16Hey guys, I hope you enjoy this chapter! (And I'm soooo sorry for the lateness!)
Alfred crashed on the hard, cold floor of the building with a loud thud. The bunny demon cringed and crouched down, trying to make himself as small as possible as the bear demon growled and moved blindly, trying to swing at the blonde. The commotion woke the owner up with a start, making him fall off and break the back legs of his plastic lawn chair. His eyes widened as he realized what was going on.
"SHOCK!" The man yelled hastily, making the teens and the butler jump.
As soon as he spoke the command, the shackle around the Russian's neck lit up with a blinding neon-green light, sparks flying everywhere and electricity shooting from the device onto the demon's body. The creature screeched loudly in absolute agony as its hands shot directly to the shackle, clawing and scratching, trying desperately to take it off. That's when Adriana realized that the device was a shock collar, her eyes going wide and tears falling down her face.
Alfred sat on the floor, his eyes the size of dinner plates, as he watched the scene before him. Soon, however, his open mouth closed and morphed into a crooked smile. The blonde watched as the man who had been previously sleeping straightened himself and commanded for the collar to stop.
Just as quickly as it had appeared, the neon light disappeared, and the screeching came to a halt. What looked like thin lines of smoke came from the collar, and Adriana could almost smell the scent of burnt flesh in the air.
She watched horrified as the bear lost its footing, its hands dropping limply from his neck, and his legs shaking like rattles under him, unable to keep him standing. Finally, they gave out, and the creature fell to its knees, panting heavily as if it had just run a marathon. His eyes were covered, but Adriana could see damp spots where his eyes were supposed to be under the rag.
Alfred got up and laughed.
"Wow! That is some monster!" He said looking at the kneeling bear, then looking at the man. "I'll give you $20,000 for both of them!"
"Alfred, are you crazy?!" Matthew, who had been previously silent, nearly screeched at his brother. "That thing nearly killed you just now, and you want to buy it?!
"Look, we came here to look for slaves. I just found mine. I think it's time you went to look for yours!"
While the two brothers argued, Adriana decided to ditch them and act on her own once more. She carefully got closer to the kneeling demon, trying to get directly in front of it, but as soon as she tried to take a step closer, the thing started to growl low once more. The man who was supposed to take care of them began to panic.
"Mistress, don't get any closer!" He practically yelled. "The restraints are no longer attached! If he attacks you, I may not be able to save you!"
Adriana just delicately turned to the man and smiled.
"I don't need saving."
At the surprised look of the man, Adriana broke out a satisfied grin and turned her attention back at the kneeling demon. She took a small, cautious step forward, trying to make herself be heard in order to not startle the Russian. She breathed in slowly as she took another, then another, then another. Soon, she was standing in front of the demon, and to her surprise, he had stopped growling.
She lifted her hand gently, reaching out to the bear's cloth-covered eyes. Before she could get close, however, the bear started to growl low once more, baring it's teeth under the muzzle around his jaw. She shot her hand back to her, breathed deeply, then tried again. When the growling got louder, she tried a different approach.
"It's okay. Everything's going to be alright," she whispered soothingly. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. I just want to look at you."
The growling didn't stop, but Adriana decided that she would ignore it and take her chances anyway. She continued to whisper reassurances as her hands delicately made contact with the skin of his cheeks. She slowly caressed them, and then continued forward, taking her time in getting her limbs to the back of his head. When she finally reached her destination, she got to work.
The kneeling Russian froze as soon as he felt her soft hands on the back of his head, trying to take the rag off his eyes. When the red cloth finally came off, his growling stopped all together.
Adriana nearly gasped at the sight.
His eyes were a beautiful shade of purple, deep and inviting, but mysterious and cold at the same time. They were big and round, almost childlike, and, just as Adriana had suspected, had tears coming out from the corners, damping his long, black eyelashes. His eyes were red and puffy from the crying, but wide and surprised as he stared right back at her.
Without thinking, Adriana rested her hand on his cheek and, using her thumb, wiped away the small droplets of salty liquid coming out from those beautiful amethyst orbs.
"I'll buy him."
"WHAT?!" the two blondes, the butler, the man, and the previously forgotten bunny demon all screamed in unison.
"I said I'll buy him."
"You can't do that! I already offered for both of them!" Alfred screeched.
"I'll offer $30,000 just for this one," she said calmly to the owner, ignoring the blonde completely.
The owner stuttered as the Russian's eyes went even wider, if even possible. Was she really willing to pay that ridiculous amount just for him? It was just so unreal.
Suddenly, the bunny demon spoke.
"Wow, Ivan, you just ruined my chances of getting a new home," he said solemnly.
Adriana looked at the albino apologetically. She feared for the poor demon's safety. What if he got an abusive owner? What if they force him to work? What if they violate him? What if-
"I'll pay $15,000 for the bunny," Matthew suddenly said, waving the money at the owner. He smiled at Adriana, and she mouthed a thank you.
Adriana directed her gaze back to the demon before her and she smiled kindly at him, earning her a grunt. She whispered sweet reassurances to him, but the demon just looked away, much to the surprise of the owner. The bunny demon, which Mathew soon learned was named Gilbert, waited patiently as his now former owner came over and untied his wooden shackles, the albino quickly settling himself beside his new master. Adriana and Matthew soon paid for their new slaves, and Kumajiro, who had been previously forgotten, began to speak with the Russian demon.
