The Demon’s Bride

The night was already dark by the time Elise finished her dinner and went back to her new room which was across Ian's room. Mila brought a children book to read her the night tales before her sleep but she had rather slept a lot and find it hard to fell asleep. After four to five stories, her eyelid began to feel heavy and a long yawn escaped her mouth. Mila noticed her yawn and patted her head warmly. "Are you sleepy?"

The girl replied with a whispered "Mhm. "

Mila closed the children's book tales and pushed the chair soundlessly. "Then, I will be blowing out the candle, have a sweet dream dear."

The girl nodded, she felt a bit nervous to sleep alone in such a big room, but she guessed that Mila also has her own room for her to tuck the night in. She didn't want to burden the kind maid who has been regarded as a kind person in her heart and braven herself to sleep for the night.

Not long after Mila's leave, Elise sunk to her dreamland and dreamed a warm dream for a good three hours but on the fourth, the nightmare began.

In her dream, a woman with long red hair that was similar to her pinned Elise's body with her neck wrapping tightly on her neck. Her breathing became hard to catch, her heartbeat thud loudly as though it was going to come out of its place. She looked up and the large bead tears that flowed over the rim of her eyes felt painful. No matter how much she tried to struggle from the woman who was choking her, she couldn't move and could only place her hand over the palm on her neck murmuring a small pleading.

"M- Mother..." The woman who heard her voice glared at her and shouted on top of her lungs, making her ears rang for a moment.

"Don't call me that! You are not my daughter! Give me back my daughter! Who are you?!" Her blue eyes dropped down at her mother's vicious glaring face. Although the rest of her features wasn't clear due to the darkness, she could cristal clear saw her mother glaring at her with contempt.

She ground her teeth, very harshly that Elise could hear the crushing sounds before a curse slipped off her lips. "Bring back my daughter, NOW! Give her back to me! YOU DEMON! YOU DEMON! YOU DEMON'S BRIDE! GIVE ME BACK MY REAL DAUGHTER!" Her scream echoed through the whole room, bringing nothing but despair and shock to the little girl.

When aloud thunder struck the land, Elise woke up from her nightmare in tears. She held her neck feeling the hands that weren't there. It was a dream, she consoled herself to be frightened again by the thunder that for a second light the dark sky and turned it dark again. The sky's tears dripped down after the second thunder, bringing loud pitter-patter sounds in the empty room.

Chill ran down to her back, perhaps out of her nightmare of the wind that came along with the rain. She looked back at her fluffy white pillow with a jittery look. No matter how she wanted to go back to sleep now, she couldn't go back as she feared to sleep alone to be hunted with another nightmare. She went down from her bed to open the creaking door, hoping that she could find either Mila or Cynthia.

Walking down the long corridor, she walked retrace her steps down to the stair and heard the sound of a raven gawking next to her. Ian who had stood behind her with a curious scarlet eye that glowed in the dark lend. "Where are you going, puppy?"

Ian was in the middle of drinking his wine when his sharp ears picked a sound of footsteps strolling from the room beside him which was none other than Elise's footsteps. Curiously, he followed the girl steps that passed his room and turned to follow her.

The voice from behind was enough to startle her, making her jump from the spot. Elise called in a murmur."M- Master Ian..."

Ian traced down her look and the layer of cold sweat from her head. He leaned his back to the stair and crossed his arm. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Elise glanced up at his words, Ian was rather good at reading her thoughts, the girl noted. In the time when she was in the carriage, and the time when she feared the new people, he was fast to give his direction to her.

She dropped down her head while fiddling with her little hand and replied in a whisper. "Yes."

Ian gave sang a long hum as a response and picked the girl to his arm and carried her as the steps in the night was dangerous without any light around. "Sleep with me for the night, but remember this is the last time and don't walk in the darkness anymore, it's dangerous."

Elise returned his words with a nod. When Elise placed her head on his shoulder, her eyes saw the raven sitting on the round edge of the stair railing. Why was a raven in the house? As the little girl wondered for the reason, she arrived at Ian's bedroom and entered the quilt beside him.

Perhaps because she had been sleeping next to Ian for more than a week, she was able to forget her nightmare and the loud rain across that sang merrily outside the mansion.

When morning arrived, Mila was about to wish her a good morning and prepared her morning bath to see the little girl disappeared. Cynthia who was also with her opened the door in a thud and ran straight to the bed to confirm that the girl had just disappeared. "Austin!" Cynthia called his name when she noticed Austin walking inside the room with one hand in his pocket.

He was about to ask what made Cynthia's face pale, but the word kept on the tip of his tongue as his brown eyes glanced at the empty bed. Seeing Elise had disappeared from the bed, he instantly exclaimed. "Where's the girl?!"

"I don't know! I also had just come here!" She exited the room and pointed out her specific orders to Austin. "Tell everyone to search for the girl in the mansion, I will inform the lord!"

"Alright!" Austin ran in a flash to the hall to find the butler of the mansion, Maroon and passed him the order. On the other hand, Cynthia opened the door to Ian's room in haste heard the Lord grunting from the uninvited guests who loudly whammed the door to his room in a hurry. "What do you have to burst into my room?" While raising his upper half body, his ears picked up busy footsteps bellow the floor that was very unusual to the White's Mansion due to his dislikes in noise. Frowning heavily, he added in annoyance. "-And why is everyone so rowdy in the early morning? Tell them to drop off everything now."

Cynthia composed her breaths, she didn't know where to begin and composedly change her first choice to calm down the Lord before he burst in anger. "My lord, please don't be surprised. Elise, she disappeared from her room. I have told Austin to order the rest of the servant to search for the girl."

Finally understanding what happened that made the people in the mansion to be thrown in chaos, Ian pulled down his blanket to show the little girl who had been occupying his bed for the whole night while hugging her knees. Last night, she had made her own nest on Ian's bed, sleeping like a curly ball that reminded one of a cat. "She's here. Now go and order them to quiet down. They're irritating me."

Cynthia blinked a few times, walking over to the girl to see that she was really sleeping in the room of the man known for dead bringer. Looking very innocent like a white wingless angel, she was too deep in slumber that she didn't notice what was happening around her now. Cynthia finally felt relief after seeing her save from no danger and immediately remember to excuse herself. She exited the room in a formal bow. "I apologize for ruining your rest milord. Please excuse me."

Cynthia was able to compose her cool face but the moment she stepped out of the door her eyes widened to run down to the servant's quarter where she bet Austin would be staying at the moment in a hurry.

Spotting the man with sparkling blonde hair, who was about to take off his coat to turn to a cat she called her out. "Austin!"

"What is it?" Austin asked in surprise, his hands stopped on the middle of his forearm. "Have you found her in the mansion, yet? What did the Lord say?"