He couldn't sleep. How could he? In one swift move, his entire life came at a standstill. Shade was told later on that it was well deserved, that Mushin had impregnated the demon's mate and simply moved on without regards to her or the children. Yet he could not escape the heartache that plagued him. The loss cut him deep and it was as if the monster that had crashed into the mansion last night reflected Shade's own feelings of utter despair. He didn't know if he would collapse from the grief or explode in anger, but he could sense that everything was in complete chaos within him. No matter how much he drank the pain would not cease. It throbbed in tune with his heart and he wished more than anything to crush it in spite and agony. For hours he had lain there in the rubble and debris from the destruction of the beast's entrance, staring into the pits of nothingness. The soft muddle of voices filled the empty chambers as people began to awake and the hum almost lulled him into slumber. But, as fate would have it, this was to not be the case. A servant of the mansion approached him cautiously, perhaps wondering if he were dead, but Shade blinked and the servant sighed in relief.
"Thank goodness. I near thought I would have to drag away another dead body," the servant sighed. His eyes shifted for the first time in hours as they rested vengefully upon the servant, though she seemed absolutely clueless. "Do you need help up?"
He took a deep, slow breath as he observed her with cautious, calculating eyes. His first instinct was to tell her off with as much venom that had been building up inside his chest, but there was that lingering desire to ask if she could take him to Mushin's body. Then again, would he be able to handle it? Even now the memories began to reemerge in crushing waves until Shade finally decided against it. To see Mushin there, lying in stone cold death, would only make the truth absolute... and how could he move on if that were to happen? To see him killed before his eyes was torture enough... he didn't need more incentive to feel like shit.
"No," Shade finally replied as he proceeded to ascend to his feet. His body ached greatly and he felt weak; it took him several moments to regain his sense of balance. Pushing past the viel of slumber that threatened to consume him, he walked past the servant girl out to the open air through the large hole left by the beast. Where he was going he knew not, but the farther from the daunting place along with its haunting memories the better. His trudge was slow and agonizing... ugh. His body was in a serious need of a wake up call.
The thought arose to the last word before he suddenly was tackled onto the pavement of the road he'd set to travel. His head pounded horribly as blood trickled lightly down his temple from the impact. He attempted to stand but his body felt heavy; he later realized someone was lying against him, presumably the same person who ran into him. The light brown of the woman's hair was splayed like a fan across him as her head rested upon his chest. She arose, opening the wonder of her eyes to see what had impeded her path. He could smell fresh soil, pine, and spring water from her. He had to admit, she was something else. Something, apparently, from the sign of her heavy breaths and sweat layering her skin, who was on the run.
