Bambi and the Duke

”What is it about?” he heard Sister Isabelle ask her. Vivian didn’t answer for the first few seconds and he noticed that Sister Isabelle didn’t hurry her to ask what it was. Instead, the woman gave her enough time to gather the words she had come here.

”I don’t know,” Vivian whispered from the box. Her eyes trained on the wooden planks which covered her from the world right now.

”That’s alright. A lot of things we don’t know why we feel heavy and guilty about. Do you feel guilty, Vivian?” Sister Isabelle asked her from the other side, ”Talk to me child. Anything and everything, you have my ear and I shall not judge for what you tell,” coaxed the woman.

”I...I feel everything that’s happened is wrong,” Vivian stated, her fingers playing together along with each other in a very slow movement on her lap, ”I wish I could help more but it feels like the more I step and involve myself, the more I end it piles to guilt.”

”Do you want to leave the council? It is alright if you want to.”

”No. I don’t plan to quit working in the council,” she admitted to herself and to Sister Isabelle, ”I am scared sometimes.”

”About what you see? Your ability?” asked Sister Isabelle, ”Is that what you came to confess for?” the lady gave her time to reply back to her and Vivian took more than a minute this time, wondering how to put in words.

”I am thankful for what I have received, by this, I can help people who are in need. The innocent but the ability doesn’t stop there. It scares me because I see things sometimes. Things that have not taken place or things that fall into parallel to what has happened,” Vivian paused, looking away from where she had previously been seeing, she continued, ”Like what happened with the woman in the snow mansion.”

The matter was a confidential one with what happened but having sister Isabelle around for so long, it didn’t feel like she had to hide it not because she was the one taking her confession.

”Before I went to give my second exam, I saw the lady over and over again until I actually saw and met her in the mansion. I know you might think it to be a figment of my imagination but when Leo and I went there, we never went to a certain part of the mansion that was where the woman once used to reside the most,” as she said this she heard Sister Isabelle speak from the other side.

”Nothing if a figment of imagination, Vivi,” the woman spoke to her as if a mother would with her child to tell she believed her.

”There have been a few dreams, especially one which has been bothering me lately,” said Vivian clutching her hands together, ”I see Leonard there with blood on his chest, too much blood to know that it is his and not someone else’s,” she knew Leo was out there listening to every word she spoke right now and she didn’t want to hide it. Sometimes, it was easier to speak to a stranger than someone who was directly involved in the matter, ”It is always the same and I cannot help but worry for what our future holds,” she confessed what was actually bothering her.

Leonard who had been sitting there listening to her and the sister had closed his eyes until he heard what Vivian dreamt of. These few days he had thought it was her first assignment that had occupied her mind but it seemed that it was her dreams or premonitions about him in it that had put her in such an anxious state.

Sister Isabelle said, ”Subconsuoious details can lead to a lot of meanings but they need not fall right into what we think of believe it to be true. What did you see when regarding the mistress of the second lord of Bonelake?” so Sister Isabelle knew about the woman too, thought Vivian to herself.

”I saw her come close to me in anger. Angry and screaming,” she replied back to her question on the ghost dreams.

”And was that how she was when you met her?”

”No...”

”Dreams even though they are recurring, it is something our mind likes to play like a memory in a loop due to a lot of factors. You never had these dreams before and it is only recently I believe that you started seeing them, yes?”

”Yes.”

”Then there is nothing to worry about. It might be just your mind that has been trying to take a lot of things in,” Sister Isabelle tried to make her understand, an evident smile in her voice, ”Leo, is a special and lucky mand and so are you to have each other to be loved so dearly that you would start to worry about the other. It is very natural that our mind will project our worries and the state of mind through our dreams.”

”There is nothing else,” answered Vivian and finally when she stepped out of the confession box she saw Leo waiting for her who from sitting on the bench was now standing in the front, who was lighting the candles one by one.

Vivian didn’t know what Leo would ask or say to her but when he saw her, he placed the candle on the stand and raised his hand for her to take. At the same time, Sister Isabelle stepped out of the box too.

”How do you feel now?” he pushed the strand of her hair behind her ear while staring into the depth of her eyes which seemed much clearer than the fog that had been hovering over previously.

”Better,” she gave him a smile.

”That’s good to hear. Better is always good,” he murmured, leaning forward he kissed her forehead. Pulling away, he ruffled the hair that had settled there lightly to hide it with a smile, ”You know, Vivi, I am not going anywhere. Did you forget what the soul bond is about?”