"My name is Kumajiro," the polar bear said softly. "You have nothing to worry; you are in good hands, comrade. In comparison to the rest, Ms. Vargas Corriedo will actually make you feel human."
"What's your name?" Adriana asked as she came closer to the two bear demons.
The Russian just glared at her, but made no move to answer. The girl just smiled and offered him a hand to get up, seeing as he was still kneeling. She reached up behind the demon's messy ash-blonde hair, and removed the muzzle just as she had previously done with the red cloth around his eyes.
All this familiarity was making Alfred's blood boil. That bear should have been his and his alone. Without thinking, he stomped towards Adriana and raised his arm, bringing it down full force onto her face. His closed hand made contact with her skin with a loud thump, and the girl stumbled backward until she hit the floor.
Everything after that seemed like a blur.
Alfred was suddenly thrown onto the floor by a violent force, his ribs aching by the pounds of pressure. He heard a growl and looked up, coming face to face with the monster. He tried ridding himself of him, but the Russian let his arms go limp, trapping him under his body weight. Alfred struggled and tried to roll under the huge body, but it was no use.
Adriana looked at the scene in shock, delicate hands covering her mouth in disbelief. She was about to go rescue her friend, when two strong, male arms wrapped themselves hastily around her thin waist, pulling her body a few steps back.
"Adriana! Are you alright?!"
The addressed girl turned herself around the male's arms to come face to face with her worried mother, who was currently staring at the monster on top of Alfred with an uneasy expression, his body tense and alert. Almost immediately after Lovino had voiced his question, Antonio appeared and positioned himself in front of his family in a protective stance, a newly bought, huge, silver axe in his hand. He wore a stern expression as he glanced over at the owner of the auction, the man faltering and stuttering in nervousness at the sight of the Spanish man's emerald eyes.
With the help of Kumajiro, the wimpy man pulled the Russian away from the American, voicing out the command for the collar once more. Just as he had before, the bear demon screeched in pain and collapsed on the floor, his voice louder this time since the muzzle was not blocking the sound anymore. Adriana yelled for the owner to stop, but Lovino pulled her roughly from the shoulders, forcing her to face him.
"Oh Adriana, are you hurt? Did that thing hurt you?" he asked, extremely concerned by his daughter.
"Mom, I'm okay," Adriana assured.
Glancing at Adriana briefly, Antonio signaled the man to stop the shock collar around the Russian's neck. He also hinted at Kumajiro to take the two blonde brothers away from the scene, to which he quickly complied, taking the two along with Gilbert with him elsewhere. Once that was taken care of, the Spaniard rested the axe he had been holding on the floor, turning around to look at the two loves of his life. He wore a slightly more relaxed expression than the panicking Lovino, but he looked stern and somewhat scary nonetheless.
"Don't lie to me, Adriana!" Lovino yelled as he scanned the girl completely for wounds. "I just saw him attack Alfred!"
"Yes, but-"
"But nothing! And what the hell happened anyway?!" said the angry Italian.
"I don't know! my slave just attacked him and-"
"Your WHAT?!"
Adriana flinched as she looked at her mother's face became flushed with anger. Sure, she had seen him grumpy and moody several times, but whenever he got genuinely mad, he could be the scariest person on earth. Adriana watched nervously as he opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of the water, too furious to form a proper sentence. She glanced back at her father, but Antonio just raised an eyebrow, making her look back at Lovino. If anything was scarier than an angry Lovino, it would be a serious Antonio.
"Your slave?! Adriana, how could you buy that thing?!" Lovino finally managed to say. "That thing is dangerous! What if it attacks you?! You could get hurt or worse!"
"But he didn't!" Adriana argued, which she knew was a dangerous action at this point. "I was the one who took his muzzle off while the chains were broken! He had plenty of chances to bite my arm off, but he didn't! I may not know him, mom, but I can assure you he's not as bad as he seems!"
"Well yes, but-"
"Please mom?" Adriana pleaded. "Please let me keep him! I promise he'll make a good servant! He has a kind heart, but he's just rough around the edges. Just give me a chance to smooth those edges and polish them."
Lovino frowned at his daughter, but before he could say anything, Antonio cleared his throat.
"Well…" Antonio hummed as he rubbed his chin with his index finger. "He DOES seem pretty strong, and his attitude seems fairly loyal…"
"ANTONIO!"
"He seems like a good pick, Lovino. After all, it was us who asked her to find a slave and, well, she just found it."
"But he's a monster! A demon!"
"As are all the rest of the slaves here," Antonio said smiling, resting a hand on the Italian's shoulder. "As long as Adriana can prove that she's responsible and that she can keep him in check, I don't see why not~."
Adriana looked at her father with wide, hopeful eyes. The man, in turn, glanced at her, giving her a smile and a brief wink, before going back to comforting his, still refusing, husband. Adriana beamed in happiness as she untangled herself from the Italian's arms, immediately rushing to the unconscious Russian on the floor, the scent of burnt flesh lingering in the air once again.
I was so happy for the amount of reviews of the last chapter, so I began to work on this one immediately. However, with the proofreading and balancing the assignments from school, the release came pretty darn late.
So, yeah. ^ ^U
I'll try my best to upload the next chapter by this Saturday, so please bear with me. Once again, thank you for being patient!