Belle Adams' Butler

"I am no witch," answered Lucas and Barron couldn't help but snicker to himself on hearing the words of the maid, "Barron and I come from the land of the dead, a place that exists only to the dead and we are the Grim reapers. Creatures who take the souls from the living to the dead."

The room was filled with silence and the servants held their breath as they heard Lucas drop the storm on them.

Belle knew it was not advisable to let the others know about the dead but if they didn't explain now, it would lead to more problems. And she knew in the future, there would be more creatures showing up in front of the mansion's door. They had lost servants and two of them were now packing their bags to leave the mansion not wanting to have any part in it. But the other five continued to sit on the floor with a gobsmacked expression on their face. 

"We mean no harm and we are here only to protect Miss Belle who needs our help," explained Lucas.

The servants who had stayed back was coachman Walter, the servant boy named Barn, three females two of them who were the cooks in the kitchen and one more who helped in cleaning the mansion- Peyton, Emma and Cassie.

Barn raised his hand which shook out of nervousness, "W-when you say grim reaper does it mean the appearance you have right now is not the real one?" asked the servant boy. 

"That's a question for later," answered Lucas as this was the time only to get the servants prepared. It was good that there were only a few more servants left here which would be easier to manage than a dozen servants who would be a blubbering mess.

"Why did those things take Mr. and Mrs. Adams body?" asked the maid, Emma. 

"Did they come back from the dead?" asked another maid. 

Belle could tell that the servants had not been listening carefully, "They didn't come back from the dead. The things you saw, those are the lowest creatures from the land of the dead who feed on souls and they happened to feed on my parent's soul and took their memories," her voice lowered down at the end and she took a deep breath. 

"My apologies but why does Miss Belle need to be protected?" asked Barn the servant boy, his eyes darting from Lucas to Belle and then back to Lucas. 

"Because there are creatures who want her soul. Apparently Miss Belle has the most delicious soul that makes the creature who belongs to the land of the dead want to have it," answered Lucas not revealing about the fated stars as it wasn't necessary and had nothing to do with them. 

"What about Mary and Diana?" asked Cassie, her eyebrows furrowed.

"This was not meant to happen because it has never happened before," replied Lucas, "It was an unforeseen and unexpected event that took place. We will need to find out why and how they got out from the land of the dead as the spirits can't easily slip out, especially not with the bodily form they take into. We'll be giving them proper burial by putting them in the casket."

Belle could see the confused expression on their face and she said, "I apologize for what happened. Maybe if we had relieved you from your work none of you would come to know about it." 

"Please don't apologize, Miss Belle," Peyton shook her head, "It isn't your fault that the creatures killed the others. You were only protecting us and truthfully we have nowhere else to go. This has been our home for years."

"Peyton is right, Miss Belle," Cassie added her thoughts, "I am sure you have had your reasons when you decided to keep it as a secret. Maybe if we were working for another family, we would have left the mansion to work in another family but we couldn't leave you when you needed us."

"She is right. This is our home and we wouldn't leave it though I am scared for what happened," answered Barn, "I believe most of us had our doubts that something was going on because of the rabbit-"

"Who are you calling rabbit!" Barron stomped his feet and started to head towards the servant who was picked up by Belle, "Fight me-!"

The servants continued to stare at the rabbit, not sure why a reaper was interested in playing rabbit. Maybe it was a security blanket? 

Belle was glad as well as relieved to see and hear their thoughts that they were still willing to stay in the mansion after seeing the death of their fellow workers. 

When Lucas had decided to speak to the servants, truthfully Belle was worried about how they would react. She was in the mansion dealing with another spirit while God only knew what had transpired in the backyard. 

"Thank you," Belle bowed her head this time, thankful that they weren't packing their bags like the other two maids. They had put their faith and trust in her. But the credit also went to Lucas because of his haunting demeanour that looked like he would kill them once they would step out of the mansion. 

The servants looked surprised that their mistress had bowed her head in front of them. 

"Do others know about the creatures and who Sir butler and the rabbit are?" asked Barn. 

Belle shook her head. 

"It is the same reason why we decided to let you all know. Until now it was only Belle who knew about us but it seems like someone who entered the mansion today and has made a run has found out about the existence of the creatures and it can be very troublesome if word went out because the truth is," paused Lucas, making eye contact with everyone as he gauged their expression, "No one is supposed to know about the land of the dead. When words leak out about it, they are often silenced which is why I am asking everyone to be careful with what you speak to others outside this mansion because I won't hesitate to reap you."