Bambi and the Duke

The water like a liquid in the little glass bottle shone under the small lamp where they stood. Leonard had said it didn’t affect humans, so would her consuming help them any close to the truth of who was creating such deadly potion against the entire race of vampires so that they could eradicate them completely.

All this time, she had only felt and seen the memories through her fingers. Never once had she seen a memory where she remembered who had cooked the food or where the food came from.

She wished she could be helpful and of some use to Leo. Rather than stand and watch by the sidelines, she would love to help Leo so that they could catch Rory who had used and killed Charlotte like a doll that was of no more use.

She then felt something off. Rory was in a relationship with Charlotte for months, if he could he would have killed her a long time ago along with the help of his family but he didn’t.

”Why do you think Rory didn’t act before and decided to act now?” she asked the question which she couldn’t keep to herself.

”I think something happened when Charlotte left home to meet Rory. If she was planning to run away, she would have asked him. Seeing the bottles still unused, it seems like they were planning something similar to what happened after the night of my birthday,” he answered, taking the bottle from her hand he closed the lid to keep the contents safe, ”I know what you are thinking and there’s no need for it.”

”What?” she asked unsure of what he was speaking.

She saw him walk back to where his coat was and dropped the bottles which clinked before settling in the pocket, ”I know how your mind works. I don’t want you consuming it. It might not affect humans but there’s no guarantee on healers. With so little information on healers, I cannot have you taking things that we aren’t sure of how it’s going to affect you.”

”But I am still a human,” she pointed out to see his eyebrows furrow.

”You aren’t a mere human. Please keep in mind not to drink or eat without knowing if it’s safe or not. There is a reason why the head cook eats the food before serving it to his owner in the pureblooded family.”

”But it was never there before...”

”Things change,” his voice went low as he spoke those words. The thoughts in the mind drifting away from the present, he looked at her, ”You are my family, Vivi. If I lose you, I lose everything,” this made her heart skip a beat.

The shadow of loneliness lingered behind his back which didn’t settle well with her. He was still mourning his cousin’s death. The pain which he didn’t want to show could be felt by her. Taking two steps to close the distance, she stood on her tiptoes to level herself. Using both her hands she placed it on either side of his face.

Leaning forward she pressed her lips on his. It wasn’t a kiss of passion but a kiss of assurance, tender and gentler like the person she was.

”You won’t lose me,” she assured him pulling away from his lips while looking him in the eye.

”I cannot help but worry, Vivi,” his hand moved up to her neck, gliding it up a little so that he could run his thumb over her cheek, ”I love you too much,” Vivian’s eyes widened at his confession, ”What’s the matter?” She shook her head but her expression had given her away.

Hearing a wolf howl far away from the inn, both of them looked towards the window.

”It’s late. You should get to bed,” she nodded her head before his words played back in her head.

”You won’t be sleeping?” she asked him.

”In some time,” he gathered a smile on his lips which didn’t fully reach his eyes.

Vivian didn’t question him further. Getting into bed, she pulled the quilt up to her nose. Peeking to her right she saw Leo sit in front of the burning fireplace with a book in his hand.

No matter how many words of console she would use, there was nothing that could fill the emptiness that Leo felt. She doubted he could sleep and she doubted if she could too. When Mr and Mrs Carmichael had passed away, it was a shock for what had happened. But this thought Vivian to herself, this was something she wouldn’t have even dreamt about.

She wondered how much pain Charlotte felt when she had been betrayed and killed by people she trusted. To trust the man she loved to only know that all this while he had been plotting her death.

Pulling the quilt down, she turned for her back to face Leonard. Resting on her side, eyes began to fill with sadness. Charlotte was no more in this world. A streak of tear slipped through her eye for it to slide and disappear on the cushioned pillow.

The night was a quiet one. The fireplace crackling softly with the burnt and fresh logs that were burning up as the sound of crickets filled outside. From a far distance, the sound of thunder could be heard but it didn’t rain around the inn.

Leonard who had been holding the book and reading it turned to look over his shoulder where Vivian was fast asleep. Her steady breathing filling up the emptiness of the room and him. With the fireplace that had come close to fizzle out, he closed the book. Standing up he placed it on the chair he had occupied to see a shadow lurk in the room.

”You need to ask your master to stop sending you to check up on me,” he muttered under his breath looking at the ghoul come out. Leo who wasn’t in a good mood looked irritated, ”I don’t like being bothered this late at night.”

The dark creature came to stand in front of him as its hand moved to its cloak to pull out a roll of parchment. Unhesitantly, he took it from the ghoul and went to read what it had. Leo was no stranger to the ghouls, being so close to Nicholas and living in the mansion, he had caught sight of it during the young age. If it weren’t the personification of death that could kill a person in a snap without leaving any trace behind, one could consider it to be a keeper.

”I have something for him,” he said walking to his cloak and taking the three bottles he handed it to the ghoul, ”Disappear,” he said not being any subtle of its presence. The ghoul didn’t wait and instead vanished into the shadows and out of the room. Though Leo had handed over the bottles to the ghoul as it was the fastest means of transportation, he had kept one bottle to himself.

Climbing into the bed where Vivian slept, he moved the quilt and slid inside. Resting his head on the pillow he saw Vivian who previously had her eyes close open it to look at him. It seemed that she hadn’t fallen asleep. Did she see the ghouls?

She looked calm, her eyes showing no fear.

”What did it want?” She asked him.

”It had come to relay a message. There’s a switcher, a shifter in the council.”

This alerted her, ”What?” Vivian whispered in worry.

”It’s okay. It’s not hard to find one. We have picked some of the traits they possess. All the councilmen and women will be undergoing interrogation first for formality.”

”Including you?”

”Including me,” he answered, ”I didn’t know you were familiar with the ghouls.”

”I met them during my stay in the Rune’s mansion,” she answered to hear him hum.

”I wish you didn’t,” he said and she gave him a questionable look, ”Not everyone is familiar with them. People who have met the ghouls were usually the ones who died in the end.”

”But you are alive,” she stated to see him smile.

He didn’t like the distance. Putting his hand around her waist he pulled her close to him.

”The ghouls have a soft spot for me,” his words made her smile, nuzzling her head under his chin, she closed her eyes to listen to his heartbeat.