Bambi and the Duke

When Leonard had given out the information on the second Lord's death, he had told it to be a natural death but at that time it had seemed that he had hidden something from her. Was it a confidential matter which was not to be told to anyone?

The council had cleverly put the new examines to take up the test and try to solve the case which they couldn't. Without giving out more than necessary details, the exam was given to solve where all the nine of them had started to work on without knowing where to start. As she pondered on it, she heard a commotion start outside and she hurried there to see what had happened.

She heard the councilman ask an examine, "When was the last time you saw him?"

"I think it was this early in the morning before the dawn broke, though my memory isn't quick as I had gone to sleep late myself," the lowly vampire answered.

"Did anyone see him?" asked the councilman to which everyone shook their head. Vivian looked around the people who had gathered outside, counting the heads to realize one of them to be missing, "These things are very common during the task if you aren't careful, you will be killed or eaten alive by the animals that surround this mansion," animals? was there one here? "But you need to be careful of your fellow competition, you never know when one might use a knife to cut through your throat," the councilman smirked making a few of them comfortable while the others taking it as a leverage as it was told that they could do anything until and unless they weren't caught.

By the time evening came by, another two people went missing leaving only six of the examines in the mansion and a councilman who was hardly interested in keeping a watch over them.

With only fruits to suffice her stomach, Vivian heard her stomach growl and rumble with the need for food. She wanted to eat and if she didn't soon, there was a possibility of her fainting due to the headache that had come to form around her temples due to no proper her meal. She couldn't stay inside the mansion and at some point, she would have to go hunt for food.

It didn't help that people had started to go missing. Did the wolves in the forest eat them? Or was it the people here or the councilman who had taken a seat in one of the rooms. But then, thought Vivian to herself, what if it was the ghost? This ghost that was haunting the house didn't seem to care about the time or place. Vivian had gone to make a trip to the cellar below but the skeleton that once used to be there wasn't there anymore.

Two days was going to pass by soon and none of them could figure out what they were supposed to look for.

She bit her lip, thinking about it hard while stepping out of the mansion with a lantern in her hand. She knew it wasn't a good idea to be roaming at this hour though it was evening and turning to be night. Making sure she didn't stray too far, she walked around the mansion. She could have waited for tomorrow but she had no time. Time was running and if she didn't crack the case, she would never be able to step into the council until the next year.

Every step she took on the snow-covered ground left footprints of her boots. With only the lantern as a source of light, she carried in front of her while making a round or two around the mansion to see if there was something odd she could find. Finding a plant that grew behind the mansion, she got closer to realize that the flowers' petal could be eaten which had a lone white petal among the red flower. Picking many of them, she ate them one after another. The place where she had placed lantern had dipped down a little due to the base heat. Picking it up, her neck craned to see outside the walls of the mansion where the harsh wind blew due to the dire weather.

Coming back with the lantern swinging in her hand back and forth next to her, she tried to think where the skeleton might be present. The councilman had clearly spoken of a body meaning there had to be one here unless it wasn't the kind of body they were all searching for.

Holding on to her coat to protect her from the icy wind, she got back inside. The mansion was dark if it weren't for the lantern that she held in her hand. The councilman named, Oliver sat on a wooden chair with his feet up on another which were crossed with a hat covering his face.

"There is an option where you can get back home if you don't want to stay here any longer. That is one of the reasons why I am here," he said under his hat and Vivian paused her footsteps to look at him, "Aren't you scared, lady?" he brought his feet down and his hat moved to sit on his lap.

"Is there something I should be scared of which the rest aren't aware of?" she asked him, her eyes unwavering gaze on him which made the man smile.

The councilman whispered, "Don't you know?"

"I don't enlighten me please," she challenged the man for his eyes to narrow down to observe the human girl who was young and looked inexperienced while looking pretty.

The councilman wasn't a human-like Hueren but a vampire. Looking at his eyes she guessed him to be a low-level vampire who didn't have the blood of a pureblood as his eyes were bright in color. Darker the color, that much strong was the presence of the strong lineage blood for a vampire.

"Men here are going missing. One after another and if you take another look, you will notice the headcount to have reduced to five now. She looked at him slightly alarmed. Did another person go out and not come back?

"Shouldn't you go look for him? Isn't that another reason as to why you have been assigned here?" she asked the man who had crouched his back in the chair, his hands linked forward which was supported on his knees.

