Chapter 223 - 223: When the Dead Still Grow

Far away, the Slater Mansion had grown darker than any night could bring.

A heaviness settled into the walls of the mansion, as if the house itself understood that something had gone terribly.

The family had placed Dane's and Lachlan's bodies on a bed made of ice which sat at the centre of the cold room.

Usually, there were rituals. The clothes of the deceased were prepared and changed. The funeral was arranged with the weight of tradition behind it. But tonight, no one could move. The shock held them all in place. From a distance, the two men looked like they were only sleeping.

Hailey, who had gone out to the theatre in the company of the Ravencroft siblings earlier that day, now looked devastated. One piece of bad news after another.

The rim of Hailey's eyes had gone red. She wiped at a tear before it could spill, pressing the heel of her hand against her cheek as if she could force the grief back inside.

"Kevin?" the name broke out of her the moment she saw her friend appear in the doorway. She crossed the room before she knew she threw her arms around him. "Ruelle is missing!" her voice cracked.

"I heard." Kevin's frown deepened, and he patted her back with slow, steady strokes. When the news had arrived at the castle, he had taken permission and left right away. "Let us hope Lucian or King Septimus finds her quickly."

Hailey weakly nodded.

Kevin pulled back gently and turned, offering bows to the family members who'd gathered in the hall. The door opened, and Hermes returned with Peyton, the prince absent from their company. Sawyer's father demanded,

"Did they find anything?"

"No, milady." Hermes shook his head. "They are still looking for Miss Ruelle. They have covered most of the ground, but it is like they just... vanished."

"Who knew that a halfling could go to such lengths and extensive measures?" Lady Ravencroft murmured. She stood beside her husband, her hands clasped tightly in front of her. "And to think he went and attacked Dane and Mr. Hawksley... To be taken away so young..." she rubbed her forehead with her hand. "Too soon," she whispered.

Hermes walked toward the bed of ice, as if inspecting the bodies might yield some useful clue the living had missed. But Lachlan's body had gone colder than the ice beneath him, and the colour of his lips had faded to something pale and wrong. There was nothing there but stillness.

He moved to the pureblooded vampire's body and paused. A faint scent reached him, and he leaned in, almost without thinking, and sniffed again.

"Should I bring another block of ice?" Maude asked, in a steady voice.

Hermes turned to look at the vampiress. "No. I just thought I picked a familiar scent," and for a moment his head felt dizzy when he got too close and he shook his head. He was then about to leave when something caught his eye and he frowned.

Angelina, who was watching them, made her way to her deceased cousin's body. And when she looked at what Hermes was looking at, she frowned. She murmured,

"It wasn't like this before, was it?"

"I thought I was seeing things..." Hermes commented, and this invited others who were in the cold room.

The hollow gap in Dane's chest had black threads.

Only ten of them. Thin and dark, they traced the edges of the wound like stitches, so fine they might have been missed by anyone not looking closely. But now that they'd been seen, they were impossible to unsee. They looked like something that had grown.

Angelina's hand shot out, catching her cousin's hand. It was as cold as before. No, colder, as if the ice had seeped into him completely. But that wasn't what made her breath catch.

"He is dead," she whispered, her fingers tightening around his. "But why is that happening..."

"Get the physician, Maude!" Lady Ravencroft shouted in hope and the head of the housekeeper bowed before leaving the place.

Kevin stared at the hollow which was lined with something black and when he looked closer, he said, "Doesn't it look familiar?" He hadn't forgotten the night when Lucian had tortured the other students for trying to harm Ruelle. They were similar string lines. "Like corruption. I might be wrong," he added.

"But Dane was never affected by corruption," Angelina challenged the thought.

"That is indeed true," Lady Ravencroft nodded before wearing a deep thought. Lucian was the only one to be affected by it, so it didn't make sense to see the small black threads that had moved from one end to another in the hollow space of her nephew's chest. But then something crossed her mind and her eyes narrowed. Unless...

The lady quickly left the room, trying to find the housekeeper and when she did, she asked, "Maude! When Dane and Lucian spent time together after Lucian's corruption, Dane missed his classes in Sexton, right?"

"Mr. Oak had granted him leave of absence but Master Dane left for Sexton once Master Lucian's corruption stopped," Maude answered and heard Lady Ravencroft sigh.

"What happened, milady?" Hermes asked who had followed her.

The older vampiress stared at the wall before she said, "I don't know if it is a good thing or a bad thing. But it seems like Dane tried to take some of Lucian's corruption."

The physician arrived at the Slater Mansion just past midnight, summoned by a rider who hadn't stopped to explain more than the barest facts. He set down his bag without a word and approached.

He lifted Lachlan's wrist first, pressing two fingers to the cold skin, watching for something that would not come. He leaned close to check the eyes, the lips, the faint discolouration already beginning to creep along the jaw despite the ice's efforts to hold it back. Then he moved to Dane, his motions slowing, his brow furrowing as his fingers hovered over the pureblooded vampire's chest.

