Bastian
Chapter 153 - When the Ship Sinks

✧When the Ship Sinks✧

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

She found it as she was rummaging under the bed for a wheel of thread that had rolled away from her. Margrethe’s favourite toy, the pine cone and almost as if on cue, came the sounds of light, happy paws.

   Odette looked at the pine cone, she knew it was a trick of her mind and she wondered around the mansion with the pine cone in her hand. She was almost like a spectre come to haunt the mansion. Then, like an unwinding doll, she suddenly stopped and stared into emptiness. This was the monotonous routine of Odette’s daily life, repeating day after day.

   “Madam?” A familiar voice called out from the gloom of her mind.

   It was then that Odette realised she was standing out in the frigid air, on the balcony overlooking the sea. Her hallucinations, growing increasingly indistinct, vanished amidst the crashing waves. She turned to see Dora holding out a coat for her. She quietly approached and wrapped the coat around her. 

   “Oh, thank you,” Odette said. Her dignified stance made her lost eyes stand out even more.

   “Doctor Kramer will be arriving shortly, come, lets go in and get warmed up,” Dora said, trying her best to usher Odette back inside.

   Odette had been doing her absolute best to avoid reality, as if the pain was too much Dora did her best to help Odette and felt it was probably better to endure like this, then to have oneself ripped apart by harsh emotions.

   Odette stopped staring out to sea and allowed Dora to turn her back into the warmth of the mansion.

Paying for groceries, scheduling house cleaning, and planning tonight’s meal menu were all part of Odette’s seemingly ordinary conversation. However, as she entered the third-floor hallway, her true, albeit not entirely concealed, emotions began to surface.

   “Has there been any reports?” Odette said dreamily, still holding the pine cone in one hand.

   “Sorry, madam, not yet.”

   Margrethe’s whereabouts were still unknown and although several sighting had come in, they were all proven to be false or of other dogs. There was even one time when a swindler came to the mansion with a completely different dog, in the hops of scamming Odette out of the reward.

   “Okay,” Odette said and drifted back toward her bedroom.

   Every day was the same. Odette would spend most of the day in her room, knitting or doing a bit of embroidery, before the pain became too much and she would wonder the mansion like a lost kitten. She would eat lunch and dinner dutifully and then fall asleep after an exhausting day chasing the memories of Margrethe. And at night, Bastian would return home to find his wife peacefully asleep.

   Dora found it hard to bare the weight of such an awful tragedy. After settling Odette into her room, she did a quick patrol of the mansion and collected the mail. She retreated to the kitchen with an armful of letters.

   There, in the kitchen, as the staff were preparing today’s evening meal, Dora sifted through the mail. It was mostly for Bastian and Odette, but oddly enough, there was a letter addressed to her.

It was letter from Countess Trier

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

The first thing to abandon a sinking ship are the rats. Crawling up rom their hiding places deep within the vessel, they frantically seek a means of survival. A fact Bastian was all too familiar with. In the face of the murder of Molly, Susan thought it might be her turn next. Bastian looked down at the squealing rat with calm eyes. The maid that had been his step mothers hands and feet was now knelt at his.

   It had barely been three days when Susan contacted him with the premonition. It was a better judgement than Nancy, who was unable to bring herself to her senses after her niece’s death.

   Bastian was getting bored of the woman’s begging and pleading. He looked out across the remote beach, where Susan had wanted to meet him, and he could see the two mansions, which would be blocked from view in the springtime, when the flowers bloomed.

   “I was wrong, master, please forgive me,” Susan pleased, hands clasped together as if in prayer.

   What Susan wanted was protection, and enough money to hide herself away until it was safe again. Bastian had the upper hand in this deal and although he agreed to meet up, he had not yet committed to anything.

   “I had nothing to do with the incident, I swear I did not participate in harming your wife. That was all Nancy, at Theodora Klauswitz’s behest, I swear its the truth.” Susan explained enthusiastically.

