The sun had yet to set. But the critically heavy dark clouds totally obstructed it from the completion of it's daily routine. The surrounding atmosphere gave a kind of grave dark feelings. Far from the little Waylie village in a completely secluded place a medium sized European mansion stood quietly. The gradually worsening weather made the mansion seem like a scene from a horror movie. The dark clouds above it, as if had been continuously sending a bad omen for it's upcoming future.
Two guards lazily leaned upon the mansion gate as they were gossiping in a unhurried manner. One of them discontendly looked towards the sky and cursed.
"Damn! It's already so dark! A big storm is coming! Do you think the duke will let us off today?"
The other guy rolled his eyes and sighed," Probably not. You have just joined today so you don't know..." He lowered his voice," The Duke is a hardcore sadistic person. He will be happy at other's misfortunes. Even if the storm became disastrous he won't let us off the duty...we, ourselves have to survive somehow..." Afterwards the guard sighed again.
"Ahh! What misfortune! Damn!! At this moment I am really missing the warm embrace of my soft blanket!" The new guard complained.
The other guard knocked him hard on the head. He cursed," Go, miss your blanket in your dream! Why do you have to remind me of that?! Now, it will be hard for me to endure the cold rain for the whole night."
"But, won't the cold night be more endurable while remembering the warm bed?" The new guard innocently blinked.
"Endurable! my ass! You idiot! It's different for me!" The guard stomped hard in anger. Suddenly, he remembered something and a mischievous glint flashed through his eyes. He smirked,"You remember the big storm from some days ago?"
The new guard nodded," Yeah! These days storms have been occurring very frequently."
The other guard smiled,"Our job is only to guard the gate in the storm and you are complaining but do you know that, on that specific day two of our colleagues had to do a worse job than us?"
"Worse job?"
"Yeah. The youngest son of the Duke ordered them to dispose a corpse deep into the Dream forest in the middle of the night."
"?!!"The new guard widened his eyes in shock. Suddenly he felt immensely lucky to only guard the mansion gate.
"Don't give me that ugly expression of yours. If you were to work in this mansion for a prolonged time, shocking news like this will be a daily occurrence. You will ultimately get used to it. Oh! By the way..." The guard stretched out his last sentence deliberately and said with a smile,"....those two unfortunate colleagues never returned..."
Goosebumps ran through the body of the new guard. He timidly asked," Say, Why would the young master ask to dispose of a corpse in the Dre..Dream forest?
The other guy looked at the new guard in contempt," You are too naive. The corpse was of a young girl, whom the young master had taken a liking of. He wanted to make her one of his playthings. So, he pulled a few strings and bought her from her guardian with a huge sum. But who could have imagined that before he could taste her, the girl knocked herself against the wall and committed suicide. Ah...what a waste..."
"But, isn't slavery banned by the king?" The new guard asked in suspicion.
The other guard again knocked him hard on the head and warned in a low whisper,"Listen, as your senior I am warning you, don't ever said the previous sentence out loud, otherwise you will be done for. So, what if the slavery is banned? Some high ranking nobles still practice slavery secretly right under the nose of the king. If you want to complain to the king you have to go through these nobles before that. Do you think they will just watch helplessly as you go to the king and bring upon their demise? So, if you want to live, just close your eyes, do the part of your job silently, take your salary and then protect your own family. Understand?"
"Yes, thank you senior!" The new guard nodded vigorously as if he had been enlightened.
The other guard continued in a low voice," And exactly because slavery is banned, the young master ordered to dispose the corpse in the dream forest. So that noone could ever find out about the matter" Then he sighed and said emotionally," Surviving in this world is really hard. You have to have quick wits for that. Now think about the young girl who just committed suicide to preserve her dignity..." As the guard spoke a hint of lust flashed through his eyes," Ah....I got a quick glimpse of her through the carriage window while she was being brought through the mansion gate. I was totally mesmerized by that one glance. She hadn't reached adulthood yet, but her charm was really overwhelming. Such high quality beauty, no wonder the young master had been hypnotized. I knew at a glance that if the girl were to seduce the young master and be a little obedient, then she might be the direct wife of the young master. She could have a luxurious and comfortable life but she was not sensible and chose wrong...ah...what a waste of a great beauty....."
