Moira

33.

While the two of them disappeared in Ellis' room, I tried my best to keep the shaking of my hands to a minimum as I cleaned the kitchen of any red stains on the counter and in the sink.

With a lot of dish soap, I cleaned the stained towels in the sink afterwards, trying my best to get the dried crimson out of the fabric. When half an hour had passed, and the blood had only slightly faded, I gave up and made a mental note to remind Esmond to throw them in the washing machine later.

Turning around my own axis once, checking whether I had missed a spot or cloth anywhere, I took a deep breath before sighing just as loudly. My elbows propped themselves up on the counter, head in my hands as I squeezed my eyes shut together tightly.

If I squeezed them tightly enough, I wondered whether I'd wake up from the nightmare my life had become.

Watching a kid almost bleed out in front of me wasn't necessarily where I thought my night would be going.

"You're still up—" Esmond's voice got stuck in his throat, the words more of a croak rather than a coherent sentence as my body whirled around, slightly startled by his sudden presence.

Leaning against the counter now, my hands rubbed over my eyes, a yawn rattling through my throat before I took him in.

His under eyes were dark, eyes themselves red as he let himself prop against the wall behind him with a sigh. He pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes shutting similarly to mine, head hanging low only for a moment.

"I didn't mean for you to get caught up in things like this," He admitted, eyes still diverted as his hands slipped off his face, one of them raising to push the messy locks out of his face.

I shook my head quickly, my hands fidgeting with themselves as I muttered a low, "It's okay— I'm not—"

"—It's not really, though, is it?" Esmond pushed himself off the wall he was leaned against with a loud sigh, finally fully entering the kitchen, eyes on me as he said, "I'll just have to clean this mess. You should—"

"I already did."

His eyes diverted at the words, roaming the kitchen to find any residue of the incident gone. When his eyes fell on the three towels — bloodstains still prominent in them — I quickly mentioned, "You'll have to throw those in the washing machine."

After a full minute of silence, he huffed. And I wasn't quite sure whether it was out of amusement or because he was simply impressed.

Shaking his head slowly, his eyes fell on me again, and he hummed in recognition of my words before the hint of a smile graced his lips. "You're an angel," He muttered — more to himself than to me — and his eyes diverted when he cleared his throat lightly. "Thank you."

Swallowing thickly, I simply nodded. "How is she?" My eyes fell behind him, out of the kitchen and down the corridor her room seemed to be in.

"Asleep," He shrugged, his nose scrunching up lightly at the memory. "She'll be fine," He confirmed a bit sterner, then. Again, probably more so to himself than me.

"You know why this happened, don't you?"

His eyes snapped back onto mine, then, full brows furrowing as his eyes scanned every inch of my face. It seemed like he had to overcome something within himself before he said, "Let's not have this conversation here."

He left the kitchen without another word, and to my surprise, passed the entrance to the living room, too, as I trotted after him down a corridor. He entered a room that I identified as his as soon as I stepped through the doorway myself.