A MAZE OF GREED

Ruth back to her room, not daring to look back at the blue-eyed monster to see a small, satisfying smile on his lips and the smirking man who ruined their moment-Lester. She ran, taking her heart in her hands to protect it from the things the blue-eyed monster made her feel.

She closed the door behind her and rested her back on it. Her heart was running faster than a horse. Her face was flustered with a red tint. Her mind was haywire, and her face... it could not erase the goofy smile on it.

She glanced towards sleeping Mrs Payne and sighed in relief. Now she did not need to answer her questions. The burning sensation on her cheek was still fresh like an open wound. As if Edwin had uncovered the payer of her skin to keep it open and inviting to his touch.

Ruth put her palms on her cheeks to feel them hot under her skin.

Did he just... kissed her on the cheek?

That thought turned her insides upside down, and she thought she was on the swing that she used to play in childhood. Every time it went high in the air and then came back to the ground, her insides turned the same way. The feeling was a magical combination of fear and excitement.

What if Lester had not interrupted them? Would they have gone a step ahead? Would he have kissed her on her... lips?

She gulped down her saliva down her dry throat. She was feeling too hot, and her heart was not listening to her command to calm down.

Ruth rushed into the kitchen and filled a glass full of cold water. She chugged it down in one go. It helped a little bit. She then splashed some water on her face. A few minutes later, she found herself getting a grip on her emotions and thoughts.

Coming out of the kitchen, she looked out at the dark sky. It was an early hour of dawn. The sleep was nowhere to come, and she could not just sit around doing nothing, or the images which she was trying to ignore would not let her get her peace.

Ruth decided to clean up the mess she had made while working on Thea's dress. After that, she folded all the washed clothes that Mrs Payne had collected in a corner the previous evening.

Now that she was done with everything that came to her mind, she pondered how to spend the rest of the hours before the morning. A thought came to her mind, and she silently padded towards the cupboard.

Ruth made sure that Mrs Payne was asleep. She searched for the same black box where she thought Mrs Payne had put it. But even after ten minutes of search, she could not find it.

Ruth was not ready to go through the same images again. But the curiosity was killing her. For some reason, after all these days of those nightmares, she established a fact that those were not any absurd images. In fact, those images were somehow connected to her. And she wanted to know-how.

When she was about to give up on her search, she stumbled upon something unexpected. She found a bunch of books tucked away in the bottom corner of the cupboard.

Interesting!

She doubted if Mrs Payne knew how to read or write. And she had only one book- 'Lethal Love' that she had yet to read. Then what were these books?

Ruth took them out of the cupboard, and to not wake up Mrs Payne, she did not light up the lamp. She went into the balcony where the light from the nearby light pole was enough to see clearly.

She observed the thick books, which looked simple, yet she could tell that they were old. The four books were of different thicknesses.

Ruth's eyes moved over the title of the first book- 'The Complete Guide of Magical Stones.'

Ruth stared at the title for a moment longer. Then she giggled, shaking her head. Magical stones? Seriously?

Amused, she took the second book with the title- 'The Saga of Supernaturals'.

Wow! That was getting more interesting than she thought.

The third book was titled- 'The History of the Werewolves'.

This time, Ruth frowned upon reading it. Werewolves?

She had heard folklores in her childhood that all mothers told their kids so that they would sleep fast and peacefully. Even when she was just a kid, she knew that those were only fantasy tales that came from someone's creative imagination, and there was no reality in any of them.

Her mother stopped telling them when Ruth pointed the fact that instead of scaring her, those tales made her laugh at people's stupidity.

How could a human transform into a wolf or vice versa? That was just absolutely ridiculous!

Moving onto the fourth and the last book, she read the title- 'Witches and their secret powers.'

This time, Ruth did not giggle, nor did she frown. She only stared at the title unblinkingly for a while. A rooster that crow somewhere, brought Ruth back to her senses. Puzzled, she looked up at the sky to see the dawn breaking in the sky, soft, long rays of the sun rending through the darkness.

"Ruth, wake up dear!" She heard Mrs Payne's half-asleep voice from inside.

Hurriedly, she gathered all the four books and put them in their previous position and place. After Mrs Payne woke up, Ruth wished her 'good morning' then went for a bath.

As the water rolled down on her skin, only two things revolved in her mind. One- the four books and the second, the burning sensation on her cheek.

*

*

*

In the Garfield manor of the Kinsville, an urgent meeting of the coven leaders was called. All the eight members- along with their mates- were present. Ambrose Garfield sat in the larger chair in the middle of the semicircular table along with his wife.

Darius- never interested in obliging with the norms- sat in a chair that was placed right in the middle of the space between the semi-circular table.

The Kinsville had received the news of Barret Addington gone missing suspiciously. The very first person pointed out by the needle of a smart guess was Edwin O'Dell.

After eradicating the Vampires' espionage network, his hands might have reached to Barret's neck. That was the foremost probability presented by Mr Hilton. The man did not forget to pass a cursory look in Darius's way to which the young Garfield reacted by nonchalance.

The eradication of their espionage network had already daunted the Vampires' ego. In the whole history of their existence, it had never happened before. Even at the time of the great war, their espionage network remained their strong asset against their enemies.

Ambrose's dark eyes moved towards the door to see Marcus taking hurried steps towards him. Marcus leaned down to Ambrose's ear after reaching his side. And the news that Marcus gave turned the entire atmosphere in the room.

Aurora- as Ambrose's mate- could sense the anger aroused in him. She looked at him dumbfoundedly to see his dark eyes turning red.

"Lord Ambrose?" One of the coven members sensed the tension.

Ambrose stood up from his chair. Sweeping his red eyes along the semi-circular table, he broke the news that Marcus gave him.

"Respected members of the coven, we have one bad news."

Every pair of ears strained to hear him, and every pair of eyes focused on him.

"Barret Addington..." His eyes locked with Darius's. "is dead!"

He heard gasping sounds from some of the ladies. Aurora, who sat beside him, stood up in shock. Darius sat the whole time in boredom. But the words his father said kicked him in the guts.

Barret Addington- their most important pawn in this game- was dead!

But how?

"They have found his mutilated body in a forest. They are conducting further investigation in this matter." Ambrose revealed.

The news was not only unexpected but was also unsettling. Without Barret Addington, they would not get the support of the humans, and no one would mediate between the Vampires and the royalty.

"But how can is this possible? What is his associate's name? Oh, yes, Ripon! What does he have to say about this?" Another coven member asked.

"We are unable to contact Ripon. As per our information, he was not with Barret Addington when it happened. Our people are searching for more information."

Although Ambrose portrayed a calm face, he was raging with anger from inside. The Vampires were deceiving creatures and confusing too.

They always painted their faces with a smile- charming and harmless. But they were very easy to rile up, and once outraged, they were hard to control.

Darius's mind ran faster, calculating all the current equations. Although he heard the coven members blaming Barret's death on Edwin, he found it hard to digest.

Edwin O'Dell was many things! He could be reckless, aggressive, a walking destruction ball. But he was not STUPID!

Although he was hiding behind the facade of a brainless, rich brat who was gifted by the position of the werewolves' leader, Darius knew him better than that.

Something made him reluctant in believing the idea that Barret Addington was murdered by Edwin O'Dell. There was more to this story, and Darius was curious about it!