Bab 6: Trouble with the bathtub
Eve sat in the room, staring at the cracked wall as she waited for her mother to return. Going to the door, she slowly opened the door and put her head out to take a peek at the corridor. But her mother was nowhere in sight.
Though she was used to her mother leaving her for long hours, today, in particular, seemed longer, and her hand clutched the side of her dress. She wanted to step out of the room and look for her mother, but she didn't do it as her mother had told her not to leave the room and go anywhere. To wait for her, and she did just that.
Closing the door, she sat back on the floor. But as minutes passed, her legs started to tingle and ache. She shifted her legs from one side to another in discomfort. She could feel her legs trying to stick to each other, trying to be one.
Suddenly the door burst open, and her mother appeared with her eyes wide.
"Eve!" Rebecca moved to where her daughter was, and she hugged her.
"Mama... my legs feel strange," complained the little girl, and the woman quickly looked at Eve's legs that showed blue and gold scales on her skin.
"Come my child. It is time for your bath," Rebecca picked up Eve in her arms, and she used her other hand to pick up the jar of salt.
There was still time, told the woman to herself.
Leaving the room behind, she walked through the corridors while making sure no one saw them. Climbing up the stairs, she walked past the guest rooms. By the time she reached the end of the corridor, scales started to appear on the lower half of the little girl's body.
Taking a quick look at the other side of the corridor, Rebecca quickly entered the guest room and placed her daughter in the bathtub. She turned the faucet to start the water running, ready to pour the salts into the bath, when she noticed only a few drops of water fell.
Rebecca tapped the head of the faucet, hoping for water to flow out, but all in vain. In slight panic, she rubbed her forehead and said to Eve, "I will be back soon. Don't make any noise until I return, okay?"
And the woman quickly dashed out of the room after making sure there was no one walking in the corridor. Eve stayed there for two minutes before her mother burst through the door to get her.
Her mother picked her up in her arms as Eve couldn't walk in her current state. Leaving the room behind, her mother carried her to another room and placed her in the bathtub, filled with water. Salts were quick to be thrown in the water, but the scales on Eve's legs didn't disappear immediately.
"It might take some time," murmured Rebecca to herself.
During this time, back in the servant's quarters, the butler walked into the now deserted corridor. He came to stand in front of one room and knocked on the door. His Master had given him money that was supposed to be handed to the woman for pleasing him for the last two days. He knocked again. When there was no response, he pushed the door open to only be greeted at the emptiness.
The butler's eyes narrowed, and he turned his head to look in the direction he had come.
Turning his body, he started to walk, ready to catch the woman and her daughter who were possibly waiting to steal something from this manor.
"Did you see the woman and a little girl here?" The butler questioned one of the servants who was in the hall.
"I didn't," the servant shook his head.
"If you find them, come to me immediately," ordered the butler, but he wasn't going to rest until he found them.
The butler walked up the stairs, and he looked through every room. When he was walking past one of the rooms, he heard a light splashing of water, and his eyebrows furrowed. As he approached, his footsteps were gentle enough not to alert the thieves on the other side of the door.
Carefully, he pushed the door open, craning his neck to look inside the room. The butler was ready to call out the lowly woman, where his parted lips only fell wide open on what he saw in the tub. He saw the little girl's legs shimmer like a jewel.
"I-It can't be!" the butler whispered to himself.
These things had gone extinct years ago, and it had been many years since he had heard of one existing, lest looking at one. His hand clutched the edge of the door, and he quickly left the room to inform his Master about it!
Inside the guest room, the scales on Eve's skin finally disappeared, and she noticed her mother pour some more salts into the bathtub.
"Mama?"
"Yes, my dear?" Responded Rebecca while she moved her hand in the water.
"What colour is your tail?" came Eve's curious question.
Rebecca managed to smile even though she was anxious, "I do not have one." Eve turned sad at her mother's answer, and her mother said, "God made you special, Eve. Very special."
"You are special to me," replied Eve, and at the same time, the little girl's legs returned. Rebecca sighed before leaning in and kissing her daughter's head.
"And you to me. Let me dry you and get back to our room before someone catches us," said Rebecca, helping Eve out and drying her up. She helped Eve wear her clothes.
When she tried to pull the drain stopper, it was stuck. Why wasn't it coming out? She tried to use more force while pulling the chain, but it refused to come out. The water continued to be held in the bathtub with the salts that she had poured. She couldn't leave it like this, because it would be proof that someone was here, and the butler had already caught them yesterday.
At the same time, she didn't want Eve to get into trouble. She didn't mind if it was just her, but not her daughter. She decided to leave the room and come back for it later.
