Cloaked In Blood

Chapter 2: Mysterious Servant

When Ace arrived at the village he demanded that he saw the man in charge of this village immediately. The boy who brought him here introduced himself as Charlie Becker. Charlie explained he was a servant for the man in charge also known as Victor Harrison. A muscular man with sharpe blonde sideburns and blonde hair. Ace observed the large mansion he was brought to, it looked quite different from his own manor in central London. There were odd designs on the wall that Ace found quite unsettling. Charlie lead Ace in what Ace assumed was the study. When they opened the door the first thing Ace noticed was a large head of a wolf hanging above a large desk. "I'm sorry for asking but...what's your name?" Said Charlie nervously. It was strange to Ace how the boys upbeat mood was suddenly gone and replaced with nervousness. "Ace, my name is Ace Phantom." Said Ace in his usual proud voice. "Well I'm terribly sorry master Ace but I must excuse myself." The young boy bowed and walked back out the door, shutting it very quickly. Ace stepped up to see master Victor with a whip in his hand, and a young maid at his feet crossing her hands over her face with tears in her eyes. "You stupid maid! You can't do anything right!" He yelled, about to hit the girl. Ace swiftly ran up behind him and grabbed the mans wrist, holding it back. Victor stopped and turned, yanking his hand out of the boys grip. "And who the bloody world are you?!" He yelled, Ace pulled away and straightened up. "I am Ace Phantom." The man stared at the boy for a few seconds, suddenly, he started laughing. "Hahaha, so your the queens guard dog?!" Ace scoffed but kept quiet. "What gives you, a small child,the right to stop me from running my manor and teaching my servant discipline?!" "I'm a higher ranking nobleman than you, its as simple as that!" Ace said keeping his composure. Victor laughed again. "And how does a twelve year old boy get to be a high ranking earl like yourself?!" Ace lowered his gaze. " I doubt you could ever understand, your just a man who takes advantage of his servants, and wallows in his money! I doubt you've ever had to truly struggle for anything to gain your rank!" Ace said, Victor scowled at the boy, quickly walking up to him and grabbing him by his collar. "Listen to me boy, I don't take kindly to people who mock me, real nobleman don't need to struggle for power, because real nobleman are born with it, but I doubt a little boy like yourself could understand!" Ace smirked, his smile almost looked sadistic. "Your temper is out of control, it looks as though your throwing a tantrum, if I didn't know any better I'd say that your the little boy!" Ace cocked his head sideways, still holding the smile. Victor raised his whip to Ace in a threatening manor. Ace's expression stayed the same. "Go ahead...do it, I dare you!" Ace dared, his devilish smile spread across his face, his British accent sounded almost as strong as the man threatening him. His deep blue eye piercing through Victor. Victor raised his whip ready to attack, suddenly the maid grabbed her masters shirt sleeve. "Please master...don't do this!" She looked up at him, tears stained her eyes. He looked back at Ace and snarled. "Your not even work it...boy!" He whispered, dropping Ace to the floor. Ace glanced up at the girl, then at Victor, he smirked once more and whispered. "I knew you were to scared to do it." The maids face showed shock and fear, as Victors face showed complete anger. He suddenly yanked Aces hood, choking him. Ace quickly untied the ribbon that held his cloak. Ace ran out the doors of the study, desperately trying to find the exit. Suddenly Ace ran into a man that was walking in the hall towards the study, before Ace could apologize he heard Victor trailing after him. He ran past the man and darted out the door. Victor ran down the hallway, clutching the red cloak in his fist. The maid ran after him, pleading mercy for the boy. "Please master, he's not worth it, you said it yourself!" Victor stopped in his tracks, grumbling to his self. "That bloody good for nothing guard dog!" Victor threw the cloak down, turned and walked back down to the study, the maid obediently followed, sighing slightly in relief. The man watched Victor and the maid retreat, then looked at the front door in which the boy had just ran out. He picked up the cloak and stared at it contently, suddenly his eyes widened and he rushed out the door, hoping