Music Recommendation: Cold Shivers- Myuu
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During the night, when everyone in the castle was fast asleep, Vincent, Eve and Timotei made their way towards the back forest before standing in front of the cemetery that held King Gauntlet and his family's graves.
Though Vincent and Eve carried lanterns in their hands, they were unlit and cold to avoid bringing attention to them.
"How are we going to enter the cemetery buildings? Did you get the keys for it?" Eve asked Vincent in a hushed voice.
Vincent raised his hand, holding a key bunch and replied, "I have got it covered."
Timotei, who walked next to them, commented, "Even if you didn't have the key, I would have used my claws to open it."
"I didn't know you had the ability to do that," Eve responded to the black cat.
"I am a cat of many fur. There is literally nothing I cannot do," Timotei huffed, raising his nose that pointed to the sky.
"Maybe the next job you can try is to be a thief," Vincent taunted, and Timotei laughed.
"You are just jealous of my skills," Timotei's tail moved back and forth.
Vincent ignored Timotei's words and spoke to Eve, "Let us start with King Gauntlet's sons' graves. If Timotei was my cat, he might be buried with me," Eve nodded to this.
"To imagine our skeletons have been spending time with each other for these many years," Timotei shivered at the thought.
Walking past King Gauntlet's cemetery building, they walked in the dark before standing in front of one of the cemetery buildings, which was built for the King's son 'Acheron Gauntlet'.
"Here lays my first life's master," Timotei spoke in a murmur.
To Eve, it was strange to think that this grave belonged to Vincent's past life. She watched Vincent walk in front of the door, pulling the barbed creepers away from the door. He matched the key number with the door number and pushed it into the door's keyhole. But after five seconds, seeing how the door didn't open, she asked,
"Is it the wrong key?"
"The keyhole must be rusted and jammed," Vincent said with a slight frown as he tried to turn the key, but it didn't move. Stepping back, he turned to Timotei and said, "Looks like it is time for you to show us your skills, my past life cat."
Timotei blinked at Vincent. He then reached the door and brought one of his sharp claws out before trying to turn it around. They heard a snap in the keyhole, and the black cat's eyes widened in horror. When he pulled his paw away from the door, everyone noticed the claw had broken and was no more sharp.
"My claw!" Timotei cried, and Eve shushed him so he wouldn't draw the guards' attention.
There were no guards as King Gauntlet's family graves were old and barbed, with no access to the keys. Most surrounded the castle, which was more precious than the dead people.
Vincent said, "If his skeleton isn't here, we will need to break through the other cemetery buildings, and check the other graves to be sure." He then said, "Step back." When Eve moved, and Timotei was still in shock as he stared at his blunt claw, the pureblooded vampire raised his leg and forcefully kicked the door open.
Though the door opened, it fell with a thud on the ground. Timotei said, "We are going to get caught and be hung by the royal family for breaking into these places that they think are of value."
"If they were of value, there would be guards guarding around it. Get in," Vincent said and stepped inside the building. Eve and the black cat quickly stepped inside, and once they were in, Vincent placed the door back where it belonged, making it appear as if no one had touched it.
The nearby guards, who heard the thud sound coming from the forest, turned to look in the direction, and one of them said,
"Did you hear that?"
"Probably an old tree fell in the forest," answered another guard.
In the forest cemetery and the small building, Eve's eyes fell on the person's tomb with the help of the light that came from the moonlight. Timotei coughed and complained, "This place needs to be cleaned. Ah! Spider!" The black cat quickly climbed on one side of Vincent's pants before hugging him.
Eve, who had brought the two stones with her, said, "I will turn on the light," and sparked fire by clicking the two stones against each other. When a spark was produced, the oiled cotton touched the fire and soon started to burn. She kept it on the ground, and Vincent used his strength to push the tomb's lid so they could look inside it.
Once the lid was slid away from the top, all three of them took a close look and only found the person's skeleton in there. There were pieces of fabric that appeared to be a cloak that had been put around the prince's body before being placed in there.
"I am not here either. Did they really not bury me? Me?," Timotei asked, standing at the tomb's edge. His paws slipped, and he fell right inside the ribcage of the skeleton.
Eve turned to Vincent and asked, "Did you have any memories like Timotei when you arrived here?"
"I have visited this castle many times before, but not once have I dreamed or remembered about anything from the past," Vincent let her know, and he tilted his head, staring at the skeleton that belonged to his past life. He picked the black cat by its scruff and pulled it away from the skeleton, putting it on the ground. "Timotei's skeleton isn't here. Let us go and look at the other coffins," he suggested.
"Vincent," Eve stopped him when his hands reached the tomb's lid. "Do you think it will be alright for me to spend some time here?"
Vincent stared at Eve and remarked, "That is something I have never imagined you would have asked me. Will you be fine by yourself?"
Eve nodded, "I will be fine."
"Alright then," Vincent said, "I will take the cat with me and take a look at the other tombs."
Timotei looked surprised, "Take me? I think it would be best for me to stay here with Eve. To protect her of course!"
"I think all of us can agree that you will cause more damage where you are, than where you aren't," Vincent rolled his eyes because this black cat was the definition of bringing trouble.
Eve watched Vincent and an unwilling Timotei approach the door and push it away. He turned to look at her and said,
"We'll be back soon," and when she gave him a nod, they finally stepped out of the cemetery building and closed the door by placing the door back in its place.
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Silence fell in the cemetery building Eve stood, and scarce light spilt from the lantern, where she had adjusted the brightness so that the light wouldn't be seen coming from the dull and dusty windows of the cemetery building.
