CHAPITRE SIX: Snake

THE MYSTERIOUS HANDSOME GUY WITH A WHITE HAIR took Claudette to the circle of couples dancing on the dance floor, waltzing her expertly. She’ll be going to admit, she actually enjoyed waltzing with the guy around the dance floor but she still had this feeling that she’s uncomfortable with the guy’s presence. And as minutes passed by as she danced with the guy, she felt that even if she wanted to avert her gaze, she couldn’t. She felt like she’s got hypnotized by the man’s gaze that she couldn’t help but feel slight dizziness while dancing. She even couldn’t recognize the guy’s face due to her blurry vision.

She even saw some blurry memories that she even felt a pain in her head.

But even if she felt like that, she managed to see the guy’s necklace.

Black snake.

Before she could feel the dizziness taking over her body, she was pulled away from the guy and felt strong arms around her, slightly waltzing her too. “I apologize, Monsieur but it’s my turn to dance with my lady.”

“Oh, sure,” she heard the guy responded. “Pardon me for taking too much time of her.”

Claudette still felt the strong arms around her and a breath fanning on her earlobes. “Breathe, My Lady.”

When she felt a strong tap on her back, she gasped and blinked many times. She was greeted by a serious face from Theodore. “Wha-What happened?”

“I apologized for doing such rude action, My Lady but if I didn’t do that, you might faint because of sudden suffocation,” Theodore responded instead.

“What happened?” she asked again when she finally recovered.

Theodore didn’t answer. Instead, he’s looking somewhere while dancing Claudette. “I managed to get you on time.”

“What do you mean?”

“Theodore, my man! Can I dance with Claudette?” Lucien asked when he’s finally in front of Theodore and Claudette.

“Sure, sir—”

“Where’s Odette? You’re dancing with her, right?”

“Oh, yes. But we also got caught up in the circle of couples dancing and we actually changed partners and I haven’t seen her. I think the last time I saw her is she’s walking towards the restroom? She’s actually acting funny. Maybe she got so drunk,” Lucien answered.

“Fuck, a decoy!” Claudette heard Theodore curse for the first time and without a word, he gave her to Lucien and ran as fast as he could towards the restroom.

“I’m sorry, Lucien. I’ll make it up to you next time,” Claudette said as she left Lucien on the dance floor, holding her gown’s long skirt and ran after Theodore.

Theodore managed to catch up with the suspicious person he’s been hunting. They’re both running to the backyard of the manor where there were no people or any guards guarding. The person is wearing a bodysuit that camouflaging in the dark but he could really see the patterns in the said bodysuit.

It actually looked like a snakeskin pattern. Looked like latex.

The said person was holding a huge black sack bag. Since Theodore didn’t have any gun around him as of this moment, he managed to steal some silver cutlery knives and he aimed it at the person. The person managed to pull a slick move that he managed to dodge Theodore’s attack is luck for him. But then, Theodore’s cutlery knives managed to cut the strong strings that the person was holding, ripping the black sack and revealing the unconscious Odette Baudelaire. It looked like the person was about to retrieve Odette back to the sack but Theodore managed to shot him with a cutlery knife which actually stabbed the person’s hand and finally letting the black sack go in which, Theodore managed to catch the unconscious Odette but unfortunately, the person escaped by jumping the high fence, without leaving a trace. The person vanished like a bubble.

“Shit…” he muttered. His gaze settled on Odette who was still unconscious despite the ruckus happening earlier. As he gently pulled her out of the sack, he noticed a certain sticker on her neck which he gently took off and read. “Quatre vingt quinze,” he read the numbers that were written in the sticker which is ‘0095’ and he noticed a black snake-shaped logo.

If my speculations were right, this girl is the 95th one.

“A logo shaped like a black snake,” Theodore hastily turned his head towards Claudette who’s now looking at him with a serious face. “I also saw that one earlier before I totally felt dizzy and before you pulled me away.”

That made Theodore stood up. Resting Odette on the Bermuda grass after taking off his suit to wrap Odette on it securely, he walked towards Claudette who’s now looking up at him. “By any chance… did you…”

“I danced with a certain weird dude earlier when Lucien left me to dance with Odette,” she answered. “But for some reason, I couldn’t recognize his face because I felt so extremely dizzy earlier, as if I got intoxicated whatsoever. I could only remember that he has white-colored hair and he has a necklace that forms like a black snake… like that sticker in your hand.”

Theodore was silent, totally frustrated over the fact that he was that close to catching one of the hands of this mysterious kidnapping syndicate and he couldn’t manage to get him.

As if the person also knew how he moves.

“You want to catch them, don’t you?”

That made Theodore looked at Claudette once again. “What…?”

“Margot Anouilh was the 94th victim of this kidnapping syndicate and up until now, everyone still didn’t know how the heck she went missing without leaving a trace. If Odette Baudelaire is the 95th one…” Claudette trailed off, meeting his intense gaze. “I could be the next one.”

Theodore was about to breathe a word but Claudette raised her hand. “If you’re trying to say something that is a lie, don’t take me for a fool. Ever since you took a step in the Manor of de Saint-Germain, I already know your intentions. My dad will never hire someone that easily except you did it a few days after your application. You’re not just a mere butler at your service, Theodore,” Claudette walked closer towards him and as if fixing his bow tie, she pulled him closer to him. “You’re one spy of a butler, Theodore.”

Of course, Theodore was surprised that Claudette managed to know his secret in a span of two weeks. But he expected that any moment she’ll know about it.

This kid is too smart to fool.

“I won’t interfere in any of your discreet investigations with the police since they sent you to my house, speculating that I’ll be the way for you to know the people behind this case. They’re not entirely wrong,” Claudette smirked. “After all, you managed to get a trace of them.”

Theodore was staring silently at his young lady.

“As I said, I won’t interfere, in fact, I’ll help you with this. After all, I am Claudette, the only heiress of de Saint-Germain’s group of companies. I am that powerful,” she spoke. “I’ll help you even if it means I’ll be your pawn just to lure them out and push them to your trap.”

That actually made his eyes widen. Being a spy on this case somehow has its give and take relationship. It may also have so many sacrifices to take to obtain the goal.

And for the first time in his life being a spy, this is the first time he felt the urge of hesitating.

“I told you, don’t hesitate. It will never bring good to you,” Claudette said in a serious face and tone. “You’re my butler and I’m not afraid of any danger or even death because I know you’ll protect me. So don’t hesitate to move your pawn.”

By that, Theodore gave her a smile of assurance and bowed at her. “Yes, my lady.”