On the way to the servant's quarters, somewhere, Rebecca felt her conscience prick her mind. That she would soon be caught, and the money she had earned for the last two days, it would be denied. At the same time there would be questions of why she was using the guest rooms.
Reaching near the servant's quarters, the woman bent down to level herself with her daughter and said,
"You know where our room is, right? Go there straight and wait for me. I will be there soon."
Little Eve stared at her mother, because she had hoped her mother would stay with her, but she was leaving her again.
Rebecca saw the anxious look in Eve's blue eyes and she hugged her, "I just need to pull the drain stopper from the bathtub and I will tell you a story once I am back." She pulled back, and offered a smile.
And though the woman smiled, there was an uncertainty hanging in the air. She didn't want to leave her daughter alone again. Not at this hour at least. But this was something that had to be done.
"Go now," Rebecca softly urged her daughter. Seeing Eve starting to walk in the corridor towards the room, she tore her gaze away and headed up to the guest room.
Having walked in here just three times in her mother's company, Eve confused her room with another, pushing the doorknob of another servant's room.
"What the fuck do you think you are doing?! Get out of here!" Demanded a male voice, and Eve quickly closed the door, hearing something crash on the other side of the door. She took a couple of steps backwards for her back to hit the wall.
Eve clutched her hand, looking left and right, unsure of where her room was. She waited in the corridor for a couple of minutes before deciding to look for her mother. With the time being close to midnight, most lights had been blown out, leaving only some of the main ones in the hall and corridors.
The servants who walked on the other side didn't notice her, with her being small. When she found the stairs, her little feet climbed it.
"Mama?" Eve called her mother softly.
Bab 7: Unheard pleas
On reaching the first floor, the little girl took a peek into the beginning of the corridor until she spotted her mother. Her uneasy heart turned calm, and she entered the room. What Eve didn't know was that this was a double room. A room that was separated by glass.
But her mother was not alone. Next to her stood the man who owned this manor, and his butler stood a couple of steps behind him.
"Turn into one of them!" The man held the back of her mother's head.
"Please stop!" Her mother cried and pleaded, "You have mistaken me for someone else! You have known me for long!"
"Doesn't seem like it was enough to know who you are," said the man, dragging the woman towards the bathtub, where the water was present. He forcibly pushed her into the water, "Turn!"
"I am only a human, Sire. Please believe me," Rebecca beseeched the man, her heart growing anxious as she didn't know how he even knew about it. When she had come to the room, both he and the butler were already there.
"Sire," the butler said, "I saw it with my own eyes. The little girl's skin shimmered like a diamond!"
"Where is your daughter, Becca?" The man spoke to her sweetly, bending down and patting the woman's head. Fear appeared in the woman's eyes for her daughter's life. "Go find her right now!" He ordered his butler.
The butler bowed his head and stepped out of the room.
"No!" Rebecca tried to scramble her way out of the bath, "She is innocent! Don't hurt her!"
Eve placed her little hands on the glass, "Mama!" She called, but no one heard her.
The man slapped Rebecca with his hand, "Shut up and sit still!"
"No!" The woman kicked and slapped him, using all her strength. The man tried to restrain her, but the woman kicked hard enough against the bathtub that it broke, and water spilt on the floor. "Please spare us! She is a little girl!"
Eve watched the man catch hold of her mother's arm, maltreating her.
"Who would have thought you were hiding such a treasure with you?" The man couldn't wait to get his hands on the little girl. He examined the woman with narrowed eyes, digging his nails into her arm.
"We don't know anything about them, Sire! I don't know what the butler saw, but it wasn't true—" Rebecca gasped, staring at the man.
The man dipped his hand deep into Rebecca's stomach, and he said, "If you don't know, I have no further use of you. It is unfortunate that we had to part ways like this." He pulled his hand back, and the woman staggered backwards.
Eve, standing in the other room with her eyes wide, noticed her mother's dress turning red near her stomach.
Rebecca looked down at her stomach, a painful expression casting on her beautiful face, which was filling up with regret. Her lips parted and trembled, "P-please don't…"
"Mama!" Eve shouted when her mother fell to her knees.
The man said, "I will take good care of her, or maybe send her sooner to you once you are gone." His hand shot to her neck, squeezing it.
Seeing her mother in pain, Eve tried to look for a way to get to her mother.
Though in pain, Rebecca picked up the ceramic piece of the shard that belonged to the broken tub, and she used it to stab one of his eyes.
"Argh!" The man growled in pain and anger. Blood oozed out from the wound that had been inflicted on him.
