PHYSIENTS WILL ALWAYS OFFER BEST STORIES AND LIVE STREAMING ALL TIME
ALLURE OF THE NIGHT
Chapter 161 Berserk on the snow
Music Recommendation: Don’t be Voyeur with me- Michael Giacchino
—
A young Vincent was in shock.
All he could hear was the rustling of the nearby trees because of the wind and a bird that in the distance made a sound. He could still hear his mother’s last words, echoing in his ears before they turned distant as if fading into the background.
His mother no longer trembled in pain or cold. Instead, her head lay still on his lap and refused to wake up again.
“M-mother… Wake up,” the boy whispered with eyes full of tears. “Please….” He begged.
Seconds passed by and turned into a minute. And though Katherina had passed away, the blood didn’t stop dripping on the ground, which now touched Vincent’s legs and invaded his senses..
The boy, who had been hungry since he had last opened his eyes, his gums hurt and fangs appeared to peek out of his mouth. As much as he wanted to take a bite to quench his thirst, this was his beloved mother, and he would never disrespect her even after her death.
The few other vampire children, who were tied, smelt the scent of the fresh blood drifting in the air, and they started to behave errantly, trying to break free from the poles so they could bite into the human’s body.
After some time, two men who worked for Hellion returned to where the children and the woman were tied. On noticing more blood trails on the snowy ground, the men quickly caught sight of the woman next to a boy.
“Is she trying to untie him?!” one of them questioned and quickly made his way to where Vincent and his mother were.
The person grabbed Katherina’s arm and picked her up from the boy’s lap. He started to drag her away from there. Another one who noticed the woman staring at nothing pointed out, “She’s dead!”
[0)??? “So fast? You would think people from higher society would be strong, but look at her,” laughed the man. He grabbed the woman’s silver hair, and a young Vincent warned with a voice holding emptiness in it,
“You are hurting her, let her go.”
The man didn’t let go of Katherina’s hair and instead moved it in a circular motion. He snorted, “She’s already dead. Do you think she can feel anything?” He huffed.
The other man laughed and said, “These vampires sure are full of themselves. They don’t know when to keep quiet, do they?”
The two men made fun of Katherina’s dead body and the young boy whose eyes had grown distant. And as empty as his eyes looked, something lurked in its shadows as if it had been waiting, bloodthirsty.
“I will be sure to tell Hellion to pick you to be the next person to send to the council,” the man who didn’t let go of the dead woman’s hair laughed in the boy’s face. “Once he’s done planning the next move, you will be the right sacrifice. How would feel your mother’s body hanging—”
The men heard a growl erupt from the silver-haired boy’s throat and the sound of the metal clinking stronger. They were going to laugh at how pathetic the boy appeared, but then they heard a snap. The boy stood up with chains hanging on both his hands before they slid down and fell next to his feet, leaving the men in shock.
“How did you unbind yourself?!”
“Grab him quickly and tie him back to the pole before Hellion notices!” shouted the other man, who dropped the woman on the ground and ran towards Vincent.
One of the men got to Vincent faster than the other and caught hold of the boy’s arm, ready to twist it backwards. But suddenly, out of nowhere, the same man’s hand was caught by Vincent, and he turned it the other way. The next second, he did the same thing Hellion had done to the two children. The boy stuck his fingers and hand into the human’s chest and then mercilessly pulled out the man’s heart.
The other man saw this, and his eyes almost popped out of his face, as he hadn’t expected a young vampire to kill a grown man.
“You blood sucking thing!” The man spat and came to attack the boy.
But before the man could hit Vincent, the young vampire jumped right on the man, gripping his head and shoulder before sinking his fangs and drinking blood so fast that the human fumbled backwards and fell to the ground.
The man didn’t get a chance to save himself as the boy had sucked him dry by then.
Soon the sound of footsteps was heard approaching the scene after hearing the screams of the men. When the men appeared along with Hellion, their mouths fell open. It was because their two men were lying dead on the ground, and the small boy was drinking blood from one of them.
“What the hell…!” Exclaimed one of the men with widened eyes.
“How did he get himself free from the chains?!” Hellion demanded. Simultaneously the boy pulled away from his man’s neck. Vincent turned to look at them, with blood smeared on his mouth, dripping down on his clothes. “Kill him!” Hellion ordered and soon his men went to attack the young vampire.
But no matter how hard they tried, the men found it hard to catch a single young vampire. The boy had gone berserk, and for some reason it appeared as if he had gained immense strength out of nowhere.
