'She.'
He didn't need to specify who he was talking about, because she knew better than anyone. He made the same request every time she saw him, so she had got into the habit of preparing a generic answer, which she repeated over and over again.
"No master. The miss is still unwell."
Envie kept his hand in the air, as if he was frozen and Aina admired in this short time, his brown hair with red highlights which rippled along his neck and fell in locks on his mask.
He was surprisingly handsome.
His cold irises twitched slightly, before his hands swept the tray still full of food onto the ground. The metal banged against the wooden floor with a noise that could wake up the dead and the remains of the still-steaming omelet crashed pitifully on the carpet, staining it with a small dark stain.
Aina's shoulders twitched slightly at his anger, releasing a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
"That damned harpy..." he mumbled, fists clenched on his cutlery and eyes shaking with dark anger. "Always getting in my fucking way!"
Aina concealed her fear as best she could, continuing to listen to him hurl insults at anyone who could hear. She knew that at the slightest sign of weakness, Master Envie would seize the opportunity to take out his bad mood on her. She therefore had to remain perfectly impassive and above all not show the terror she felt towards him, otherwise she would go through hell.
"The next time I see her, I will kill her."
He embellished his remark with a new jet of dishes on the floor and this time it was his glass that crashed violently against the wall, spreading its contents on the tapestry. Despite the din, no one came and that didn't surprise her. The deafening noise of the young man's anger should have – normally – alerted the whole household and brought everyone here, but that was common here.
No one would come here, because Envie's tantrums were just another routine in this place and everyone knew it was best to ignore the young man until he calmed down. It didn't matter that the young servant suffered from his rage in the process.
She was, after all, paid for it and no other of her colleagues would have risked becoming this man's victim for her. She was alone here and she knew it perfectly.
She just had to wait for him to finish uttering his threats and everything would be fine. Those were meaningless, considering that he could never put them into execution, but that didn't prevent him from repeating them at every opportunity. He could never hurt another member of the Signavit because, although they had complicated relationships, the patriarch would never allow him to kill another member of the family. Especially not the woman Envie was thinking of.
'He probably knows it, but he needs to vent his anger.'
He looked at her after a little while and finally seemed to remember her presence before his brow furrowed.
"And you..." he breathed, looking furious. "Always answering me the same lies!" he yelled, throwing his sharp fork in her direction.
She narrowly dodged his projectiles and knelt down to start picking up the debris, under the insults and shouts of her master who never seemed to get tired. He was like a fire that could not be stopped.
"I have never seen a servant more useless than you!"
His words were harsh and indifferent. Even though she was used to it, it was unpleasant to hear.
"I'm sorry, master." she tried to soothe him pitifully.
"Do you really think I care about your apology?"
On all fours on the ground, she opened her mouth to answer, but he silenced her with his hand, gesticulating angrily.
"Out." he ordered coldly, running his hand through his chocolate brown hair and sighing in exasperation.
"The glass, you..." she insisted before he banged his fist on the wall, shaking one of his paintings in the process, which fell heavily on the floor.
"Didn't you hear me?!" he continued, menacingly, as his pupils seemed close to piercing her whole.
She wanted to insist again, but a small voice in her head whispered to her to shut up and get out of there without asking for more, which she hastened to do, while Envie continued to insult her through the door. She didn't even have time to get her letters back when he slammed the door behind her, leaving her in the empty hallway.
Alone in the silence, she finally noticed the disorderly beating of her heart and her gasping breath, which she had not had the opportunity to perceive before. She also saw that her hands were shaking like leaves, as she lowered her head in spite.
'It's strange.'
She should have been used to all this by now. Especially since she bore the other Signavit's outbursts well... The situation was always different with Master Envie, without her being able to know the reason. No matter how many years she had been at his service, she had never managed not to fear his anger and violence. This man always provoked irrepressible emotions in her, which he was the only one who could trigger and she couldn't understand why.
"Aina?"
She jumped when she heard a voice and raised her head abruptly to see a young man in a magpie costume, a metal tray under his arm.
"Elvan..." she breathed without realizing it.
He was standing there in front of her, in the middle of the dark hallway, just lit by the dim light streaming through the windows and the doorway to Master Envie's bedroom, where he seemed to be heading.
"Master Envie called you, right?"
Elvan seemed to hesitate at her question, before nodding. It was no wonder. Elvan was the chief servant of the estate. In other words, he was Aina's superior and her senior. He was the one who had taught her everything to survive here and the one the Signavits trusted completely.
"Are you OK ?" he asked, visibly worried.
Aina considered his question silently.
'Am I okay...?'
