Bleed Magic [Dorrance/Ren]

Dorrance looked reluctant to postpone healing Ren's wounds, but she bobbed her head in understanding.

"Well, alright, if you say so," she said quietly. But at least let me bandage them.

Dorrance would hastily take the ribbon of her robe, unveiling the more sheen silky nightgown she wore underneath and tore the ribbon in half. She'd take each to wrap around Ren's bleeding arms before following Ren into the outside.

Despite the darkness, the moonlight lit the hallway. The red carpet had puddles of darker red stains that were soaked in something and were probably what added to the squishing sounds of the dead maid in the library. A little up ahead, a glass window had been broken that lead to the outside courtyard. Unlike earlier, the courtyard was dark from what the two could see from the window and no one was there.

The two would then hear a shuffling sound coming from one of the closed doors, first the scattering of feet and then pounding against furniture. They'd also hear the same wet footprints they had earlier, only this time sloshing and sliding against wood. Whatever was going on in there, it wasn't good.

Dorrance closed her mouth with her hand and looked at Ren asking with her eyes if they should keep going or look inside.

Ren gave a small smile to Dorrance as she wrapped her arms. At the very least she had this small amount of comfort with her. She felt terrible about putting Dorrance in danger like this, but she couldn't leave everyone else to die!

She fell back into silence as they entered the hall. She moved and quickly and quietly as she could. She knew time was of the essence. If someone was being attacked, the didn't have that much time to save them. She gingerly made her way around the glass, but took a moment to kneel down and grab a long shard, just in case. "I don't know how many more there are. I know it's scary but I need you to watch behind us. Okay, love?" As she spoke, she'd slip her hand into Dorrance's. She wanted to make sure she kept the woman close to her.

As they made their way to a closed door and heard the struggling beyond, Ren glanced back, a grim look on her face. "If anything happens, run and lock yourself in our room." Then, without a moment's hesitation she slipped her hand out of Dorrance's and rushed forward.

This was dumb.

She began to cast a spell as she grabbed the handle and threw the door open. Whatever was inside would see Ren rushing inside, weapons in hand. Clearly trying to save whomever was inside.

In reality, Ren was now kneeling at the door, her eyes wide as she tried to take in the scene around her. She was hoping her illusion would give her a moment to react, to help in some way.

Dorrance reached into her pocket and pulled out a fountain pen she had been using. She felt annoyed she had nothing much to work with, but she'd been resourceful before.

"I promise," she said shakily. "Be safe, darling."

The moment Ren burst through the door, the first thing she would see was a body pinned down by a much larger and taller body. The room was lit by the outside only, but by a lantern, Ren would see another bloodied and dead maid on the floor, only this time with a cloth tie strangling her neck. The end of the tie twisted around the hand of the purple-haired servant from earlier, Gale, who looked furious and like he had been struggling.

He flinched the moment he saw Ren and Dorrance, and raised his hands.

"Lady Dorrance, Lady Everett, this isn't what it looks--"

"No, we understand!" Dorrance said rushing in. "We were attacked, too. Is this--"

"An undead person, yes," he said.

If Ren and Dorrance looked at the person, they wore similar maid's attire to the one they had just killed. The pale dried skin and the gaping eyes also suggested that she was, indeed, a corpse, rather than freshly murdered at the hands of a butler.

The butler wiped dark blood on his face.

"So you were attacked as well," he said. "What exactly happened to you two?"

Ren...well she was a LITTLE horrified at what she saw. It was a scary sight no matter how you'd place it. Still, she was quick to notice the garb of the strangled maid. She let out a small sigh and dispelled her illusion as the butler raised his hands. Dorrance did some of the talking and Ren took the opportunity to take a small look around the room. If she saw it was safe, She'd gently pull Dorrance in and close the door behind them. "Just in case..." She muttered. Dorrance would see a distant look in her eyes as she seemingly thought of what to do next.

She glanced up and simply gestured to her arms, and then the body. "We were followed into the study. One of those things attacked. It's taken care of...I think there should be five left at most." She shifted, unsure about her theory. "Maybe it's a reach, but five servants went missing and two were confirmed dead. The one that attacked us was a servant as well." She sighed and shook her head. "If this were a horror story, that would be the best guess. I'm not sure though." She let out a small sigh.

"I want to try and rescue the others, but we need a secure place to regroup if we get separated."

Listening to Ren's proposition, Gale rubbed his chins.

"Well, the clothing does look like that of the Futapie's maid uniforms," he murmured. "Forgive, mademoiselles..."

Gale would kneel down to the double-dead corpse on the ground and start searching her. When he found nothing in the pockets, he turned her around and pulled at the collar of her blouse.

"W-what are you doing?" Dorrance asked nervously.

"This confirms it," he said. Gale would yank on the back of the shirt and point to the inside where a tag was. It had an embroidered emblem on it. "These uniforms were made custom for the Futapie helpers."

He'd then take off the apron, something that was particularly bloodied and raised it up while comparing the dress. Multiple tears were in the apparel.

"And I'm guessing these are the stab wounds," he said.