“A vampire of his age is not supposed to have this much strength!” Said one of them before instructing, “Some of you grab his shoulders, and others grab his legs!”
“AHHH!” One of them screamed when Vincent took a large bite from the man’s flesh before tearing it open with blood oozing profusely.
Soon screams started to fill the place that belonged to the men, and one by one, they fell, bleeding in pain and succumbing to their deaths. Hellion didn’t know how it could happen. How such a small vampire could break free from the iron chains and kill his men present there. There was something wrong, but he didn’t have time to wonder what it was.
Deciding this place to be unsafe, Hellion quickly ran from there while there were two more men with whom the vampire was distracted.
Hellion ran as fast he could, passing through many trees in the thick forest. He huffed for air while looking over his shoulder to ensure the vampire had not followed him. The man ran even though his legs started to ache and didn’t stop until he felt it was safe.
Placing his hand on the bark of a tree, he gasped and tried to catch his breath. There was no way the vampire would come this far to chase him because that would be crazy. But when he turned, the little boy stood a few distance away from where he was.
Hellion gasped in surprise and then raised his hands, “Look boy, you don’t know what I am capable of so don’t come near me.” He quickly pulled out his glove, wearing it and swiped it in the air, “Come any closer and I will rip you into pieces,” he warned the boy.
But that didn’t stop the young Vincent from walking toward Hellion with murderous intentions.
_______________
ALLURE OF THE NIGHT
Chapter 162 Unextinguished anguish of the heart
The young boy’s hands were wet, dripping with the blood of the men he had killed without blinking his eyes. No matter how many men he had killed, his blood thirst hadn’t been quenched. He wanted more blood, but more importantly, to drink the blood of the man who had killed his beloved mother, leaving her to bleed to her death.
Hellion moved his clawed hand in front of him again while he walked backwards. He taunted,
“This is how all you blood sucking creatures are. You don’t care about others. All you care about is blood and it is never enough, is it? Traitor’s like your mother should be hanged to death! What I did to her was give her an easy way out!!”
Young Vincent didn’t like this man talking about his mother. He said, “Every time we have a celebration in the mansion, we make a cake that my mother designs. She would not let us take a bite or taste it.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?!” Hellion didn’t know if this little boy had gone insane and was talking rubbish.
The vampire boy continued saying, “But it wasn’t the cake we wanted. It was the tip of the cherry that was placed on top of the cake… and you are that.”
Hellion looked at the boy as if one of his men had hit him on his head. Instead of walking backwards, he turned and once again started to run. But his energy had depleted and he wheezed. He didn’t go too far as the vampire caught up to him, jumping on his back and leading them to fall to the ground..
The man and the boy rolled until hitting a tree. They struggled to gain the upper hand over the other, and Hellion used his clawed hand to swipe the boy’s chest, enough to get the boy off but not enough to kill him.
When Hellion tried to get up and flee, Vincent bit into the man’s arm, tearing it off.
“AHHHH!!!!!!!”
Hellion’s scream echoed through the forest, and he clutched his shoulder from which the boy had torn his forearm.
“This is how my mother must have felt when you hurt her,” said the boy without emotion. “You took her away from me.”
Hellion continued to scream and roll on the ground. He tried to crawl away, but the vampire followed him, picking up the glove with claws. The man realising his plight, now apologised,
“Why don’t we forget what happened? I won’t harm you and you don’t have to harm me. LISTEN TO ME!” He shouted in desperation.
To Vincent, the man’s words were soothing, but they didn’t soothe or fill the hollowness he felt in his chest.
Vincent quickly jabbed the metal claws into the human’s leg, and another scream erupted from Hellion’s throat.
“Stop! What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Hellion shouted, and unable to crawl, he gritted his teeth in pain.
“Repaying for what you did,” Came the calm words from the young vampire, and Hellion watched Vincent with terror in his eyes. Soon Vincent came to hover above and in front of the man’s chest.
“P-please, don’t kill me! You are a good boy, aren’t you!” Hellion trembled as he spoke. “Your mother was indeed a good woman. You wouldn’t want to disappoint her now, would you? Good people listen to their elders,” he laughed nervously.
Vincent sat on top of the man’s stomach, raising his hand, which held the claws and asked, “Are you ready to pay for your sins?”
Hellion shook his head. Vincent stabbed the metal claws into the man’s chest, not once or twice but several times. Hellion died with the multiple stabs and his body went still. Blood drops splattered on Vincent’s face and clothes, and his hand movement didn’t stop, as he continued to stab the man repeatedly, until he finally screamed in despair about losing his dear mother.
