Music Recommendation: Frog- Helen Jane Long
Eve looked outside the window, noticing the heavenly-looking trees on which snow had fallen on the branches and leaves passing them as the carriage moved through the forest path. The sun, which had appeared for a moment, had gone back to hiding behind the clouds.
She turned away from the window, and her eyes fell on Vincent, who sat next to her. Like her, he was looking outside the window.
The pureblooded vampire's silver hair gently wavered because of the movement of the carriage. He looked like an ice sculpture, and if it weren't for his black coat and clothes with a white in-shirt that peeked from the little gap in the front, he would easily camouflage with the background of the snowy weather. Feeling Eve's gaze, he moved his red eyes to look at her.
Eve asked him, "Where are we going?" The carriage had turned away from the town's road, riding in the forest.
"Remember the cliff that we visited last night?" Eve nodded at Vincent's question and heard him say, "We are going near it, but this time to view it from the bottom. There's a cave where no one visits, and it is secluded."
A cave for a bat, Eve thought in her mind, and when she smiled, she noticed Vincent's gaze turn curious. Remembering what she saw this morning before breakfast, she said,
"Did you know that last night Marceline wasn't in the mansion and returned only early this morning," her eyebrows furrowed.
"I wasn't informed about it, which means no one was aware of it," Vincent hummed thoughtfully. "Her carriage didn't leave the mansion, which means she left through another means. I will question Adams, her coachman and see if he knows about it. But considering she left the mansion in the middle of the night, and also had her fangs along with her, which she believed to be Allie's, she is indeed looking for answers on healing herself. If only my dear sister focussed this much on improving her thoughts and healing herself," he sighed.
Eve pursed her lips, not liking how Marceline was ready to sacrifice her family members to avenge her humiliation. She then asked him, "I thought she loved and respected you."
"She does, but in her own twisted ways," Vincent rubbed his jaw, "By having me married to a vampiress of status rather than a human, who comes from a lower background. Somewhere I was worried about this. She's un-fixable and worse is only yet to come."
Eve wondered what it would take for the vampiress to give up and mend her ways. She knew that Marceline kept her family on the highest pedestal, but it came with the condition that she was placed on the higher pedestal by everyone too. She wondered if Marceline was perhaps jealous, not because she was beautiful or educated compared to the vampiress, but because she had stolen her brother and little sister's attention.
"How about we forget about others and focus on just us two?" Vincent suggested with a bright smile.
When the vehicle stopped, Mr. Briggs opened the carriage door after a moment, and the couple stepped out on the snowy ground.
Eve looked around the place and when she breathed, fog escaped from her lips. Mr. Briggs walked around and to the back of the carriage. Before stepping out of the mansion's entrance, on her way, she had picked up her coat which kept her warm. The coachman returned with two big baskets in his hands, and Vincent said to him,
"I will take it from here, Briggs," and the pureblooded vampire took the baskets.
"What are these?" Eve curiously asked, her eyes shifting from the basket to Vincent.
"Food for us to eat," Vincent replied, and then asked his coachman, "Where is the axe?"
The coachman walked to the back of the carriage again before returning with a sharp axe. As Vincent's hands were full, Eve offered to take it by stretching her hand forward, and the coachman handed it to her.
"You don't have to stay back. Go back to the mansion, and park the carriage," Vincent ordered Mr. Briggs and the coachman bowed without question.
"Master Vincent. Ms. Barlow," Mr. Briggs excused himself, and they watched the coachman climb back to his seat, driving the carriage away from there.
Eve stared at the axe in her hand and then asked Vincent, "You don't have any plans to sleep, do you?"
They started to walk through the forest, leaving light footprints on the freshly fallen snow, and Vincent remarked, "I promised you a good sleep, it is what we will do. But after a few things of course," he winked at her.
Eve's cheeks had caught colour because of the cold weather, and she only stared at him as they continued to walk. When they finally reached the cave, Vincent placed the baskets on the ground and said,
"Give that to me." Taking it in his hand, Vincent jerked his head to the other side, where one could hear a soft gurgling sound of water. "I thought you might want to stretch your fins and tails."
So that is why they were here, Eve thought in her mind. "You didn't have to do that," She was warmed by his thoughtfulness, but as she said this, the sound of the water called her soul as if beckoning her to get closer to it.
"Don't be shy. The river here has a bit of salt in it as it connects to the sea so you might find it more soothing than the one near your town. Like I said, this place is isolated and if people do come here, you don't have to worry about it. I have it all covered," Vincent raised the axe in his hand, and Eve stared at him.
A grin spread on Vincent's lips, and his eyes held mischief. He said, "Go on. Enjoy your swim, unless you want me in there with you and are worried about drowning," he teased. "Your coat," he stretched his other free hand.
Eve removed her brown coat and handed it to him.
Sirens had a better resistance than mermaids in cold temperatures because their scales deflected and adjusted to a certain cold temperature. Eve made her way towards the river and watched the clean water flowing from one end to another. She turned to look at the cave and noticed Vincent walking towards one of the trees as if checking something.
Turning back, she looked at the ground covered in snow and a small stone peeked. She cleared the snow from it so that she could place her clothes there and they wouldn't get wet.
Eve's hand reached for the buttons at the front of her dress. Unbuttoning the ones at the top, she slid her dress down her body along with the rest of her clothes and dived into the water with a splashing sound. As it was just the beginning of the wintery snow, the river hadn't frozen, and it was still bearable.
Within seconds her legs joined until below her midriff, transforming into a mermaid's body, bringing out the blue scales with an outline of gold. Her translucent fins stretched wide along with the delicate fluke tail that elegantly moved under the water. She didn't know how much she needed this until she was immersed in the water.