   Bastian didn’t really care. Theodora found out the truth quite by accident when she stole Duke Dyssen’s letter written to his daughter and she used Tira- her half-sister as a weapon to threaten Odette. And Odette complied with his stepmother’s request to protect Tira, a choice she made not only to protect her sister but also to uphold the honor of the war hero Bastian Klauswitz.

Susan’s confession was the last piece in the puzzle that Bastian had already guessed at.

   “If you have any questions, I will answer them, anything you want,” Susan said, approaching Bastian on her knees.

   Bastian answered Susan by giving her an envelope he had been holding. Susan became flush with embarrassment as she looked in the envelope.

   “A gift for your master,” Bastian said flatly. His emotionless voice drifted away on the breeze, like the grains of sand.

   Theodora scrambled to clear away any assets linked to the botched attempt to assassinate Odette. The gangster who had murdered Molly had fled on an emigration boat and a lot of assets had been converted to cash. A saving grace for Jeff to be sure, not that Bastian cared all that much.

   Having identified the purpose behind harming Odette, Bastian saw no other way to repay the favour other than in the same manner in which she had taught him. Bringing murder charges to light or interfering with an already bedridden Franz was not going to cut it this time.

   “Who should I say the gift is from?” Susan stammers over her words.

   “Its fine, you can say its from me, there’s no harm in that,” Bastian said.

   “Please don’t make me do this, master, I’ve told you everything, please help me, please,” Susan said, sobbing now.

   Bastian felt disgust as he looked down at the pitiful heap that was Susan, but there was nothing else that could be done at this time.  He had no intention of negotiating with the person who had pushed Odette over the edgem but he needed Susan’s help to deliver Theodora’s miserable end.

   “If you do this well enough, you will have no reason to feel threatened,” Bastian said sharply. “I think it well enough that you have provided me with the weapon I need. Once done, you will be free.”

   A faint spark of hope lit up on Susan’s face as she clutched the envelope to her breast. She was a rat, rats always found a way to survive.

   As Susan scrambled to her feet and jogged from the beach, the sun was setting and stained the sky with blood. Once Susan was out of sight, Bastian turned and walked away. He lit a cigarette as he got into the car, making an impulsive decision to steer towards the road leading home.

   They were both hiding away from their realities, him and Odette. The days seemed peaceful at a glance, but Bastian knew all too well the turmoil just below the surface and he couldn’t live like this forever.

   The woman who had wanted to be crowned on a dazzling throne of gold, became a victim with a crown of thorns and fell into the abyss. The child that had been conceived by his own twisted desires was now buried in the cold earth. Bastian even had to accept defeat at not being able to find one miserable little dog.

I love you

The confession, once delayed, returned as a debt worth millions of dollars.

He now had no means left to repay any debts. Admiral Demel was right when he said he needed a way out, maybe that was the only gift he could offer Odette, but he still could not bring himself to let that woman go.

He would rather rot with her together. 

He wanted to hang on to her even if it meant hanging onto defeat.

He didn’t care that it wasn’t true love, it was okay, maybe sympathy and compassion could be bought. 

He was sure Odette will stay as she was a woman that would take responsibility and would not simply ignore the pitiful things.

The car raced down the coastal road and pulled up in front of the mansion just as Bastian was feeling terrible about himself.

   “We’re in big trouble master,”  With pale face Lovis came running to him as Bastian got out of the driver’s seat. 

   “What’s the problem?”

   “I received a message from the Gardener earlier, they say they’ve found the body of a small white dog at the foot of the cliffs on the other end of the forest. Madam overheard and went to look for herself, we tried to stop her, but she…you might want to go yourself, sir.”

   Bastian swallowed, his throat was now very dry. He looked across the side of the house to the forest and imagined Odette as she came across the dead form of Margrethe. Bastian moved instinctively.

He sprinted with all his strength towards the forest bathed in a crimson sunset.

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