The melancholy scream echoed through the forest, shaking even the birds that had perched on the trees, making them fly away.
[Music Recommendation: Anderi- Martin Phipps]
The boy finally let go of the metal claws and stepped away from the dead man. He walked away from there, returning to where his sibling and his mother were. Even though he had killed his mother’s murderer, it didn’t ease his heart, and the emptiness in his eyes grew.
Reaching the place, the young boy walked to where his mother’s body lay on the cold ground.
The other children were stupefied and too stunned to speak after watching the bloodshed that had taken place, looking at the silver-haired boy with a look of weariness, as if he was worse than a devil.
Vincent sat next to his mother, fixing her dishevelled hair away from her face and combing her hair with his fingers.
He closed her beautiful eyes and made sure even in death she was comfortable and was lying respectably. He gently stroked his mother’s head and laid his head on her chest, hoping for a miracle where he would hear her heartbeat. But it was quiet.
Hours passed before people from the council arrived at the scene along with the men they had caught, who were Hellion’s men. When they came nearer, Hellion’s men’s eyes turned wide on noticing the gore and blood spread on the snow.
“What in God’s name happened here?!” Questioned one of the council members.
“Where’s the man who was leading this?” Another council member demanded Hellion’s men, who looked left and right before shaking their heads. “Huh. He fled I see, he must have known that this was going to happen.”
“Look there!” The third councilman pointed at where Vincent laid his head on the woman’s chest. “Do you think he killed all these men, Sire?!”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” came a voice that belonged to a small boy who made his way to the front. It was the head of the Inner Circle of the Council, and he noticed the silver-haired boy raise his head and look at him. “If we didn’t catch these humans responsible with the body, you would have told he was the one who operated this entire thing,” Clayton rolled his eyes.
“But he does look like that,” whispered the third councilman who had spoken earlier.
“He’s just a boy, and in shock,” replied another member.
While the four council members discussed upon this particular case, while questioning Hellion’s men, Clayton walked to where Vincent sat, and his eyes fell on the young vampire’s hands that were covered in blood. His red eyes met the boy’s coppery-red eyes that looked unfazed and empty. While his eyes still on the boy, he ordered,
“Get this place cleaned and the bodies sent to the council morgue.”
“Yes, Sire!”
______________
ALLURE OF THE NIGHT
Chapter 163 Emptiness
Music Recommendation: Respite- Fredrik Jonasson
—
When the two men of the Council came to carry Katherina’s body, Vincent glared at them. It was because the last man who had touched her had disrespectfully dragged her by her hair.
“They don’t mean any harm. Your mother’s body will be taken to the council morgue for inspection before her wounds will be sewn and sent back to you and your family,” spoke Clayton, who had been observing the young vampire with keen interest. The boy had been standing like a hawk, guarding his mother’s body.
Young Vincent stared at the person who spoke just now, not knowing who he was as he appeared to be of his own age. The person wore clothes similar to how adults wore. He asked,
“Who are you?”
Clayton stretched his hand forward, “Clayton Turner. The Head of the Inner Circle in the Council.” Seeing the boy not attempt to grab his hand, he said, “What happened here is unfortunate. There are times when the offender doesn’t cough up information quickly and it delays things.”
“You should have tortured the offenders,” Vincent’s reply was blunt, and Clayton’s eyes subtly widened.
Vincent’s eyes shifted from the council person to his mother, who looked like she was asleep and not in pain anymore.
“Even if you don’t feel like shaking hands with people, sometimes you need to. After all, I will need to check with what happened here and pass a judgement. You did create quite a bit of mess here,” Clayton stated in a friendly tone..
“My hands are bloody,” the boy reminded him, with his words lacking any emotions as if he was nothing but an empty shell.
“It doesn’t matter,” replied Clayton.
Young Vincent finally extended his hand forward and shook Clayton’s hand. But the head of the Inner Circle didn’t shake his hand to make any peace but because he had the ability to sense a person’s inner emotions.
But the astonishing thing was that Clayton felt nothing. Seeing the earlier glare, he was sure he would find anger or sorrow.
Clayton was well aware that the boy hadn’t killed his mother and hadn’t touched a single drop of her blood to drink, but the same couldn’t be said when it came to the humans who had abducted him. A vampire who killed even one person would have the emotion of rage, but this boy appeared calm. As if he had just woken up from a deep slumber.
