Alexander was awake when the coachman came to relay the message Elliot had sent to him.
Hearing the news, he left the castle immediately with two of his guards and leaving Oliver, his second in command to fill his absence until he returned to the castle.
As he headed towards the town, he noticed the temperature was decreasing while he rode on his black horse. Arriving at the town, he was greeted with the strong stench of blood in the air from every passing house. He pulled back the horse to a halt and got down on the ground.
"What happened?" reaching the house, Alexander asked Elliot.
"All the townspeople were dead by the time we arrived, including Katie's relatives, but we couldn't find her cousin's body. His body is missing along with few others," the third in command replied with a frown on his face as they entered the house.
"The guardsmen are scouting all the houses, ask them to find the trails that left the village. We need to check if anyone made it out alive," the Lord of Valeria ordered.
As he stepped into the room, he found the girl sitting on the ground, her back on the wall with her eyes closed. Her breath came at a steady pace. Sylvia stood next to Katie with her arms crossed in deep thought.
"Any information?" Sylvia asked, seeing Alexander and Elliot enter the room. Hearing Sylvia speak, Katie opened her tired eyes.
"Nothing as of now," Elliot shook his head with a sigh, "Everyone's throat has been slashed quite effortlessly. Do you think it's vampires?"
"It's hard to say what happened here, but I might have an idea on who caused it," the Lord replied walking towards the bodies and sat down, touching the blood on the floor and feeling its texture on his fingers, "Even though every victim's injury is on the neck, vampires normally like to bite before they begin feeding."
"Massacre?" Katie asked, looking towards Sylvia, and she nodded, "But why mass murder for no reason?"
"It isn't for no reason," Alexander replied, "When the vampires began their existence with the humans, there were also witches that came into the frame. Witches were more brutal when compared to the vampires when it came to killing."
"I thought witches had gone extinct," Katie said, clutching her hands together.
"Not all witches are bad," Alexander said while walking towards the window, "There are few good ones but due to the fear that was instilled by the black witches both of them were driven out of the Empire a few centuries back while most of them were burned alive. The dark witches since then have tried to resurrect powers in different forms."
"It's just a theory as we aren't sure what happened here. For now, we'll have to wait," he said as his eyes met hers, "The council will be looking into this as a high priority while I'll have a search party sent out to find the missing people."
Katie only nodded her head, and when she turned around, her eyes fell on her relative's dead bodies. Grief and sorrow filled her with the tears that formed in her eyes.
The bodies were buried the following day in the same cemetery where her parents had been buried. There was no one to mourn the dead except for Katie, and none of them were sure if the missing people were even alive or not.
The loss Katie felt was something no one could understand right now. She wasn't able to digest the fact that she had lost her relatives to the gore like murder that occurred and had broken down in the cemetery.
Alexander had to speak with one of the Council members; therefore, he asked Sylvia to take Katie to the mansion and tend to her.
Reaching the Valeria Lord's mansion, Sylvia took Katie by her hand as the girl didn't move from her seat.
"I'm glad I got your room cleaned up not too long ago. We didn't move anything, it's just as you left," Sylvia said, leading the way towards the bathroom. She made sure to keep the conversation light, "I'll give you some space to get yourself cleaned up while I go get you, your breakfast."
Katie nodded with a small smile. The girl was stronger than she looked yet so delicate, she thought to herself and exited the room.
Once Katie removed all of her clothes, she stepped into the bathtub that was filled with warm water. She sat down, leaning her back towards the edge of the bath. Flashbacks passed through Katie's eyes that were memories of her deceased family.
It was as though it was just a few minutes' back her aunt was nagging at her cousin Ralph that he needed to bring wooden logs from the forest.
The knock on the door startled her, and she instantly covered herself with her hands.
"Oh my you're still shy," she heard an elderly woman's voice behind her, "Sylvia asked me to help you, and I see you haven't touched the scrub. I'm Daisy," she introduced herself with a motherly smile.
It is said that when someone is kind to you, it makes you cry harder and that's what happened.
"There there," the woman patted the top of Katie's head as her sobs echoed in the bathroom.
"I'm sorry," Katie apologized, wiping her eyes.
"That's alright, dear. I heard what happened and I'm sorry for your loss," Daisy said, taking the scrub from the stand and applying a white liquid on it, "A few years back my family was killed by the rogue vampires. My only son and daughter-in-law were killed right in front of my eyes mercilessly, leaving my grandson and me alive."