Rebecca didn't stop there, and she used another piece of the shard to push it against his stomach and hurt him.
"Mama!" Eve came running into the room where her mother was.
"Eve!" Rebecca's eyes widened. The emotion in her eyes was somewhere between relief and worry.
Her body was trying to fail her, but her daughter's safety came first! Taking hold of Eve's hand, she quickly pulled her out while the man struggled to remove the sharp pieces from his face and stomach.
Rebecca huffed for air, her face contoured in pain as she hid both her and Eve in the corridor before making way down the stairs. The butler would be here soon, and they had to leave this place before it! But she forgot to pay attention to her wound, which was bleeding and leaving drops of blood on the floor.
At the same time, the butler had found the room to be empty without the girl, and he headed back to where his Master was right now, missing crossing paths with the mother and daughter.
Most of the servants in the servant quarters, it made it easier for them to pass through the corridors before they reached the kitchen, leading to the manor's backdoor. But it wasn't as simple as she thought it to be because she met a woman in the kitchen.
"Who's there?" Questioned the woman.
"It is me, Rebecca," replied the woman while keeping Eve close and hidden behind her.
"This is not the time to be here. Don't you know that servants are not allowed after midnight unless you have an order?"
Rebecca had no time to chit chat, but at the same time, she didn't want to alert this maid, who could call the others. The woman noticed her be in pain and asked,
"Are you alright?"
"I just have a bad stomach ache," replied Rebecca, the panic continuing to grow along with the excruciating pain. "Can I get a glass of warm water?"
The woman stared at her before giving her a nod. And when the woman turned her back on her, Rebecca quickly made her way towards the corridor which led to the door. She quickly unlocked it and started to run with Eve. They couldn't go through the gate, but there was a gap at the back from where one could escape.
"Catch them! They are there!" A man shouted from behind. Rebecca turned for a moment and noticed the butler, the Master of the house and some of his men running towards them.
One of the men quickly caught up to them and held Rebecca. Tears started to brim in the woman's eyes at her inability, and she let go of her daughter's hand.
"Run Eve!" She screamed, and the little girl turned stunned.
Eve's lips trembled, and she didn't want to leave her mother, "M-mama…" When she tried to get closer to her mother, her mother said,
"I will always love you… Now run!"
The man caught hold of Rebecca, and before another man could catch Eve, the little girl started to run. She ran through the little gap in the fence, making it difficult for the man to follow her as he didn't fit through the gap.
Eve saw her mother, who had tears in her eyes. Her mother smiled, a smile that was filled with sadness. The Master of this manor stepped behind her mother, and with one swift movement, he pierced his hand through her back.
A sob escaped from Eve's lips, watching the smile on her mother's face leave and her eyes turn lifeless.
"Catch the little girl! I want her right now!" Ordered the man in anger.
"Mama!" Eve called her mother, who didn't respond as Rebecca fell on the ground.
She started to run, running as fast as she could while sobs escaped from her lips. Unable to contain the grief and horror that took place in front of her eyes, tears turned to pearls, falling on the forest ground that she had entered.
"Where is she?"
"The rat must be right here!"
"Spread to find her quickly! She mustn't be too far!" Yelled the men, who were trying to find Eve.
Eve hid under the large rock for a minute before she started to run again. While running next to the stream, she missed her footing and slipped into the water. The current of the water was strong and it carried her forward, while she tried to keep her head above the water.
Not soon, Eve lost her consciousness and she drifted towards the calmer side of the stream.
While the men continued to search for the little girl, a moving carriage appeared which was being pulled by two horses. The carriage came to a halt, when the coachman caught sight of something shining under the moonlight first before he noticed it was a little girl.
"What's the matter, Eugene?" Came the question from inside the carriage that belonged to a woman.
"Lady Aubrey, I see a body near the stream," replied the young coachman with a frown.
"Hm?" The carriage door opened, and out stepped a woman who appeared to be in her late forties. She had a stern face, yet her eyes held warmth. She wondered which wealthy one decided to throw a person in the water, or which poor man must have committed suicide.
The coachman walked to where the person laid and moved closer to the person, and he said, "It is a young girl. She doesn't belong to the town." It was because this town was occupied by the wealthy, and it was no place for lower-class folks.
Lady Aubrey walked towards the girl who was soaking wet. Bending down, she checked the little girl's pulse. At the same time, the woman's eyes fell on the girl's bare legs. Something shimmered on the girl's skin, and the woman frowned, staring at her.
"What do we do, milady?"
"Help me get her into the carriage."
Hadiah
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