The night was calm and quiet. In one of the bedrooms of the first storey of the Dawson's, Eve slept with the blanket that covered the lower half of her body. The white translucent curtains gently moved away from the windows when the wind entered through the gaps of the slightly ajar window.
When a creak sound came from outside Eve's room, her sleep broke, and her eyes opened. Continuing to hear the creek, she turned worried and pushed the blanket aside before placing both her feet on the ground. Picking up the blown-out candle, she lit the end from the fireplace and opened the door that led to darkness.
Hearing the creaking sound coming from below now, Eve climbed down the stairs with the candle in front of her.
KNOCK!
Eve heard the harsh knocks on the main door that startled her. She turned to look in the direction of the wall clock. But before she could take a proper look, the wind that escaped through the window's little gaps blew out the candle's light and made a whistling sound.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Hearing the sharp knocks against the house's main door, she shivered around in fear and anxiousness while being surrounded by darkness.
"Who is it?" Eve asked the person on the other side of the main door.
She knew a person was standing on the other side because of the shadow on the ground that she could see through the gap below the door. Gathering courage, she placed her hand on the doorknob and opened the door, only to be greeted with no one standing outside. She placed her foot outside the door, and the next moment, her eyes widened on seeing the town had caught fire.
Eve could hear the screams of the men and women, children who cried for help. Smoke moved up in the air, and it was...evening. She turned to call for Aunt Aubrey and Eugene's help, but she was greeted by a wall.
When Eve turned back to look outside the house, there stood Vincent in front of her and staring at her.
"What are you doing here?" She asked him in surprise.
Vincent raised his hand forward that held a gun and placed its nozzle on her forehead, "Here to kill you."
Eve's sight fell on Vincent's fingers that was around the trigger, and he pulled it--
Eve suddenly woke up with a gasp, sweat covering her forehead because of the dream she had just dreamt. As if that wasn't enough, she heard someone knocking on the main door again, and she couldn't help but turn worried. This couldn't be a dream again, could it?
She quickly descended the stairs, noticing Eugene walking towards the main door, and at the same time, Aunt Aubrey stepped out of her room.
"Who is at the door at this hour of the night?" Lady Aubrey questioned, adjusting the shawl around her shoulders.
Eve reached where Eugene was, where he opened the door, and they noticed it was one of the town's guards.
"Is everything alright?" Eve asked the town's guard, who shook his head.
"We received information from the authorities that a group of rogue werewolves were seen heading in the direction towards our town. They have already found two bodies that were left on the streets, bleeding and body torn," the guard held a grim and tired look as he was woken up from his sleep. He continued, "Apart from thieves now, we have to worry about these lawless creatures trying to hunt and kill us. Better to lock all your doors and windows tightly."
"Do you know where they came from?" Eve inquired the guard.
"We believe they came from the northern part of Ezrach, but the authorities aren't sure because the people in charge have denied having any rogue werewolves," answered the guard, "Goodnight then." The guard appeared to be in a hurry wanting to inform every other house he was supposed to be before he could secure his own life.
"Goodnight," Eve murmured while looking outside the house, where everything was calm.
"You heard the man. Lock up all the windows and doors," said Lady Aubrey.
"That we already do, milady," replied Eugene, as he didn't want to wake up to a vampire drinking his blood. "I will check again."
When the following day arrived, the town folks woke up to gossip about the rogue werewolves. Some went as far as to lie that they saw the werewolves next to their houses just so that they could gain attention from others.
Eve's wounds that she had received from the dungeon guard and the glass piece that she had stepped on were all healed. She was back to her earlier health, and right now, she walked on the streets of her town, making her way to the local carriage's stop.
"Good morning, Genevieve!"
Mrs. Edwards stood with three more ladies, fulfilling their life's purpose by sharing information about what they had heard and seen the previous day.
"Good morning, Mrs. Edwards. Mrs. Humphrey. Mrs. Shepherd. Mrs. Torres," Eve politely greeted all the four ladies with a bow and smile.
The other four ladies returned her gesture, and the shortest woman out of the four, which was Mrs. Torres asked Eve,
"How are you doing now, dear? We came to hear that your face was swollen a few days ago and that you were sick. It is good to see that it is all better now."
Eve knew they had heard about it from Mrs. Edwards. Her smile didn't fall, but it only widened. She replied, "Thank you for asking. Yes I had a bad fall with the stones when I went to the forest to wash the clothes at the bank of the river."
