.jpeg)
PHYSIENTS WILL ALWAYS OFFER BEST STORIES AND LIVE STREAMING ALL TIME
ALLURE OF THE NIGHT
Chapter 191 What changed
Meeting Lady Anaya’s concerned face, Eve smiled at the young woman and replied, “Yes, I am fine,” on noticing the young she-wolf holding a frown, she added, “I am not used to staying out this long.”
Eve didn’t mean to think about the time she had spent with Vincent, alone in the room. But it was hard to get rid of the way his lips, tongue, and breath felt on her skin. Minutes had passed since it had happened, yet she could still feel it.
“I can understand how that feels. Initially, when I started attending soirees, I would always get tired and catch a fever. But then that was also because it was also during the time when I was transitioning,” Lady Anaya explained to Eve. She paused and asked, “I hope you don’t mind me talking. I have been told I get ahead of myself and don’t realise when to stop.”
Eve shook her head, “I think you speak the normal amount of words one needs to speak, Lady Anaya. You do not have to worry about it.”
Her eyes drifted to look back at Vincent, who held a smirk on his lips while he listened to one of the council members speak to him.
She had only given her blood to Vincent, but with how her body had heated, she felt like she had sinned with him.
Lady Anaya smiled before taking a sip from her glass and asked, “Are you doing anything particular this Sunday?”
“I have to watch over the carpenter’s work and someone will be coming to paint the house. Why do you ask?” Eve asked with a question in her eyes.
Lady Anaya looked slightly surprised and asked, “Oh, is it for any particular occasion?”
“The house needed some repairs to be done and we thought it was time to get it done,” answered Eve, and then she asked, “Why did you ask?”
“It is nothing of importance,” Lady Anaya offered Eve a polite smile and said, “I don’t know many people here except for Noah’s family. I thought to invite you to join me for an afternoon tea, only if you are free of course. I wouldn’t want to impose on you.”
“Maybe another time,” Eve suggested and the young woman nodded.
“Yes, that would be lovely,” Lady Anaya said, returning Eve’s smile.
Vincent, who was done talking to the council members, turned to Eve, which she caught as she was waiting for him to leave this place. He made his way to where she was while his eyes fixed on her, and Eve took a breath as if trying to fix her composure. Lady Anaya offered a small bow to him, but Vincent being Vincent, didn’t respond and said to Eve,
“We’ll be leaving.”
Eve nodded before turning to Lady Anaya and bowed, “Thank you for your company, Lady Anaya. I had a good time.”
“I share the same feelings, Ms. Barlow. I hope we can catch up with each other soon,” Lady Anaya offered a polite bow and watched the couple walk away from there.
Eve and Vincent walked through the corridors before stepping out of the mansion. On their way, Eve didn’t talk to him, and neither did he. She had calmed her breathing, telling herself that was how vampires drank blood from people, and the turmoil in her chest would settle by the next morning.
Mr. Briggs was already standing at the carriage, waiting for them and he opened the door.
Eve lifted the front of her dress and stepped inside and was soon followed by Vincent, who took a seat on the other end of where she sat. When the coachman closed the door, Vincent looked at Eve, who was busily smoothening her gown’s skirt.
He stared at her because it had been five minutes since she had been fixing it. At this rate, she would not need to iron her dress the next time. He asked her,
“Are you feeling alright?” Eve felt blood rush up her neck.
“Yes.”
Eve’s reply was short, and she avoided looking at Vincent. This made him narrow his eyes for ignoring him.
“What are you doing?!” Eve asked wide-eyed when Vincent scooted towards her. He had a lot more space on his side of the seat.
“Thought I would get some body heat as I was feeling cold,” came the sarcastic words from Vincent, and he looked into her blue eyes while her face started to turn pink. He raised his hand and placed two fingers on her forehead, “Doesn’t seem like you are sick.”
Eve moved her head backwards, which wasn’t much because of the lack of space near her. She breathed, “I told you I am fine.”
Vincent continued to stare at her before his lips curved into a wicked smile and he said, “You are thinking about what happened between us. How cute.”
Like him, Eve used her finger to push him back so that he wasn’t going to lean in further toward her. But the vampire didn’t budge, and her index finger only turned crooked.
Vincent tilted his head and asked, “What are you thinking about?”
“On which side of the bed to sleep when I get home to have a sound sleep,” Eve responded while she stared back at him. Only Vincent Moriarty would be brazen enough to ask a question like that, and she glared at him.
The carriage started, but he didn’t pull away from where he was. Instead, he said,
“Your words and the expression on your face don’t match. Do you want to know what I think you are thinking?”