to catch the young nobleman. Ace had ran only a little ways away from the manor. Without his hood, he was freezing. His whole body shook. The snow once again began to fall from the sky. The forest shaded the town slightly, giving it a more calming feel but at the same time a strange feel. With the snow falling, Ace almost thought the town and forest looked beautiful. The white crystal snow covered the ground, the snowflakes fell all around, and it seemed as though Ace was the only one there. Ace shivered, putting his arms around his body. He thought about Victor, and how easy it was for Ace to read people, especially Victor. The man was obviously obsessed with power, Ace could tell this by the way Charlie wanted to leave so quickly and how Victor was about to use a whip on his maid who appeared to be innocent and kind. Ace could tell Victor was a cruel master, who's only concern was himself, his money, and his image. Truly Ace could see a bit of himself in the man and Ace felt slight shame of that. Of course Ace would never admit to being ashamed, or truly admit anything to anyone of his true feelings in that matter. If he was honest, it wasn't just because he didn't want to, it was because he didn't really have anyone to tell his true feelings to. Ace knew he had his aunt, and he knew he had his fiancé and the old man at his manor. But he felt as thought no one could understand what he had been through, and as much as Ace hated to admit it, he was terrified! Ace was terrified that if he told anyone the truth they would end up betraying him, or being scared of him, or even hate him. And truly Ace wouldn't blame them for it. The things he had done, the lies he had told to everyone in his life. He didn't know what to do, and Ace only being twelve and being completely without parents wasn't helping the matter. Ace wished there was someone, anyone at all, to talk to. All Ace wanted was to have someone by his side that he could trust and that trusted him in return. Someone that wouldn't leave his side and could never lie to him. Someone who truly understood, and could help him to complete his goals. Ace stood in the snow, eyes closed and breathe visible. It's like the world had frozen, as Ace clutched his body in the cold, hoping, wishing, praying for some kind of miracle to happen so that he wouldn't have to be alone, and that's when Ace felt it. Ace felt the soft familiar feeling, he felt his cloak being wrapped around his body. Ace opened his eyes to find a man draping the cloak around his body. The man was wearing a black suit and tie, his hair was black and neat, except for the few long strands that fell in his face. He was knelt down on one knee, his eyes were intensely focused on tying the boys cloak. Ace slightly took a step back feeling awkward and invaded. Suddenly the stranger looked up with slight confusion, he tilted his head making one long strand of his hair fall directly in his face. His crimson eyes stared intensely at Ace. Ace suddenly didn't feel cold anymore. no noise could be heard, everything was completely silent around them. Some snowflakes fell in Aces eyelash, as well as the mans black hair. The man finally cleared his throat. "My apologies but I believe this cloak is yours." Ace couldn't manage to get any words out so he just nodded and stared. " it isn't suitable for a nobleman like you to be walking around in the freezing cold snow, without something to cover yourself!" The mans voice was smooth and slightly deep. His velvety voice entranced the young boy, so much that the boy just stared at the man. The mans smile was perfect, so was his hair even though it had fallen in his face, his eyes were so oddly familiar, and the man in general was just plain perfect. And the thing that confused Ace the most was how he couldn't read the man at all. The man leaned closer to Ace, so close that Ace could feel the man's breathe on his nose, the man's long black strands touched Aces cheeks, and the man's eyes were staring into his. The man lifted the boys chin with his finger very gently, Ace finally gathered some words to speak. "T..thank you... w..what's your name a..again?" What is wrong with me? Ace thought to himself, why on earth couldn't he just talk to the man without stuttering?! The man put his hand on his heart and bowed, Ace notice the man wore a white glove on his right hand but not on his left. Ace found this quite odd. "My name is Sebastian Chambers." Sebastian's head was faced down,his eyes closed. "I'm Ace Phantom." Said Ace slightly shakily. Sebastain opened his eyes and looked up , his eyes almost  looked as though they were glowing a light shade of pink as a smirk came upon his lips. "Ace Phantom." Ace's name slid off the man's lips, sounding more like a snake. This sent shivers down Ace's spine, and made him slightly uneasy. S..so you've heard of me? Ace asked uneasy. Sebastian lifted his left hand, Ace saw that the man's finger nails were black. Sebastian lifted Aces hood and pulled it over his head. "I heard Charlie talking about you."  