She wasn't sure. Seconds earlier, she had felt like she might faint from fear in front of Envie, but now that Elvan was there and he was asking her the question, she felt terribly empty, as if nothing reached her. She had the vague feeling that all the emotions that had been inside her a short time ago had just disappeared, as if they had never existed.
And suddenly a violent pain twisted her skull, like a blow from a hammer on the back of her head. She winced, bent forward and began to moan in pain, her hands resting on either side of her head, hoping to ease the intense affliction that gripped her.
"Aina!" cried Elvan, leaning over to support her as she swayed.
[...Come... Beg... Please...] she heard a faint, almost muffled whisper echo inside her.
She didn't understand what was happening in her mind, or why she was hearing that...voice in her head.
'Am I hallucinating?'
Groans escaped her mouth as waves of pain washed over her, before she felt a pair of hands land on her shoulders.
"Breathe Aina..." he advised her, patting her back with his palm. "It'll be OK."
[...You must...We...Wait...]
The words were disjointed and barely perceptible. Aina didn't recognize the voice and didn't believe she had ever heard it before.
In all honesty, she didn't know what was going on inside of her. It happened to her sometimes to have migraines, because it was a suffering to which she was quite often prone, but she had never been the victim of this kind of hallucinations...
"Aina, tell me what's going on." insisted Elvan, who hadn't left her since.
When his palm rested on her face, the intense pain that had assaulted her earlier subsided and her breath returned. Almost immediately, she felt lighter, more serene.... And all her muscles relaxed. Bending her back, she huffed and grabbed Elvan's outstretched hand to pull herself up, the back of her neck still wet with sweat.
"Come sit down for a bit." the young man guided her, before she could even protest.
As he led her to his bedroom, she studied his broad, reassuring back. Elvan was tall, slender and athletic. He didn't seem much older than her, although she had no idea how old he was. In the light, his face, as fine as that of a statue, stood out as well as his water-green eyes. He was young and handsome, which made him one of the most admired men by the female population of the manor. He was very popular. Running his slender, delicate hands through her raven hair, he pushed open the door to her bedroom, which was at the end of the hall after going down the stairs, before forcing her to sit on the edge of the bed.
He immediately knelt in front of her and slid his palm over her forehead. His touch shook her skin and a deep wave of warmth pierced through her. Embarrassed, she looked away.
"It seems you don't have a fever..." he noted, puzzled. "What happened then?"
Thinking back to the recent events, she lost herself in thought.
"I..." she began uncertainly. " I am not sure."
She hesitated, biting her bottom lip. Elvan said nothing, as if he was afraid she would give up talking to him otherwise.
"I had my usual headaches and then I felt like I heard a voice."
Elvan raised his eyebrows discreetly, looking a bit surprised, before a serious expression passed over his features.
"It must be tiredness."
'Tiredness ?'
She strongly doubted it. Never had such a thing happened before, even on days when she was sorely sleep deprived, so why now? She opened her mouth to protest, but Elvan gently nudged her down with a smile, as if to shut her up.
"Do not think about it anymore. You should rest."
'To rest ?' She couldn't. She had only taken care of Envie and she still had so much to do...
"I can't, I..."
"Everything will be alright. I'll take care of it."
Surprised by his insistence, she opened and closed her mouth like a fish, before resigning herself and nodding, facing his gentle and considerate eyes.
Elvan had always been kind and responsive to her. He supported her, helped her and advised her when necessary. He was one of the only people she was close to in this place. She wasn't sure if she could consider him a friend, since she rarely saw him, but she was sure she could call him if needed. While she ruminated, he crossed the room to rummage in the cupboard and took out a woolen blanket, which he covered her with. He tucked her in, like a child and that fact almost made her smile.
"Sleep a little, I'll take care of the rest, okay?"
She didn't dare to protest and heaved a deep sigh as she watched him approach the door. She didn't feel tired and wasn't sure she could sleep, but her mind felt numb and a little rest wouldn't be too bad.
He turned the handle, took a step down the hall, and gave her a final wave before closing the door and leaving her alone in the room.
"It's probably fatigue..." she muttered, her eyes glued to the ceiling.
She closed her eyelids, covering her view with her right forearm.
'Yes. It can only be that.' She tried to convince herself silently.
*******
White. White everywhere and a blinding light.
Tic.
Tac.
Tic.
Tac.
The sound of a clock. The frozen hands, the immaculate ground covered with a viscous red liquid and the smell of ashes floating in the air. There is a door in the middle of the empty wall, with a rusty handle.
She is far, terribly far away...
There is nothing. Nothing but emptiness and a muffled sound, like a distant moan. Everything is blurry, like a reflection in the churning water and suddenly a shape appears in the distance. Something big, black and approaching.
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
There is a big flash and then a shrill scream and it all goes away.