“I will pass,” Eve was embarrassed enough for the night and wanted for the ground to swallow her.
Vincent noticed Eve’s guarded expression along with a look of suspicion that was often directed at him. He whispered to her,
“I haven’t done anything for you to pass… out.”
Eve wasn’t sure if Vincent was high with the alcohol he had drunk back in the soiree or if he was in a far worse mood to poke fun at her. Though the pureblooded vampire was often playful, right now, something was different.
Vincent’s hand shot to hold her chin, which was gentle yet she knew if she were to try to pull away it wouldn’t be easy. Eve felt her heart jump. He hummed,
“Your words might deny the taste of pleasure you had earlier, but your body says something else. There’s no need to be embarrassed about it, it happens to most of them.”
“Good to know… I am going to have a backache,” Eve complained to him as she sat in an uncomfortable position with him invading her space.
The next moment, Eve felt Vincent gently bring her forward with his finger that didn’t let go from under her chin. He leaned closer to her face and his lips parted, while the expression on his face was serious.
She stuttered, “M-Mr. Moriarty–“
“Do your eyes change colour with the weather or place?” Vincent questioned her while staring into her eyes.
Eve snapped out of her embarrassment and asked, “What? No, it doesn’t.”
“I thought so,” Vincent murmured.
He had never seen anything other than blue in her eyes until now. On a closer look, he realised it wasn’t yellow but gold in colour, similar to the outline of her scales when she turned into a mermaid.
“This happened the other night too. Yellow eyes…” Eve let him know.
Vincent’s lips twisted before he questioned, “So it has happened before,” and she nodded.
“Once. The night I returned from the Winter’s Carnival,” replied Eve.
When Eve blinked the next time, the golden specks had disappeared and were a clear blue. That means in the last few days, something changed in her, thought Vincent to himself.
____________
ALLURE OF THE NIGHT
Chapter 192 Promise to the lover
Music Recommendation: Watching Ulla- Alexandre Desplat
—
The carriage rode through the forest, moving past the thick trees in darkness except for the lantern that hung at the side, which was now swayed by the moments of the vehicle.
Eve stared at her reflection in the window, where her blue eyes stared. Vincent had pulled away from her to sit on his side of the seat, crossing his legs while he stared at her.
“Did your mother ever tell you anything more about your father? Where he came from or what was his name?” Vincent questioned her, supporting his chin with the edge of his palm.
Eve looked away from her reflection and shook her head, “No. Not that I could remember anything,” she answered. “Is it bad?”
“The colour of anyone’s iris changing is rarely ever good news. In vampires and werewolves, it often indicates a corrupted soul or heart,” Vincent responded before dropping his hand and straightening his body. He continued, “A human never shows such traits unless they are bitten by the supernatural. You are the child of a merman and a human, so the rule that applies to you is of the supernatural beings of our society.”
Eve frowned. She asked, “You think I have a corrupted heart?”
“I cannot tell it in surety, but it is a possibility. Unless your father was an important merman with powers and you are the lost princess. That would be a good theory in the clouds,” Vincent stated in a nonchalant tone which held a subtle sarcasm.
Was it possible though? Or was it that her heart or her soul was corrupted?
She knew what it meant when it came to vampires and werewolves. Because it was those corrupted beings, who turned into rogues and tried to cause chaos and death in the towns.
“But my eyes have never changed colours until now. Wouldn’t that mean the corruption took place recently?” Eve asked Vincent, who stared at her with a serious expression on his face.
“It can be one out of two things here. One, something happened recently. Or two, your corruption was dormant until now and is only showing now,” stated Vincent, noticing the worry marring the mermaid’s face. “Or it can be a third option.”
Eve’s eyes raised to meet his coppery-red eyes, “That it has nothing to do with possibility one and two.”
Vincent gave her a nod, “Yes.” From what he knew, Eve had no sudden changes in her life. He said, “Maybe you should jog your memory of the past and see if you find something in there.”
Her only memories were the time she had fondly spent with her mother, which was later followed by her mother’s gruesome death. She frowned before asking him,
“You mean I go back to Crowburry?” The last time she had visited the town, she had ended up in the dungeon.
A small smile crept upon Vincent’s lips, and he leaned forward. He tapped on the glass in front of them, behind where the coachman Briggs sat.
Vincent ordered his coachman, “Drive to Crowburry.”
“Yes, Master Vincent!” The coachman quickly obliged, and they heard the horses neigh.
Vincent said to Eve, “Better for you to have a chaperon than get lost by yourself, isn’t it?”
