🪻《 Golden Angel》🪻

"Is this the boy?"

A velvety voice came from the top of the stairs however as soothing as it sounded it almost felt melancholy. A woman stood unmoving as her crimson eyes fixated on the trembling boy. The boy couldn't take his eyes away from her, she was too beautiful like an oil painting.

Her skin looked pale and translucent, he could almost see her veins popping from her skin. Her eyes were the color of rubies shining but empty, as though she was drowning in sorrow. Her lips curled slowly on the edges to form a smile. She wore her golden hair long, braided on both sides and tied at the back. Her hair was decorated with yellow magnolias on the edges of her braid.

The beautiful lady wore a white satin dress, hugged by a tight bodice embroidered with intricate patterns of yellow roses, the white satin skirt flowed long enough for the fabric to touch the floor. The boy rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand to make sure he wasn't looking at an angel and with just a blink, she appeared right infront of him!

He jerked back with surprise!

"How did she..? Wasn't she standing on top of the stairs? How come she—he thought to himself.

"He's too scrawny!" Clodette said, with an inquiring tone. She crossed her arms and placed her right hand under her chin, examining the boy.

"How old are you?" she asked.

"Twel–twelve, milady." He stuttered. I didn't know how old I was, I just repeated what my cousin said before. He thought deeply.

Clodette's golden necklace chimed as she walked around him and examined his whole physique. Her inquiring eyes made him nervous which made his hands tremble uncomfortably, the diffident boy fixated his gaze on her necklace, it was beautiful and lustrous, the chain was adorned with precious white diamonds and connected by an enormous emerald with a big letter M engraved on it.

Without warning, Clodette lifted the hem of his shirt which made the hair on the back of his neck stood up alarmingly! He quickly jerked away from her. She winced her nose and said in a mocking tone.

"You smell like a rat in the sewers!"

Upon hearing her remark, the boy involuntarily sniffed his own clothes, "Like a rat, maybe I am like a rat!"

He lowered his head to avoid making eye contact with Clodette. "He needs a bath and some new clothes also–"

She was speaking to Julius however her eyes gazed upon the shivering boy, "some medicine for his feet."

The boy didn't even realize that his soles were bleeding. He moved his feet slightly to see the bleeding soles, he winced from the pain, he looked behind and saw trails of bloody footprints. "I should clean that up"

"Yes, my lady." Julius replied with a nod.

"Boy, what's your name?" Clodette asked him, as she cocked her head slightly on the side.

"Th-They never gave m-me one." The boy's voice cracked as he spoke, maybe out of fear or because of the dampness in the air he couldn't tell.

"Hmm—" she tilted her head to her other side and straightened up as an idea struck her, she clasped her hands together and exclaimed, "From now on, your name will be Claude." She smiled at him but it didn't reach her eyes.

She turned and walked away as her golden hair swayed behind her back.

"It seems that the Madame likes you!" The elderly woman smiled warmly.

"Perhaps." Julius interrupted in a matter-in-fact tone.

"Now then! let us get you cleaned up!" The head maid in emerald gown chimed.

The head maid was called Evangeline. Evangeline told Claude to follow her up the staircase and into a long corridor, the hallway was narrow and decorated with elaborate patterns of vermillion and gold wallpaper.

The candles that illuminated the way were also black like the ones in the entryway. As they walked deeper into the corridor, Claude noticed several picture frames hung on the walls but a peculiar picture frame stopped his tracks.

The man in the frame had long straight ash blonde hair with crimson eyes like the angel he saw earlier. He wore a white coat embroidered with golden leaves and was embedded with red rubies, a golden chain hung around his shoulders and on his hand, he wore a ruby ring with a big letter C engraved on it. He wasn't smiling but rather gave an authoritative look.

Scary. Claude thought.

His train of thoughts were interrupted as Evangeline found him gawking at the frame.

"What are you doing?" she said, in a gentle motherly tone.

"W-Who is that?" he managed to ask her.

"He is the madame's brother." she replied, but didn't say anything more, "come on now"

She took him by the arm and showed him to a room. The room was small but it was decorated beautifully! The walls were painted very plainly in ivory, there were sconces on each corner of the room which held black candles. Claude looked up and saw a small chandelier illuminating the whole room. It had small bed at the corner and a desk near the dresser, the room also had its own small bathroom, they made it very convenient for him. He looked at the bed and smiled;

"Do you like the room?" Evangeline asked him.

"Yes, I do." Claude replied, as he hurriedly entered the room and carefully touched the white fabric of the bed.

"Well, it is small but beautiful. It is the right size for you." Evangeline muttered.

"I-I never had one before." he said, quietly.

"What? A room to yourself?" she said, curiously.

"No, a–a bed." he whispered.

Evangeline looked at him with pity in her eyes. She wiped her wet eyes with her handkerchief and gave him a tight embrace.

"No one will hurt you here, love." she assured him. She moved her hands to the end of his shirt and told him to raise his arms, he lifted his hands up as she undressed him, she nudged him to the enter the bathroom.