Soon the parents of the abducted children were led by the council guards to the forest where the group of humans had held their children.
While most of the parents reunited with their children, who looked relieved, the same couldn’t be said about three other parents. Maxwell’s parents had been directly called to the Council along with the parents of the young vampiress, who had been the first victim of Hellion. Viscount Moriarty was called to the forest to pick up his children.
Eduard Moriarty, who had just finished seeing his wife’s body and speaking to the Head in charge, came to where young Vincent and Marceline sat next to each other. There was a shadow underneath his eyes as he hadn’t slept and had been looking for his wife and children the entire time they were missing.
Marceline jumped from where she had been sitting, into her father’s arms and cried.
Eduard gently stroked the back of his daughter’s head, “Forgive me for not being able to be here soon.”
“I was so scared!” Marceline cried with tears falling from her face, wetting the front of his coat. “What took you so long? Please don’t leave me alone!” Her body trembled.
“I am so sorry, my dear. Believe me, I did everything I could to find all of you as soon as possible,” Eduard tried to calm his daughter. “You are safe now. No one is going to hurt you again.”
While Eduard rubbed his daughter’s back to soothe her, his eyes fell on his son. His young son’s clothes and face was splattered with blood, and his hands were inked in red. Letting go of Marceline for a moment, he hugged Vincent who didn’t say anything.
When Clayton appeared next to the mourning family. Eduard let go of Vincent to turn to the council person, who said, “The humans were angry at the people of the high society and wanted to ‘reform’ the society the way they wanted. It was a random kidnapping and your wife by chance got caught up in it along with your children.”
Eduard clenched his jaw and asked, “When will I be able to bring her home?”
“I will tell my men to work faster so that she can return to you at the earliest. Maybe midnight, Viscount Moriarty,” Clayton’s words didn’t rise or fall and stayed the same.
Eduard nodded while keeping a straight face, but his eyes held sorrow that no one could fathom. He spoke bitterly, “How strange that it is always the ones with a good heart who suffer. My wife never hurt anyone, by words or actions and was always considerate and mindful over the slightest things.”
“I am sorry for your family’s loss,” said Clayton, watching the two children, where the vampiress hugged her father’s leg, and the other didn’t respond. He asked, “Not to bring doubt in your mind… Why didn’t you turn her?”
It was because the pureblooded vampires could turn humans into vampires easily, while the average vampire’s successful transformation rate was low. And it was rare for a pureblooded vampire to marry a human, even if the person came from a wealthy family as the vampires preferred their own kind, thought Clayton in his mind.
Eduard Moriarty pursed his lips and replied,
“It was her wish to stay human.” Turning her would only be going against her wish, and Eduard had loved his wife. They had met by chance in one of the balls, and like many, he had been taken by her beautiful silver hair before he came to know her.
One of the council members arrived at where they were and informed Clayton,
“Sire, we are unable to find this person, whom the humans described to be the leader. We’ll need to get the dogs to sniff the place. We’ll also need the boy to come with us to Darthmore, so that we can get a report from him.”
Eduard frowned. He asked, “Can’t it be done here? They have been here since last evening without food or rest. You don’t expect a twelve-year-old to sit through it.”
“It is just your son, Viscount Moriarty. He was the only one out of the other children who was free from chains and his hands are covered in blood,” the council member stated with little to no hesitation.
“We want to see whose blood is on his hand. The men here and your wife–“
“It would be best that you don’t complete that sentence,” Eduard glared at the councilman for even thinking that. “Not only did you fail in keeping the humans from doing something like this, but you have the nerve to insinuate that my son killed his mother.”
The councilman bowed and said, “We are only following protocols and making sure that your son is not going to be a threat in the future. You know how these cases wo–“
“You will not be taking my children anywhere.” Eduard stood between Vincent and the councilman and said, “Vincent didn’t kill his mother and I can tell that with confidence. You should focus on those humans who brutally left my family out here in the cold. Those humans from the lower-class hurt and left my wife to die….”
The young vampiress heard the words spoken by her father about the lower-class humans, the people who were responsible for all of this. Humans were the worst.
Clayton raised his hand at the councilman to stop, “Franklin.”
“Sire?” the councilman responded.
“You can leave the boy from the questions and make the final report of this case. The entire operation was done by some humans, and the others are only victims,” Clayton stated before his eyes went back to the boy, meeting his eyes. He said, “I believe Vincent Moriarty was being attacked by the humans and acted in defence?”
