Music Recommendation: Juliet and Dawsey- Alexandra Harwood
Eve released the breath she didn't know she had been holding until she finally saw life being breathed back into Eugene. The man coughed, and Eve helped him sit upright, while he winced in pain because of the wounds that were still in the process of being healed.
Eugene squinted his eyes, even though there were no sun rays. He asked in a confused voice, "What happened?"
Hearing Eugene's voice and seeing him back to life, Rosetta cried more than she was until a moment ago. She covered her face with her hands as relief washed her body.
The protective glass-like dome that Eve had created earlier to heal Eugene's wound continued to do its work on him. After a few more seconds, when the wound had healed, the dome turned into drops of water and splashed outwardly.
"What happened?" Timotei repeated the question before he huffed, "You died. That's what happened."
Eve looked at Eugene with worried eyes and asked him with concern, "How do you feel, Eugene?"
Eugene took a deep breath. His eyes fell on his unbuttoned shirt, and the wound on his that had disappeared. He replied, "My head hurts as if someone is squeezing it." He raised his hand to shield it in front of his eyes. "The light is too bright."
"Is this because of the transformation?" Eve asked Timotei, and when she turned to Rosetta, she noticed the vampiress blowing her nose into her handkerchief.
The black cat answered, "It isn't uncommon. To complete the transformation, he needs to feed on blood--"
"Blood?" Eugene interrupted Timotei, where the black cat went quiet.
"Eugene... you lost too much blood," Eve informed him with her blue eyes fixed on his dull red eyes, that she was trying to get used to it. "There was no other way to save you but to give you vampire blood. Rosetta saved your life. She did what she thought was the best decision at that time."
Eugene's face hardened at Eve's words because, until now, he had never once thought about extending his life span and living as a night creature. He was born a human, and he believed he would leave this world as a human. Not stick around by being a vampire.
He didn't know what to say, apart from the thought that passed his mind that he was no more like Lady Aubrey or Eve. Because from here on, they were his potential food and the frown on his forehead deepened.
Timotei turned his head to look at Eve and then at the vampiress, who had finally stopped crying.
"Please, don't be angry about it," Rosetta said in a low voice, not meeting his eyes.
Eugene surprised everyone by offering a bow to Rosetta, and he said, "I am indebted to your action."
Rosetta stared at Eugene with the red rim of her eyes and pink nose. Her face looked flushed, and she bowed back before responding in haste, "I--I knew that Eve and Lady Aubrey would be sad if you were to die. I--I too, w--would be sad. I am just happy that you are alive. Forgive me for not taking your permission before feeding you my blood!"
Eugene wasn't ecstatic with the fact that he was a vampire, but with cons came pros when being a night creature, he thought to himself. He knew there was no point being upset about it; if it weren't for the vampiress, he would be dead.
"Thank you for saving my life, Lady Rosetta," Eugene thanked the vampiress, whose eyes brimmed with tears. He then turned to Eve and said, "I should look for work in the vampire's house. I don't want to hurt you or Lady Aubrey."
It was because the new vampires had the worst control when it came to thirst for blood. It took time before the vampire stabilised and could walk freely without killing humans to feed on. This was also one of the reasons why humans who were not often turned into vampires didn't like to take the risk of being punished and condemned by the Council.
"You don't need to go anywhere, Eugene. Human or vampire or werewolf, we will accept you however you are and believe you would never hurt us," Eve offered him her kind words, placing her hand on his that was on the snow-covered ground. She said, "I will make sure nothing bad happens. And we have plenty of help from Vincent, Timotei and also Rosetta."
Rosetta vigorously nodded, "I will go and bring you blood, so that you don't have to worry about hurting humans! Let me go and get it now!"
Before Eugene could refuse, the vampiress had already disappeared from their sight. He softly sighed, feeling the headache increase in his temples. He apologised,
"I am sorry for not being careful, Miss Eve. I didn't expect it to happen."
"It isn't your fault. None of us knew this was going to happen or I would have come with you," Eve pursed her lips and asked, "Eugene, do you remember who stabbed you?"
Eugene shook his head, "The person threw mud in my eyes before stabbing me."
"Bastard knew not to get caught and decided to hurt you!" Timotei scolded, before huffing, "He must be a coward, to stab you like that."
"But who would stab Eugene?" Eve asked with her eyebrows deeply furrowed.
"Well, clearly the person wanted to teach Eugene a lesson. Or he would have killed him, wouldn't he?" Timotei asked, his eyes shifting from Eve to Eugene.
It was indeed strange, and Eve wondered if it could be true. If someone had followed Eugene into the forest and had then stabbed him. She said,
"Let me see if I find something," and she placed her hands on Eugene's stomach where the two wounds had earlier been inflicted, which had now healed by her ability. But she sensed nothing and shook her head. "I should have done it before healing the wounds," but if she had spent time looking for the stabber, she had feared that she would lose Eugene for good. "I don't think it's safe for you to be near Meadow, Eugene. The person could be someone from Meadow, and followed you."
"I very much agree with her. Humans can be as vile as the vampires," Timotei agreed, nodding his small head. "You will be able to rest much better in Skellington than in here, not to mention, if people find that you are a new vampire."
Eugene pressed on his stomach, which was all healed, and he said, "Thank you, Miss Eve. You have helped in bringing me back."
