Hidden In Plain Sight

“My stomach hurts...” she moaned, her shoulder slumping a bit before she winced back upright. Her father had come back particularly drunk last night and pulled her from bed in a fit of anger, when Sebastian had found her in the morning she could barely move.

“They’ll be here soon, Miss,” Sebastian chimed from his spot across the kitchen, wiping down the counters.

She mumbled an answer. She still wasn’t sure why or how but her father had supposedly found someone who could fix her injuries and they were supposed to come here today. An uneasy feeling settled in her stomach along with the tight pain. She hadn’t ever spoken with anyone other than Sebastian or her Mother and now a bunch of strangers were supposed to be coming here. To help her or not, she couldn’t help but feel anxious.

“Eat your food.” Sebastian scolded her softly, snapping her out of her daze. She looked down at the pale mush in her bowl with disgust. Breathing hurt, yet Sebastian was making her eat food. She grimaced as she forced down another bite. She wanted to vomit again.

She was busy trying to see if she could fit under the couch as a hiding spot for next Wednesday when she heard it, three loud knocks on the door. They were both downstairs in the office area of the house her father often used for meetings to await their arrival but she couldn’t help but jolt at the loud noise.

She rarely ever came down here, only when they were playing hide and seek. She never had any reason to be down here. The room was majorly used as a meeting room for her father’s business partners, but it was also where the front door was. She never left, so she never needed to be down here, unless she was waiting for Sebastian to come in for the day of course.

Sebastian wasted no time pacing over to the door and pulling open the eye shutter.

“Who goes there?”

“Regan and Fletcher,” an angry voice answered. She shuddered from her spot on the floor.

“And?” Sebastian questioned.

There was another? Her eyes widened a bit as she swallowed roughly.

“Where is she? We present her to her.” The angry voice snapped again.

“NAME,” Sebastian retorted sharply and Alicia flinched back at his tone.

“NO,” another voice barked back, this one more low and almost earthy.

Sebastian snapped the eye hole shut at that, taking a breath before he turned to her.

“Do you want me to let them in?” Looking at him, she could already tell that he didn’t like them. His face was pinched into a tight scowl that she was sure wasn’t directed at her but she couldn’t help but cower back a bit. It was never fun when Sebastian was mad.

She bit her lip. Did she even have a choice? She didn’t want to see the face that went with those voices. Would the third be like that too?

Crawling up to her feet she darted over to the black curtain that divided the two rooms, hiding behind it, this way if she didn’t like them she could hide while Sebastian made them go away.

“You can let them in now!”

Turning back to the door, Sebastian hesitated for a moment before undoing the lock as he yanked the door open.

“You may come in. She’s this way.” Sebastian greeted them stepping to the side of the door.

Peeking out from behind her curtain, she watched as two men and a girl filed in. She immediately felt herself stiffen. The girl was older than her, but surely only by a few years. She’s never been around other children. Why was she here? Was she supposed to be? Sebastian never told her another child was coming over.

She jumped when she noticed the girl staring at her. What now? Does she say something?

“We’ve brought her.” The man with the angry voice announced, shoving the girl forward roughly. Was that her cue? She crept out of her hiding spot slowly, eyeing the girl carefully. She didn’t seem like she would hurt her.

Sebastian told her that she would have something on her neck if she was the person her father sent for, showing her pictures in a book of what some looked like, but hers wasn't supposed to look like the sharp ones she had seen.

She waved her hand a bit to get the girl to move her hair. Obliging the raven-haired girl pulled her hair to the side and bent her head down.

Sebastian was right, the black fragments that painted the back of her neck didn’t look like the ones she had been shown on paper.

“Y-you’re right. It doesn’t look like anything from the books,” she glanced over at Sebastian from where he stood by the door. He gave her a small nod before her attention was pulled away by one of the men.

“Her twin had one too- but we couldn’t see it to check,” the earthy man jumped in. “We’re not sure about the rest of the family though, but we suspect…”

If her sister had one too, then where was she? She felt her eyebrows knit together as she glanced around. Did she miss her?

“And the other one is where?” she questioned tentatively.

The man shrugged. “We only needed this one, so we brought this one.”

Oh- what was she supposed to say to that? She panicked a bit before just turning to the girl again. Maybe she should just take the girl to the back?

She anxiously steered the girl past the black curtain, leaving the two men in her dust. “This way.”

When they started to follow, she felt herself jump again. “You two can stay here, thank you.” she stuttered quickly, pulling on the black curtain sharply. She didn’t like them, they were mean and loud. She pulled anxiously at the lace on her sleeve, watching as the raven-haired girl looked around the room. When the girl looked back at her for instruction, Alicia pointed to the chair and table Sebastian had set out for her. Obediently the girl stalked over to the table, a bit of hesitation evident in her step.

The curtain swooshed open and Sebastian stepped through. Immediately she felt more at ease, following him closely as he gathered things across the room. She even started to feel excited, feeling herself bounce a bit as she watched him pull things from the cabinets.

Walking over to the girl again, Sebastian held out a tray with a metal pot and a silver dagger. Looking at the tray, fear passed over the girl’s face before dark realization. She reached out and gripped the dagger with shaking hands.

Cocking her head to the side in confusion, she looked at the girl again. Did she not want to do this? Wasn’t she here so she could be paid? Maybe it just hurt to cut herself? She watched in curiosity as the girl pressed the sharp blade to her wrist, a small whimper passing her lips as red blood welled up along her arm.

Acting fast Sebastian lunged forward, grabbing her wrist and pulling it over the pot before it could splatter on her dress. The red liquid quickly encompassed her wrist in a large red band, dripping into the pot with metallic patters. She peered down at the scarlet blood skeptically. It didn’t look any different than normal blood, so how did they know that it actually worked? Were they just lying to them?

“How do I know if it works?” She questioned, turning to look back up at Sebastian as he watched with an unreadable expression. As she spoke to him he seemed to snap out of his daze, turning his head to look down at her.

“Why don’t you try it then, Miss?” He raised an eyebrow, gesturing to the pot.

“Okay!” she chimed, sticking a finger forward and under the girl’s bleeding wrist. It was warm and thick as it coated her fingers, making her shudder uncomfortably.

Licking her fingers, she suppressed a grimace as the metallic taste coated her tongue strangely. Lifting her dress, she turned her gaze down to the black mass covering her side. She watched in wonder as it crept back off her pale skin, feeling the tight knot of pain in her stomach dissipate as she could breathe freely again, the last black stains receding off her skin in seconds. She could feel the girl watching her but she didn’t pay it any mind, instead taking a gaspy breath now that she felt she could breathe once again.

“It works!” she squealed, looking down at her un-marked stomach. Looking back up at Sebastian she beamed happily, feeling a weight lifted off her shoulders. Sebastian was looking down at her with something not unlike bewilderment. It seems he had not believed it either. It was so cool, just like in all her favorite storybooks.

Looking back down, her eyes locked back onto the girl as she now clutched her still bleeding wrist close to her chest, looking around the room desperately.