The young boy stared at Clayton. Everyone believed the boy would nod to agree with Clayton’s words to get away from the situation. But instead, Vincent replied,
“I killed them all as they deserved it.”
Clayton brought his hand to brush the bridge of his nose, and the other councilman’s mouth fell open on hearing the boy’s answer. H-how could the boy say that confidently as if he had achieved something?! The councilman questioned.
Clayton sighed and turned to give a look at his man, who fixed the look of shock on his face and nodded. He said, “I will go and look into other things then,” and left the place
After having a few more words exchanged between the Head of the Inner circle and the Viscount, Eduard said,
“My children are tired and there are a lot of things to attend to. Excuse me.”
Clayton gave a slight nod, “I will see you tomorrow at the Council.”
Eduard caught hold of his daughter’s hand in one hand. He offered his other hand to take it but didn’t push him. His son had always been independent and having lost his mother, the man didn’t push him.
Before the Moriarty family left the place, the young vampire turned to Clayton and said,
“You will find the body of the human on the south side of the hut.”
The young boy walked away with his father and sister, while Clayton stood there watching the back of the silver-haired boy with slightly narrowed eyes.
______________
ALLURE OF THE NIGHT
Chapter 164 Burying kindness
The next day at the cemetery in Skellington town, people gathered around Katherina Moriarty’s casket in the already dug ground.
The young Moriarty boy stood next to his father, clothed all in black, wearing a black coat with fur around its neck and lapel. His sister Marceline was nowhere to be seen with them or in the cemetery.
The priest had been summoned to perform the burial ceremony and spoke about Katherina’s soul, which was now resting in peace. The priest’s voice was pushed to the background as Vincent watched his mother take her longest sleep, knowing she would never wake up again. After all, it was him who had closed her eyes to hide her sight from the awful world that had taken her away from him.
When it was time to close the deceased woman’s casket, Vincent felt pain hit his chest, similar to the lightning in the clouds. Snowflakes started falling from the sky, and the people who had come to attend the funeral slowly started to leave one by one after offering condolences to the Viscount and the boy.
Some of the acquaintances noticed the young vampiress to be missing, and one of them curiously asked Eduard,
“Is Miss Marceline well? Forgive me, it is just that I haven’t seen her here and was worried.”
Eduard nodded before politely answering, “She was feeling a little unwell and we thought it was best that she rests.”
“I see, that’s right. She’s too young and it must be hard for her after what she went through to attend her mother’s funeral. Poor child,” sympathised another acquaintance of theirs. “I am sorry that this happened to your family. Lady Katherina was taken away too quickly.”
While the adults spoke to each other, the young silver-haired boy continued to stand in front of his mother’s grave, staring at it.
Days passed, and one day in the Moriarty mansion during breakfast, the Viscount spoke to his daughter, who hadn’t visited her mother’s grave, which concerned him..
“Marceline, your brother is going to visit your mother’s grave at noon. Why don’t you go with him? There will be less crowd at that time.”
Marceline, who was silently eating her food, looked at her father and replied, “I think I will stay in the mansion, father.”
Eduard found it rather strange that even after weeks had passed, his daughter had not gone to visit her mother. He believed it was because Marceline had gone through too much trauma and couldn’t handle it, unlike Vincent. He said,
“I insist that you go and visit your mother’s grave. Pay her your respects, even if it’s short.”
The young vampiress clutched the cutlery she held and replied, “I don’t want to go there.”
“What’s going on, Marceline?” The vampiress’s father questioned. “Is there a reason why you have been avoiding visiting your mother?”
Vincent didn’t bother to indulge himself in the conversation even though he did hear and see what was going on. With Marceline being his sibling, he knew exactly what was happening with her.
“I don’t want to do anything with humans,” though young, Marceline’s words were curt. “Humans are weak, and are the reason why our lives has turned sad. I won’t visit a grave when she only lied to us that everything was going to be fine.”
“Marceline!” Mr. Moriarty glared at his daughter and scolded her, “You are talking about your mother and you will not disrespect her.”
“Why not!!” Marceline pushed her plate to the side, and the cutlery next to her on the table fell to the ground. The young girl screamed, “She is not my mother! I refuse to believe a weak woman like her is my mother! All humans are worthless and pathetic!”
“You will not speak another ill word about your mother, Marceline Moriarty, else I will send you to the Sabbit,” Eduard couldn’t believe how everything had changed their lives in a day. The vampiress’s body turned frigid on hearing her father’s words.
The Sabbit was where troublesome children were sent to study and behave properly, away from their families and could meet their family only once in a year.