She shook her head, ”I didn’t but you matter to me more than I.”

”And I have the same words for you. I will not leave you alone in this terrifying world,” he said pulling her close in his arms, ”I didn’t leave you when had a spider terrify you. I will be there to remove not one but hundreds and thousands of them for you. So please don’t worry about it.”

”I will try,” she closed her eyes feeling safe in his embrace.

”Of course you will,” he smiled. He saw Sister Isabelle smile but when it faltered he noticed there was something wrong. Nonetheless, he held the one person who was dear to him closely. He didn’t have to question what was wrong as he had a fair idea on what it was about from what Vivian spoke of.

Not wanting to delve in it, he said, ”Shall we go?”

Pulling back he heard her ask, ”What about you?” he cocked his head to the side.

”What about me?”

”Don’t you have anything to confess?” he gave her a boyish smile.

”If there is anyone I would want to confess, it would be only you, Bambi. No one else.”

Sister Isabelle cleared her throat, ”That itself can be considered as a confession.”

When the couple left, Sister Isabelle continued with what Leo had started by lighting the candles which began to burn brightly at the touch of the flame. Father Connor who had gone out for a small errand of Sister Isabelle arrived back to see the couple to have left.

”Did you sprinkle it everywhere?” she asked without stopping what she was doing.

Father Connor came around, holding an empty bucket which was previously full, ”Yes, Sister Isabelle. I made sure to put the remnants in the river. Every tank and every canal of stored water. Didn’t leave single house untouched. Do you think it will work?”

”It will,” she answered.

She had spent the whole day in preparing the rituals and another day in praying with the water she had collected which would act stronger than the holy water itself but this holy water wasn’t to affect the vampires. They were for the black witches and the new foreign creature called the switchers. Once one of them would consume it would create the right reaction by driving them away from the humans and when that would happen she would be able to kill them one by one without anyone’s notice. If blood had been spilt before here, with the involvement of the black witch and white witch, she could tell that there was more to come.

”Will you be creating more of them?” asked the man placing the bucket at the side of the wall.

”I will have to once we are done here. I think it is time we moved from this place, Connor.”

”Will the council allow us?” Father asked in doubt. The council kept a close watch on the white witches which was as close as one would with the black witches. Connor was an ordinary human who had come to serve God but being Sister Isabelle’s apprentice for so long now, he wanted to follow where she went.

”They won’t,” she smiled placing the candle back and turning to look at his confused face, ”They don’t need to know, Connor.”

”But they will kill you if they find you disobeying their orders.”

”True. But I don’t have enough time either. My time here has come close to an end and it is only a matter of a few days before I leave,” Sister Isabelle hummed, she offered him a smile which the man didn’t take well.

”Why would you say that? I would be lost without your guidance,” he argued pressing his lips in a thin line. He had known her since he had joined the service of the church. Though most of the times she kept her thoughts to herself, as a white witch the woman was admirable for helping many people who sometimes weren’t of the same land or kind, ”Have you caught consumption for the witches that cannot be cured?”

The white witch didn’t answer to his query and walked towards the water offering, sprinkling them on her hands. She had taken Father Connor under her wing but the man not once doubted her capabilities. There had been times when she had to leave the lands and he had stood by guarding the church and holding the council of with lies so that they wouldn’t know she had left the lands. Some councilmen were good but there were some who didn’t take anyone’s existence but theirs into account.

”You have outdone yourself, Connor,” she looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes twinkling softly, ”You will be fine. And once I am done cleansing this village, I shall start moving up and West, I will need you to stay here to guard.”

”But-”

”We need to eliminate as many enemies as we can before a war starts. And they,” she paused, without completing the sentence she smiled, ”Come help me with the herbs. It will save me time.”

On the arrival of night, Sister Isabelle took hold of her lantern and stepped out of the Church through the backdoor alone. The flame of the lantern burnt intermediately, it’s flame enclosed in the glass case as she walked away from the church and closer to the forest which came after the town.

Like many other nights, the land of Bonelake wasn’t fortunate to have a stary night with the moon emitting the light down. She walked into the forest, her footsteps slowing down when she edged closer and away from the village. She heard the whispers of the leaves which was brought by the wind.

She turned the knob of the light to lowered down the flame until it was completely extinguished.