The Beau & the Beast

61 - Breakfast

My feet felt unusually heavy as I walked down the stairs to the kitchen. I was completely exhausted. When I stepped into our bedroom, Nico was in the bed, but I could hear on his breathing that he was awake. I felt empty, hollow and exhausted.

"How did it go?" He asked softly as I sank down on the mattress on the other side of the bed.

"I think he's going to help us." I said but struggled to keep my emotions in check.

"That's good?" He mumbled hesitantly and put a hand on my arm. "Are you okay?"

I shook my head and lifted the blanket to crawl down next to him. "I think I hate him even more." I sighed and moved closer so I could hide my face under his chin.

Narrow fingers stroked my hair and I finally managed to relax. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I sighed heavily. "There's nothing to say." I started "He had no answers, no reasons just ... just silent promises that it was best for everyone that he left."

His hand wandered down from my head towards my waist, and soon I felt his comforting arms around me. "What are you going to do now?"

"Wait." I mumbled and kissed his neck. "Wait for him to solve our problem and leave for the last time."

***

For a week, we had endured nights of screaming and transformations in the hospital, then choosing to stay hidden in our rooms in an attempt to disconnect from the sick everyday life that Lu had forced us into.

But we had also learned something, Lumiere's blood did not seem strong enough for his vision. Most humans died a painful death instead of being transformed.

I had reluctantly left the bed with the sleeping Nico and deliberately ignored waking him. He took on too much work and I knew it was to spare me and Mass. For some reason, he handled all this much better than any of us and once again I started thinking about who he was before we met. It was a mystery that no one knew and that he himself refused to talk about. But I didn't stress about it, I knew he would open up eventually.

I turned on the coffee maker and rubbed my eyes, tossed a few slices of bread in the toaster and yawned loudly.

Voices were heard from the dining room but I pushed the sounds away. The castle had begun to fill up with newborn vampires and I couldn't help but shudder as soon as I met any of them. They were usually blank in the eyes and I wondered if they didn't remember what he did to them? Otherwise they should be bitter and angry and not so happy and loyal.

With the cup in my hand and one sandwich between my teeth and the other in my hand, I strolled out into the dining room and was met by four eyes.

"Good morning Belmont." Lumiere greeted me with a formal tone. "Slept well?"

My gaze swept across the table, Lumieres eyes were fixed directly on Clocksworth who sat at the other end of the table opposite him, with a pleased smile on his face.

I struggled not to choke on the sandwich but instead I spilled coffee over my hand and tried to put on an emotionless mask.

"You're probably not that surprised by our guest." He continued, straining his eyes at me, "because I guess you were the one who invited him."

"Obviously." I smiled. "He's family, right? You two probably have a lot to catch up on."

"Maybe not quite as much as the both of you?" Lu asked with a raised eyebrow and an unusually smooth voice.

I felt Clock's amused looks and decided to sit in the middle of the table so that I had supervision over both of them.

"So what have you been up to lately Lu?" He asked as he sipped his coffee and the atmosphere in the room felt anything but familiar.