Third Person
Paris, France: Heinz Manor
The day was productive. It was the most diminutive status he's been expecting when he was with the girl. Time passed by so fast from the morning up to the noon. After eating a whole plate of macaroons and watch the girl cry when Saccharide confesses, he was done for the day. Sighing, Phoenix looked up at the dark mansion upfront before hearing the gate open for him. The cold air swept across his blonde hair as he flattened his jacket when the breeze entered the holes to get chills down his spine.
Warmth is what he felt once he entered his room. His space was decent, the general might be what they call a monster, but he knows how to treat his guests. He left the door ajar, and he didn't bother closing it as his lids slowly diminished the light seeping through the door.
Then a shadow blocked it.
"Phoenix, there you are!"
The blonde-haired boy stormed right up, and the bed sprung with revolt. He cleared his throat, straightened his posture, and looked up to the woman at his door.
"Yes, ma'am?" he asked and strode towards the smiling woman.
It was the General's wife, Lavender Heinz, in her nightgown- she was dragging something with her hands, and Phoenix have guessed the sack's content by its smell and how the floor changed from a dark base to a dimmer one. Her sweet smile masked the shady truth she was dragging up the stairs.
"Could you help me? It's pretty heavy..." she requested him politely and eyed the sack.
Without hesitation, he carefully hoisted the sack up to his shoulder and started walking towards the back door where a deep well was kept, "Of course, Ma'am..." he stopped walking when he noticed the woman following him, "You can go back to the General now. He must be lonely in bed without you."
"Oh shush! That beautiful mess made me kill the chef for not cooking his meat the right way," the older female giggled and continued walking down with him.
Unconsciously, Phoenix asked, "What's the right way?"
"Raw," she answered bluntly.
...
"Oh..."
His trembling lips curled downward as both of them approached the darkest part of the hallway. Lavender flipped the switch, and the lights went on to clear a path for them so they could safely stride along with the slippery, uneven bricks. Phoenix effortlessly carried the heavy load on his shoulder but kept his pace the same as the female as if she was a Queen.
"You know your mother helps me carry corpses to the well too!" she shared, "It's like having her again by my side, but in her handsome version!"
His shiny blonde hair reminded Lavender of the most beautiful and innocent servant she has encountered after moving in the manor - Raven de Marquis was her assigned attendant. Her long blonde hair was always in a bun, she wasn't slim, but she has a great curvy figure. Out of all the servants, she was favored by the Heinz family, and it wasn't hard to see why. Raven was obedient, kind, and can sympathize with the family by looking at them with her round fuchsia eyes.
The family avoided performing murderous acts around her because she has a weak heart and cannot take it when people get hurt, but she was always obligated to dump the bodies into the well. After many years, she was saved from the horrors inside the manor until she decided to leave after giving birth.
Lavender kept staring at the boy's face and felt very nostalgic before narrating more stories, "She was my only best friend here so, it was a big surprise that we synced getting pregnant! Oh, it was wonderful- I was actually the one who gave your name, and she was the one who decided to give Saccharide's name."
The woman assisted him in opening the door then he carefully let the heavy sack down on the damp dirt before dragging it towards a lonely well at the center of the backyard. Phoenix kept his eyes at the well. This isn't the first time he would do this, but he still feels the butterflies eating the insides of his intestines. Closing his eyes, he let go of the sack at the edge of the hole and waited for the splash.
The splash came, and then he heard the sounds of tearing from below. They have been dumping corpses down the well throughout the years, but just a few servants inside the manor know about the three crocodiles bought by the General to digest hundreds of bodies he disposes of every day. With his heart emptied of guilt, he started strutting towards the exit, but he decided to stay as the woman stalled outside for longer.
"Dèmise was out for a mission the day we gave birth together," she whimpered as she looked up the stars, "We didn't know your genders until both of you came out so, we were ecstatic to have two healthy boys in our arms."
A sad smile spread across her flustered face as she swung her feet like a little child while sitting on the well's lips, "But then your mother left after she gave birth to you. She said she was going to live with your father from now on, but after so many years, I'm happy Demise found you. At least, we got to keep a part of her here."
The woman looked back to the teenager, who has no reaction whatsoever. After a few seconds, he opened his mouth and said, "She lied..."
Lavender asked curiously, "What?"
"I have no father. She raised me without one," revealed Phoenix as he reminisced the times her mother shed tears because of the man he labeled as her lover. Although, she wouldn't stop laughing about how he never got any resemblance from his father, "She wouldn't tell me even up until the day she died."