“I won’t go there! Why don’t you ask Vince! He hates humans too! We hate humans–“
“You will visit the cemetery and that’s final,” ordered Eduard in a stern tone and with a glare that he had never used on his children until now.
The vampiress’s chair screeched in the dining room, and getting up, she ran towards the door and out of the room. Eduard sighed in frustration. If Katherina was alive, she would have told him everything would be alright, and like many things, this would pass too. But his daughter was testing him, and though she was his blood, he wouldn’t stand the little one from belittling the woman who gave birth to her.
“I will talk to her, father. Don’t worry about it,” said Vincent, his coppery-eyes meeting his father’s eyes.
Eduard nodded worriedly, “I must be doing things wrong.”
“You aren’t. We are all hurting, and you need your time to grieve over the loss. Leave Marceline to me, I will talk to her,” Vincent assured his father.
Vincent could tell that his sister’s words had shocked and upset his father. Their parents had brought them up with lots of love and had spoiled them like any young master and mistress of a pureblooded family. They had not once raised their hands at them, which was why it would be hard for his father.
During noon, Vincent stepped inside the carriage, and so did an unwilling moody Marceline, who crossed her arms and sat on the other side of the seat. The coachman opened the door when the carriage reached the Skellington cemetery, and the Moriarty siblings stepped in front of the old cemetery.
When the young children stepped inside, Vincent walked towards his mother’s grave, while Marceline dawdled at the front. Her eyes fell on Maxwell’s parents, who stood in front of another grave she believed to be her friend’s grave. The young vampiress’s feet quickly moved, and instead of following her brother, she made her way to where the Anderson couple stood.
Marceline was going to greet them when Mrs. Anderson sent her a glare, “What are you doing here?”
The young vampiress’s eyebrows furrowed, and she started to speak, “I–I came to–“
“Haven’t you done enough by stealing our only son, and now you want to steal the rest of our peace?” Mrs. Anderson demanded from the young girl. “If it weren’t for you, our son would still be alive! You wanted him to accompany you back to your mansion, when you could have gone back home yourself!”
“I-I am sorry,” whispered Marceline, her face paled and turned small.
“Always used to dragging him everywhere, and you dragged him to his death! You killed our only son!” Mrs. Anderson soon broke into tears, and Mr. Anderson put his arm around his wife’s shoulder to console her. “Stay away from us!”
The guilt that Marceline had felt when her friend Maxwell died had been buried deep down, making it hard for her to grasp the situation, and she stared at the Andersons.
Mr. Anderson looked at the vampiress and said, “I have already spoken to your father and we don’t want to do anything with you or your family. Vampires and werewolves are meant to stay away from each other, because together they bring troubles, just like what happened.”
“Maxwell was my friend…” Marceline whispered, feeling her heartbreak.
Mrs. Anderson wiped the tears from her eyes and said, “Stay far away from his grave and us. Far far away and it would be better if we don’t cross our paths ever again. Leave now.”
Marceline’s face turned red in embarrassment, and her lips trembled before she put up a smile as if everything was okay. Turning away from them, she made her way to where Vincent stood in front of their mother’s grave.
It was all her fault, the young vampiress thought bitterly. She despised the humans because of how frail and unreliable they were. She said to her brother,
“Can you believe what the Anderson’s told? That I shouldn’t visit Maxwell’s grave.”
Vincent, who had been staring at the headstone of their mother, calmly said,
“A person who cannot respect the woman who loved and took care of her, who is ready to turn her back on the person once she leaves. I am not surprised they don’t want you visiting Maxwell’s grave.”
“How can you say that, Vince? You were right there with me and you saw what happened,” Marceline’s eyebrows furrowed.
A small smile came on the boy’s face, and there was nothing kind about it. He said, “Are you sure you saw what I saw, sister?” He turned to meet Marceline’s gaze.
Marceline stared back at Vincent and complained, “If she was not a human, we would have been saved. Maxwell would have been saved too. We would not be standing here. It was because she was a weak hu–“
SLAP!
The young vampiress’s mouth was left open in shock after being slapped by her elder brother. Wind passed across the cemetery, picking dried leaves and pushing them to one side.
Vincent stated, “It is because of your recklessness all those things happened. Just because father won’t discipline you the way ought to be taught, don’t think I won’t. If you have nothing nice to say about our mother, don’t talk about her.”
Unshed tears brimmed in the young vampiress’s eyes before she ran back to the carriage without speaking another word.
