The young woman did not take kindly to Ever’s panicky threats, frowning and furrowing her light brows as her masters’ “guest” began to crumble before her, words tumbling from his mouth sans filter. His pleas and assurances that she would be punished for crimes her employers had committed left her stewing in a myriad of unpleasant emotions. She was no idiot. She knew her masters were not human. Spending more time with the Augustins than any of the twins’ other various employees, she was well aware of their eccentricities, their superhuman abilities, their unique hunger. Neither Magnus nor Klaus had ever asked her to do anything illegal. Never forced her to participate in any of their devious activities. If anything could be said about her murderous masters, they at least only got their own hands dirty and left Britta’s sparkling clean. Ever was pointing out a technicality, and perhaps he was right. Perhaps she could get in trouble for not alerting the authorities, but she wasn’t going to risk it. Not when the twins took such good care of her and her family. To the outside world, to this boy, Magnus and Klaus were monsters, but they were monsters who protected her, and they would protect her from police too, she was positive of this.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffcc99">“I do not think we should talk anymore this morning,”</span>Britta replied brusquely, nervously wiping her hands on her blouse.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffcc99">“You need more rest before one of them comes to see you.” </span>The servant paused, lips parted as foggy eyes stared blankly at an empty spot on the bed next to Ever. She felt… strange. Like a weight had been dropped into her stomach, weighing her down. Britta’s mouth went dry as she stood there, eyes blurred. This unusual sensation lasted only a brief moment, only a few bizarre, drawn out seconds. She tilted her head slowly, glazed eyes roaming over the breakfast tray. Two mugs?<br/><br/>Like a banshee wailing beside her, Britta’s ears were suddenly accosted by the sound ol an alarm blaring. Snapped out of her haze, her hands clapped at her ears. For some inexplicable reason, the alarm on the door seemed to have malfunctioned, screaming bloody murder despite having never been touched.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffcc99">“Oh, no, no, no,” </span>she whined, voice drowned out by the electronic screeching.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffcc99">“<i>Meister </i>will not be happy with this, no, no.”</span><br/><br/><hr class="bbc-hr"/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#99ccff">“Klaus,”</span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffcc99"> </span>he whispered, eyes opening wide as the faint squeals of the alarm on their underground playroom called to them. A bare hand slithered across his brother’s chest as he willed him awake, lips pressed against the attractive curve of his twin’s ear.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#99ccff">“Klaus, the alarm. It’s been set off.”</span><br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff9999">“What of it?”</span>Klaus groaned, burying his weary face in his brother’s neck.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff9999"> “The room is underground and only goes off in the soundproofed room. Humans ears are too pathetic to pick up the sound on their own. Only we can hear.”</span><br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#99ccff">“If it is going off, that means something happened, you imbecile,” </span>Magnus growled, clutching at the blankets and violent snapping them off of his nude twin.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff9999">“No, it means the little idiot touched the reader, that’s it. His ears can suffer the alarm for all I care.”</span><br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#99ccff">“I gave Britta instructions to feed him. What if he did something to her?”</span><br/><br/>Klaus snarled in protest but opened his eyes, reluctantly tearing himself away from his brother’s body.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff9999">“Good help is impossible to find these days,”</span>he whined.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff9999">“Come on.”</span><br/><br/>The two rushed down from their opulent second story bedroom to the underground dungeon, clad in nothing more than a pair of matching silk robes. Neither had received enough rest, the skin on their identical faces looking even paler and more waxy than usual, resembling walking fresh corpses. They entered the playroom, Magnus hovering over the pad and inputting a code to shut off the alarm. The room fell silent, both twins glaring at the two occupants.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#99ccff">“What happened here? Tell me now,”</span>Magnus demanded, furious glaze flitting from Ever, to Britta, then back to the disoriented-looking boy on the bed. The German woman shook her head, hands falling from her eyes as she looked to her masters, searching them for forgiveness.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffcc99">“The alarm, it went off on its own,” </span>she explained, shrugging her shoulders.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffcc99">“We were just as we are now, in these places, when it happened. Maybe it is broken, <i>Herr Magnus</i>?”</span><br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#99ccff">“It is not broken,”</span>Magnus confirmed, eyes having settled hard on Ever now.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#99ccff">“Britta, leave us,”</span>he said, voice low. The servant nodded, bowing before her masters before scuttling away, not giving Ever a second look back. Whatever had had happened in that room had left the young woman feeling unnerved. She was relieved to leave the problem to her masters and return to dusting.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff9999">“You shouldn’t frighten her like that,”</span>Klaus suggested, smiling smugly as the heavy door closed behind Britta.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff9999"> “Nice girl. Terribly delicate.”</span><br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#99ccff">“What did you do?” </span>Magnus asked curiously, lips twisting up into a mischievous grin.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#99ccff">“How did you trick her, hm? You do not expect us to truly believe the alarm went off all on its own, do you, Everest?”</span><br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff9999">“Tell us the truth, boy,” </span>Klaus added.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff9999"> “Be smart, now. My brother will be sweet to you if you’re honest.”</span>