When Eve and Vincent arrived at Dawson's residence, the place appeared quiet. Once they got down, Eve looked for Rosetta's carriage but not finding it, and she wondered if the vampiress had returned to Skellington or had not come to meet her today.
Standing in front of the gates now, Eve asked, "Would you like to have dinner inside?"
"Are you inviting me to stay the night?" Vincent teasingly asked her. Eve's lips twitched and she reminded him,
"Eugene is home."
Vincent stepped towards her and she looked around the place to see if someone would catch them,
"Mm, I am sure I can arrange something to keep him busy." The pureblooded vampire caught hold of her chin, "Ignore the rest and only look only at me. I am all you will need to look at." Dropping his hand, he wrapped his arms around her, hugged her close and said, "There's no one who can protect you from me, but yourself. Sometimes not even yourself," he added, cherishing her in his arms.
Eve shyly smiled in his arms before fixing the expression on her face when he pulled away from her. She noticed his silver hair wavering in front of his forehead because of the wind.
Vincent turned his head to look at his coachman and ordered, "You can go back to the mansion, Briggs."
Even though the coachman wasn't looking at them until now, he was quick to answer to Vincent's command, "Yes, Master Vincent. Miss Barlow," he asked permission to leave with a bow before climbing on the driver's seat in front of the carriage and driving the vehicle away from there.
Vincent turned back to look at Dawson's house. Seeing the serious look on his face, Eve asked, "What happened?"
"Looks like Eugene isn't alone," Vincent responded, and not a second later, the house's main door opened and Eugene appeared with a ghost-like expression on his face with a hint of weariness.
Eugene quickly walked towards Eve, who asked him, "Eugene, are you alright?" There was a scratch mark on his face.
"Disasters have come together, Miss Eve," Eugene said to her with a low voice, "Miss Rosetta is sitting inside and so is the evil cat. Thankfully, they are both sitting away from each other now." Noticing Vincent, he offered a bow, "Good evening, Mr. Moriarty."
When Eve stepped inside the house with Vincent and Eugene right behind her, her eyes widened on seeing Timotei sitting on the table, while Rosetta sat in the living room with scratch marks on her arms and one side of her cheek. The vampiress sat like an obedient child without moving even an inch.
"Rosetta...?" Eve could only imagine the scratches belonged to the cat and turned to Timotei, who was busy grooming himself with his back against them.
"Oh, Eve! I am so glad you are back!" Rosetta exclaimed.
"I am sorry about this," Eve apologised, but the vampiress shook her head.
"That's fine. I love cats.I picked it up without its notice and ended up like this," Rosetta made it look like it was nothing and continued, "I once had this white kitty and I played with it in the bathtub. But somehow it drowned. It was sad," the vampiress said with little to no emotion, making the others doubt that Rosetta was the one who had killed it.
Rosetta's smile fell when she noticed Vincent in the room.
Vincent remarked, "How are you doing, Lady Rosetta? It is good to see that you are up and about, when one would assume that the family of the deceased would be mourning in the house."
Rosetta blinked before nervously saying, "My family is in the North and I am alone here. I thought staying in Eve's company would do me good."
Vincent nodded, while his bright eyes continued to look at the vampiress. He said, "Because of Miss Eve's job, it seems like you are spending more time with Eugene than with her."
Rosetta glared at Vincent for trying to poke at her. This horrible pureblooded vampire!
Rosetta wanted to spend time with Eve and Eugene but not with Vincent Moriarty. Quietly glaring at him, she said, "It is getting late, I should get back to my mansion now. But my carriage wheel broke before I reached here and is being fixed by my coachman," the vampiress sighed as if the world had ended. "I don't know how to get back to my mansion now," she sighed before her eyes fell on Eugene.
Eugene's eyes narrowed slightly, wondering why the vampiress was looking at him.
Eve suggested, "You can stay for dinner, and when your carriage arrives, go home in it."
It worked well for Rosetta because that meant she would get to spend more time, and she was quick to hug Eve. She said, "You are a strong person, Eve. I am so happy that you are my friend."
Eve smiled, not knowing a simple invitation for dinner would make the vampiress happy.
While Eve was busy talking to Rosetta and Eugene's eyes were on the vampiress, Vincent's gaze shifted to look at the cat on the table. It looked as if it didn't care who was in the room, or more rightly to be said, that it didn't notice who had entered as it was busy licking itself.
When Timotei finished cleaning himself, he turned and jumped on the ground. All clean, thought the cat to itself. That damn vampiress thought she could pet him, he harrumphed in his mind. Now if only these lowly beings would serve him his dinner, he could take a good nap in front of the fireplace.
But sensing someone's gaze, Timotei raised his head to look at the vampire staring at him. Wasn't this the same vampire he thought Eve had turned into a bat? He glared with his cat eyes.
They stared at each other for three seconds before the cat realised something and darted towards the possible open window. But with every window closed, the only exit available was the main door and the one on the back of the house that led to the backyard.
"Why don't you prepare the dining table. I will be back in a bit," Vincent stated before making his way to the house's back door.
Timotei tried to move his paws as quickly as possible, but before he could jump over the fence, Vincent caught the cat by its scruff. The cat meowed, moving its paws in the air while being dangled in the air by the pureblooded vampire.
"Drop me down right this instant or I will scratch your face!" Timotei tried to wiggle but only failed.
"What a cute black kitty that even talks. Talking cats will fetch several gold coins," Vincent remarked and noticed the cat glared at him.
"How dare you call me cute?! You wo-- No, no, I did not mean that! You are right, I am the epitome of cuteness, but please don't sell me!" Timotei quickly changed his tone as if asking for forgiveness.
"Do we know each other?" Vincent asked, his coppery-red eyes turning darker. He noticed how the cat looked ready to faint any second now.
