After listening to Rosetta’s story from yesterday and today, where her aunt appeared to be annoyed that some ‘lowly-vampire’ must have killed the mermaid she had invested her money in. Eve finally left from there and hopped on the local carriage to return home.
The sky had turned inky blue with traces of white near the horizon.
Three more people were travelling in the carriage that Eve was in, and as time passed, she started to feel someone’s gaze on her. Subtly she turned to look in the direction of the two men and one woman beside her, who were all busy looking out the window. She wondered if she had imagined it and went back to look outside the carriage window.
When the carriage halted before Meadow, Eve noticed a few more carriages and people with coats standing and discussing something. One of the male passengers in the carriage said,
“A lot of people in the town today.”
The coachman turned his head and said, “It’s the bodies they found last night. Haven’t you heard about it?”
“I thought the case would have been closed by this hour,” said the female passenger..
“I heard that they aren’t sure who did it. Whether it’s the werewolves or vampires. The humans were not just killed, but their insides were ripped out,” stated the coachman, which had the passengers frowning. “It has been told that a similar case took place in the North and East side.”
The coachman pulled the reins of the horses, starting the carriage before it continued to head towards Meadow.
One of the male passengers in the carriage said to the coachman, “It can also be the work of a mermaid. These creatures are said to have sharp fingers and nails which make it easy to rip fleshes.”
“How fearsome,” murmured the female passenger, who sat next to Eve and belonged to Meadow town.
A lot of knowledge was never passed down from the authorities, even to the members of the high society, less the lower class, who blindly believed loose information. This led to a lack of patience with the outcasts, that made people want them all dead, not caring to understand that some were innocent.
“Indeed, they are milady,” replied the male passenger. Now that Eve took a closer look at the person, she noticed the man was a vampire who probably came from a lower class, unlike the ones who belonged to the elites. “All these outcasts have been causing problems again.”
The woman couldn’t help but agree and said, “It was only three-four weeks ago since the guards last searched every home in our town. Thankfully we are free from those creatures since they last caught the vile sea creature. Isn’t that right, Genevieve.”
Eve nodded, “The siren was caught by the officials and the town has been clean since then.”
At night, after pouring salts into the bathtub, Eve dipped and transformed herself into her mermaid body. She had submerged herself in the clear water, staring at nothing in particular while lost in thoughts. Moonlight passed through the little window of the bathroom while candles surrounded the room.
There were a lot of things that weighed on Eve’s mind and she sighed. She pushed herself up, breaking through the still surface of the water before coming to sit upright while both her hands gripped the edges of the bathtub.
“One at a time,” Eve whispered to herself.
The sound of water dripping in the bathtub filled the bathroom, where the earlier water dripped from her head to her face before falling. Her mermaid body turned back to a human one, and she drew her legs closer, hugging it. No place was safe. She would find a threat wherever she went, and it was never easy to start afresh.
The memory of her mother’s death had scarred her, and she doubted if she would ever receive the closure she was looking for. From what Vincent had told her, sometimes people don’t get what they look for. But it was worth looking for than imagining what it could be.
Eve concentrated on her breathing with her eyes closed, calming it the way she had learned since she was young. So that her fear would never come to be detected by vampires or werewolves who had keen ears.
She was about to get up from the tub when her eyes fell on the gentle waves the surface of the water created. It wasn’t the water that caught her attention but her very own reflection, where gold specks with blue eyes looked back at her.
Eve quickly got up from the bathtub. With water dripping down her body and spilling on the floor, she came to stand in front of the mirror. But her eyes didn’t have any hint of gold or yellow in them.
Days continued to pass, and the guards turned alert in guarding the villages and towns. Two days before the soiree that Vincent had mentioned to Eve, in the evening after finishing work, when she was making her way back to the local carriage stop of Skellington, Rosetta approached her from behind.
“Good evening, Eve!”
“Good evening, Rosetta,” Eve offered a slight bow, noticing the young vampiress turn behind before starting to walk along with her. “Is everything alright?” She asked the vampiress.
“Oh, it isn’t anything. I thought we should take a walk together” Rosetta’s voice came out to be a little lost.
Eve couldn’t help but feel Rosetta’s actions to be suspicious. The vampiress walked quickly, holding Eve’s arm, while she tried to make sure not to stumble. Rosetta turned back to look behind her before looking forward.
“How was your day? Did the Moriarty’s give you a hard time?” Rosetta asked as if it was nothing, while Eve, this time for sure, knew something was up. It was because the vampiress was asking about her day rather than speaking about her own.
“It was a decent day. Miss Allie and I went through the geography of our lands…” Eve noticed Rosetta turn behind again and asked, “You are worrying me, Rosetta.” She resisted the young woman from pulling her arm and looked at her.
“I will tell you about it. But can we keep walking?” Rosetta asked Eve. She cleared her throat and added, “Please.”
Eve agreed and continued walking, heading towards the edge of the town. She wondered if perhaps Rosetta had a fight with someone on the street, which was why she kept turning behind.
Rosetta finally revealed, “My parents are here. Earlier, my father said in the letter that he had a week’s work here, but it has been cancelled and we’ll be leaving in two days.”
“Oh,” Eve replied before saying, “Maybe if you speak to them they would understand.”
Rosetta shook her head, “They are upset and angry at me for not being able to build a relationship with Vincent Moriarty. My father said the reason he sent me here was so that I could form an alliance with them. That’s not the worst part, my father has arranged a dinner tomorrow and invited the Moriarty family to Aunt Camille’s house to see if the situation can be fixed.”
Eve could tell why Rosetta’s father was keen on building an alliance with the Moriartys. She also knew that the vampiress couldn’t refuse or go against her parents’ decision. This was how things worked in high society, where the children were mostly used to improve their families’ reputation, power or wealth, which often came with an underlying advantage.
Eve said to Rosetta, “I don’t think stalling would help, not for long.”
“Maybe I should run away? I can come to stay at your house!” Exclaimed Rosetta while exploring her options.
Not that Eve opposed the idea, but she knew such actions had repercussions. Rosetta’s father wasn’t a nobody but an Marquee; if he wanted, he could easily ruin her and her family’s peace. The people from the lower families feared people from powerful families for a reason.
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