Allure Of The Night

Vincent chuckled before he stated, “All you need to know is that Eve is the love of my life, my wife, and she’s very special to me. So don’t try poisoning or having her fall from the stairs like what you tried in the past. Are we good? If not, we are more than happy to leave.”

“No one is displeased with your decision, Vincent,” Vincent’s grandfather loved his grandson and his family and wanted to spend time with him. “As a Moriarty, you have the power to take charge of your life without needing anyone’s approval. And it seems like Genevieve is a decent woman. But first, I need to take a bath and change into fresh clothes. Carla, prepare a feast and prepare the dining room.”

Carla offered a deep bow before walking away from there in haste.

Before Strix and Ravette left, the old vampire asked, “Where is Marceline?”

“Marceline… she’s having a vacation,” Vincent replied with a straight face.

“She couldn’t come here for that?” Strix’s eyebrows furrowed.

“I thought it was best to give her the time she needed, to find herself. She will come meet you when she’s ready with some self discovery,” Vincent assured his grandparents, who nodded and left.

Eve let out a sigh, and once the elderly couple was out of sight, she said, “That wasn’t what I was expecting to happen this morning. I thought your grandmother would kill me.”

“Grandmother is hot headed, but we will leave that to my grandfather,” Vincent remarked, leaning forward and kissing one side of her temple. He then asked, “Are you hurt?”

Eve shook her head, “Just a little sore, but I am fine.”

“Meow meow,” Timotei walked down the stairs and appeared in front of Vincent and Eve, “I didn’t know there were more people in this mansion.”

“Timotei, did you enter the chambers last night and break the table in there?” Eve asked the black cat, who stared at her.

“What table? I didn’t see any table,” Timotei cleared his throat.

“You are lucky you didn’t break the other coffin. We could test if you can fly,” Vincent remarked, to which Timotei chuckled.

The black cat then quickly promised, “I will stay away from all tables I am supposed to stay away from. It isn’t like I was told not to touch it. I was looking for you both. If there is anyone to be blamed, it is the carpenter or the housekeeper! Not me! Actually, you know what, I think I have intruded on your time, and would like to go back home.”

“Maybe he should get back home,” Vincent murmured, and Timotei nodded eagerly. “But why the sudden change in plans?”

“That…” Timotei looked back and forth between the couple and replied, “I just realised that you both married recently and what I am doing is third wheeling, when I should look for my own mademoiselle.”

Eve realised that Timotei was acting suspiciously and said, “We can travel back together. What if someone attacks him?” The last question was for Vincent.

“Maybe we will know if it really is his last life or if has some spares left,” Vincent commented, to have the black cat glare.

“I wouldn’t want to waste your time when you both can spend it in the bedroom. I would like my lunch, dinner, and breakfast packed and placed in the carriage. Marceline’s scared coachman can ride her carriage back to Skellington,” Timotei had already made the plan and was ready for it to be implemented.

“Life is so hard… let me go to the kitchen and see what is there to eat,” Timotei consoled himself and then pranced away.

“Do you think he doesn’t like your grandparents?” Eve asked Vincent because the black cat had given her the impression that it was here to enjoy a long vacation.

“Seems like it. As if he’s trying to escape from here.”

As the black cat walked towards the kitchen, he muttered, “Why didn’t I realise before! Bad Timotei! Ugh, I should urge Eve to turn me quickly.”

“Timotei,” Eve called from behind, and the black cat paused his footsteps. “We need to talk.”

“Oh, good! You have finally decided to turn me!” Timotei raised both his hands as if he was praying.

“Is something going on? You are acting suspicious,” Eve said in a low voice before picking Timotei in her arms so she could speak without another person to listen to them.

“Who me? I am the least suspicious person in this place,” Timotei huffed. “I don’t even know what you are talking about.”

“Seriously, what are you hiding? I promise not to tell anyone if you tell me about it,” Eve let the black cat know, who contemplated for two seconds before shaking his small furry head.

“All I am hiding is my majestic self. I am the king of darkness and shadow, who he–“

Hearing footsteps coming from the other side of the corridor, Eve and Timotei turned quiet. It was Lady Ravette, who walked with another servant following her. It must be the servant who helped her out of the coffin by giving her blood, Eve thought in her mind.

Timotei stiffened on seeing the lady and said to himself, ‘Act normal. I am a regular and average cat. Just a normal cat.’ But it was hard to behave normal when he was a powerful person. A force to be reckoned with!

“Genevieve, what are you doing here? Carla and the other servants will have the dining table ready,” Lady Ravette said with a polished and clear voice.

“My cat needed to be fed. It gets restless when it is hungry,” Eve replied, while Timotei jumped out of her hand and skipped away. “Excuse, my cat…”

“How surprising that you have a black cat as your pet. The Moriarty family has had a line of black cats as their pets. Sadly they don’t live long,” Lady Ravette responded to Eve’s words. “I know it because I have seen the older portraits of the Moriarty family. The older things that belonged to the other Moriarty family before us, all are in the cellar room. Black cats. It seems like a trait the Moriarty family has passed down for generations.”