He stepped back and informed, "They are both dead."

The family grew more upset after sensing the fleeting hope that they had tried to grab. But the physician wasn't finished. He carefully spoke,

"Though in Mr. Slater's case, I would say he isn't completely dead. But dead at the same time."

"Do you want your head ripped off?" Angelina demanded, her voice low and dangerous, all the grief in her transmuted instantly into something sharper.

The physician's eyes widened, his hands lifting slightly in a gesture of surrender. "I don't know how else to describe it, milady," he said quickly. "It is like the last part of him that is still alive. Like a plant that has wilted and is about to die."

Lady Ravencroft's hands crossed tighter over her chest, her nails digging into the flesh of her own arm hard enough to leave marks that would bruise by morning. "But if you water it, it should be able to come back?"

The physician hesitated. He responded, "People and plants are different, and the damage is great, milady." He bowed his head. "I am sorry for your loss."

Peyton watched him bow once more and turn to leave, Maude falling into step beside him to guide him out. The door shut behind them with a soft click that seemed, in the silence of the room, unbearably loud. Her eyes moved to the deceased pureblooded vampire, where something still existed. She then murmured,

"Plants and people aren't too different." She remembered it was just some time ago, when Ruelle had used her ability to heal Lucian Slater when they had visited the witch.

"That's right! Ruelle is a witch, and she would have been able to attempt to restore the lives if she were here," Hailey agreed. The words spilled out of her louder than she'd intended, loud enough to catch Kevin's attention fully, who was hearing this detail for the first time, and his brow furrowed with the effort of absorbing it. She murmured, "Mr. Hawksley and Mr. S can be brought back to life! Right?"

"Hailey…" Kevin's eyebrows furrowed. "Only one person is showing sign. The other person is completely gone…"

"..." Hailey's hands clenched, as in some ways it felt wrong. She then said, "Maybe we can find all the needed herbs and whatever is needed for resurrection?"

"If bringing back the dead to life was possible, we would have attempted it by having half of the witches at gunpoint, Hailey," Lady Ravencroft replied with a bitter smile.

Hailey's shoulders slumped at this.

Peyton stepped forward. She knew it wasn't her place, especially after the shame she carried for failing to protect Ruelle. But she didn't want Ruelle's efforts to go in vain.

The man in the harbour had mentioned an ingredient that could be used. Her eyes moved from Dane's still face to Lachlan's, weighing the words before she let them fully land.

"Milady, forgive me for speaking out of turn," the vampiress spoke, "Miss Hailey isn't too far off. We can attempt to get things ready while the others look for Ruelle."

Hermes shook his head and responded right away, "I don't think it is a good idea to be looking for such things in the current state." Already stepping out once had caused such things, what if trying to take care of the damage would cause even graver things? He didn't want to imagine it.

The Ravencrofts weighed in on this quietly, and Lady Ravencroft said, "If there is hope. I think we should look for it."

"But, milady—"

"What we want is for everyone to be safe," Duke Ravencroft spoke, "But right now is not the moment for safety. Sitting here, waiting, is only going to make us regret it. So if it is still in our hands, let us do the work while the others look out for Ruelle. And it is never a good idea to have everyone housed at the same place. Attacks happen faster that way."

Lady Ravencroft's gaze swept to Peyton, sharp and assessing. "You know what is needed? Or what Ruelle was looking for?"

The vampiress was quick to nod. She had been right next to Ruelle when the young miss had spoken of the ingredients. She bowed,

"I know what's needed. And I know where to find the people who deals in it."

"We can split into two groups to make it faster?" Angelina proposed. She hadn't moved from Dane's side, her hand still resting on his cold fingers.

"I will go back for the ingredients and get the one which is required to grow," Peyton offered, already straightening, her mind mapping the route before her body followed. "But someone will have to go around the houses and buildings," she added.

"Huh? What for?" Hailey asked in confusion.

The vampiress's lips pursed, as she was used to keeping things to herself but now it didn't seem like the time for it. She answered, "Miss Ruelle has a mirror in a box. It is part of a bigger mirror. You need to find the mirror and bring it here. I don't know the details, but I know that Mr. Slater and Miss Ruelle were looking for it."

Angelina looked down at Dane's hand beneath hers. Her own warmth had seeped faintly into his skin, but the cold was already taking it back. For a moment, she couldn't make herself let go. She decided,

"I will look for the mirror."

Peyton didn't wait, and she quickly left the place while it was decided who would stay back in the mansion and who would step outside. Maude went to the room and brought the box that belonged to Ruelle. Hailey decided to tag along with Angelina to look for the mirror, and before they could leave the mansion, Sawyer met with them.

Sawyer arrived coated in light soot as if he had just burned something. His eyes narrowed and he questioned his twin, "Where are you two going?"

"To find a mirror," Angelina deadpanned, and she was about to close the door of the carriage when Sawyer held the door and stepped inside. He said,

"I am coming with you."