Eve hadn’t expected him to deviate from the path, and she could only nod.
When the carriage arrived at the almost deserted town of Crowbury, Vincent’s coachman pulled the reins of the horses, and the carriage came to a halt. The coachman got down from his seat and opened the carriage door for them to get down.
When Eve stepped foot on the ground and looked around, she noticed nothing had changed since her last visit to this town. As she and Vincent started to walk, she asked,
“What is going to happen to this town once everyone leaves here?”
Vincent, who walked next to her, his eyes moved across the place. He said, “The town will be rebuilt and be occupied by the wealthy.”
This was what usually happened. Sometimes things happened out of pure coincidence. Sometimes, a few authorities let things happen, like the poor moving out of their house one by one for safety reasons, which eventually led to an empty village or town.
“One day the poor will have nowhere to go,” Eve murmured as they walked on the deserted street with no light except the moonlight that fell on the ground.
“Isn’t it wonderful that you have a generous employer who pays you well? You don’t have to worry about such things,” said Vincent with a bright smile. “If it makes you feel any better, your good friend, the Duke, is working on bringing an order to be passed around here to catch the rogues. After all, he is in charge of making sure that the rogue werewolves don’t hunt the innocent people.”
Eve was glad to hear that Noah was doing something for the welfare of the people, just like he had told her once when they were talking.
Returning to the town felt nostalgic; Eve missed her mother more than before.
Though she didn’t say anything, Vincent heard the change in the mermaid’s heartbeat and his eyes moved to the corner to watch her.
“This is the house where my mother and I lived,” Eve said when they reached in front of the house. She stepped inside the broken house.
Noticing the broken furniture and the mess inside the house, Vincent whistled. He remarked, “Looks like someone came in here looking for you.”
“The guard said that sometimes the nomads steal things from the houses,” said Eve, her voice turning distant. She walked around the house before sitting on the bed and staring at it. “I don’t think there’s anything more than what I already know of.”
“Think harder.”
Vincent doubted there was anything of value left, considering the broken roof, the rain over the years must have turned mouldy. He heard Eve say,
“When my mother would return home, she would bring food for me to eat. Food that came from the wealthy that we couldn’t afford. She would then help me bathe, make up time for the hours we were apart. Listen to what I did and tell me about how good of a man my father was.”
Vincent watched Eve’s eyes have a dazed look as if she was lost in her own thoughts. He questioned, “What were her words about your father?”
Eve fell silent, feeling the memories project from deep within her mind, not the house. She said,
“That he loved me and her very much, and he wished for nothing but our happiness… That it was her responsibility to keep me safe no matter what. That she promised my father to be true to their love and would never break it,” Eve looked away from the broken bed, and her eyes met Vincent’s. Her eyes glistened. She said, “I don’t think there’s an answer here.”
Feeling overwhelmed, Eve stepped outside the house, leaving Vincent inside the house.
And maybe if Vincent had stepped forward and opened the cupboards, he would have noticed there was something familiar that he was once searching for. A coat with patchwork that belonged to a little girl of seven or eight.
He stepped outside the house and noticed Eve standing with her arms crossed against her chest.
While Vincent and Eve were in Crowburry, back in the Marshall’s mansion, one of the servants caught sight of Mr. Hart lying in the garden.
“Mr. Hart, are you alright?!” The servant quickly ran to him, hearing the man groan. Almost an hour had passed since he fell unconscious, and his head felt heavy.
“Um, I am fine,” Mr. Hart replied in a slur while rubbing his forehead. He looked around the place as if searching for something or someone before he was helped by the servant to stand up on his feet. “My head feels like it is going to burst any second. Take me to my carriage.”
“Yes, Sire,” the servant obliged, putting the wealthy man’s thick arm around his shoulder, he led him away from the garden.
On the way towards his carriage, Mr. Hart groaned while trying to remember the last thing before falling to the ground. And while the servant supported the man, he met the Duke of Woodlock, his father and a lady.
Upon seeing the intoxicated councilman, Noah’s father asked, “You do not look that good, Mr. Hart. Do you need some help?”
Mr. Hart waved his hand and smiled, “I must have drank another glass of alcohol.”
“Seems like it,” Noah murmured under his breath. It seemed that Mr. Hart had fallen hard on his face, as there was a bruise on his cheek. No, that wasn’t from hitting the ground, he said in his mind. It looked like someone had punched the councilman.
“Have you seen this woman with yellow eyes?” Mr. Hart asked with a slur, and his head moved like an owl. “Bright yellow eyes. We had things to discuss” He then stared at Lady Anaya, wondering if she was the woman he had spoken to earlier.