"How terrible!" Mrs. Humphrey remarked with an overly concerned voice and quickly grabbed Eve's chin to inspect her face. "It would have been bad if it left a mark on your beautiful face. I heard Pat visited you."
"He did?" Eve hadn't heard about it from Eugene nor Aunt Aubrey. "I don't think he did."
Mrs. Humphrey lightly laughed and said, "Aubrey probably chased him away. Didn't let any of us visit you, telling you needed to rest as if we would eat you. Actually, we were worried that your new job had to do something with it. My son was ready to go and speak to your employer too. I don't understand why you are working when you can marry Pat and live a comfortable life. If work is what you are looking for, you can make me a grandmother," she laughed again.
As enthusiastic and stubborn Patrick Humphrey was in courting Eve, which everyone knew, his mother was no less compared to him.
As awkward as it was for Eve, she replied, "Pardon me, Mrs. Humphrey. Your son is a good person but I do not see him that way. In fact, I see him as my brother as we grew up together."
Mrs. Humphrey couldn't believe that Eve had rejected her remarkable son just like that. Unless her son has done something to cross Eve. But at the same time, Mrs. Humphrey was proud of her son. She would definitely have a word with her son about this.
Mrs. Torres waved her hand at Mrs. Humphrey, and said, "Haven't you heard that Genevieve is being courted by a far more handsome and wealthy man. Isn't that right, dear?"
Eve smiled at how she became the topic of discussion among these older women. Did the rogue werewolf gossip die already? She cleared her throat and said,
"I don't think I know what you are talking about."
Mrs. Edwards hit Eve's shoulder and said, "There is no need to hide now. Tell us everything."
"Maybe you should tell me, because I have no idea what you all are talking about," replied Eve with a confused expression and looked at them.
Mrs. Edwards smiled, looking at Eve, and Eve smiled right back with her eyebrows raised. The older woman then asked, "Who was that man who came by to drop you home late in the night yesterday."
"It wasn't too late and that was my employer," Eve laughed and shook her head at how these women jumped to conclusions.
"Your employer gives you his coat to wear?" Mrs. Edwards's smile lowered, and her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Not to mention it was quite late, wasn't it?"
The older women looked no less to hyenas circling their prey, their prey being the juicy gossip they could get their hands on.
"The answer is right there in your question, Mrs. Edwards," Eve pointed and continued, "It was late and cold. My employer was only making sure that I reached home safely."
"Hmph," Mrs. Humphrey harrumphed.
Mrs. Torres's eyebrows furrowed, and she asked Eve curiously, "Don't you work for a night creature's family? I didn't know that they were good. After all, werewolves are fine, but vampires--Oh no."
Now under the intense gaze of the four women, Mrs. Edwards' stare was the hardest on Eve, as she was the one to catch sight of the carriage in front of Dawson's residence.
Eve nodded while smiling, "My employer has excellent manners. He has unmatched kindness that I fall short of words. Always helpful and never hurts anyone by his words or thoughts." Just saying those words, which wasn't entirely true, brought goosebumps all over her skin. "He was only ensuring the governess who worked in his mansion didn't fall sick as I just recovered."
"He does sound like a perfect gentleman. Carla here told us that he was quite stunning to look at, is that so?" Mrs. Shepherd tried to verify with Eve.
Eve thought before giving a half nod, "One could say that I think..." Her eyes fell on where the local carriage's coachman looked at her, and she said, "As much as I would love to continue to discuss it, I am running late to work. Ladies."
Offering a bow, she made haste to where the local carriage stood and climbed inside to travel to Skellington.
Though Eve had long left the place, Mrs. Edwards couldn't help but feel something was fishy with her neighbour's niece. It was because the wound she had seen on Eve's face didn't look like a light slip and fall, instead, it looked like someone hit her. She said,
"I am sure that the carriage that came yesterday and the one that came the other day were the same. Genevive is hiding something."
On the other hand, Mrs. Humphrey was still miffed that the young lady had openly refused her son's affections. She replied,
"Maybe she is hiding something. If the bruise didn't come from the fall as you say, maybe it did come from her employer and she's being paid for it to keep mum?"
Mrs. Torres frowned and said, "Didn't you hear what the girl said? Her employer is a good man. I have to cook for lunch now," and the four women dispersed from there.