"IS THAT SO?"
Suddenly, a cold, unfeeling, emotionless voice sounded in the surroundings. The senior guard paused abruptly. The voice was so cold that he felt his blood had frozen. It was colder than the most coldest winter. The three unfeeling words that the voice spoke, were still echoing in his ears. The voice was neither loud nor soft, but it was like a thunderous blow to his heart. The guard unknowingly broke into a cold sweat. From the little experience he had gained, working in the mansion for several years, he instinctively knew that the owner of the voice was dangerous, very, very dangerous. He looked towards his companion, the new guard, who was standing across him. His( the new guard) face was paper white in fear. And he (the senior guard) knew that the owner of the voice was just behind him. But he had no courage to look back. All of a sudden, he felt a intense pain around his neck and then a pair of burning red eyes looked into him. Everything went black afterwards but before that he heard that same cold voice speaking in a indifferent tone," Those who watch crimes happening but still keep silent, are greater sinners than those who commit the crimes."
The new guard looked in a trance as a black robed guy twisted his coworker's neck in an unnatural angle. The guard couldn't move. It was as if someone was holding him tightly in one place. Slowly the black robed guy looked up and a pair of bright red eyes locked into him through the black hoody. Suddenly, a ear piercing lighting sounded nearby. Finally, the guard couldn't take it anymore. His leg became soft and he fell on the ground. After a while the black robed guy ignored him and entered the mansion. The guard stayed on all four shuddering occasionally. He desperately wanted to run away. But his body wouldn't allow it. He couldn't even make a sound.
After a few minutes heart wrenching screams began to start coming from the mansion one after another. The guard stared at the mansion in horror. Soon the weather became worse. Heavy raindrops began to pour like a continuous curtain. The sound of rain suppressed any unpleasant noise. It seemed as if the previous horror was only an illusion. The guard gathered his last bit of strength and ran with all his might. He knew that the black robed man wasn't a human. He didn't want to face those red eyes again. Those indifferent cold eyes as if could see through him and dig out his deepest secrets. Run....he had to run....
...
.....
Zachaeus came out of the mansion step by step. Even in the heavy rain the sound of his boot made a distinct noise. His two fists were clenched so tightly that blood came oozing out. His expression was hidden under the black hoody. He raised his head, pulled down his hoody and let the rain fall upon his pale face. He was angry. So very angry that even the mind calming stone couldn't appease his fury. He need to calm down.
Again, again the humans betrayed his trust. He really want to destroy this race, like he had destroyed the werewolves. Kill every one of them. They had made his daughter suffer. No, they had killed her. He.....
No, he had to calm down. Otherwise Alessia will be unhappy. He had to hurry. Hurry to the Dream forest. His daughter needed him.
Suddenly, the place where Zachaeus was standing became empty. Only a black shadow flashed by. The mansion remain standing there silently, only the sound of heavy rain appeared as background horror music to witness it's tragedy.
....
...
Somewhere in the Nightmare Realm,
Scarlet knew that, the journey to centre of Nightmare realm would never be so easy. But she had never imagined that it would be that dangerous. Looking at the blood soaked Edwyn, lying in her embrace the ever so indifferent expression of Scarlet slowly began to crack. As Edwyn's situation became worse by every second, the turbulent emotions inside her heart seemed to overflow like a tsunami. If not for the contract with Dax and Nina, Scarlet thought she might have gone crazy by this time. Crazy from all these complex emotions...anger, sadness, helplessness and despair. In her two lifetimes, never had she felt such intense emotions for a completely unrelated stranger, whom she had only met for three times.
"Why you idiot?! Why do you have to do that?!"
"We have only met for three times!! THREE TIMES!! And you are already leaving me?!"
"What about the numerous dates before falling in love?! I don't even know anything about you?!"
"Damn you! you idiot! You dare to fall in love with a vampiress with this meagre amount of lifespan?!"
