was, scheduling what specific time he'll just visit his Funeral Home at night as if it was just some branch of a local boutique. He's actually just leaving the mansion every 11:11 PM and would come back before 6 in the morning.

I just sighed because of that, and instead of getting stressed about his decisions in life, I just continued working. When I finished, I carefully placed the paper in the all-black box in front of me. Aside from what do I even care about his schedule in life, I was already too tired to even think about that one.

Hello, he's big now, he can handle himself, and he's extremely rich even if he's not human. So what do I even expect? That he'd actually have a normal job?

I yawned and stretched my body. I slowly removed the ribbon of the robe I was temporarily wearing, and there my all-black nightgown was revealed. After breathing, I also put the black robe back on and tied the ribbon again. It's ugly if I wear other colors because it won't match the motif of the entire mansion anymore.

Aside from that, Rogue told me to have a mini photoshoot here and tour her virtually through this all-dark themed mansion. I couldn't reject her though because she and Kleo were the ones who are now taking care of my dog Brylle. They take turns because if my cousin wasn't so crazy, he wouldn't have kicked the dog out of the house!

He's really in trouble with me when I get back!

So there, I had no choice but to feed Rogue's curiosity in return. Since Zayde and Leaflet were off to work, and Damon was probably sleeping somewhere in his room, I tiptoed towards the hallway as I tried my hardest to include every corner of the house without making so much noise.

Well, I know that video call is easier, but there's no damned signal here and shits, so I have no other option. Besides, this is actually a good thing for me because I can somehow start my room hopping too.

And speaking of room, I couldn't even now stop myself from reminiscing how Zayde told me that we have no other choice but to share the same room in the most casual manner because it's the safest. He even told me that it shouldn't make me feel uncomfortable since he was always off at night, and I am at school in the morning when it's his time to sleep.

But to hell be with him because there were actually a lot of rooms in the whole mansion and even here on the second floor alone. I could just tell him to transfer me somewhere since I don't like the fact that we're really starting to look like a fucking couple somehow.

Staying in the same room, goodnight greetings, and kisses that he never did. Eww! I gotta find my own room so I can fucking strip according to my own accord.

It's tiring to pretend. And does he even know I'm much more comfortable sleeping naked? And I couldn't do any of that because of the fear that he might see me in that state and other shits?

Dang it, where's my fucking boundary?

I angrily opened one of the rooms because of my worries and went inside to look around. The only problem was that the whole room was just full of dust, and the furniture was almost completely covered by black cloth.

I sighed because of that and was about to leave, but I almost jumped when I saw a woman on the side!

The screams were almost formed in my throat, but it only ended in a gasp. I immediately held my chest when I realized it was just a human-sized painting. I accidentally knocked over the cloth covering it earlier.

But to think of it, the woman in the picture was very beautiful even though it looked old. She was wearing a black dress and a black veil was draped over her. She was also holding a bouquet of black roses, but her smile was so genuine, contradicting the darkness of the entire painting's vibe.

Her face was too angelic, her eyes were so pretty too, and it seemed like she was the happiest person on earth. And there it was, I was busy adoring her entire existence in the painting when a realization hit my mind.

"Is this a wedding photo?"

Curiosity got the best of me, especially upon seeing that her arms were actually intertwined with someone. I just couldn't see who it was because it was still covered by cloth, so I tried to pull it away.

"Perhaps a gothic wedding with Zayde? Holy crap, she might be his wife?" I whispered to myself and tried to pull the cloth again. But it looked like it was nailed to the back of the painting, so I sighed.

I was just about to peek, but I was really startled when the light suddenly flickered.

"Oh, fuck," I even cursed and immediately moved away from the painting, especially since for an unexplainable reason, the hairs on my body slowly started to stand up.

"What do you think you're doing? This is forbidden, isn't it?"

In an instant, I immediately froze in my spot because of that cold and baritone voice. It wasn't familiar, and it's definitely not Zayde's, making my heart drop as I quickly scanned the entire place to see the owner of the voice.

But no one was there.

"Who are you?" I asked with a frown, but only the familiar whooshing of the wind answered.

After a while, the light in the room completely went out, causing me to gasp and slowly back out of the room despite my legs shaking.

"Your Lord told you that cellphones aren't allowed in the mansion, as well as entering other rooms without permission, right?" the big voice said again, and at that moment, a light in the hallway went out.

I backed away again because of that, but as fast as my steps were away, the lights in the long hallway went out just as quickly, as if darkness was chasing me.

Or maybe the creature hiding behind it was chasing me?

"Get the hell away from me, you evil spirit! I have holy water!" I insisted and was really about to spit at it. But in an instant, all the lights suddenly turned on again all at once, and I really frowned when I heard someone's soft laughter.

Son of a bat! Is Zayde playing with me? But wait, he's working, and it's definitely not his voice!

So who the hell is this?

I looked around, but I was the only creature in the hallway, along with the paintings attached to the wall.

"Whatcha screyumeingh aight?"

My eyes almost widened when Damon opened the door of the room I was currently facing. His hair was messy, and he was rubbing his eyes, but even then, I still couldn't understand what he was saying.

"H-ha?" was the only thing I said despite everything that had happened.

"Aigh haskeh whatcha screyumeing aight?"

I blinked repeatedly. "Can you just write what you want to say on paper?"

"Idiot! Damon asked why the fuck are you screaming in the middle of the fucking night, you slowpoke dimwitted and disgusting woman!"

I froze in my spot again when I heard that voice again. At that moment, I turned to finally face the owner, and my mouth really dropped open when I realized who it was.

The crow.

"What? Why are you staring? I am the translator of that alien language-speaking Butler, and also the official guardian of this household. Do you have a problem with that?"

I swallowed my saliva and seriously pointed at it with my slightly trembling hands.

"Y-you're talking. Y-you can actually talk like a normal person."

"I can also bite. Do you want to have a firsthand experience?"

Right at that moment, uncontrollable laughter rumbled up my throat as I horribly shook my head. Dude, I can't believe I'm saying this, but Zayde was literally the sanest creature in this mansion, and I freaking need him to come home and come back to me. As in right now.

I sincerely need a dosage of sanity and to touch some grass, I think?