“He must be looking for a she-wolf,” Lady Anaya whispered under her breath.
Mr. Hart continued, “She had mesmerising eyes, and her voice so sweet,” and the other three people stared at the drunk man.
A subtle frown appeared on Noah’s face before he ordered the servant, “Mr. Hart is tired. Take him to his carriage.”
The servant nodded and with difficulty, led the intoxicated man away from there. Noah’s father asked, “Which woman was he talking about?”
Lady Anaya sighed and replied, “Probably an imaginary woman. There was no woman with yellow eyes.”
Noah didn’t respond and continued staring at Mr. Hart’s back.
Back in the town of Crowburry, Eve heard Vincent’s footsteps approaching her from behind, and he came to stand in front of her. For a few seconds, they stood there in silence. After a while, she said,
“I don’t think there was a single day where my mother and I sat down to have breakfast together. I remember her kissing me before she would leave for her work,” Eve raised her hand to place it on her forehead. “Sometimes, when I would wake up, she would tell me to go back to sleep, that she would come back to me. No matter what people speak about her… she was a good woman.”
Eve’s sorrowful eyes met Vincent’s that stared back at her.
“If that is what you believe, why do you look sad then, little girl? What others think doesn’t define a person,” stated Vincent, and Eve smiled.
“Maybe that is how it works in your world. The place I belong to is defined by our actions, words and people,” which was how the society functioned. “Just because a cat closes its eyes and drinks the milk, so that it can believe that no one is seeing it, doesn’t mean no one is watching it.”
Vincent chuckled at her words. He said, “Why care about what people think, when they don’t care about you at all?” He raised his eyebrows. “I don’t care what your mother did when she was alive because it doesn’t concern me. If she killed for a living or slept with men to get money. You shouldn’t worry about little things and give yourself grey hair.”
.jpeg)
How ironic, Eve thought to herself. The man had a head full of silver hair, was that why he didn’t bother about it?
She said, “We are friends and I want my friend to know about it.”
Mirth filled Vincent’s eyes while he stared at her, “I care to know only about my friend and not the people associated with my friend.”
“Even if it means something to me?” She stared into his copper-red eyes.
A crooked smile appeared on his lips, and he said, “You have left your world and stepped into mine.”
Even without Vincent uttering the words, she could feel his detached emotions. If there was one thing she had come to know about Vincent Moriarty, it was that he wasn’t someone to judge. Because he didn’t care.
“I will find out about the colour in my eyes another day. I don’t think I am being corrupted,” she was confident about it, and one corner of Vincent’s lips pulled up.
“Not yet,” Vincent reminded her, “I doubt any mermaid or merman has had the luck to live this long on the land as you have. Never too bad to be cautious.”
Vincent started to walk away, making his way to where the carriage was parked while Eve stood in the same place. She turned behind and looked at the house she and her mother lived in, murmuring,
“Did you forget to tell me something I should know, mother?”
_______________
ALLURE OF THE NIGHT
Chapter 193 Little heart
It was past midnight when the carriage pulled over in front of Dawson’s residence. The moon had moved up and high in the sky, while some of the lanterns hanging outside the houses had dimmed flames or had exhausted themselves because of the lack of oil inside them.
As Vincent sat next to the carriage door, he stepped down the carriage and turned around to face Eve, who put one foot of hers on the small stool.
“You and shoes don’t get along, do you?” Vincent remarked on seeing her shoe strap had unbuckled itself again.
Noticing the pureblooded vampire’s eyes on her foot, Eve tried to hide it behind her gown. But in an attempt to do that, she missed her footing. Like a cat thrown into a bucket of cold water, her hands flailed, and she used one of her hands to grip the edge of the carriage’s door.
Eve placed her other hand on her chest, and she closed her eyes to calm herself from the little catastrophe she had created, which had started with Vincent. She glared at him.
Vincent remarked with an innocent expression, “I was going to catch you if you were going to fall.” Where she was, and where he stood… The amount of distance between them said otherwise. He praised her, “But good catch. You seem to be getting a hold on how not to fall now.”
Without being told, Mr. Briggs had already walked to the other side of the carriage, leaving his master and the governess to talk to each other. And while the trusted coachman gave them privacy, it didn’t mean the others did the same.
After hearing the sound of the carriage stop inside Dawson’s house, Eugene peered behind the windows. And their neighbour Mrs. Edwards from her house looked through the gaps of her floral curtains.
Eve’s blue eyes flared, and she said, “I knew you wouldn’t catch me.”