"So this is related to the killings indeed," Dorrance said before looking at Ren. "You may be right about the five. Well...three left."

When Ren asked about a secure place to regroup, Gale thought for a moment.

"The chapel might be a good place," he said. "It's doors are a lot heavier plus there's a back way that was arranged to serve as a fire escape. Lady Dorrance, you know where it is, right?"

Dorrance nodded.

"Then I take it we should maybe part ways to find everyone else," he said. "The rooms of the children and the Duke and Duchess are on opposite ends. The Duke and Duchess are closer to the end of the west wing, but the children are to the east with the guest rooms. Where would you wish to proceed?"

Ren placed a hand on her hip, a grim line forming on her face as her suspicions were confirmed. She let out a small sigh, running a hand through her hair as she thought. Three left, plus whoever did this. Unless this was some kind of weird curse...She wasn't sure.

As they discussed their options, Dorrance would feel Ren's hand slip into hers. She seemed like she needed the support right now...Plus, Ren would be lying if she said she was completely calm. Last time she was in this position. Last time she had to make these hard choices...There was a brief pause as Ren weighed the options. She looked unsure of herself.

Then, the moment passed.

"I'm not leaving Dorrance." Gale had proven his fighting ability, but she didn't know about Dorrance. Plus...she couldn't lose her. Not to some stupid decision she made. "It might behoove us to get something to fight back with no? We don't know what rooms are clear." She shifted on her feet and frowned. "Time is of the essence though. We can stop by out room. I have my dagger and scimitar there. Then, two of us can go to collect the kids and one can check on the Duke and Duchess. We can all meet up at the chapel."

"Stopping by our room will allow me to treat Ren and get my own equipment,"Dorrancece said holding Ren's hand in response to Ren's squeezing.

To this and the proposal of how they split up, Gale nodded.

"That sounds best, yes," he said. "I'll head for Lord and Lady Marlon and try to find Bernadette. Please be safe you two. For the meantime..."

Gale would reach into his coat pocket and relinquish two daggers. He'd offer it to Ren and Dorrance.

"Please use these to protect you. I am well-equipped on my own, you will need some means of defense if things boil down to it."

Upon taking one dagger and inspecting it, Dorrance looked at Gale warily. The butler understood immediately.

"I make sure to be prepared just in case assailants enter the house," he said. "Assassins, robbers, thieves...in this case, the undead."

Dorrance would look at Ren and offer her the second dagger.

"Do you think you can manage to cast another illusion spell for us?" she asked. "Maybe it would help Gale too so that he doesn't attract any undead to the Marlons."

It seems like they had a plan. Good...It just needed to go well. It HAD to go well. She..honestly wasn't even surprised when Gale pulled out two daggers. As bad as it sounds, she was still pretty wary of servants. His reasoning made sense at least. She was about to refuse, but he said he was well equipped, Ren had no real choice but to believe him.

When Dorrance began to offer the second dagger, Ren help her hand up and shook her head. "Keep it, just in case." She would like to keep Dorrance out of danger as much as she could but...

When asked if she could perform another illusion on all of them, a small frown appeared on Ren's face. "If its invisibility, I have to actively keep it up. It would take a lot of focus to keep it on someone who isn't in the same room as me." She paused, her eyes dropping to the ground a moment. "I...I can do it, but its going to take a lot. I'll need you to guide me, love." She shifted, looking towards Gale. "If I do, don't get cocky, there's no telling how long I can keep it up."

When Ren mentioned focusing her energy on Gale would distract her, the sevant shook his head.

"It is alright , you two," he said. "I would rather not incapacitate you. I am more than capable of handling things on my own."

He looked outside warily.

"If you will be going after the children, I would prefer you are alert. Anyways, you two be careful."

"You too," Dorrance said.

Gale would hurry out closing the door behind him.

Dorrance would look at Ren. She wrapped around her arms over the girl. She sorely wished she didn't have daggers in her hands. She just wanted to squeeze Ren's hands but had to focus.

"I'll let you lead the way," Dorrance said gravely. "I'll do my best to protect yoi from behind."

She then let out a nervous chuckle.

"Isn't it so funny we spent all week in bed and now we have to be up and about like this all night?"

Ren gave a small frown as the plan was disregarded. It was probably for the best, though. Ren shouldn't be distracted. "Good luck." She said simply as the man left. Ren let out a sigh before suddenly being embraced by Dorrance. She returned the hug quickly, letting out a soft sigh as she relaxed for just a moment.

"Thank you. I'm sorry to be putting you in this position." She whispered. "Just, if anything goes wrong...Please focus on getting to safety. Don't risk yourself for me okay?" She gripped her own dagger tightly before sliding her free hand down and taking Dorrance's hand.

"Don't want to lose you while wandering the halls yes?" She let out a small giggle, about to start moving when Dorrance spoke again. Ren paused a moment before letting out another laugh herself. She threw her arms around Dorrance one more time. "Well we'll just have to spend another week in bed to make up for this no?" She giggled and placed a small kiss on the woman's cheek. She then forced herself to pull away, taking her hand and beginning to lead her. They'd make it out of this...

They had to.