The bathroom was also small with a bathtub in the center. Evangeline filled it with hot water and waved her hands towards Claude, who was standing awkwardly by the door, urging him to come nearer. As he went in the bathtub he winced from the stringing pain of his feet.

"Don't worry, we'll clean the wound and bandage it later." Evangeline reassured him.

Evangeline washed his hair and body three times. She said he smelled like a rat down in the sewers! So she used fragrant soaps to wash him, the soap smelled like roses! She cleaned and cut his nails and toenails, she even gave him a haircut. When she was finished, Claude took a quick look at himself in the mirror and smiled. He looked like a boy from a noble family, his black hair looked shiny and soft. His clothes smelled fresh and his feet all bandaged up!

"Well, now you look like a handsome boy!" she moved closer to him and said "Your eyes are as blue as the sky, they're very clear." she touched his cheek gently with her knuckles and wrinkled her nose.

"–and you don't smell like a sewer rat now!" she laughed! Claude blushed from her remark and lowered his eyes. His clothes were new and clean. He was wearing a shirt made from good fabric, it was smooth. He trailed his hand up and down his arm, admiring the brand new clothes. He looked up and saw Evangeline smiling down at him. "Do you like it?" she asked him.

He nodded, enthusiastically!

"You must be hungry! come with me to the kitchen!"

They went through the great hall and down the stairway again.Claude couldn't help himself from being amazed by the enormous chandelier, it looked like stars hanging in the dark night.

Evangeline lead him to the kitchen where Claude met two chefs wearing a long white cap and a white gown with a red apron across their waists. George was the head chef and Louis was his assistant; George was fat and had ginger hair, he also had big freckles on his cheeks, the size of a thumb. He smiled widely and shook Claude's hand.

"So you are the boy Sir Julius found!" he exclaimed, "Wow, your eyes are so clear and blue ain't they?"

"Why do they keep talking about my eyes?" Claude thought.

"Are you hungry? The soup is ready!" George moved closer to the cauldron and lifted the lid to check the soup.

Louis was tall and thin but he looked strong. He smiled at the hungry boy but he didn't shake his hand because he was wearing gloves instead he gave him a loaf of bread and a bowl filled with hot soup.

Claude also met three scurry maids who were brushing and wiping the tables and floors. When Evangeline clapped her hands together, all of them halted on doing their tasks and looked at her.

"Oh Madame!" one of the scurry maids exclaimed.

"Judith!" Evangeline cried out, "Hurry and give Claude a chair." she ordered the maid.

Judith walked away to the corner, hurriedly took a chair and placed it infront of the table. Evangeline ushered Claude to sit on the wooden chair. The two chefs smiled and carried on their work.

The steam from the soup hit Claude's face and he got a whiff of the delicious smell.

hmm.. mushroom soup. Claude's stomach began to rumble loudly while the maids tried to suppress their smiles.

Evangeline gave Claude two pieces of cheese. "Go on now, eat!" she said.

He took the bowl in his hands and lifted it to his lips when Evangeline stopped him. "Oh no! You have to use the spoon! We don't eat like monkeys here!" she pointed it to him.

Claude took it and plunged it into the soup. The soup was hot but he didn't care he was too hungry! He grabbed the loaf of bread and tore it quickly as he gobbled it all in his mouth. Evangeline scowled at him.

"I need to teach you some table manners." Evangeline spoke as she shook her head in disapproval.

When Claude finished eating, Evangeline took him by the hand and thanked the chefs for the food. She told him to say his thanks too.

Evangeline was a petite and vivacious lady, she looked scary at first but there was something about her smile that reassured Claude that he could trust her. She wore her long brunette hair into a bun decorated with emerald laces. Her eyes were bright green with thin lips, Evangeline was in her late forties but she was pretty.

"You must be tired, come I'll lead you to your room." Evangeline lead the way back to the stairway and into the great hallway but this time they walked up the other side of the staircase and stopped. She pointed at the golden door, painted with yellow roses at the far end of the corner.

"It's the madame's room, you are not allowed there."

She walked ahead, Claude followed her but he kept looking back at the golden door.

"It's where the angel sleeps," he thought.

They stopped in front of a big bronze door and Evangeline opened it. "Now, take your rest lad."

As Claude entered the bedroom, he quickly ran towards the bed and sat gently; It was soft like feathers. He laid down and closed his eyes, he never thought he would be so tired because at the moment he closed his eyes he immediately fell into a deep slumber.

That night he dreamed about the angel and how her long blonde braided hair swayed back and forth as she walked. She reached her hand towards him and touched his cold cheek, she smiled but her eyes were empty, melancholy.

She smiled widely revealing her sharp canine teeth.

She had fangs!

🪻《Author's Note》🪻

Hi Guys🥀

I am ecstatic about Chapter 2 since it is the sweet first meeting of the main characters. I also introduced some sub characters that will be essential to story plot.

🪸 Special Note:
Credits to pinterest.com and the artist for the picture.

🍂| Question of the day:
What do you think about the characters?

What are your thoughts? Comment below! 🍂

Love, Julia🪸