Vincent turned back to look at his mother’s grave and remembered something she had told him.
‘You don’t have to follow what others do.’
While Katherina had meant it so that her son could be kinder, the silver-haired boy’s eyes darkened and he took it another way.
_____________
ALLURE OF THE NIGHT
Chapter 165 End of Carnival
Music Recommendation: A meeting is arranged- John Lunn
—
Remembering the day his mother had been killed, it left a bitterness in Vincent’s mouth. He knew his mother was dead because she had sacrificed herself to keep him and his sister alive. And the very thought irked him.
He despised his mother’s kindness, knowing she wouldn’t have been killed if she had been selfish. It was the first time he had spoken to anyone about his mother’s death.
But Vincent didn’t narrate every detail to Eve, just enough to let her know what had happened.
On the other hand, hearing what the first Lady Moriarty had to endure broke Eve’s heart. And considering how young Vincent and Marceline were, she could only imagine the pain the two had gone through.
She saw Vincent stretch his arms above his head from where he sat.
Eve now understood what Vincent meant when he said his intention in saving the mermaid was for his selfish reasons. The entire time he had spoken about his past, she noticed how detached he appeared as if it didn’t concern him.
She acknowledged, “That’s why your father married Lady Annalise.”
It was understandable that Mr. Moriarty, who had lost his wife and the mother of his children, would want to protect his family. Even if it meant marrying a woman whose nature was opposite to his first wife.
A wicked smile appeared on Vincent’s lips while he stared at the forest. He said,.
“Vampires marrying humans isn’t rare, but when a pureblooded vampire marries a human it raises eyebrows and makes the weaker partner into an obvious target. After some time my father decided to take another wife to fill the position that my mother had left after her death.”
Vincent held a thoughtful expression.
“How does one fill the position of the dead,” Vincent chuckled as if finding the idea funny. “My sister was ecstatic with the idea of having Annalise as her mother.”
Eve’s eyebrows furrowed.
If Eve didn’t know that Marceline had given things for the ball that could have embarrassed her, she would have found it hard to believe that a gentle vampiress like Marceline got along so well with a person like Lady Annalise. It was because Lady Annalise was proud of being a vampire and mingled only with the wealthy.
“Marceline loves Annalise.”
Hearing Vincent’s words, Eve asked him, “What about you?”
“Are you asking me if I hate her?” the smile on Vincent’s lips didn’t lower. He then said,
“I don’t, but neither do I love her. After a person goes through grief, then comes acceptance and unless a person accepts reality, it is hard to cross over to peace. Compared to most women who tried to attain my father’s affections just so that they could be the Viscounts wife, Annalise was better. She married my father because she liked him. And unlike many men, my father made sure we were okay with her.”
Eve found this piece of information to be surprising, and her eyebrows subtly raised. She asked,
“You agreed?”
It was because, from what Vincent said, his mother sounded the opposite of how Lady Annalise was. Eve didn’t forget how against the woman was when she joined as Allie’s governess.
“Why? Is it surprising?” Vincent questioned while meeting her blue eyes that looked like an unwavering river of the forest.
“Annalise comes from a high-class family of vampires. Her attitude is expected, it is something you will find in all the vampiress. Apart from her slight snobbish nature and need to keep the lower-class people away from her and her family, she’s somewhere tolerable,” explained Vincent in a nonchalant tone.
So Vincent only enjoyed giving people a hard time in general, thought Eve.
After hearing a part of his story that he must have shared only because they were a little similar, Eve understood Vincent a little better than before.
The wind didn’t stop blowing where they sat, and Eve used her hands to keep her hair from flying in front of her face. When Vincent continued looking at the sky, she couldn’t help but stare at his side profile. He looked distant like the stars, far away from reach that shined brightly and alone.
“Did you fall in love with me, Ms. Barlow?” Eve heard Vincent ask her.
“What?” She asked, startled.
“You have been staring at me for quite some time now. I was worried if your affections for the Duke had lowered and I replaced them.”
“I didn’t know staring at someone equalled giving them affections,” Eve responded to his teasing words. She asked him, “Your mother had the same hair as yours?”
“Darker than mine,” he hummed before standing up from where he had been sitting. He stated, “It is getting late,” as if not wanting to talk about his mother anymore.
Eve gave him a nod, standing up, she dusted the back of her dress.
“I will see you at the ground,” Vincent said to her, walking towards the edge. He turned and said, “Walk quickly unless you want to turn deaf.”