“So much trust,” Vincent hummed with amusement dancing in his eyes. He said, “Why don’t you repeat what you just did and I will prove that I was going to catch you.”
“You don’t have to prove anything,” Eve replied, ready to put both her feet on the ground.
But Vincent took two steps forward and stood right before her, giving her no space to get down.
“Go on,” Vincent taunted with a cunning smile.
“Can you please step back? The evening was long and I am tired,” Eve said. Her eyes looked around, hoping everyone in the neighbourhood was fast asleep.
When Eve looked back at him, she saw him staring at her with a calm expression, as if expecting her to get back inside the carriage and repeat the scene. He wasn’t being serious, was he? Whenever she believed that Vincent was normal like the others, he proved her otherwise as if he didn’t like her perceiving him to be normal and enjoyed pushing his weird ways on people.
“Vincent,” Eve uttered his name in seriousness, hoping he would stop playing.
“Eve,” Vincent said her name with the same intensity, staring back at her.
The two peepers couldn’t help but try to get a better glimpse of what was happening next to the carriage. While Mr. Briggs, who heard the two of them utter each other’s names, tried to keep a straight face without turning to look at them.
Eve asked him, “Aren’t you tired?” She had been feeling sleepy and wanted to curl in her bed.
“Of waiting for you to fall, yes,” came the solemn response from the vampire. He said, “I have all the time in the world,” the smile on his lips was nothing less evil, and Eve didn’t want to test her luck. “Your earlier words have cut deep into my chest, Eve.”
“I apologise for doubting you. I now know you are a changed man, and would catch me if I were to fall. I am sorry for being rude,” Eve apologised.
Vincent cocked his head to the side, “No.”
[Music Recommendation: Little Heart- Amarante]
Eve sighed before she said, “Okay.” She couldn’t believe she was supposed to feign falling.
Noticing her taking her own sweet time, Vincent said, “By now you should have a certificate for falling. What are you taking time for?”
Eve slightly gritted her teeth.
He was someone who was helping her, but if she took that away, the man enjoyed annoying her. Most of the people in Meadow and the other humans would agree that vampires were the odd ones out of all kinds. But the one in front of her raised the bar higher than any other vampire.
Before Eve could step back inside the carriage, Vincent kicked the stool with his foot that his coachman had earlier placed on the ground. She quickly lost her balance, and before her body could fall to the ground, Vincent leaned in and caught hold of her in his arms.
The sleep seeping into her body quickly disappeared and her eyes turned wide.
Eve felt her heart jump at the sudden movement and clutched onto Vincent’s arms. She felt his strong hands curled around her body, one around her waist, and the other on her higher back.
The silver-haired vampire’s face was too close to Eve. Under the shadow and light of the moonlight, the man looked like no one could compare to him. They stared at each other while she was left speechless, clutching his shoulders for support.
Behind the window, Mrs. Edwards’s eyes almost popped out of her face, and she craned her neck to look at the couple. Were they kissing?! Because the carriage door obstructed her sight. And with the carriage parked in front of Dawson’s residence, Eugene noticed Eve’s employer holding her, while missing the vampire kicking the stool.
Vincent remarked, “Told you I would catch you.”
Eve felt her heart skip a beat as she stared into his eyes. A faint mischievous smile played on his lips.
Without needing to be told, Vincent gently pulled her towards him and let her find her footing on the ground. As he pulled his hands away, one of his hands brushed from her back to her waist. She felt the gentle pressure in them, like a snake that uncurled itself from its prey.
Dropping his hands to his side, Eve watched him take a step backwards while he stared at her. She quickly bowed to him, murmuring a goodnight and hastily headed to her house.
_______________
ALLURE OF THE NIGHT
Chapter 194 Letter left behind
In the carriage, Vincent sat beside the window with his legs crossed one over the other and his back leaning against the seat. The wind blew inside the carriage, ruffling the side of his silver hair that he had combed for the soiree.
Since he had left the town of Meadow, the crooked grin on Vincent’s lips didn’t leave, and he unconsciously ran his tongue over one of his fangs, remembering the little mermaid’s wide-eyed expression.
Until now, Vincent was used to two types of women. Women who threw themselves at him, trying to gain his attention in the hopes of settling down with him. Another set of women were terrified when they looked at him because he had scared them.
And Genevieve Barlow fit in neither of the two categories. She was stupidly selfless and foolishly kind, and had no thought of finding a man for herself. Though like many, she looked at him warily, despite it she spoke her mind. Not to mention, he enjoyed ruffling that innocence in her and wanting to corrupt her even more after the expression she had shown this evening to him.