"It isn't my duty to find them, I am here to merely invigilate and see if there's any mishap under my eyes. We usually don't have invigilators looking after the examinees. It is only because there's a female they have sent us here," he gave the reason but something told Vivian that there was something else. The councilmen hardly cared for the women and she had heard on and on, on how women were never welcomed, "With the way everything is progressing, I can tell that there won't be a passing candidate in this batch," his smile showed the fangs that protruded out of his mouth.

Not having else to exchange with the dusk that had fallen upon the sky, she took the lantern along with her to look at the rooms above and below.

The mansion had a study room like the rest of the mansions she had come upon until now. The door was wide open which she had closed earlier during the time of day meaning it had been entered after she had left by the other people who were partaking in the examination.

There were some parchments of papers that were scattered and whoever had last visited hadn't bothered to place it back in its place. Putting down the lantern, Vivian began to pick up the papers one after another when she read a few newsletters that were dated a few years ago. Placing it on the table and bringing the lantern close to read it, she read 'Lord Bonelake's wife dies out of fever'. Scattering through more of them, she found another one that was dated to the year when the Lord had died, 'Lord catches an irrecoverable disease. Not ready to meet the public'.

Frowning as she read them, Vivian didn't realize that not far from where she stood, someone else stood behind her, watching her every movement.

The lord didn't want to meet anyone? Was he bedridden at that time?

Ready to keep them on the table with the stone stop to avoid them from being moved, she reached her hand forward for the lantern to free fall from the table and in a nick of time with her heart stumbling out she caught hold of it, "Ouch!" she cried to put it back on the table to feel the palms of her hands burn.

This was going to leave a burn tomorrow morning, she thought to look down before placing back the papers and some of them which had scattered down again. Picking all of them, her head came to touch the tabletop which she avoided in time to see something inside the table. It was hidden unless someone bent down and looked over to see another secretive compartment. Looking at the papers she had just found, she placed it on the table before running her hands on the bottom of the table in the dark.

Trying to find it to open, she found latch which she couldn't open. Staring at it hard, she tried to see a parchment of paper which looked like a newsletter that was hidden in it. Getting up she searched for something sharp to use and found a stick that was in the drawer. Squinting her eyes and bending down towards the ground to level her eye so that she could see, she used the stick to push the paper from the desk. Carefully moving it, the paper finally fell through and she stuffed it in her dress taking the lantern to see Jamien who was being talked by the councilman with a disinterested look.

Thinking it would be best to find an isolated place to read, she took it to a room which must have been the kitchen, walking further she stepped into the storage room which was the darkest out of the rest of the mansion with no window and only one way out which had no doors.

Getting the paper towards the lantern she read the contents inside it. The headline read 'Rumored mistress of the Lord gone missing'. Going to read on, 'Lord of Bonelake claims to not know where his mistress is as she has gone missing for more than a week with no hint. Speculations are that she was a witch who must have been burnt amongst the other black witches in the local village. The Lord kept the woman next to him after getting married but why didn't he know? The Lord was told to be a human who used the magic of hers and now faces he shame which he is not ready to take...' it went on to be written.

Vivian remembered Leo telling her on how the second Lord had fooled everyone especially the councilmen, tricking them to show that he was a pureblooded vampire when he was a normal human. On how the rumors were spread that after a black witch who had helped him tricked him, the charm had broken turning his pureblooded vampire state to the human self. Did something happen to the black witch? To hide a paper-like this in secret so that no one could find or have found before, was it meant to be kept hidden or a secret that laid in this piece of information. She read the paper three more times. Biting her lip, she opened the little window of the lantern which was used to light the lamp. She folded the paper to push it inside where the old newsletter burnt brightly until only ashes were left at the bottom of the lantern.

If it were a secret, then, for now, it was best to die down until she found the bottom of what had happened here.

She had one more day and one more night before the council would come to regard if the examines had passed which clearly none had passed as they hadn't found the body yet.

The light in the lantern had begun to dim down, its light holding less vigor of brightness in it, wavering with every second as Vivian's eyes closed before she woke herself up in a daze of sleep and then slept again. The next time she woke up it was because of the shrill sound of a woman's cry. The cry woke up every single remaining person in the mansion.

Having surrounded by darkness, she quickly hurried herself to the hall where three of the men, one which included Jamien and one who had commented on her on the first day and another who was a human stood along with her.

"What happened?" Jamien asked the vampire who had commented on her who looked with fearful eyes.

"T-there outside," he pointed outside the mansion.

Jamien stepped outside and so did the human where Vivian followed to see what had got the man so spooked. Walking out they saw nothing but it was when she turned to look back at the mansion did she see the councilman to be hammered to the wall with a hole in his chest as he was sprawled out dead.

There was messy writing at the bottom of the body that read 'I know what you did.'