With those words, Vincent took one step in the air and quickly disappeared from her sight. Before she could understand what he meant, the large bell attached to the ceiling moved to one side, and the sound rang loudly in her ears.
Covering her ears, Eve quickly made her way down the spiral stairs while the tower bell rang, letting the people in the Hollow valley and other people travelling nearby know that an hour had passed. When she reached the ground, she found Vincent standing with his hands in his trouser pockets. When he turned to look at her in the eyes, she noticed the glimmer of darkness that didn’t leave his eyes.
“I will drop you to your home. The last thing I need is for you to meet with another catastrophe tonight,” stated Vincent.
When Eve removed the coat she was wearing, Vincent said, “Keep it for now. You can give it back to me once we reach Meadow.” He started to walk, and she quickly followed him, walking next to him. She said,
“People are going to wonder why you let me wear your coat.”
“I believe people will talk about you more than about me, which is even though I belong to the high society,” Vincent was taller than Eve, and she had to crane her neck to look at him. When he saw Eve fold the coat and place it over her forearm, he said, “And now you are my servant for holding my coat.”
Eve sighed before wearing the coat back around her shoulders.
“So much better. You could have just let it be than worry about what people might think. It isn’t like you plan to enter high society to hear what they say,” hummed Vincent.
Eve turned offended by the vampire’s words and said, “You don’t know that.”
“I do, which is why I am telling you. You are a governess who just started her career. And doesn’t have any plans to marry any wealthy man. Not to mention, it isn’t like you are going to find a pot of gold to be rich overnight. I just don’t see it happening,” Vincent shrugged his shoulders and Eve slightly grit her teeth.
“I will work hard and be rich!” Came Eve’s determined words, but Vincent only laughed at her silliness.
“Sure. If you successfully turn into a vampire and work for a few centuries, which I doubt you will take in your peculiar case,” Vincent’s eyes held amusement when they met Eve’s frowning face. “It is why I encouraged you to be with the Duke, but it seems like your time is up as another woman has captured his attention.”
“Maybe I will murder someone and turn wealthy,” Eve mumbled while glaring at Vincent.
“What an interesting idea. As your friend, I would be more than happy to pick your victim, and accept fifty percent share from what you get. Of course, you are free to give me more,” responded Vincent, looking in a certain direction.
“I will kill you,” Eve muttered before her eyes followed the direction where Vincent was looking.
The frown on her face disappeared when she noticed it was Duke Noah Sullivan, standing next to the woman he had earlier introduced this evening. It seemed like they were enjoying their time together.
“Who is the woman next to him?” Vincent questioned Eve.
“Lady Anaya Chambers. A family acquaintance of the Duke,” answered Eve.
“Mhm, keeping notes of all information about whom the man speaks to,” Vincent gave her a knowing look while she shook her head.
“You were the one who asked me. We met earlier and he introduced her to me,” stated Eve, and she shook her head, “Your mind runs wild.”
“Oh, darling. The wild imagination you speak about, you wouldn’t be able to fathom how deep it runs,” he flashed her a cunning smile.
While Vincent and Eve continued to walk on the side of the streets, heading towards where Vincent’s carriage was parked, Lady Anaya’s eyes fell on the human and the unusual silver-haired man. She asked,
“Who is that man next to whom your friend is walking with?”
Noah’s gaze turned away from the lady he had been accompanying, falling on Eve and Vincent. He stared for a second longer before answering,
“That is Vincent Moriarty. One of the pureblooded vampires.”
“A vampire. Seems like a gentleman, who offered his coat to the lady. They must be close,” Lady Anaya spoke with curiosity in her eyes. Earlier, the young woman had been worried that the human, occupied Duke Noah’s attention
She then said in a light-hearted manner, “Where does Lady Genevieve come from again?”
Not receiving a reply, Lady Anaya turned to find the Duke staring at the couple with an expressionless look that was hard to decipher. Before the evening, when Lady Anaya had mentioned their parents looking forward to their relationship growing into something, the Duke had not corrected her in front of the human, making her believe that there was nothing to worry about.
“Meadow,” replied Noah, tearing his gaze away from Eve and he offered a polite smile to Lady Anaya before asking, “Shall we?”
The young woman smiled at him, nodding before quickly glancing in the direction of where the couple walked.
__________
NOTE: PHYSINEWS MEDIA WE RESPECT AUTHORS & CONTENT OWNERS WE MADE THIS POST TO ENTERTAIN EVERYONE DISCLAIMERS PLEASE ENTER HERE
--------------
∆∆∆∆∆∆
