The guard caught hold of Eve’s ankles and pulled her towards him. She struggled by trying to kick him.
Before the guard could do more harm to her, another guard appeared to inform him, “Deacon, the head guard has summoned you. Right now.”
The vampire guard who was inside Eve’s cell spat on the ground. He threatened her, “I will deal with you later.” He let go of her ankles and Eve quickly crawled backwards. The guard stood up from the place and left after locking the cell’s gate.
Eve took a deep breath, trying to calm her mind and her beating heart. When she touched her forehead, she felt something burn. She thanked God that at least her forehead wasn’t bleeding.
Hours started to pass one after another, and Eve was stuck in the cell room. With what happened, she tried not to agitate any more guards, but for how long would she need to be here? How was she going to get out of the dungeon?
Would she get out…?
The day turned to night, and while Eve was in the dungeon, in the town of Meadow, in Dawson’s residence, Lady Aubrey sat in the living room in front of the fireplace, knitting a sweater. She heard the tower bell in the town ring, and she stopped what she was doing. Her eyes moved towards the main door as Eve was yet to return home.
When she saw Eugene walking past the living room, Lady Aubrey asked, “What time is it, Eugene?”
Eugene turned to look at the cuckoo clock on the wall. He answered, “Eleven, milady. Miss Eve is late again. Do you think she is still in Hollow Valley? She did take the dress that she wore for the Moriarty’s ball.”
Eve had left home early this morning and usually returned home early on weekends. Lady Aubrey didn’t know what was holding Eve back in Hollow Valley.
Another hour passed, and Eugene came to stand next to Lady Aubrey’s side this time. He informed her,
“Milady, it is twelve. Miss Eve isn’t here yet.”
It wasn’t just Eugene but Lady Aubrey who had now turned worried. Eve had never been this late, but the older woman tried to stay positive and hopeful that Eve was fine and she was probably on her way home. But after fifteen minutes passed with no sight of Eve, Lady Aubrey said,
“Bring the carriage, Eugene. Let us visit Hollow Valley and see if we can pick up Eve. If I am not wrong, the local carriages don’t work past twelve in the night.”
Eugene nodded and quickly hurried to bring the carriage to the front of the house. Lady Aubrey accompanied him by sitting inside the carriage and keeping an eye outside the window in case she caught sight of Eve. On arriving at Hollow Valley, most shops were already closed or were in the process of being closed.
“I don’t think she’s here,” Lady Aubrey murmured while looking at the deserted streets of the wealthy town. “Did she say anything about going to work at Moriartys mansion?” She questioned Eugene, but he shook his head.
“No, milady. The Moriartys didn’t tell her to come work for them today. After all, today is a holiday.”
The frown on Lady Aubrey’s forehead deepened, and she asked, “Where would she go then? What about that young vampiress who had breakfast with us?”
Eugene again shook his head, “I don’t think Miss Eve spent her time with her either.” Worried, he asked, “Do you think something bad happened to her?”
“I hope not, Eugene. I hope not,” whispered Lady Aubrey. She didn’t know if someone caught Eve and humans would sell her or if the vampires had caught her and were drinking her blood. She didn’t even want to think about the werewolves… “It is time to go to the magistrate’s office and ask him for his help.”
“But right now the office is closed, and he will be arriving here only at ten in the morning.”
On their way back, Lady Aubrey hoped Eve had reached home and was waiting for them, but she was only hopeful. Because once they did reach home, Eve wasn’t there.
“Do you think it will be safe to let the magistrate know that Eve is missing?” Inquired Eugene, his eyebrows furrowed.
The elderly woman nodded grimly, “We have no other option to find her. We can go to the circus or other places where the bid takes place, but let us hope people have not found out yet what she is. People go missing in the towns, our best option is to reach where she is. If she is caught in the wrong hands, we shall think about it next.”
Eugene’s lips set in a thin line and he nodded.
In the Raven town’s dungeon, scarce light spilled from the fire torches that burned against the walls. A little more light passed through the small window of the cell.
Eve sat on the ground and against the wall, staring at the passage outside the cell in silence. One side of her face had swollen, and one of her eyes had turned small.
She could only imagine how worried Lady Aubrey and Eugene were about her. She wanted to reach out to them, but even if she did, the question was if they would be able to get her out of here. They weren’t part of the high society, which put them at a great disadvantage.
“Staying awake is not going to help. You might as well accept how things are and sleep,” came the words from the person in the next cell.
Eve turned to look at him, but she couldn’t see the man.
“It is good that you quietened down, else who knows, if you would have lived to see tomorrow,” the man laughed as if he found something funny.
“Why are you here?” Eve questioned him. “Were you falsely accused too?”
Several seconds passed in silence, where the man didn’t reply to her. She then heard light footsteps. The man made his way to where the moonlight spilt on his face through the small window of his cell.
“I killed my parents, with my bare hands,” he turned his gaze to look in the direction of where Eve was, and her eyes widened. “I heard them scream, saw them struggle, and felt the panic… like how I feel yours now,” he whispered, but Eve heard him.
She didn’t know how to respond to it and fell silent. After a minute, she asked him, “Why did you kill them?”
“They weren’t the nicest people. My father used to come home drunk, beat me and my mother didn’t care about me. She forgot a mother’s duties to protect me, and started to sleep with men. Women who looked for men out of marriage deserve to die,” the man smiled as if remembering it.
Eve was speechless and avoided commenting on it. Cautiously asked him, “Since how long have you been here?”
“I stopped counting after a decade passed. I have lived it well here,” replied the person. “Where are you from?”
“Meadow.”
“Ah… Meadow. Much better than my own, but still the same in living conditions. I had been there a few times when I was young,” the man turned around and sat on the ground with his back facing the moonlight.
“Which town did you come from?” Eve asked him.
“The one with the groves,” he sighed.
“Brokengroves…?”
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