At around four in the evening, Eve finished her job of teaching Allie, and she picked up her belongings and stepped out of the piano room. On her way, as she got down the shortest flight of stairs, she caught sight of Vincent on the opposite side of the stairs with a servant. The servant's eyes were downcast, not meeting his master's eyes.
The silver-haired vampire wore a white shirt, a dull olive green inner coat and a brown tie that matched the colour of his trousers. His hair was unkempt and his eyes cold as if annoyed by the servant for not being able to follow his orders.
A second later, Eve realised that she had stopped walking. Instead, she was noting the details of Vincent's appearance.
"Go fetch Alfie right now," Vincent ordered to the servant, who bowed and quickly scurried down the next flight of stairs.
Sensing Eve, Vincent turned his lazy gaze towards where she stood. He parted his lips to speak, but before he could say anything, the mermaid looked away from him and walked down the next flight of stairs as quickly as she could.
Vincent's eyes narrowed, and he glared at her back, "Where does she think she's running too?"
When Eve reached the last step of the stairs, Vincent appeared in front of her and she gasped in shock.
"What are you trying to do?" Eve asked him.
Vincent watched her with narrowed eyes, "You have quite some nerve to ignore me."
"I did not ignore you," Eve watched him take a step towards her, and her foot that was on the ground went two steps backwards.
"You forget that it is usually I who turn people into fools and not the other way around, little girl," seeing Vincent's eyes darken more than usual, Eve wondered what had gotten him in an irritated mood.
"I was just in a hurry to catch the local carriage," Eve reasoned, and the irritation in his eyes settled down. He was affecting her. "Can I go?" She asked him.
"I need you," Vincent's blunt words only stirred her new emotions. But he wasn't done talking and continued, "Your blood."
Though this wasn't the first time he had asked for her blood, his words were enough to pull her back to reality. He further surprised her by raising his hand in front of her face, which held a small glass vial.
"In a glass vial?" Eve shifted her eyes from the vial to look at Vincent.
"I thought I could snack on it with one drop at a time. Your hand," Vincent raised his other hand in front of her. Eve placed her hand in his.
It was the first time Vincent was going to preserve her blood. A soft whimper escaped her lips when he ran his sharp nail across her wrist and let the blood drops fall into the vial.
The vial had not been filled even until its half when Vincent pulled Eve's hand towards his lips and licked the blood off her skin. Her eyes widened, and she hugged her hand close to her chest. As much as she tried to smoothen her heartbeat, it was impossible.
"You don't have to be scared. No one saw me lick you," Vincent put the lid on top of the vial and slipped it into his pocket.
Eve was thankful that the situation misled Vincent. When he stared right at her, she softly gulped.
"I wonder if I will need your hair," Vincent murmured, and Eve's eyebrows furrowed.
She asked him, "Did the people dig every person out?"
Vincent nodded, "Thirty-seven of them are out of their graves for some fresh air. I buried only twenty of them, no idea who the others are. But nobody knows who is who, so they are identifying the people by their clothes. Three human women were found apart from Lady Camillie's body. Do you remember what your mother wore at the time of her death?"
Eve shook her head. She didn't have that kind of memory to remember every detail unless she saw a memory that the place projected.
"Can I come there to take a look at them?" Eve pleaded, feeling slightly anxious about seeing her mother's skeleton.
"Not right now. The skeletons are under inspection and in the laboratory. It has been long since they have found so many dead bodies all together and they are trying to track it against the missing report filed in the towns or villages," Vincent explained in a nonchalant tone as if he wasn't worried about getting caught. Or, more rightly said, he knew he wouldn't be caught. He said, "It might take three or four days before things settle down."
"I see," Eve murmured.
"We aren't sure if the skeletons found actually belong to your mother so I decided to take a faster route."
At the same time, Alfie appeared from behind and bowed. The butler informed, "Master Vincent, the horse is ready for your use."
Vincent asked her, "Do you know how to ride a horse? Without a carriage." His eyes narrowed slightly as he watched her.
Eve looked at him questioningly before she answered, "I ride fairly well. Why?"
"Alfie," Vincent called his butler, who quickly straightened his back. "Prepare a horse for Ms. Barlow. She will be accompanying me for a stroll in the woods." He added, "Unless Ms. Barlow doesn't know how to ride one."
"Yes, Master Vincent," Alfie bowed his head and went to prepare another horse quickly.
When Vincent started to walk, Eve asked him, "Where are we going? I need to be home."
"I thought you were looking for answers. We are going to meet someone special," Vincent cocked his head to the side, and Eve wondered if she would get answers sooner than she had expected.
When they stepped out of the mansion, at the front stood two horses. One white and another brown. It took only a second for the pureblooded vampire to mount on the white horse.
Alfie stepped forward and said, "Allow me to take them, Ms. Barlow."
"Have them delivered at the Dawson's residence. That's her precious umbrella and she would be sad to lose it," Vincent ordered Alfie, while Eve picked up the sarcasm about her umbrella.
Eve caught hold of one end of the saddle before she mounted the horse and straightened her skirt. She heard the pureblooded vampire remark,
"Not bad at all."
She asked, "Did you think I was going to fall, Mr. Moriarty?"
"Unfortunately, you didn't allow me the pleasure of sight, Ms. Barlow," Vincent matched her tone of words.
"Forgive me for disappointing you," Eve smiled, tipping her chin up, and he grinned.
"When did you learn to ride a horse?" Vincent questioned while having the horse start to walk forward.
"Probably when I was eleven or twelve. Eugene taught me when we were in the backyard of the house," Eve followed his suit, listening to the horses' clip-clopping hooves against the ground.
The mansion's gates were opened for them to pass. Eve and Vincent walked their horses at a steady pace. She noticed people watching them with a curious gaze.
Eve asked him, "Why aren't we using a carriage to meet this person we are meeting?"
"I thought it would be more interesting to ride the horse than have poor Mr. Briggs try to find the horses later," Vincent answered, who was busy watching the people who passed them on the streets. "Alfie will let your family know that you are with me. Considering you have the habit of returning home at odd times."
"Actually they aren't home. One of Aunt Aubrey's friend's husband is ill and she's on her way to see the family. Eugene is accompanying her."
"Where?" Vincent asked her.
"Berkshire," on hearing Eve's reply, Vincent hummed.
When they reached the outside of Skellington, Vincent said, "I am guessing you will not have any trouble keeping up with me," saying this, not a moment later, his horse started to gallop, moving forward and away from her.
Soon Eve's horse galloped from behind, following Vincent's horse like a North Star for direction.