Eve stared at the skeleton that continued to lay in the open tomb and took a step closer. There was a gold chain with a red pendant around the skeleton. She could only believe it was a royal family thing. Taking a deep breath, she stretched her hand and allowed it to contact the Skeleton by placing her fingertips on the skull. She felt the coarseness on her fingertips and the dust that stuck to her skin.
Her blue eyes trailed along with her fingertips as she moved from the skull to the shoulder and then the ribcage.
Nothing happened, as if the skeleton refused to spill secrets, and she continued to trail down the end of the spine. Only when her hand touched the skeleton's hand did a rush of images come in front of her eyes, and for a second, it stunned her.
"I found the point," Eve whispered to herself and felt goosebumps rising on her skin. Bracing herself, she slipped her hand into the skeleton's hand, holding it firmly as if it was alive, and fog started to fill around her.
A moment later, Eve was no more standing in the cemetery building or holding Acheron Gauntlet's skeleton hand. Light started to fill around her, and soon she stood in one of the castle halls.
"What do you think you are doing there?"
Hearing the deep male voice, Eve turned and noticed a handsome man with eyes that were as red as blood. Though he didn't look like the exact copy of Vincent, she could pick the resemblance. There was blood smeared on his clothes and on his face. His eyes narrowed, and when he started to walk towards her, she felt her heart pick its pace.
"I am sorry, I was using my ability to read," Eve bowed at the person.
But the person didn't stop when he reached her and continued to walk past her, passing right through her.
"Acheron, what is going on?" A sweet voice came behind Eve, and she turned around and saw a woman.
The woman had golden blonde hair that radiated like the sun. She was young, maybe younger than Eve herself. And this time... she saw her own reflection. The woman's blue eyes. The view left her stunned, as she hadn't expected to see a spitting image of herself from the past.
Acheron replied in haste, "I thought I told you not to come out. It isn't safe for you, not what you are, Marina."
"I know, but I couldn't sit there. I am worried... after what happened to my mother... I should take my mother's body back to where she belongs," the young woman said to him.
Acheron's eyes held a pain, as if he wasn't ready to part with her. He asked, "And leave me?"
Marina stared at him for a moment and then said, "I will come back to you. You will see. Even through the worst tides, you will find me, Acheron. But right now, I need to take my mother back... Nerissa has been acting strange since we arrived. Let me go and find her, talk to her so that she comes with me. Will you help me take my mother's body back with me? Do you know where my sister is?" She asked.
"I will go and find her and bring her to you. Can you stay inside until then? There's bloodshed everywhere, and if something were to happen to you, I wouldn't forgive myself," Acheron said to the woman in his arms.
When he placed his hand on her cheek, Marina leaned to his touch, while her eyes closed to absorb the little warmth she felt. Eve could tell that both of them were very much in love with each other and were trying to keep their ground. From a distance, she could also hear the screams and yells, objects being thrown or crashing against the walls.
"Go! I will wait for you," Marina said, walking backwards while not breaking eye contact with Acheron.
Suddenly Marina's image in front of Eve started to blur before it disappeared. She turned and noticed Acheron walking away from there.
But when she took two steps forward, everything turned black, and she saw Acheron now standing in front of the same room as before. And when he opened it, he said, "I looked for Nerissa, but she--What are you doing?" He frowned on noticing Marina standing with a similar dagger that she and Vincent had found in the mansion of the Holy Oak.
Wait, Eve thought, looking back and forth as if she had missed something important and had jumped forward to an important scene. It was because Marina looked pale as a ghost.
"I know how to stop this. Mother had given me and my sister similar daggers because she knew that one day it would be needed to be used and the time has come," Marina said with a hint of sadness. She brought the dagger to her chest and pushed its tip inside.
A small cry escaped from the woman's lips.
"Marina!" Acheron shouted, and he quickly reached to her side before her knees turned weak. Catching her in his arms, he sat with her on the ground. "What did you do?!" He grit his teeth.
The young woman smiled, placing her hand on his face, and whispered, "I am saving you." Not a moment later, the dagger pierced her chest, disappearing in thin air as if being blown away by the gentlest wind in the room. "Now there's one less dagger to worry about. Find the other dagger Acheron, and use it on Nerissa."
"She's your sister," Acheron looked confused, as he didn't understand why she was telling him to kill her sister. The sister with whom Marina wanted to leave the land and get back to the sea.
Suddenly a clatter was heard right outside the window, and Eve heard receding footsteps. Before she could look at who it was, the person had already disappeared. When she returned to the couple, she heard the mermaid say,
"She's my other half, so you need to complete it. Before your brother kills her. With me gone, she's less powerful," a tear slipped from the mermaid's eye, and it slid down before falling on the ground as a pearl. She whispered, "F--forgive me..."
The prince quickly picked one of the mermaid's hands and bit into her, drops of blood spilling on the ground.
Eve's eyebrows furrowed, and it was only a second later, did she realise what he was doing. He was leaving a mark on her during the last seconds of her life. A similar wing was created to what Vincent had marked on her, and before another wing could be created on the woman's skin, the mermaid turned limp in the prince's arms.
He pulled back from her wrist, with his lips dripping blood, and stared at her with a painful expression. After a few seconds of silence with the dead woman, he got up.
Eve felt her vision turn blurry. When she blinked, the next moment, she was on the ground, staring at a man's body far from her. She couldn't get up, and she realised she was seeing this through Acheron's eyes and felt her eyes grow heavy.
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