Allure Of The Night

Music Recommendation: Wandering Jane- Dario Marianelli

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It took Vincent less than five seconds to figure out what was going on. He stared at Eve with his coppery-red eyes while the mermaid’s face had turned pale as snow.

“When was the last time you dreamt of something?” Vincent questioned her.

“Last night,” Eve’s words were just above a whisper while she tried to wrap her head around her dream. Her words came broken, “Before the guard… he-uh came to alert us about the rogues who were told to be headed near our town.”

Deep down, Eve had hoped that the dream meant nothing and her mind was just having a wild time by itself. She stared at Vincent with fear crawling up her spine. Would the day come when Vincent Moriarty would kill her?

“You look pale,” Vincent stated.

“Y-you don’t have a twin brother by any chance, do you?”

Vincent looked at her in surprise and said, “We were eleven when we went to a farm and I decided to push him into a well, where his skeleton now rots. How did you know?” He asked sarcastically before rolling his eyes, “What was the dream about?”

Eve whispered, “You killed me…”

Oh, dear God, was she going to die at the hands of her employer? The man who had been protecting her? Eve’s thoughts went into overdrive with the thought of her oncoming death, and unable to keep the balance of her body, her body swayed right next to the book rack for support.

The book rack shook and a few books not pushed inside came to fall. Before the books could fall on Eve’s head, Vincent quickly pulled her to his side.

“You disastrous little girl,” Vincent muttered in annoyance. He heard Eve’s breathing quicken, and so did her heartbeats as if she was running a mile. “Eve?” He called her

Eve held a dazed look, and when Vincent took a look at her eyes, her pupil had dilated. When he flicked her forehead with his finger, his action seemed to break her out of shock.

Alfie arrived at the front of the library and asked Vincent, “Master Vincent, would you like me to bring your evening tea?” He looked surprised that his master had let the governess step inside the library room.

Vincent continued to stare at Eve and then go off her hand. He ordered the butler, “Bring Ms. Barlow a glass of water.”

“Yes, Sire,” Alfie bowed his head while noticing the tense atmosphere inside the library before he left.

Eve took a seat in the library. She held her hands on her lap. The Moriarty’s butler quickly returned to the room with a glass of water, offering it to the lady before leaving them.

Seeing Eve take a few sips from the glass, Vincent demanded, “Tell me what you dreamt. From the start to finish, whatever you saw.”

“The town was on fire. Everywhere. Up in flames and people screaming for help. I was going to call for my aunt and Eugene’s help, but there was a block. A big wall as if–“

“As if you weren’t in your house anymore?” Questioned Vincent, and Eve nodded. “For a dream to ignite, it often picks up something that is familiar. Makes it easier for it to transition from familiar to unfamiliar place, people or things. You were in someone else’s house. What else did you see after that?”

“You,” Eve’s grip on the glass tightened. “You held a gun to my head and then pulled the trigger.”

Vincent tilted his head, and silence filled the room. One could hear the distant sound of birds chirping as they flew back to their nests. He said,

“Did you die? Feel pain.”

Eve looked at him quizzically before she shook her head, “I woke up.”

“There. There’s nothing to worry about. You weren’t dead and all is well. A dream can go both ways here, either I pulled the trigger and it didn’t kill you, or that it did kill you. Premonition is the underlying meaning of the dreams that you have, and doesn’t have to be in the literal sense,” said Vincent in a nonchalant tone.

“So you won’t kill me,” though Eve didn’t pose a question, it was still a question that had shaken her mind.

Vincent smiled at Eve’s words and said, “Only an idiot would kill a golden goose, and I am no idiot.”

How could she forget. Vincent loved her mermaid blood.

“The first half of my dream… is one of the towns going to be in trouble?” Eve asked with a frown.

“May or may not be. We need to understand the nature of your dream, based on what it actually hints. Have you heard of the trial and error method, Eve? It is where we will test the first time to see how it works,” explained Vincent, “The people of the council are here to protect the people… Even if they are a lot of times late. Anything else that you want to talk about?” He raised his eyebrows at her.

Eve shook her head and finished the rest of the water in the glass before standing up. She asked him, “Is it allowed to borrow a book from here and return it later?”

“It isn’t,” came the vampire’s sharp refusal. Eve didn’t try to push her luck, knowing Vincent had already helped her more than enough today by letting her step into the library. He said, “You should go home, don’t want the little girl getting lost in darkness.”

With Eve’s eyes on Vincent, she could sense that his words held something more than what he said. A slow clever smile spread on the vampire’s lips as if with a  subtle delight in knowing people’s misfortunes.

Eve offered him a polite bow and said, “Have a good evening, Master Vincent.”

When Eve stepped out of the library, Vincent heard the soft clicking sounds of her shoes in the corridor before they completely disappeared. He walked through the first floor’s corridor, stepping into one of the galleries at the front of the mansion.

“Briggs,” he called his coachman, who stood next to the carriage.

“Yes, Sire?” Answered the coachman.

“Prepare the carriage, we are going to leave for Darthmore.” The coachman bowed.

When Eve stepped out of the mansion, Vincent’s eyes fell on her. Watching her walk past the gates and then on the streets before she was out of his sight.

Eve’s footsteps were firm and confident as she continued to walk on the streets of Skellington. Her features were soft and dainty, that made people spare a glance at her for more than one second before going back to what they were doing.

While walking, Rosetta walked from the opposite side of the street with her shoulders drooped. The young vampiress looked as if someone had tied two big rocks around her ankles with the way she walked.

But when Rosetta’s eyes fell on Eve, the vampiress’s face brightened, and her footsteps quickened to where the governess was.

“What are you doing here, Rosetta?” Eve inquired.

“Waiting for you!” Rosetta answered Eve. She said, “I thought I missed seeing you walk and decided to walk up to the stop of the local carriage. Then I thought maybe you fell sick again because of me, as after all you were only recovering.”

Eve was surprised at the vampiress’s words. She wondered how long Rosetta had been waiting for her at the carriage stop before returning.

When an excited Rosetta stepped forward and hugged Eve, Eve turned slightly stiff that Rosetta didn’t notice. Eve hadn’t forgotten Rosetta and her aunt, who had taken a sip each from the siren’s hand, not knowing the creature was not a mermaid.

“Come have snacks with me,” Rosetta hooked her arm around Eve’s arm and smiled wide.

“Ah, I actually have to be home this time. Maybe we can do it some other time?” Eve didn’t want to end up as Rosetta’s snack.

A deep frown appeared on Rosetta’s face, and she said, “But it isn’t every day where Aunt Camille is out and busy. And I will be leaving town soon, I would like to spend time with my friend,” So this was why Rosetta was insisting she join, thought Eve. The vampiress then said, “Aunt Camille is very upset. I haven’t seen her this upset ever before. Do you want to know why?” Her words turned into whispers.

Eve already knew why Lady Camille was upset. After all, she and Vincent had killed the siren they Lady Camille had paid for. She then said,

“Do tell.”