The Demon’s Bride

Leaving Elise, the chick left to pad his sticky feet right and left from the place. Whistling happily that he was promised to receive a cloak, he jumped his feet around when he spotted the two maids who had walked behind him and the human girl earlier and decided to tail them from behind.

"What are you saying? Dead?!" The maid named Merlin raised her voice in surprise for Tracey her friend to hush her down. Tracey looked left and right checking if anyone had heard overheard their question and Hallow the chick hide himself behind the vase quickly.

"But Mr. Maroon said that both Nancy and Lena went back to their village after being fired this morning." reasoned Merlin.

Seeing no one there especially the head butler, Maroon, Tracey continued, "Could you believe that excuse? Have you ever seen anyone who have went back to their village came back to this mansion?"

"Well, they had retired."

Tracey shook her head, disagreeing with her words. "They have been sent not to their village but to the dungeon and I bet they are dead now. But it was their own mistakes, they should have known never to go against the Lord and look what happened now. Nancy should have known that working here is like heaven but to anger the Lord is the same as letting the hell loose."

"But what did they did?" Merlin questioned.

"They harmed the Lord's best maid, the new maid Elise Scott..." Their voice diminishing until the maid named Tracey and Merlin walked away from the place, continuing with their conversation but Hallow didn't follow the two humans.

So that how it was, the smell of death he smelled yesterday didn't come from the Demon but the two maids who were going to die. Not that he cared though his job was to protect the red haired human girl named Elise and fill them with informations they needed for the sake of his safety. But thinking of it, if he was assigned to protect Elise, shouldn't he tailed her? She was one of his key that could protect his live and letting her die would also mean their contract gone and he would be kicked out of the place.

"That can't do, the bed I sleep now is comfortable." whispered Hallow to himself for him to run right and left to search for Elise.

Elise wiped her sweats, taking the mop she dipped the end to the water bucket and pulled a smile as she had done with her last chore she was assigned to. Then she heard a sound of footsteps behind her, turning her face she found Mr. Maroon with his dull gray eyes looking at her with a passive expression. Folding her hands in front of her waist. she gave the man a bow and when she thought he would pass her by she noticed the man's brown shoes still stayed on the red carpet.

She lifted her heads up finding envelope in Maroon's hand which he reached out toward her. "A mail come for you." stated Maroon briefly and turned to leave the place without any more words.

"Thank you very much." she quickly said but the man gave no nod no gesture to have her know if he had heard her thanks. She looked at the envelope finding the blue stamp to secure the envelope and flipped the other envelope to read the Church's name and curiosity along with anticipation.

"Elise are you done?" questioned a maid who passed by the corridor.

"Yes." Elise promptly reply seeing the maid who had asked her in surprise.

"Can you please brush the leaves on the shed? You can then take your break after this." Elise gave a thought that she could read the envelope in her break and did so. On the back of the castle, where the shed was Elise greeted the horses and brushed their manes between her fingers to the continue her steps and clean the dried leaves.

"Seeing you here means that Mr. John is still ill." Johannes said, his legs were crossed on the wood plan with a stem of dried leaves on the left corner of his mouth.

"I don't see White." Elise replied mentioning the whitest horse in the shed that have been gone from the shed.

"She died unfortunately after giving birth to the newborn pony." Johannes then saw Elise face giving a sorrowful look and pulled out the stem off his mouth. "Don't be sad, she died peacefully but death is always sad, isn't it?"

"I didn't know yesterday would be our last time to see each other." she whispered a hollow emotions that the horse she had always seen whenever she was by the shed made her regret that she should have done more for her.

"No one knows what fate is. Some times grim reaper's took souls without thinking. Even though sparing a few minutes for them wouldn't hurt, they are very stingy- What!" Elise was surprised by his sudden yelling and turned her face behind to find Johannes's ankle being hit by Hallow's beak. He glared at the foolish human who had dared to comment about grim reapers.

"How is there a chick here? Did it ran from the shed?" Johannes reached out his hand to pull the chicken by his neck but like a snake, Hallow hissed at him before barking like a dog. Elise wrinkled her nose, thinking that perhaps Hallow doesn't know the difference of voice that chick made with snakes and dog. Hallow bite the foolish man's hand by his beak munching and bitting it in anger that made it hard for Johannes to catch him.

"What with this chick?" Johannes covered his palm with his other that was bitten by the chick.

"To **ing Hell wi-"

"This is my friend, I picked him up from the street yesterday." Elise gave an excuse hiding Hallow to her hands.

"Friend?" Johannes narrowed his eyes at the chick with his large green eyes, scanning the chick Elise felt her heart was about to burst hoping that Johannes hadn't heard Hallow had cursed at him. "Are you sure he is a chick? Because I think he must be a rabid canine animal. Look at this teeth marks!" Johannes brought his hand upward to show Elise of the little teeth marks on his palm.