He realised it was something that excited him.
As the carriage pulled farther and farther away from Meadow, the grin on Vincent’s lips slowly disappeared, and a look of hollowness entered his eyes.
When the carriage entered the town of Skellington, Vincent tapped on the glass behind Mr. Briggs, and the coachman stopped the vehicle next to one of the lamp posts, where a burning lantern hung.
Once Vincent stepped out of the carriage, he said, “Go back to the mansion.”
“Yes, Master Vincent,” Mr. Briggs complied without a question and left with the carriage.
Vincent walked on the quiet, deserted streets, his hands in his trousers pockets. The fog had crawled on the ground. He reached the town’s cemetery and stepped inside it, making his way to where his beloved mother rested.
Noticing his mother’s clean grave without a single leaf or twig on it, he murmured,
“Looks like father came to visit you today.”
He spent his time in front of his mother’s grave, standing there for a couple of minutes without speaking but staring at the grave as if offering his company to his mother on this cold night.
“Only if you were alive…”
There wasn’t a day Vincent hadn’t played out the incident in his mind with different scenarios where his mother made out alive with him and his sister. At first, he was enraged at the humans who had abducted them. Then at Marceline for provoking the humans… but somewhere along those initial days of him trying to process, he wondered if it was also his fault that his mother now laid under the ground.
Vincent’s fingers touched the cold black marble of the grave, “If an apology could bring you back, I would do it many times, mother,” his voice was colder than the weather surrounding the cemetery.
If there was a way to bring back the dead, he would have done it long ago, even if it was unethical. But a person who once died never returned. Not even as ghosts. The only ghosts that did exist were the memories of the deceased people.
Before getting up, he pulled a long-stemmed rose from the inside of his coat and placed it on his mother’s grave.
The next day, in the afternoon, when the sun shone brightly, Vincent was in the council building and in his office with his assistant, Patton.
“What have we found out about Fowler’s death so far?” Vincent questioned Patton.
“The same as you already know, Sire. The village head doesn’t know if it is a man or a woman who killed him, and no one saw a hooded person there. The murderer must have run away after killing him. All of them do that.”
Vincent stared outside his office’s window, looking at the carriages parked. He saw Mr. Hart and another council member talking to each other.
Patton continued to speak, “The reports from the lab report confirms that it was a werewolf who attacked–“
“It is a vampire,” Vincent cut Patton’s words midway.
Patton blinked, then shook his head in confusion, “The reports that the council received were of a werewolf.”
“I told Clarks to change the details before she handed it to the council,” came the calm words of Vincent and Patton’s eyes widened.
“Y-you changed the report and gave it to the Council? The Inner Circle members won’t be happy if they find out about this, Mr. Moriarty,” sweat started to form on Patton’s forehead in worry that the pureblooded vampire he worked for would drag him into the dungeon along with him. If he hadn’t previously worked for Eduard Moriarty, Patton would have asked for a transfer. No one was allowed to change lab reports!
Vincent turned to Patton, and a maddening smile appeared on his lips. He said, “Relax, Patton. This is a case related to the Council, and with the number of eyes and ears on it, it is good to mislead people a little just to keep them on their toes.”
Patton asked, “Either way it is going to alert all kinds. If the murderer is from the Council, it must be a man, as we don’t have any women working here.”
Vincent remarked, “Assassin come in both types, Paton. Male and female. A nail was found, stuck in Fowler’s body.”
“That must be easy to find the murderer then!” Patton’s eyes shone in sudden admiration towards Vincent. “Did Clarks mention more about it?”
“Now, that’s the fun part and where you come to use,” came the charming smile from Vincent, and Patton looked at him wearily. He continued, “When the body was first found, the guards didn’t find a nail in there. It was found after the body was brought to the Council here. Get in touch with Clark and find who the nail belongs to. Who retrieved the body and took in reports from the village head?”
Patton quickly shuffled the parchments, and after reading the name, he said, “Wheeler was the one who was there to pick up the body.”
“What time?” Questioned Vincent.
“It was eleven thirty. Why do you ask?”
Instead of responding, Vincent said, “Do you know what is not obvious? A killer returning to the place where the murder took place in such a short time to receive the body.”
Patton’s eyes widened, “To put the nail in it?”
“To make a decent alibi and make sure the person is dead.”
Far from Darthmore, in the town of Skellington and in Lady Camille’s house, the maid who was cleaning Lady Rosetta Hooke’s room found a pile of clothes and an envelope next to it.