"Don't you dare to di.....you...."
Scarlet couldn't finished her words. Her voice choked. Her calm voice was now distorted with excessive emotions. At that moment Scarlet felt that the bloodied hand she was holding all the time, tightened it's grasp with her's. And the owner of the hand slowly reopened his eyes. Edwyn's ocean blue eyes, although feeble but held a unique determination that was mixed with a little bit of obsession and fear. His voice was very weak but steady.
"I won't....I.WILL.NOT.LEAVE.YOU....cough..cough....."
"Even if I die, I won't... leave you.....never...."
"I....am...sel...selfish....I want you....you...to live...your whole life with....cough...cough...ME!!...cough..."
"I don't want.....to...to die...."
"You.....are mine....can only...be...MINE!!"
Edwyn's last few sentences startled Scarlet. Such possessiveness.....even in the moment of life threatening condition.....Scarlet always thought Edwyn as a simple and naive youth....but...
It is said that a person's true nature will be out at the critical moment of life and death situation. It seemed to be true.
Scarlet raised her lips in an unnoticeable angle. Damn! She had worried for nothing. The people like Edwyn would do anything to achieve their goals. They won't easily bent their head before death.
Scarlet wiped the tear drops that had rolled down her pale cheek despite her immense control and said in a firm commanding tone,"Then, you better hold on until I find Dax and Nina....DON'T. DIE BEFORE. THAT."
Then she heard the most unpleasant voice in her whole life experience. It was a child's voice, clear and pleasant, like the sweetest sound of ringing bell. But to Scarlet it was more loathsome than those hateful demon snakes in the snake Valley.
"Ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha.....What a perfect pair of fated lovers~. Can't believe I met one here in this unfortunate realm~. I am really lucky...suuuuuuuuuper lucky....Who says I am unlucky?.....blind!..they are allllllllll blind....hahahahahahahaha...."
The first time she heard this voice was about five minutes ago, when all of it began.
Five minutes ago, Scarlet's party just had finished about a half of the distance of their journey. As a human whose cultivation was a bit low Edwyn started to fall behind. Although he was trying his best to keep up with their pace, Scarlet could easily perceive his hurried breath through her heightened sense. So she decisively decided to take a short break. But just the four of them stopped, a sweet voice screaming 'lucky', entered their ears, followed by the sudden appearance of numerous red glowing balls. The four of them avoided them by dodging but ended up separating in two team, standing opposite of each other, forming a few meters of distance between them. Dax and Nina were together when suddenly a red vortex engulfed them. After the vortex disappeared they were nowhere to be seen. Scarlet at that moment became a little bit distracted. And this few seconds of distraction caused her to be surrounded not only by countless little red balls but also by some flying spears. And she couldn't avoid all of them.This spears appeared out of the thin air, without any caution. Scarlet knew they were real, not an illusion. But the more dangerous thing were the little red balls. Scarlet remembered very clearly that once you got hit by one, you would be trapped in a nightmare for eternity. So, she decided to dodge all the red balls and as many as spears she could manage. After all even if she got injured a vampiress wouldn't possibly die because of a mere physical wound.
But Scarlet had never imagined that Edwyn would rush to the flame to save her and take the hit instead of her. And thus this situation.
Back to the present, Scarlet vigilantly tried to feel the presence of the voice but she didn't manage to find a single clue about it. She asked coldly," Who are you? And what do you want?"
The voice laughed sweetly and replied," Me? I am one of the son of the goddess of love. You see I have born from the negative emotions of my mother so she exiled me here.....She shouldn't have discarded me here! I am-"
"What.Do.You.Want?" Scarlet abruptly stopped the voice. She had no time to waste. Delaying one second meaned one second late from treating Edwyn. She had to find Dax and Nina quickly. They might know how to heal Edwyn.
The childish voice seemed a little displeased after being stopped abruptly. He replied," What do I want? Heh~ I want to eat your lover's soul. Want to know why? Because sometimes times ago one of my essence particle 'mistakenly' integrated with his soul. I want it back now so I need to eat his whole soul for that...hehehehe...."