He awoke some time later; he shot up in the bed and steadied himself as the room began to spin. When he was finally able to think he remembered what had happened and touched his neck reflexively. He felt a bandage around his neck, and decided it hadn't been a dream. He then looked around the room; it wasn't very big, but big enough for one person to live comfortably. The bed was obviously for one person; his feet almost reached the end. Across the room was an open closet,inside where dresses and some shirts, some boxes on the floor of the closet seemed to hold pants.
Beside the closet was a full length mirror, and across on the wall beside that stood a half open door, he assumed a bathroom. And across from that door was no doubt the exit. He swung his legs off the side of the bed, and was about to stand when he noticed he was no longer wearing his shirt. 'What the hell is going on? Last thing I remember is fighting something, and dyeing, and now I’m alive and-almost-well in some chick’s room. Can today get any weirder?' He thought, and as he started to stand the door that he was planning an escape through opened.
He almost jumped out of his skin, but when he saw a girl quickly duck behind the door at his movement his tension eased. She poked her head back into the room, her hand clutching the door. When all he did was stare back she slowly entered.
She wore a short dress, the top was mostly black besides the collar which was white, the bottom puffed out, also black. She wore a short apron over the bottom of her dress, and thin white socks that went up to her knees. She also had shiny black shoes, and instantly he realized she was a maid.
"H-Hello sir." She said quietly as she curtsied, her light purple hair drifted over her shoulder, and when she looked back to him he saw that her eyes where such a light-almost clouded- blue that she looked blind. He would have thought as much had she not been following the movements he made as he tried to stand. He used the bed as support, but seeing him struggle she quickly walked over and allowed him to use her as a crutch.
"S-sir, you lost a lot of blood, you're still weak, and you must rest!" She said as she held him up.
'She's pretty strong for such a small girl.' He thought as he noticed she was several inches shorter than him, though about his age of 18. "I'm fine." He scoffed rather defensively as he tried to stand on his own, but seeing him wobble she quickly steadied him again and helped him lower himself back to the bed.
"Please sir, rest." She turned and went back out the door, only to return moments later with a silver tray that held a glass of water and 2 slices of toast. "I would have brought more sir, but I didn't think you would have awoken so soon." She set the tray down on a small table next to the bed.
"Stop calling me "sir", it's annoying." He grumbled as he grabbed a piece of toast off the tray, not realizing until then how hungry he was. "How long was I out anyway? A few hours?" He asked as he munched.
"Uh-um, well s- um... It's been 2 days..." She scrambled for words as she kept her head down.
He dropped his toast, and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Two days!"
He sat there holding her shoulders so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. "How'd I sleep two whole days?!" He shook her and she whimpered until he let her go. She stood quivering slightly until he put his head into his hands and mumbled something she couldn't hear.
"I-I told you that you lost a lot of b-blood sir, I-" She was cut off as he stood and pushed her out of his way as he walked out the door and down a long hall way. He heard her coming up behind him, but didn't turn on her until he felt her tug at his arm. "S-sir I told you that you need to rest!" She seemed a little more determined, but her voice was still quiet.
"I told you to stop calling me that!" He screamed at her, his voice echoing down the empty hall. She stood frozen, still holding onto his arm as she looked at the floor. The shadows cast by the dim lights on the walls cloaked her eyes, and he thought she may be crying. He let out a heavy sigh before gently removing her hand from his arm. 'Damn, can this week get any worse?' He sighed again and lowered his voice. "Listen, my name's Alec, not sir okay? I didn't mean to yell, sorry, don't cry." He touched her shoulder and she looked up at him, her eyes weren't even moist.
"I'm sorry; would you like to see the masters?" She asked in a detached tone, he was rather shocked, but nodded not knowing what to say. She walked by him and down the hall with him trying to stay close behind.
They walked for what seemed like hours, though must only have been some odd minutes before the silence forced him to speak. "So, I told you my name, doesn’t it seem like the polite thing to tell me yours?" He asked as he half limped behind her due to fatigue, using the wall for support. 'Maybe I should've slept another two days.' He thought grudgingly. He saw a dim light emanating from the end of the hall, and he thought he recognized it quite well. But just as they were about to get out of the hall he felt a sudden dizziness strike him, and he leaned heavily on the wall. He had to stop walking as all his weight was against the wall, he covered his face with his hand, feeling nauseous.
“My name is Rose.” She whispered as she helped him stand, allowing all his weight to rest on her shoulder. She helped him amble his way into the “throne room”. The man and woman were in their chairs, the man wore a black suit, and the women wore a short and simple black dress. Today her hair seemed darker though, but he wasn’t sure if he was hallucinating or not. “He wished to see you masters.” She said, bowing her head.
“Thank you for assisting him dear Rose.” The woman said, her voice seemed a little hoarser then Alec remembered.
“Of course mistress Angelene.” Rose replied.
“Rose dear.”
“Yes?” she said, looking up.
“You needn’t call me mistress when it’s only us, after all he’ll be a co-worker of yours as soon as he is well enough to work.” Angelene said, her voice sweet like a mother to a child.
“Yes Angelene.” Rose replied, she seemed slightly uncomfortable speaking informally.
“Now Alec darling.” Angelene said, turning her focus to him. He tried to look up, but his head felt heavier than lead. “Don’t strain yourself boy, and don’t worry, I sent the money for the week home to your family, I thought that $1,000 would be enough seeing as what happened the other day. And don’t worry about working harder to pay it off, I figured with your circumstances it was only fair.” Alec was stunned at the amount, a week without working and he was getting $1,000? What luck!
“Now Rose,” Angelene again changed whom she was speaking to. “Dylan and I will be leaving today, so you needn’t make us dinner. We’ll be back in a few days, hopefully he’ll be better in another day or so and you can start showing him the ways around here. Also could you please set a room up for him in your wing? Also we have some clothes and such on the way for him.” Rose just nodded in response, and Angelene smiled. Dylan just sat, bemused by all this.
“Well perhaps you should bring him back to your room to rest dear, he seems to be falling asleep as we speak.” Angelene giggled as her and Dylan stood and started to exit the room through a door opposite where Rose and Alec had entered.
“Yes mistress.” Rose replied as they left. She looked at Alec who did indeed seem to be falling comatose once again.
‘I-I don’t even think I can speak.’ He thought to himself. He had wanted to talk to her more, but he felt weaker than he had ever been prior. ‘So tired…’ He kept thinking as she half dragged him back to her room.
She laid him on her bed as gently as she could. He went limp into the mattress, his head sinking into the pillow. He usually slept on his side, but he was too exhausted even to roll from this position on his back. She placed the glass of water onto the table, and took the silver tray with the toast, now cold, out of the room. She returned several minutes later, and noticed he was still somehow awake.
“It’s time for you to rest.” She said in a sweet whisper. She knelt down beside the bed and felt his forehead as if checking for fever, but feeling none she lightly traced down his face to the bandage on his neck then she quickly pulled her hand away. “Go to sleep.” She said standing and pulling a light blue sheet up to his chest. “Sweet dreams.” She shut off the lamp that was on the bedside table, and walked through the dark into the bathroom. She turned on the light and he watched under the door, seeing her shadow pass back and forth until she turned the light out and quietly exited.
“Thank you.” He tried to whisper, but the words only escaped in a breath. She poked her head back in, but he had already passed out.
“You’re welcome.” She whispered back as she left and walked down the long hall of the practically deserted mansion.