Lady Camille had only entered the mansion after having lunch with a fellow woman of the high society, when one of the maids appeared before her in the hallway and bowed. She informed,
“Milady, this was in Lady Rosetta’s room.”
The vampiress took the envelope and stared at it. She dismissed the maid, “Go back to your work.”
The butler came to take the lady’s coat, but Lady Camille was curious to see if her dear niece had written a letter for her. For spending a good time in Skellington while she was here.
Pulling out the letter, Lady Camille read the content written in it, first with a frown and then her eyes narrowed.
_______________
ALLURE OF THE NIGHT
Chapter 195 Behind family’s back
Music Recommendation: Flat Assault- John Powell
—
Lady Camille couldn’t believe that her niece had been lying to her, saying she was attending soirees, only to spend time in the company of the worthless humans. Not just any humans, but ones that came from the lower side of the society, from the town of Meadow.
She glared at Rosetta’s letter that was addressed to the lowly governess, Genevieve Barlow. The letter read–
‘My dear friend Eve,
Thanks to you, I have made wonderful memories in Skellington and didn’t feel alone during my stay here. It seems that we were meant to meet each other, which is how I have come to learn what my heart wants. I also understand what a friend means.
I don’t know when I will be visiting Skellington again, but not anytime soon. I hope we can keep in touch, and I would like your approval that concerns my heart.’
Heart? Lady Camille stared at the word and asked what this was about. Did the human know something Rosetta’s own family didn’t?! The letter continued with Rosetta’s outrageous ideas of staying in touch with the human, and how she felt about the place.
“Prepare the carriage to go to Moriarty mansion,” Lady Camille sternly ordered her butler, who wondered what happened. He quickly obliged and left from there.
Lady Camille murmured, “It seems like simple warnings don’t work on humans and they think they can outdo the warnings.”
Soon the carriage was prepared, and the woman rode towards the Moriarty mansion, which by carriage was only two minutes away from her own mansion. When the carriage did reach right outside the pureblooded vampire’s mansion’s gates, where the governess was teaching, the carriage stopped.
“What’s the matter? Go inside,” came the vampiress’s impatient voice to her coachman.
The coachman politely replied, “Milady, it looks like the guards at the gates aren’t there. Let me go pull the gates.”
Lady Camille was too hot-headed to wait for the coachman to get down, open the gates and then get back on the carriage. She huffed,
“It is fine. I will go myself.”
In time, the coachman quickly got down from his seat and pulled open the carriage door for the impatient lady to get down. The vampiress walked straight inside the little passage next to the gates. Her posture was proud, and her face held an arrogance that matched most of the vampiress who belonged to high society.
Lady Camille reached the mansion’s entrance and saw the butler, who was getting the front stand cleaned by the servant. Noticing the familiar woman, who had come to have supper along with the Marquee’s family, he bowed and greeted her.
“Good evening, milady. How can I help you?”
Alfie wondered if the woman was here to discuss matters concerning Vincent’s marriage to her niece. At the moment, his master wasn’t here in the mansion, and in the family, only Lady Annalise and Senior Mr. Moriarty were in the mansion, while Lady Marceline had gone to her friend’s house.
“I am here to meet the governess,” came the crisp words from Lady Camille. She raised her eyebrows and questioned, “Is she in here?”
The governess? Alfie asked in his mind. He nodded, “Ms. Barlow is in the piano room teaching Miss Allie. Would you like to sit in the parlour room, milady, while I fetch Ms. Barlow for you?”
Lady Camille gave it a thought before replying, “Yes.” It was better for the lowly human to come to her instead of a woman like herself looking for the governess.
Alfie bowed again and led the woman to the parlour room of the mansion. Making her sit in one of the cushioned chairs, he asked politely,
“Would you like to drink something?”
“No, my visit here is short and I don’t intend to stay here too long,” Lady Camille stated without looking at the butler, and she sat still, waiting for him to leave.
Alfie noticed the parchment the vampiress held in her hand and wondered if someone had mentioned something was happening between his master and Ms. Barlow. He stepped out of the room and started to walk towards the piano room. But midway, he was approached by a maid, who looked tense.
“What happened, Tabitha?” Alfie inquired with the maid.
“The new servant, Erin. She dropped the jar of flour in the pot without realising it and Lady Annalise wants the dish prepared in less than twenty minutes and Cook is not happy about it,” the maid nervously informed him.
Alfie looked back and forth before nodding, “Let me check it.” He went along with the maid to the kitchen.