Phoenix turned around again with his hands inside his pocket. His ears perked up upon hearing the woman's feet landing on the loud grass before making her way towards him.
"That's- that's unfortunate," she patted his shoulder and smiled sweetly, "Nevertheless, I believe that little Raven is up in the heaven now!" As comforting as she sounds, the woman did not convince the male that her mother got to feel eternal bliss in the Heavens.
"No, she's not up there. She was a liar. Heavens do not accept liars like her," chuckled he before opening the door for the woman. The boy walked away from her once they were inside with no proper farewell.
"She's a liar," Lavender muttered before smirking. If a grimace can be heard, Phoenix would bust his eardrums by how wide she was smiling. She stopped in her tracks and called him, "Well, you're not different from her little Phoenix!"
The boy froze as well and clenched the hem of his shirt before turning around to face him with an innocent stance.
"Where have you been?" queried the woman. Her eyes were sharper, but her sweet smile is still sickening receiving as always, "Did you visit my little Demise?" With her hands slightly swaying behind her back, she waited for his answer. His mouth has gone dry with just the thought of lying to the woman, but once he cracked his dry lips open, he smiled-
"Yes."
Closer.
Lavender took three bouncy steps towards him and inched her face away from his. Her smile got wider when she witnessed the unusual perspiration from his forehead, "How is he? Is he eating properly?"
Nodding, he smiled and took a step back after loosening the stretchy band of his shirt around his neck, "Really?" the woman asked again, and yet again, he nodded.
"Visiting him is the only travel you had?"
He wasn't sure how to respond in any way so, a simple nod was a function. Looking away, he gulped the itchy feeling on his throat before the older woman waved a device in front of his face. He glanced at the woman's stone face and saw an indifferent smile, "That's not what my tracker showed," she said and tossed the small device for him to catch. As he stared at the screen, he felt disturbed after seeing the outline of a map, and the paths he traveled were colored red.
To the garden...
To the Baernaise's residence...
To the Bar Haven...
To the Police Department...
And finally-
To the Manor...
"My husband might be an expert with his weapon's valet, but he's a baby when it comes to modern technologies," she bragged while circling the stunned male, peeking at his expression every chance she gets. "This state-of-the-art tracker can track and hack your device at the same time," she tried to snatch the tracker from him, but his grip was firmly shaking.
Then she began whispering to his earlobe, "Any mobile device..."
"Apple watch..."
"Laptop..."
"Phones..." she ended the statement and tried to pull the device again, but the teen fought harder and managed to free from her.
'She'll tell,' he thought.
Phoenix looked up, immediately ran outside, and fixated his eyes on the well. He still hears the ramblings going down below; the splashing of the water was still vibrating through the night. He looked at the tracker and tossed it to the ground. Upon seeing the undamaged screen, he growled and ran up to the well. Pulling out his phone and seizing his watch off his wrist, he whistled to get the crocodiles' attention before holding the devices up in the air.
A hand suddenly held back his wrist before finally hearing a wicked laugh, "There's no point in doing that, Sweetie," she whispered and pulled his hand harder, "The information is being stored permanently-"
The usual calm boy screamed and dropped the three devices down. He felt at ease when the shattering glasses rang the drum in his ears. When he thought he just wiped the grin off the woman's face, he heard her giggle before feeling his head being pat by her soft hand.
"And I have a whole room full of trackers. Each one connected to every mobile device present in our city..." bragged the woman as the boy collapsed sitting on the grass while looking up to her with widened eyes and shrunken pupils.
Ecstatic. Lavender Heinz was beyond that just by seeing the boy's face in distress. This would have been her best friend's expression if she wasn't so special to be saved from all the mishap happening inside this hell forbidden place.
Kneeling to his level, she comforted him again, "Don't fret! I only use them if my womanly assumption is acting up."
Phoenix remained silent. He thought her intense stare earlier this morning meant nothing. It could cost anything- She could blab everything to the General, and he'll be confined.
"So -" the woman cooed, "Chirp about your journey today, trusty dove..."
xXx
Paris, France: Bar Haven
She was not accustomed to having visitors even when she was young; her parents forbid her to have classmates or friends over her little house. But 2 years later, who would have thought that she will have to treat a middle-aged man with an alcoholic drink in a bar surrounded by kissing teenagers.
The line of her thoughts was cut when a hand caressed her shoulder, resulting in her almost flinching herself out of the high chair, "Are you okay, Ms. Aksenov?" the man beside him asked, noticing the pallid canvas of her face, "You look tense."