She smiled at his words, "I am happy that I was able to do something. I wasn't going to let you die."
Eugene then looked in the direction of where Rosetta had disappeared in the woods. Even though he had been turned into a vampire, there were still human emotions left in him, which deterred him from the thought of drinking blood. He wondered if it was possible to survive on vegetables and meat and turn into a vegetarian vampire.
But when Rosetta returned with a big leaf in her hand, which had blood in it, Eve was glad that the vampiress's attention and focus was on Eugene and not on what or how things had turned out to be.
Rosetta sat next to Eugene, holding it near his face and she said, "You can drink this, Eugene."
"Whose blood is it?" Eugene asked wearily, while feeling his mouth water.
"This? This is the deer's blood," Rosetta informed him, "No humans were harmed," she assured him. Eugene took a whiff, and it smelled better than he thought it would.
When he took a sip of the deer's blood, the taste disgusted him and almost left a burn. He turned to the side and spat it out, coughing. He shook his head, "I don't like the taste of it."
"Tch," Timotei clicked his tongue and remarked, "This is not the time to be a picky eater, Eugene. Eat what is given to you without complaint."
"You should be the last person to tell that," Eugene wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
The black cat hissed, "Who me?! How atrocious, I am not a picky eater!"
On the other hand, Rosetta was very aware of the talking black cat and hadn't forgotten what Eve had done with the water. Was her friend secretly a... witch?! That would explain how this cat could speak, and internally the vampiress started to stress. The only good thing out of all this was that Eugene was alive and, even better, a vampire!
Rosetta apologised, "I will get another animal's blood!"
"I don't think that's the issue," Eve responded as she stared into Eugene's eyes. His red eyes turned back to his black human eyes. From what she knew, only werewolves could change the colour of their eyes, not a turned vampire. She whispered, "Something must not be right. Let us go to the mansion and see if Vincent is there." Staying here in the woods wasn't a good idea, she thought to herself.
"Is Eugene a human then?" Timotei asked before taking a bite into Eugene's hand.
"Ouch!" Eugene pulled his hand away.
"Tastes like human blood," Timotei said, licking his lips, and Eve frowned.
"Let us discuss this on our way back to the mansion. Take this," Eve took out her coat and offered it to him. "It would look strange if you wore Rosetta's coat and someone asked about it."
Eve climbed on the coachman's seat and Timotei accompanied her, while Rosetta and Eugene sat inside the carriage. On their way, Rosetta sat like a statue with her hands on her lap and her back straight. Occasionally, her eyes moved to look at Eugene, who seemed to have a headache.
Timotei remarked to Eve, "You look worried."
"Wouldn't you be, if you found out that someone close to you didn't transition properly, and that the heart might be corrupted," Eve answered in a low voice.
"He didn't go crazy at the sight of blood. I would say it isn't as bad as you think," Timotei said in a nonchalant voice, "If it makes you feel better, now as he's still alive, you get to give him a proper goodbye."
"I think you are forever going to stay as a cat, Timotei," Eve said with a serious face, and the cat snapped its head to look at her.
"I told you if it makes you feel better!" Timotei meowed in the end. As if remembering something, the black cat asked her, "What about the vampiress? Do you think she's waiting at the house?"
"It's fine. When she's bored, she will return to the mansion," Eve responded, not bothering about Marceline as there were other important things to pay attention to.
Once they reached the front gates of the Moriartys mansion, the gates opened for the carriage to enter inside. Eve didn't stop at the front of the mansion and instead rode it to the shed.
Alfie, noticing the carriage Rosetta had left in return, and he quickly stepped outside the mansion. He caught sight of Ms. Barlow getting down from the carriage along with her black cat. Rosetta stepped outside the carriage along with Eugene following her. From what the butler noticed, everyone held a tense look on their face.
He quickly made his way towards where they were, and informed Rosetta, "Milady, Marchioness Aurora arrived five minutes ago and she wants to see you right now in the drawing room."
"I will see her later," Rosetta wanted to stay with Eugene.
But Alfie said, "She looks upset, milady."
Rosetta pursed her lips. She quickly removed her coat and gave it to the butler, because her coat was smeared with human blood that belonged to Eugene. It would raise questions on where she had been, and right now, the vampiress was still trying to understand what had taken place. She hadn't had the chance to sit down with Eve and discuss her friend being a witch.
Before Rosetta walked away from there, she turned to look at Eugene, he said, "Don't worry about us. We will be fine."
Eve said to Rosetta, "Don't mention what happened today. We'll talk about it later." The vampiress nodded, and she walked away from there.
Timotei, who stood next to Eugene at the back, muttered, "Will she open her mouth on what happened?"
Eve, who stood in the front, asked Alfie, "Is Vincent home?"
"Not yet, milady," Alfie replied. Noticing the worried look on her face, he asked, "Is there something I can help you with?"
The butler's eyes fell on Eugene's bloody shirt that peeked through Eve's coat. He could tell that something grave had happened, and when his eyes met Eugene's, he saw a glimmer of red in them before they turned back to black. Did he see that right? A subtle frown fell on his face.
Eve said to Alfie, "Can you please inform Vincent to come to my room once he arrives? It is urgent."
"I will, milady," Alfie bowed.
