Shining platinum golden hair, heterochromic pupilsーeven when people didn’t want to look, the charismatic appearance that demanded attention stood before a humongous background of transparent glass that revealed the raging rain and lightning outside the mansion. Without a doubt, If all aspect but his attire and background were counted, he conveyed the appearance of a true noble.
Standing tall with a defiled pure white shirt and long pants, he delivered the emotion of fear within the setting of horror to all who surrounded him with his intimidating aura. At some moment, as though he controlled the raging weather outside, the abrupt and short-lived light of lightning along with its late thundering sound accompanied his reign of terror, revealing the many corpses under his feet.
"Time Stop."
Standing at the center of his own bloodbath, he opened his eyes to reveal the mesmerizing and vibrant orbs to put his deathly gaze that traced upon the sight of the pale majority in front of him who’s getting nearer by each second.
“Damn,” he seethed out hushedly.
This was the conflict of confusion Jonathan is currently facing. The moment he opened his eyes, the once frightened crowd, one after another followed the steps of the bulkiest man that seemed to act as their leader with faux dauntless shouts.
It wasn’t like he was expectant about the result, having an unmatchable power to begin his misadventure. However, the only hope he was clinging tight into was reduced to ash in his current precarious situation.
‘Quite rueful,’ he thought to himself. By the moment he had the most relaxing moment at the end of a tight schedule, it turned out to be his most stressful day.
‘Doesn’t look like there’s much choice, huh?’
He had noticed the illumination of a lightning flash through the dewy window beside him for a while now. From the pressure, all intention and innate thoughts blurred away from his shut down mind as his body started to move on its own without any further calculations, all the while sardonically laughing at his own depressing circumstances.
As he thought prematurely, he took a big gulp of breath and sharp sounds of crashing broken glass shards followed soon after his body went into a state of freefall from quite the height to cause a harrowing sense of dreadness to linger in his stomach when cold air brushed against his entire body turbulently.
Garnering his composure in the aerial flight within a quick second, he positioned himself in a way his feet would land first on the ground with such agility that he didn't know he previously possessed. It was then, the instant his feet had touched the soil, the momentum that crawled from his feet shivered his entire body as he stood petrified. In that brief moment, he was thoroughly convinced that he wasn’t inside in a projection of a mere dream, however, a reality.
“Nggh…”
Grunting out curses and profanities, the tarnished white-dressed youth discharged a trembling force by grabbing the soil in an attempt to support his feet from his giving legs. Lifting his face, he looked up to see a faraway sight through the covers of bountiful foliage near him.
‘H-how many floor was that?’ Jonathan was still flabbergasted as he felt the heart-thumping adrenaline.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Appearing deathly pale in complexion, his rapid respiration persisted still as his heart was beating out of control in repetition. Assaulted by overpowering feelings and sensations as though all of his power would cease to support his feet, he forbore the queasiness which was amassed from the unbidden adrenaline rush.
Lightheaded and hazy-sighted, Jonathanーwho was currently known as Rainfordーreleased a shaky sigh of stifled stress. As his consciousness started to slowly fade out in the midst of the chilling raindrops, a single question brought him back to reality.
“What should I do now?”
Palpable vision of what-ifs situation from his imagination popped nonstop as it added a sense of paranoia and insecurity that abruptly clouded over his thoughts. Jonathan tried to deduce a clear assumption from his situation but failed due to its bizarre, incomprehensible nature. Failing to convince himself that this was all a dream, the raindrops that trickled down to his face was accompanied with cold sweats.
The ear piercing scream, as a starter, evoked much more complex expressions within himself when compared to the lucid dreams he had now and then. From every single part of his senses, swift reactions as a response to the event he had been through operated the usual way his normal consciousness worked. Metallic smell, expressions of disbelief, sharp shouts of men, tangible contact, mildly sweet taste of saliva were merely serving as preludes to his bitter realization.
To block away any more thoughts filling his heavily occupied mind, Jonathan stood up quickly and looked at his surrounding. For now, the first and foremost matter he should pursue was safety in the midst of the chaos at the moment. With the notion as if somebody was following behind him, Jonathan hastily dashed to the cover of forestry at the opposite direction of the mansion with sounds of rapid footsteps being drowned by the rain.
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“Mistress, young master! Are the both of you okay?”
“Laria, don’t stress the mistress and young master. Call the household’s physician to come over right this instant!”
“R-right!”
Inside the bloody room, a tall old man rubbed his temple in frustration as the other people around him bickered to each other.
‘Look at all this mess.’
Corpses were lying everywhere and puddles of blood covered most parts of the floor and carpet. On top of that, damaged properties and glass shards were scattered in every nook and cranny of the room. Within the chaos, they had identified that one of the corpses to be their duke and manor’s master. After looking thoroughly, what caught the old butler's eyes were shards of broken black fragments that looked out of place.
The old man then nervously approached the rest of the living family carefully.
“Mistress, what on earth happened while we were away?” he breathed out softly, concealing his agitation and stress.
The woman in question breathing was ragged. Scarlet red fresh wound and dark creases of bruise covered her entire body. Watching her shivering figure, the servants looked down remorsefully. To say the least, everyone felt ashamed to not be able to do anything.
“What are you people doing? Quickly look for something warm to cover the mistress and young master!”
To the old man’s infuriated instruction, the servants hastily grabbed warm coats and reserved warm drinks for them to drink later.
“Rolland, how is my son’s condition?”
The old man’s head turned very quickly when he heard the familiar gentle voice.
“Mistress! Please do not restrain yourself. The youngest master is currently sleeping and he is completely uninjured.”
“Thank goodness.”
In the midst of the bustling moment, the servants calmly listened to their mistress’ troubled conversation with the head butler. Limply leaning to a wall, the fragile woman now managed to regain her consistent respiration.
“What about Rainford?”
In response, the servants stiffened as they heard the name of the bloodied figure that they had faced earlier. Frowning, the old man racked his brain to explain the mind-boggling event to the woman in front of him.
“Young master Rainford… He jumped through the window. He successfully escaped and is now currently situated in the forest.”
“He didn’t hurt any of you, right?”
“Well- that is... “ the servant hesitantly answered. “None of us are hurt mistress.”
“That’s good.” She sighed as if the accumulated stress had left her body.
With that, the woman fell limp into the head butler’s hands. Shouts of fear resounded and extreme worry was plastered on every servant’s face. In fear, the head butler checked their mistress’ pulse.
“Calm down everyone! The mistress is currently asleep.”
Once the restless night has ended, the servants returned to each their own station and filled the mansion with endless chatters before they rested peacefully. The head butler, relieved that the entire horror setting has gone away, looked at the window where drizzles of rain were still intact as he sighed.
‘What will you do now, young master Rainford?’