Allure Of The Night

Music Recommendation: Harriet Smith and Robert Martin- Isobel Waller

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When Alfie brought food to the room, Vincent pulled the cart inside. Eve said, “I don’t have an appetite.” Not with a dead person in the room.

Vincent pushed the cart and placed it next to her, “I wouldn’t have minded you not eating, but you need energy to dig the grave to bury this woman in it.” Noticing Eve imagine it, he taunted, “Don’t tell me you were hoping I would do all the work by myself, did you?”

Eve pursed her lips. In less than a few hours, she had turned into a criminal. First, she had killed a person, and now she was going to bury and hide the body. She replied, “I did not.”

“Good. Eat now. They are things you can digest,” commented Vincent, pulling the chair next to her. He said, “The woman died trying to drink you dry, you should be the last person to be sad about it.”

“I am not sad. It isn’t every day I sit in the same room as the dead and have my meals.”

Vincent smirked while trying to get under Eve’s skin. He said, “If you didn’t pick a woman of a high status, I would have taken you to Hollow Valley’s finest inn to celebrate your first kill.” He picked the long-stalked bean that was cooked in olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper.

As Eve ate the vegetables, she could feel Vincent’s gaze on her the entire time. She asked him, “Where did you get those blood spots?”

“I went out for a walk and it drizzled blood. It was unavoidable,” Vincent responded to Eve without looking away from her. “It is better to be ignorant about a few things.”

“Haven’t I already stepped into your world with both my feet?” Eve asked him, and she noticed his eyes smile.

“Silly girl. You might be on my side of the world, but you are a fish and don’t have feet,” Vincent leaned forward and whispered, “It is because I am holding you,” and his lips curled.

He was protecting her by letting her know very little, than letting guilt weigh in her mind.

“Thank you for having my back, Vincent,” thanked Eve, something Vincent had not expected her to do even though it was in her nature.

“You better be ready to dig ground the next time I need someone to do the job,” Vincent saw Eve nod. “You don’t have to worry about experience, you will learn quickly after the tenth time,” he said nonchalantly, noticing her blink at him before a smile cracked on his lips.

Vincent bit into the beanstalk, watching the mermaid finishing her meal. As much as he wanted to corrupt her, he didn’t want the world to corrupt her.

When everyone in the mansion went to sleep, the butler started cleaning the piano room to remove every trace of blood. Vincent and Eve left the mansion along with Lady Camille’s body, away from Skellington.

In the carriage, Eve asked Vincent, “Are you sure about this?”

“Do you have a better idea than mine? I am open to suggestions,” Vincent raised his eyebrows in question. “This will work just fine.”

“You want to bury the body in Darthmore. Behind the council’s building… ” Eve wasn’t at ease about it. It was as if a thief was going to the authorities to get caught. “How many bodies have you buried there before?”

“Why?” Vincent turned to her, and his eyes narrowed, “Do you plan to bury some in the future?”

“Of course, not! Why would I do that?”

“Self defence?” Vincent asked her, blinking his eyes, and Eve stared at him. “To answer your question, just a few of them.”

The last time this pureblooded vampire had said he killed only ‘handful’ ones, it was not even a quarter of it. Eve murmured, “I see.”

Vincent then remarked, “Doesn’t Lady Camille look happy enjoying the ride with us, this fine evening?”

Eve shifted her gaze from Vincent to look at the dead woman, who was riding with them, sitting in front of Vincent with her hands and legs tied. Her eyes hadn’t been closed, just so that she appeared alive. Her body had lost most of its colour, where the underlying veins surfaced on her skin.

“She looks pale…” Eve replied.

“Maybe we should have powdered her face to make her skin look in excellent health. Hmm,” Vincent hummed, and Eve wondered if she had started to lose her mind because she didn’t scowl at the vampire like she usually used to do at his jokes.

And though Vincent was in a humorous mood, he glared at the dead woman for sinking her teeth into his precious mermaid and drinking his precious blood.

Once they reached the place, Mr. Briggs stopped the carriage as if he knew where and what to do in these situations. The coachman carried the dead woman over his shoulder before dropping her on the ground when they reached a safe place far away from where the Council was actually located.

“Is there anything else I can do for you, Master Vincent?” Mr. Briggs asked with a straight face, and Eve was in awe that Vincent had such loyal people around him who helped him bury bodies.

“That would be all,” replied Vincent. Eve watched Mr. Briggs walk away from them, before stopping next to a tree as if to keep a watch and make sure no one came.

Thirty minutes passed, and Eve continued digging the ground with all her energy, while Vincent leaned his back against one of the trees, and one of his shoes was placed flat on the bark. Amid the almost quiet forest, they were surrounded by crickets chirping and frogs croaking.

“With the pace you are going, the woman will be buried when the sun sets tomorrow,” Vincent remarked as Eve dug the ground. He said, “I am surprised you didn’t ask me to work along with you.”

“I killed her… It was only right that I dig the ground. Would you have, if I asked you?” Eve asked him, and she forced the shovel to remove the mud from the ground.

Vincent pushed his body forward and left the tree’s side. He said,

“You never asked.”

Eve stopped what she was doing and turned to see him. She asked him, “Will you help me?”

“Haven’t I been doing it,” Vincent’s eyes slightly glowed in the shadows of the trees surrounding them, and she saw his lips twist into his signature cunning smile.

Together, Vincent and Eve dug the ground, the sound of the shovel hitting the ground and throwing the mud to the side. He said,

“We should make this interesting.”

“Isn’t it interesting enough that I killed someone this evening?” Eve asked him without turning to look at him.

“Have you fallen in love with me that you find it hard to look me in the eye and speak, Eve?” Vincent teased her, which was enough to have her turn to look at him. He raised his hand and stroked her head, his action catching Eve off guard. He then said, “Good girl.”