The man stood, the wind blew, making Ace's cloak fly in the wind. "It is quite cold out, shouldn't you get inside?" Sebastian questioned, his crimson eyes never leaving the boys. "I would if I could, ...but I don't have a place to stay." Ace answered lowering his gaze to the ground, shivering slightly. "Oh... well if you'd like you may stay in the old manor, the masters are no longer alive but the servants still live there." Ace was hesitant, he hadn't had servants in quite some time, but considering Ace had no other place to stay he decided to accept. "Yes I'll stay there for the night!"  Sebastian smiled, Ace clears his throat. "S..so ... where do you live?" Ace mentally hit himself in the forehead for asking such a strange, stupid question. "Actually, I don't truly have a master, so I just live in the old manor with the other servants." Ace kept quiet not pushing any further, but truly Ace was happy to have the stranger stay in the same manor as him. Ace couldn't quite put his finger on it but something about the man made Ace feel safe, and slightly weak..but at the same time powerful. Ace wrapped his cloak closer to his body as he followed Sebastian to a small carriage, which carried Ace and Sebastian to the old mansion. Once they arrived, Sebastian opened the door of the carriage and held his hand out to help the small boy step down. The manor was quite big, much bigger than what Ace had expected. He walked up the steps, his small heels making loud echoes. The snow started to fall heavier, the sky was slowly turning a darker grey color. Sebastian sent the carriage away and held the front door of the manor open for Ace. Ace stepped inside, his heels hitting the marble floor with every step. "The other servants are out at the moment, but they should return shortly." Sebastian said, closing the big door and walking up behind Ace. Ace tightened his fist slightly "I don't need any servants!" He said, his back turned to Sebastian. "And why ever not?" Asked Sebastian, sounding almost amused by the earl. Ace kept quiet for a while, he didn't move a muscle. "Let me make a correction to my statement." Ace said, he quickly turned around to face Sebastian and got very close. "I don't want any servants!" He had a sneer on his face, his eyes stared dead into Sebastian. To Aces surprise, the man didn't show any emotion as if not been moved at all by what the earl said, he only started at Ace in silence. "You know... it isn't proper for an earl like yourself to go on without having servants, it makes your status drop." Sebastian stated, a small smirk plastered his face. Ace scoffed but didn't say anything. "Shall I show you to your room?" Sebastian asked, walking past the earl and leading the way without hearing an answer. Ace quickly hurried to catch up with the tall man. "Ah, here it is!" Sebastian said after walking  away up the stairs and through the hallway. Sebastian unlocked the door and held it open. There was a large fireplace in the middle of the room, along with a fairly large bed and a bit more furniture. The room was quite large, and there was a large window with a balcony and large curtains. Ace sat I the small chair by the fireplace, even though the fire wasn't even on. "I shall leave you to it then." Said Sebastian with a small bow, he then left the room and closed the door behind him. Ace looked at the unlit fireplace, then out the balcony. The grey sky made the room quite dark, and quite chilly. Even still, Ace didn't light the fire, nor did he get in the bed. He just sat in the dark, thinking intensely about the mysterious servant.

Authors note: Hello guys! I hope I haven't bored you into leaving yet! Trust me the story will eventually pick up, and the mysteries will come in do time. Hope you guys liked this chapter, I have introduced the second main character! (It's Sebastian btw) sorry it took me so long to post but I'm drawing the chapter two cover and it takes a while!