Eve sat in her room and at the desk where the candle burned brightly. Right now, she was reading the invitation card that Lady Aurora Hooke had purposefully sent to her, along with the invitation envelopes sent to the Moriarty family members. The invitation read--
'This invitation is on behalf of both Hooke and Moritaty family, where we would like to invite you to the soiree that is going to be held this Friday evening in the Moriarty mansion's hall. The soiree is to hold the event of the announcement of my dear daughter Rosetta Hooke, who is soon going to be married to Vincent Moriarty. We would appreciate your presence in the soiree with your family.'
Below the parchment of the invitation message, Marquee Walter Hooked and Lady Aurora had signed her name along with a seal. Even though the Hookes wanted to hold the soiree in two days, they had pushed it forward with four days.
Knowing Rosetta was in love with Eugene, eased Eve's thoughts when she read Vincent's name with a woman who was not her. It seemed like Lady Aurora was trying her best to trap Vincent in every possible way so that he wouldn't be able to escape, but Eve knew her pureblooded vampire had a plan and she had faith in it.
As Eve was busy staring at the invitation card, at the same time, one of the windows of her room opened, and she heard the whistling wind. It had started to snow, and the sudden air that blew inside the room made her shiver. She walked near the open window. Before her hand reached to hold the window and she could pull it backwards to close it, she felt the cold bite her skin before closing it.
There were barely any carriages moving on the streets, while the people had gone back to their homes because of the snowy weather.
Before Eve could turn away, a figure of a woman outside the mansion caught her eyes, wearing white dress. The woman's hair was golden blonde and eyes that were blue as the sky. Her eyebrows furrowed, and on a closer look, she noticed the woman looked like her.
Eve shook her head as if to clear her eyes and mind so that she wasn't hallucinating, but the figure stood with snow falling on her. The next second, she noticed the figure turn to look at her, and her lips moved.
"Who are you?" Eve asked, even though the figure couldn't hear her nor could the other person because of the distance they had between them. The only sound she did hear was the fire crackling in the fireplace and the windows slightly shaking because of the wind turning harsh.
The woman continued to move her lips, making Eve open the window that she had closed and for a moment, she felt as if she heard the person's voice,
"....the promise..."
"Promise?" Eve asked, and suddenly the figure held a burning lantern.
When the lantern turned brighter, Eve's eyes caught the streaks of blood on the woman's clothes. There were blood drops smeared across the figure's cheeks while the person's blue eyes looked cold and lifeless.
Eve wondered if she had fallen asleep and was dreaming. When the figure moved her lips once again, she pursed her lips before saying,
"I don't know what you are saying. Who are you?" Her voice turned louder.
The woman in the street turned angry. When she opened her mouth, the wind suddenly moved in Eve's direction along with the snow, making her raise her arm to cover her face and protect herself. The wind had blown in such intensity that it had extinguished the flames of the fireplace and the candles, turning the room cold and dark.
"Are you planning to fall sick?"
It was Vincent who had just entered the room, and he noticed snowflakes on the room's floor where Eve stood.
When Eve turned back to look at the street, the figure had disappeared as if she had been dreaming. She said, "I saw a woman standing on the street outside the mansion."
Vincent raised his eyebrow and walked to where she was. He looked outside the window and asked her, "Was it a dream?"
Eve shook her head, "I don't think so... She looked like me."
"Just like you?" Vincent stared at her in curiosity, his eyes slightly narrowing.
"It felt like me. She was right there with a lantern," Eve was sure about it. Vincent said,
"Let me go and take a look."
"I want to come with you too," Eve said, wanting to check if something was there too.
Soon the two of them stepped out of the mansion with Eve's purple umbrella. They came to the spot where Eve had earlier seen the figure. The lantern on the nearest lantern post near them had gone cold, which had been lit but the flame couldn't protect itself from the wind, which was soon going to turn into a blizzard.
"Anything peculiar the person, or you were doing?" Vincent asked her as he looked at the ground.
"There was blood on the clothes," Eve murmured, remembering the figure of her standing in the snow.
Vincent whistled, "Looks like your future has picked up to murder. Anyone special you have on your mind?" He asked, and he sat on his heels.
Eve slightly frowned. Last time the feeling of killing someone had left a bad taste in her mind, and remembering it, she became worried. Vincent used his hands to push the fresh snowflakes off the ground and stood up before stretching it forward. He stated,
"Doesn't look like it was one of your visions."
Eve's eyes fell on the snow Vincent held in his palm and then noticed blood. It was very faint, but there was a pinkish-red stain. She asked him, "You think it was a witch?" That was the only explanation to it, because only a witch who tapped into dark magic was capable of doing something like that.
"A possible answer. But the question is, why would a witch want to turn themselves to you? Unless it is to lure you out of the mansion and trap you, but whoever must have tried, isn't stupid," Vincent's thought went to Marceline, who had recently visited the witch in Palavista forest, and his eyes narrowed. He said, "I might know who might be behind it," he caught a snowflake that had drifted near them, escaping underneath the umbrella and was going to settle in her hair that she hadn't tied, "Let us get you back in."
While Eve went to her room, Vincent made his way to Marceline's room. He knocked on the door as if it was someone docile and polite at the door. From the other side of the room, the vampiress snapped,
"I said I want to be left alone!"
Hearing the vexed voice of his sister, Vincent raised his eyebrow.
On the other side, Marceline was sitting on the bed and had removed the bandage in hope that her foot would have improved by now. Instead, time was against her and her limb had started to leave a foul smell that had her frown deeply in worry.
Her beautiful, porcelain skin had not only turned green with pus, but now the pus had an outbreak with liquid dripping down. The arrogant vampiress couldn't see her decaying foot herself. She couldn't ask the maids to wrap the bandage, as she didn't want anyone finding out about this.
The person knocking on her door didn't leave her alone and continued knocking, making her frustrated. Limping to the door, she fixed posture and facial expression, while hiding the leg beneath her dress skirt. With a glare, she opened the door and found her brother standing in front of her room, who had a bright smile.
"I don't want to talk to you right now. I am tired and want to sleep. Whatever it is, it can wait till tomorrow morning," Marceline pushed the door that she had just opened.
But Vincent stopped her from closing the door by placing his palm flat on the wooden surface. Though it had barely been ten seconds since she had opened the door, he noticed Marceline's discomfort, and a strange smell drifted in the air of her room.
The odour was similar to the smell of a dead rat, that had been killed many hours ago, and was now rotting in here. Vincent doubted that his sister was into witch magic to conduct one herself, considering how she prided herself as a pureblooded vampire.
Deciding to play oblivious, he stepped inside the room, while Marceline gritted her teeth and demanded, "What do you want, Vince?"
Marceline's mouth parted in shock. She couldn't let Vincent know about her foot!
Vincent doubted what just happened to Eve had anything to do with Marceline. But with his sister who had gone to meet a witch in the middle of the night and then noon, who now appearing to be agitated, he decided to play and remarked,
"Marcie. I just realised that it has been days since we spent some time together. Talking and laughing like how we used to do when we were little. I have been harsh with you, and I have decided to be the brother you need." Vincent walked to the couch and patted the space next to him, "Come sister, let us bond together," he smiled.
Author Note: Please bear with the single updates until 18th December . Bush with weddings, thank you for your patience ><