"I am sorry," Katie said to the woman wondering what impact it might have had on her as she had seen them get killed before her eyes, "Do you hate vampires?" she asked, making the woman smile.
"Why would I? Just because one of them turned out bad doesn't mean you hate other vampires. True that characteristically vampires aren't the good ones but neither are humankind. We all have our flaws and good points. Lord Alexander was the one to provide shelter to us," the older woman said as she scrubbed Katie's back.
"When one door closes a window is opened. We can only hope that our loved ones' souls are in peace and live for the ones we hold dear to our hearts. Don't you have someone you hold, dear?"
"Someone dear to me?" Katie prompted thoughtfully.
"That's right."
Katie wore a light pink dress that went up to her ankle that had floral prints on it after she was done with the bath. Daisy had left the room after Katie had completed her bath. She was braiding her hair when Sylvia reappeared with a servant carrying two trays of food.
"Where would you like the tray to be placed, Lady Sylvia?" the servant asked politely.
"The bed should do and can you ask someone to come up here and change the sheets once we head out," she ordered, making the servant reply with a 'Yes, Lady Sylvia,' and left the room without glancing around with a blank expression.
"Are people normally that polite here?" Katie asked Sylvia.
"Just some of them," Sylvia pulled the lids from the setting plates for Katie and herself. Sending Daisy up turned out to be a good idea, Sylvia thought to herself, Katie looked much better though she didn't know how long the atmosphere was going to stay the same.
When Alexander returned to the mansion it was midnight.
A servant came to take his coat when he entered the main door. Giving it, he took a deep breath and looked up. Walking up the stairs he was greeted by his black cat, Areo.
"Alexander," it was Sylvia.
"You haven't gone to sleep," Alexander commented, raising his brows, "Waiting for Elliot?" he asked with a chuckle.
"Why would I be waiting for him," she snorted as she rolled her eyes and continued to speak, "Did you meet up with the council?"
"Yeah. Mathias was around thanks to the Winter's celebration saving me from travelling back and forth to the Councils. I sent a letter to Reuben myself to make sure that none of the information is manipulated or missed," Alexander said as the cat walked around his legs and rubbed his head lovingly.
"I see," she responded, "Katie is sleeping in the above room and the door is a little creaky so don't open it if you don't want her to wake up," she said, knowing well the man in front of her already knew where the girl was.
She saw his expression relax so ever slightly that went almost unnoticed when she said she was sleeping. She had known Alexander before he was given the title of Lord and it made it easier to decipher his impassive expression at times.
So he was worried about her, "I'll be heading to sleep," she turned around waving her hand in the air.
Alexander walked towards his room but stopped at the door that was before his room. He could hear her heartbeat behind the door.
The cat pawed the door looking at Alexander.
"Not today, Areo. She needs rest," he said, going to his room.
After an hour when he was done bathing and drinking the blood that was brought by the maid, he went out of his room to head towards Katie's room. To his surprise, Areo was there sleeping in front of the door. The cat opened its eyes and looked at its master with half-closed eyes as if it was accusing him.
"I forgot you're my cat," he murmured as he turned the knob and pushed the door open carefully.
He sat on the vacant space of the bed, and the cat jumped on the other side of the bed, swishing its tail. She wasn't having any nightmares which was a good sign, he thought, instead she was sound asleep.
When he went to adjust the blanket around her to make sure she was warm and comfortable, he noticed her hand clutching the chain and her neck was bare, like an offering to him. His hand touched her slender neck, and the sheer thought of her blood made his tongue run over one of his canines. How long had it been since he had a satisfying drink? The blood he wanted was right here, yet it made him needy and angry at the same time. He didn't like the thought of someone having that kind of power over him.
The need for her blood was because he had bound her to him, and it had taken him six years to realize it. As the years had passed, he didn't understand what the cause was for his unfulfilled thirst of blood and mistook it for something else.
A few years ago he had bitten her, to place a temporary mark, a bluff in front of everyone so that the girl could be kept safe. After tucking the blanket in, Alexander picked his cat in his arm and left the room for the girl to sleep as Areo had begun to meow.
When the sun rose the next morning, Katie woke up feeling dazed, and her head felt heavy. She sat there motionless as time passed. There was no one to call her own anymore.
