Allure Of The Night

Vincent left Allie in Patton’s care in his office while he and Eve made their way to the room where the skeletons and the bodies were laid. When they were about to enter the room, Eve saw two men carrying one of the skeletons. Seeing Vincent, the men bowed their heads.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Moriarty,” one of the men greeted.

The man informed, “There was a delay in transferring the skeletons to the cemetery, as one of the families arrived and wanted to reconfirm if it was their lost family member.”

Vincent questioned, “Any luck?”

The man shook his head and left the room while Vincent and Eve stepped inside the large room. Eve’s legs froze when her eyes fell on Lady Camille’s body. She noticed the slow decomposition of the vampiress’s body, where the body had turned grey, chalk-like.

Vincent, who had walked a few steps ahead of her, turned to notice her stare at the dead vampiress. He snapped her out of her thoughts by saying, “This way.”

Eve looked away from the deceased woman and quickly followed Vincent. Soon she came to stand in front of three skeletons. Vincent said in a low voice,

​ “You can ignore the one on the right as I was the one to bury her.”

Out of the two skeletons, one on the left and the other in the middle, one of them was her mother, thought Eve to herself. Her blue eyes moved to look at them and the items that belonged to the deceased.

On the left table, where the first skeleton was placed, next to it was a ring. Eve wasn’t able to place it in her memory. On the second skeleton table, a pair of tattered shoes and a chain with a red stone.

Vincent questioned her, “Do you remember seeing this ring or chain on her?” Eve shook her head.

“I am not able to remember seeing them on her.” She was slightly heartbroken that she couldn’t recognise her mother, “These shoes… they are leather. Someone from middle or higher class…”

Vincent noticed the anguish in the mermaid’s eyes, trying to find her mother and a look of helplessness in her eyes. She picked up the ring to take a closer look at it. He stated,

“If your mother was killed by a person from high society, she must have dressed like one too. The men of high society spend on their mistresses’ clothes or shoes. I need you to remember what happened before your mother was killed. Was she with you the entire time, or did she return from her work.”

Eve stared at the skeleton before replying, “Returned from her work.” She remembered her mother putting her in the bathtub in worry after she came back to the room. She dropped the ring that she had earlier picked.

Then… it meant that the woman in the middle was her mother.

Eve heard Vincent say, “The man must have tried to get rid of her as quickly as possible, without changing anything.”

She stepped closer to the skeleton, and touched the chain with her fingers. Her hand reached out for her mother’s skeleton fingers, holding them and feeling a tightness in her chest. She whispered,

“I am sorry, mama.”

Because she was a mermaid, her human mother had to bear the consequences. There were times when she wished her mother would return, but even ghosts didn’t show up in the world that they lived in. Her mother had died while protecting her. She could finally bury her mother.

Vincent watched Eve’s eyes well up with tears, and she held them back. She looked sad as if abandoned by the world. He didn’t like seeing her like this. Knowing he was partly at fault, he tried to appease her,

“If you want to keep the chain as a reminder, you will need to wait until they start pushing the mud during the burial.”

A sad smile appeared on her lips, and she shook her head, “That’s fine. You have already done enough for me and I am indebted for the kindness you have shown me.”

Soon the two councilmen, who had carried one of the skeletons, returned to the room to take her mother and the two other unidentified skeletons to Darthmore’s local cemetery. When Eve turned, suddenly someone threw their hands around her, and an excited voice came,

“Eve! I am so glad to see you here!”

The hug felt familiar, and so did the voice.

The daughter of Marquee Hooke released Eve and offered a bright smile. Noticing Vincent, she offered the silver-haired vampire a slight bow before pulling Eve away from him. She whispered,

“You must be startled to see me here in Darthmore. Frankly, neither did I expect to visit this soon. I don’t know if you have heard about what happened to Aunt Camille? My poor aunt was murdered,” the vampiress continued to speak in one breath.

