The Crown's Obsession

Vladimir carefully placed his hand on Calhoun's hand and pushed it before stepping away from his grandson. "As I said, don't take hasty decisions. Madeline will still be able to get back to the living world and live in that castle of yours. On the same note, why is your last name still Hawthrone? You should pick up the name Lazarus."

"I don't want to be infected by using that name," remarked Calhoun, and Madeline agreed. She should have known that the Devil did only what benefitted him and not for others. By offering his help to meet her mother, he had trapped not one but three of them.

The old bat chuckled, "I think you already have, son. All Madeline needs to do is drink a potion, and she will be a demon," he then shifted his gaze to look at Madeline, "I can tell that your skin is prickling because this place isn't for you, not for an angel. Once you drink the potion," he pulled out a glass vial from his pocket that had purple liquid in it. "You will be free. I won't have to worry where the angels will take Calhoun's happiness and even mine, because I want to see my grandchildren. A lot of them, unless Calhoun decides to have them with another woman."

"That is Madeline and my problem. We will handle it, and both of us would prefer her not turning to a demon," Calhoun wanted to crush Vladimir's head for having such ideas in his head. But only the Devil knew how to get out of this place.

Madeline felt her head squeeze, and she pressed her temples with her fingertips. She wondered how to get Vladimir to understand without throwing him in the river now.

"But I am your family, I have a say!" said Vladimir. His methods might have been strange, but it was a hundred and one percent guaranteed to drive away the angels.

"You are our family, Vlad, but things like these need to be discussed. You cannot do it against our will, because then you will be the same as the rest of them who want me to end up in Heaven," said Madeline as patiently as she could.

Vladimir stared at Madeline before he remarked, "You children, are naive. Do you think the angels are going to let you be? They have been trying to get rid of the demons from the living world even before I turned my back against Heaven. They don't care if there are demons who are good because they believe every single demon needs to be killed and destroyed."

"You are here to protect me along with Calhoun. Please, I do not want to turn to a demon," Madeline tried to sway Vladimir.

"I think it would be best if you drink the potion," Vladimir disappeared from where he was and reappeared in front of her, stretching his hand towards Madeline, giving the glass vial to her. "The sooner you drink, the faster everything settles down, and we can then find little Elizabeth who has gone to explore Hell. I will check in an hour," and in a blink on an eye, the Devil disappeared from their sight.

"Oh dear God," she whispered and felt her skin prickle more as if her body was burning from the inside.

"Fucker!" Calhoun cursed Vladimir before turning to Madeline, "Are you doing alright?" he asked.

Madeline nodded her head, "I am okay. We need to find Beth. Something might happen to her!" she said with worry. Having Beth was nothing less to having a toddler next to them who needed constant supervision. They started to make their way up the stairs as unlike Vladimir who could apparate in and out of any place, neither Calhoun nor Madeline had honed their skills in it.

Vladimir, who had left the children to play and have fun in Hell, had reached his room so that he could get some rest. A demon came from the corner of the room, helping Vladimir remove the coat that he wore.

He unbuttoned the cuffs of his sleeves when Odin came with hurried footsteps.

"Master," Odin bowed his head.

"My faithful servant," Vladimir appeared to be in a good mood. He removed his clothes and stepped into the acidic bath from where steam came out. As the Devil dipped his body down, his flesh disappeared, and he was left with only bones on his body, turning him into a complete skeleton.

Odin came forward with a glass of blood in his hand, and he offered it to his Master, "Did Master Calhoun and the others leave, Master?"

"They decided to spend some time in Hell," Vladimir hummed, and Odin nodded his head, not knowing what Vladimir's plan was. "Are all the exits to the living world closed?"

"Yes, Master! Tightly sealed so that no angel or demons can pass through without your permission," said the dutiful servant.

"Hm, wonderful," Vladimir let his body sink further to relax, "Wake me up after an hour," he said to Odin, as well as, to the other demon who was in the room.

The servants bowed their heads, and Odin decided to leave the bathing room of his Master as it wasn't like his Master needed any help in bathing.

Away from the Devil's quarters, Beth had finally entered the Tower of Chains. Instead of hearing souls scream, Beth felt a certain lingering of quietness in here. The building was in utter ruins as if it was unused.

There were bones on the ground, and Beth searched for Raphael with frantic eyes, "Raphael? Are you in here?"

'Lady Elizabeth? You are here! Take the stairs at the far end that will lead to the bottom ground. I am right there.'

Beth did as she was told, and she took the stairs to climb down and find a sizeable empty corridor that had cell rooms on either side of it. When her eyes fell on one of the cell rooms, Beth noticed a strange creature with a werewolf-like face with its body almost human and it looked starved. It growled at her, and in response, Beth's eyes turned slightly yellow and gold.

She met a few more strange creatures in there as she walked past one cell room after another that were covered in rusted iron grills.

Her feet finally stopped.

"Lady Elizabeth..." said the shabby man, who stood behind the iron bars.