Days passed by like that and the pain she felt eventually reduced little by little. Sylvia and Elliot kept her company when they didn't have work while she saw Alexander only during dinner or sometimes not even that.
She was grateful for the kindness and hospitality they had shown to her, but it had been two weeks now, and she couldn't keep living like that forever. She was a guest and not a relative of the Lord. She didn't want to overstay her welcome. She knew a family who had moved to the next village and then she had her friend Annabelle too if she needed help.
On the fifteenth day, Katie decided to talk to Alexander and went to his study, where he was talking to Elliot and another man. She didn't want to interrupt, but Alexander had somehow realized that she was on the other side of the door and had made her sit on the chair that was in the room.
Elliot was playing with some device that looked like a clock while the Lord and the other man were speaking about their relationships with the villagers and townspeople.
"The revenue isn't helping us either," the man who wore glasses asked in the room.
"Perhaps, if we could reduce the taxation that's been going on we could use it to our benefit," Alexander suggested.
"Would that be okay?"
"We can get the money in other ways," said the Valeria Lord who took the blank parchment from the desk and wrote something on it before handing it to the man, "You know what to do with this, Oliver."
"Yes, Sir," Oliver replied curtly, taking the parchment and got up from his seat to leave.
As the man left, Katie didn't miss him looking at her from the corner of his eyes. It was a shrewd look. The man was stern and calm at all times, showing no emotions whatsoever. This is what they call a stoned faced man, Katie thought to herself, but maybe that was how he had achieved his position as the second in command in the Valerian Empire.
"How can I help you, Miss Katherine?" Alexander asked once Oliver left the study, closing the door behind him.
"I am sorry for interrupting your work," she apologized. When she had asked Sylvia where Alexander was she had asked if he was busy because if he was she could wait for a few hours.
"You need not apologize. Nothing was interrupted," Alexander replied to her with a charming smile that put her in a daze, forgetting the reason why she had come for a few seconds.
"We have planned to visit the theatre the following week. Would you like to come along?" Elliot asked her to put the device down on the desk.
"Theater?"
"I believe you haven't visited one before," Alexander commented to which she shook her head. The man was being kind to her, and if she stayed here longer, she would only feel like she was using his kindness for her benefit, "You must come. You might like it."
Katie was slow, but she remembered that she had planned to leave the mansion.
"I don't think I will be able to come," Katie replied with a nervous smile wondering how to start, "I came here to say that I will be leaving the mansion tomorrow."
Hearing this, Alexander narrowed his eyes for a second but schooled back his expression.
Ah-oh, Elliot said out in his mind seeing the Lord's demeanour change like the clouds passing by in the vast sky.
"Is your stay not comfortable here?"
"It's been very comfortable," Katie replied, feeling her hand sweat feeling the Valeria Lord's eyes, "But I think I have overstayed the days here in the mansion and I think it's time I start looking for a job to support myself. I know a friend who will help me."
Even though she had a home, she couldn't go back there. She was homeless, with no job or money.
"Is that so," Alexander replied coolly, "If I may know, what type of job are you looking for?"
"Something that pays well and is safe for me to work, the last job I had was being an assistant librarian, but now I'll have to look for two jobs."
"Hmm..." was his response, and he spoke, "I know of a job with a decent pay that comes with security and free space to live."
"Really?" Katie asked, sitting up straight.
Elliot knew where the conversation was going. There was too many human trafficking going on in the country, and having Katie in their vision was better than having her far away from where they didn't know if she was safe or not.
"Yes, it's here in the mansion," he offered with gleaming eyes, "We could use some extra help right, Elliot?" He asked his friend.
"Alexander's right. We fall short of members during parties," Elliot said, taking Katie's hands in his before she could protest, "You don't need to worry about anything anymore. I'm going to pass the news to Sylvia, until later then," he said with a huge smile on his face leaving the room.
"But what's the job description?"
"Just the normal household cleaning and gardening," Alexander said, leaning back in his seat, "You will also assist me when I require. For instance, tidying up my room, bringing me breakfast and looking after Areo."
It didn't seem that bad, thought Katie to herself. Maybe she should work here and move out after some time. As she walked to the door, the Lord of Valeria spoke,
"And Katherine."
"Yes?" She asked, turning around.
"You'll be sleeping in the same room you are in right now and not the underground where the servants sleep."
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