Three chapters have been updated!
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After the arrival of other council members who resided in Mythweald came to inspect the state the body was found in, the dead body of Charlotte was brought down to place on the ground.
Mrs Easton cried and grieved at her daughter’s death. The way she was found in, looked utterly painful. With her chest that was torn wide open on either side of her body, some amount of blood had dripped down to show the juicy organs inside but in time it had come to dry with the dry wind which blew in the wake of the morning.
She touched her daughter’s face which was bruised when she went to cradle her daughter’s head, she came in contact with wet and sticky blood due to the back of the head being cracked open. Charlotte’s vacant eyes stared at the sky, her body cold and readying itself to be decomposed.
“My beautiful daughter,” unlike her husband who was holding back his emotions, Mrs Easton couldn’t hide the devastation she felt and she sobbed no matter how gory her daughter looked right now.
Villagers who had previously hovered over the scene had been rushed back to their houses by the councilmen to let them work on what had happened.
“Why!” Mrs Easton lulled the girl back and forth, “My children…”
Duke Harrison stood a few steps away from the scene talking to the two councilmen who had come to inspect the scene. His hair ruffled up due to the dry breezy air.
“It doesn’t seem like a witch’s work. They never leave the bodies as they are known to take them so that they can utilize every part. The wounds the girl received was from objects not by mere strength of hands,” one of the councilmen said, he shook his head, “What do you think, Frey?” he asked his partner who was a woman with short hair.
“It’s hard to say this but,” the councilwoman dropped her voice so that no one could hear her, “I don’t think it’s the witches or the vampires who had done it out of spite.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Duke Harrison responded back, glancing towards the couple who were next to their dead daughter before looking back at the two council members, “The humans would never dare such a thing. They are aware of the consequences.”
“After talking to the villagers, I found out that two humans are missing from the lot, they haven’t seen them since last night and in the morning. Isn’t that funny? This is Mythweald after all, a place which was built for only humans.”
Duke Harrison like the Easton’s was in shock when he came upon the magistrate’s request to the village quickly. The only word he had received was that a vampiress had been hung on the tree for people to see but he would have never guessed for the girl who was supposed to be his bride to be murdered so gruesomely.
Whoever had killed her, looked like they killed her out of spite and anger. Her body appeared to be battered, wounds scarring her once lovely face who was always full of light.
It wasn’t easy to kill a pureblooded vampire. As much as it was easy to kill a vampire and a human by running a stake through the heart, it took a lot to end a pureblooded vampire. One had to remove the core which was a stone present in every pureblooded vampire. It was what defined them, setting apart from all the other beings. The core was the most important part of the purebloods. If it was corrupted, it could drive one mad to the path of insanity.
He had checked the surroundings to see no other trail apart from the humans which only concluded that a human had done it. Like many others who had come to look at the scene, he was upset. Upset for a vampiress to be killed who had done nothing.
“What do we do, sir? Would you like us to file the report to the head council?” the councilman asked, waiting for the Duke’s orders as he was the one responsible to this side of the land.
The Duke stayed quiet. His brows furrowed, he spoke after a few seconds, “No,” both the council members looked at the man confused.
“We won’t be filing the report?” Frey, the councilwoman asked.
“The humans here have caused a grave mistake. We are going to find the people who did this to Ms Easton before filing in the report. If we do it right away, the councillors will step forward to take things under their hand which I don’t want,” the councilwoman nodded her head who was a vampire herself, “Send word to Duke Carmichael about his immediate presence that has been requested in Mythweald. He would like to be informed,” the councilwoman bowed her head and went to finish the work that had just been assigned to her, “Opus.”
“Yes, Duke Harrison,” the councilman responded back.
“Gather the villagers again. I would like to talk to each one of them personally this time,” Opus, the councilman reluctantly agreed to the Duke’s request as he feared for the villagers.
Though most of the vampires and humans despised humans. Humans because they couldn’t achieve what the vampires had and vampires because they didn’t like the lowly beings who were inferior to them. Yet there were a few who sympathized with the other. He didn’t know why the humans would pick an unnecessary fight with the vampires by placing one of the purebloods body as a display to spite them. They had sowed their mistakes and now they would repent for what they had done.
“Yes, Duke Harrison,” Opus exchanged bows with the Duke before walking away from the trees and towards the houses which were part of the human village.
Charlotte’s body was preserved in the cellar room of Easton’s mansion where it was cooler in temperature. The white witches, who were disguised as priestess had come to bless the soul of the vampiress while also slowing down the decomposition of the body.
On the third day, Leonard arrived at his maternal aunt’s mansion. It didn’t take him long to know what was the pestering matter that needed his presence. With Vivian behind him, Leonard entered the cellar where his aunt sat next to the coffin with her face which was covered with the handkerchief as she couldn’t believe what was done to her child. Mr Easton greeted Leonard with a nod, his eyes dull and dark circles around his eyes.
When Leonard came to stand in front of the coffin where his cousin laid with her eyes open, the emptiness evident to show the soul to have left her. His hands balled into a fist, turning white in a wave of uncontrollable anger.
Blood had turned black, her body bare land opened where he could see her spine and bones. It pained him to see his beloved cousin in this state. She was the kindest of them all, kinder than her brother who always smiled at everything. A smile that could brighten anyone’s day like the sun itself.
He could still remember the time when his mother was reading her a book…
He could hear young Charlotte ask, “What about the hunter? Does he come back again?”
“Of course he does,” young Leo answered her.
“So what happens when he does?” his cousin asked.
“What is the point of having aunt Renae read the book to you if you’re going to hear it in pieces?” Julliard asked his sister to only hear her exclaim,
“I won’t be able to sleep if I don’t know now!”
Charlotte was one of the rare personified light in their dark world and to think that she was no more made it hardly believable. Leonard moved closer to look at her. His hand reached to meet her head which had a crack on it, smoothing the hair strands that stuck unevenly.
“Charlotte,” he whispered his cousin’s name, hoping for time to turn back so that he could save her from whoever had done this to her. Anger boiled in his veins.
If what Duke Harrison had told him was the truth, the humans would pay for it. The ones who had brought in such misery upon his family, they would pay the heavy price of killing someone whom he cared for so dearly.