In the piano room, the young vampiress and Eve continued knitting, where they had made quite a progress. Eve looked at Allie, whose ball of wool had turned into a threaded mess as the little girl had unwinded all of it by creating a messy pile.
Eve didn’t try to fix it, as Allie seemed to like to unroll the entire ball of wool and looked happy.
As Eve continued to fiddle with her wooden needles and the wool, her thoughts returned to what happened last night with Vincent. This morning, after reaching the mansion, she had run towards the piano room, hoping to avoid him. She needed some more time to shake her thoughts away from her mind. But like the woollen thread she sewed to form a mesh, Vincent’s actions had sewed into her mind.
Eve didn’t know why Vincent was using her for his amusement by messing with her.
Looking at Allie, she gently advised, “You know, if you want, you can add another colour to it.”
At first, the little girl shook her head but then changed her mind and said, “I will get another wool.”
“Okay,” Eve replied with a smile, watching the little girl get up from the piano bench and leave the room.
At the same time, Lady Camille, who was waiting for the lowly human, ran out of patience. She got up from her seat, and stepped out of the room. On seeing a servant, she demanded,
“Where is the piano room?”
The servant bowed and replied, “You have to go straight and then up the stairs, milady. Then take a right. It is the fourth room.”
Lady Camille started to walk, making her way to where the human governess was, to teach her a lesson so that the human would never associate herself with any other high-class people. Crossing the corridors, she finally reached the front of the piano room. The door was open, and she caught sight of the lowly being sitting on one end of the piano bench.
“You have some nerve to not heed to my earlier words,” said Lady Camille, and Eve raised her head to see who had spoken.
Eve stood up from the bench and asked the woman slightly confused, “Excuse me?”
Lady Camille stepped inside the room and said, “I told you to stay away from my niece, but it looks like you don’t have the ability to understand it.”
“Miss Rosetta isn’t here anymore and I was never the one to seek her,” Eve clarified to the vampiress, who scowled at her. She said, “Your niece has a mind of her own, and you should know it better than me, considering you are her family.”
“Do you think I am a child, who will believe your words? Are you so eager to climb the social ladder that you decided to latch on to Rosetta and use her?” Lady Camille raised her eyebrows.
Eve frowned and replied, “I am in a better place, and don’t need to climb anywhere, Lady Camille.”
Lady Camille scoffed at Eve’s words and mocked, “You are a mere governess, and Rosetta is the daughter of a Marquee. Someone who comes from a higher position.”
“It is something I am already aware of. Is that what you came to tell me?” Eve already knew the difference and didn’t know why the woman was even here when Rosetta had returned with her parents.
Lady Camille threw the letter at Eve, which didn’t hit her, but it wavered and fell on the bench. Coming to fall on top of the messy pile of woollen thread that Allie had pulled open. The vampiress angrily questioned,
“What have you both been doing together? What is this heart that she mentioned?!”
Noticing the parchment of a letter lying near her, Eve bent to pick it up.
And while picking the letter up, something pricked her finger that she didn’t realise with the angry woman in front of her. The prick was from the metal needles Allie had earlier stuffed inside the mess, drawing a drop of blood from Eve’s finger to fall next to the wool.
The pain being negligible, Eve didn’t take note of it, and she picked up the letter and started to read it. While Lady Camille didn’t notice the scent as she was angry.
In the meantime, Alfie returned to the parlour room to apologise to the lady for the delay. But on noticing the room to be empty, he came to believe the woman had left the mansion.
Back in the piano room, Lady Camille continued to accuse Eve,
“Is she seeing someone behind our back? You better answer what Rosetta meant with those words. After all, the letter obviously was written to you!”
Eve shook her head in slight confusion, not knowing what or when anything regarding heart happened with Rosetta. She replied,
“I do not know what Rosetta means. I don’t see any reason to hide it from you, especially if what you say about me climbing ladders is true.”
Allie, who had stepped away from the piano room, returned with the ball of wool. Hearing the little footsteps, Lady Camille turned and smiled at the young vampiress, “I need to talk to your governess for a little while alone, why don’t you go out and play?”
Eve noticed Allie looking at her with a blank yet guarded expression. She gave a nod of approval to the little one, who didn’t spare a word to the older vampiress and left the piano room.
Still standing near the entrance of the room, Lady Camille pushed the door to close it, and Eve’s eyes narrowed.
_______________
NOTE: PHYSINEWS MEDIA WE RESPECT AUTHORS & CONTENT OWNERS WE MADE THIS POST TO ENTERTAIN EVERYONE DISCLAIMERS PLEASE ENTER HERE
--------------
∆∆∆∆∆∆