Eve tried to gather her thoughts before nodding, “I did. I heard about her death.”

“Mm,” Rosetta walked to one side of the room with Eve. She said, “When we received the news, we were shocked. But more than that, my parents were shocked that Aunt Camille was having an affair and that it came out in the open. I think it is because everyone mostly has an affair, but it’s always a secret. My father was angry and didn’t want to attend her funeral. But I told them I wanted to pay my respect to her and attend it. After all, if you think about it, she let me live with her and I was able to be friends with you and get to know others.”

Her chest grew heavy when she said, “I am sorry for your loss, Rosetta.”

The young vampiress shook her head, “Don’t be. It isn’t like you were the one who killed her. Mr. Walsh is the one who killed her and needs to be punished.”

When Rosetta put her hand around Eve’s arm, Eve glanced towards Vincent, who gave her a nod as if to follow the vampiress. As much as she would have liked not to depend on him, he was the only one she trusted.

“What are you doing here?” Rosetta asked Eve, when they started to walk towards the large room’s exit.

“I requested Mr. Moriarty to bring me here to pay my respect–“

“Aunt Camille’s soul will be pleased if she knew you were here to pay your respects to her,” Rosetta stated. She then turned to look at Eve and said, “You are a kind person, Eve. That is why you are my friend.”

Eve had killed Rosetta’s aunt, dug a grave and buried the vampiress.

Rosetta then said, “I am heading to the cemetery. You will ride with me, won’t you?”

Eve wanted to be there when the men from the Council buried her mother. She wondered why Vincent had actioned her to go with Rosetta. She offered a smile and replied, “I will. It is the least I can do for you.”

When they neared the door, they met up with Noah and Sylvester in front of them. Eve offered a small bow to the men. A look of surprise appeared on Noah’s face, and he said,

“I am surprised to see you here. Is everything okay?”

Eve smiled and replied, “I am accompanying Rosetta to the cemetery.”

Noah’s eyebrows rose, but he nodded. The Inner Circle’s member’s eyes narrowed at Eve, as this was the second time he was seeing her. The first was during the hearing of what took place in Raven’s dungeon. Noticing the hem of her dress covered in dirt, he commented,

“I would have never expected for a human of low status to be associated with the members of high society. I guess accompanying Mr. Moriarty brings privileges?”

“It is as believable as the same air that you breathe that also the lowly human as myself breath. Something like that shouldn’t come as a surprise,” Eve politely replied to Sylvester’s words.

“For a woman like yourself, you seem to speak too freely. Don’t you know how to speak in front of a Duke or in front of a member of the Inner Circle?” Sylvester slightly glowered at her.

Noah smiled at Sylvester’s words and came to Eve’s aid, “Ms. Barlow is a very sought out governess. She may come from a low status, but she possesses qualities that surpasses women of high status too.”

Sylvester raised his hand for Noah to stop as he wanted the woman to speak. He didn’t like how this lowly human spoke to him a few seconds ago. In confidence, Eve responded,

“Duke Noah is right. It is because I am well taught and educated, that I do not weigh people on their status and position. Only the people who don’t have enough knowledge will give importance to such things. People are to be divided by their intentions and attitude, Sire.”

Sylvester sarcastically laughed before he said, “Somewhere your words are true, Miss… But you forget that this is the Council and we don’t live in a world with the same people. Hierarchy is something no one can escape or surpass. I am sure you already are aware of it.” He then loudly said, “It seems like your governess doesn’t know when to hold her tongue. It will result in it being sliced.”

Vincent, who was staring at one of the skeletons, smiled at Sylvester’s words. He responded,

“She is the governess of the Moriarty family, did you expect anything less from her?” Vincent turned to look at them, meeting the man with a thin moustache above his lips. “Considering how sound and sane she is, I doubt there would be an opportunity. Unless someone tries to make one, which I hope doesn’t happen for their own good,” he offered Sylvester a bright smile.