"I-it depends -" the girl responded, washing her dry mouth with the pineapple juice she ordered.
"I think I need to introduce myself first," the man adjusted his vest and brought up his briefcase, "I am Marshall Lux. The assigned prosecutor to Saccharide Heinz's case."
"What do you need?" Raine asked directly, peeking at the insides of the case. He pulled out a recording camera and played a video.
Raine couldn't close her eyes even if she wanted to. She was grateful that she was seated, for she would have collapsed because her knees were rattling. Absorbing her initial response, the prosecutor deducted fear and shock from the visual aid.
"Someone sent me these videos taken inside your dorm accompanied with a note that files a case of Domestic Violence against your lover - Saccharide Heinz," Prosecutor Marshall pulled the device away and laced his fingers together before placing his briefcase back between his legs.
Frantically, the girl asked, "Who sent that to you?"
"There's no need to be scared anymore," he assured her and eyed a few visible scars on her collar area. Raine squinted and pushed her long hair on the front to lay, successfully repelling the old man's suspicious gaze.
Keeping her cold fingers on the glass of citrus, she talked while avoiding his stare, "Sir, I'm just asking you about the video. Who filed the case?"
The prosecutor blinked his eyes for once and massaged his lids before letting out a huge sigh from seeing the girl swirl the pineapple beverage like it's some kind of wine just to avoid interactions with the footage legally acquired by the school.
"You're scared," he softly implied.
"I-I'm not..."
Her stuttering, along with her flustered cheeks, unfocused irises, and quivering lips, favored his claim. Prosecutor Marshall was done playing mild with her and played the video again.
"Drink it..."
She froze.
"Drink it! Straight!"
She wanted to scream.
"I said... Drink it straight!"
She was battling on whether to feel nostalgia or fear. Suddenly, the glass she was holding felt hot, and the citrus flavor on her tongue tasted like cream and sugar. Her mind went black that she didn't notice her teeth latching on her bottom lip, unable to feel a stream of blood dribbling down her delicate chin.
"Now, do you still think that you can be with me?"
Then she stopped.
"WHY?! How can you possibly be with a monster like me?!"
She looked at the man and requested him to put out the recorder again. As expected of the man, she feared something. Her stern look is nothing compared to her body's anxiety language.
Tensed shoulder.
Constant swallowing of saliva.
Fickle finger trembling.
Nibbling of lips.
"You say you're not any sort of scared, but look at you," said he as the girl stopped her mannerisms and gulped all the contents of the glass to stop her hallucination of the coffee incident.
"I think I'll leave," she excused herself and sashayed away from the man before massaging the bridge of her nose from having a brain freeze. Eventually, she regretted being cocky for cinematic effects. She was blocked by a tall man with no top clothes with rippling muscles on her way back to the stairs. Tiredly, she just stared and took a wild turn to avoid him, but the man did not take rejection and got ahold of her waist from behind. Raine gasped violently before her reflexes let her thrust her elbow directly to the man's stomach.
The scene gathered an embarrassing laugh from the crowd and an enormous admiration from the Prosecutor. There and then, the older male started doubting if the video was real or if that coffee drugged her.
"Ow," moaned the pained boy while hugging his stomach.
Raine being herself, helped the hurt teen from the ground before apologizing, bringing herself back to her situation. Persistent in his schemes, the boy held her wrist again and pulled her closer to his sweaty body before forcing his lips to touch her neck. But he was dragged by two strong men who happened to be the Prosecutor's securities.
Marshall approached the girl and gave her a seat, "You don't look like you're showing that kind of bravery in this video," he stated and passed her a glass of water.
The girl refused to take the water and looked at the man immensely, "Why are you doing this?"
"I have a daughter. I'll be freaked out if someone in a bar approaches you like that," he gently rubbed her back and smiled, "Actually, I'll be mad if my daughter ever steps one foot inside a bar full of these awful elements!"
Raine was struck.
At that one time, she felt a father was actually beside her. His smile was soothing and sincere, but she learned so much about different kinds of smiles. And this isn't the time to put her trust on a fair smile, especially to a man who is the same age as her father, "No! I mean, just please get to the point of why are showing this video?" Raine looked away, on the verge of crying, "Stop buttering me up!"
A teen's attitude isn't new to the man so, he sat next to her and whispered, "To free you from the constant petrification from this man..."
"Is that it?" she mumbled and took one leg off the high chair. "I'm happy to tell you I'm free from Saccharide," -finally, she stood again.
"Oh, one more thing-!"
Turning back, she raised an eyebrow.
"I'm here to get you as a witness against him."