Dante walked across the upper corridors all the way to his door at the end. He'd just returned from one of the doors at the left wing.
His eyes casually strode to the wall clock in the darkness, it was above the entrance door to the castle. "Hmm... 11:51 pm already?". His eyes dropped to the spot beside him where Vanessa had slept the day before.
"Where could that woman be?", he mumbled to himself before taking a look around the wide house.
Could she have entered my room?
He frowned at the thought before abruptly pushing his door open. But Vanessa was nowhere to be seen...
Moving to check in the bathroom in case she dared to sneak in. "Not here...".
"Chadwick!", he called out.
"Yes, My Lord", Chadwick bowed beside him.
"Where is that woman?", his eyes were demanding as it was almost midnight.
Chadwick cocked a mocking brow. "Why are you searching for her at this late hour my lord?"
Dante tossed his ring at him in anger.
Chadwick dodged it with minimum effort, but the ring ended up stuck in the wall behind them.
"I apologize", Chadwick bowed. "She went into the room at the right to take a bath"
"And you let her?"
He shrugged. "I tried to warn her but she was bent on washing off the dried soap on her"
Dante pulled his fingers down his face in frustration. "Might I remind you she is a mere human?"
There was some noise outside as Chadwick's pocket watch struck midnight.
The spirits had begun to move...
The castle on the hill bared the name "Kali". Once in a few years, Dante returns to find his castle filled with humans. He deceives them to play a game to get his castle back...
Sadly, no one has ever won, apart from a family which agreed to leave the castle of their own free will.
And that is how he takes their fortune and their life.
Over the past hundred years, he's been able to kill a handful of families who claimed his castle for their own. Kali then swallows their souls.
At midnight, these souls come out to roam the castle.
If he was to come out of his room, they will avoid him in fear.
But for a mere human..... the evil spirits would possess them.
Dante hastily made his way out the door. All the rooms had already been opened and faceless shadow-like beings had begun to hover about.
On sighting him, they moved further back.
"Woman!?", he called out pushing open the door on the right of his.
Vanessa was on the floor with about five visible spirits trying to possess her. She didn't seem conscious and before he could utter another word, they went inside her body.
"Tsk", he moved towards her but she ended up standing on her own.
"My lord?", her eyes were somewhat lifeless.
He grimaced. "Are you.... Alright?".
She bowed. "Yes, let's leave".
The moment Dante turned around, Vanessa jumped at him with a knife.
He'd already been expecting something like that and had moved away with bare effort.
Then the woman before him started screaming. "Free us! End us!". She jumped at him with a greater speed than before.
He didn't want to hurt Vanessa's body unless he could easily kill her alongside the spirits.
Dante let out a heavy sigh.
The moment Vanessa landed on both her feet, he tackled her before moving to hold both her hands apart as she laid on the floor.
There was no other way to get rid of the spirits apart from sucking them out.
Freeing his right hand, he took off his mask.
Vanessa attacked him, scratching his back before he lowered his face to kiss her.
For a moment, her body stopped moving then he pulled out all the spirits at once with his mouth.
After tossing them aside, "perish!", his gaze pierced them alongside silver flame.
Vanessa was unconscious so he raised her to his shoulder before picking up his mask in one hand.
"Bravo! Bravo!", Chadwick sang out a distance away from the door when Dante stepped out.
"Tchh!", Dante spat out before slamming his door behind him.
'Just staying in this castle was dangerous for this woman because Kali consumes life energy!', he shook his head in displeasure as he dropped her on the bed below him.
She looked so innocent...
He found himself shifting some loose strands of hair away from her face, his fingers strode down her soft skin and to her lips.
They were so...
He suddenly jerked away from her. "It's either I send her away before she gets to know too much or I keep her here for the rest of her life", he whispered to no one in particular while taking off his shirt to get on the bed.
'In the next few months, I'd be returning to the Demon continent with my castle. There was no way she could come along'
Dante could barely get any rest that night.
"Mum....", Vanessa whispered in her sleep.
___________________
"HAAA-AAAAAAHHH", Vanessa yawned as some sharp rays of light pierced through her eyelids. "My head hurts", she sat up in the bed.
Last night had been a blur after she's gone back into that room, it was too dark to make out anything but voices.
She coughed a bit as her fingers tangled with the sheets.
"Sheets?!", startled... She jumped off the bed nearly spraining her ankle. After taking a good look around. "Thank goodness he's not here". Vanessa clasped both hands together.
She was terrified of master Dante and couldn't even recall why she'd been in his bed.
Pulling her gown up to check. "Phew", shaking her head in relief. "I still have my panties on"
While arranging the bed, she'd noticed something like blood stains on the other side.
"Huh?", she decided to check her underwear again. "I don't feel any pain either..."
Could it be master Dante's blood?
She shook her head. "Impossible". But why couldn't she remember what happened last night!
Leaving the room, everywhere looked the same. Her eyes moved to the door on the right and the sight of it sent chills down her spine.
"Good morning, Chadwick", she smiled while entering the dining room.
"Good morning, my lady", he bowed at the other end of the table where he stood. "Did you enjoy your night's rest?"
She nodded. "My body feels more rested on a bed, although I can't remember how I got there".
He didn't say a word in reply as she began to eat her meal.
"Where is the Master?", she decided to finally ask after swallowing what was in her mouth.
"Ohh.... He has gone on another one of his expeditions".
She felt a little bad about it although the man was quite frightening.
"Do you know when he will return?".
"Hmm..."
"I mean... I wanted to thank him for allowing me to share his bed-", feeling that he might misinterpret it. "I mean! For allowing me to sleep on something soft!", she waved both hands in front of her with embarrassment.
Chadwick tried hard to hold back a chuckle. "I'm not sure, he was gone for eight years the last time, then for three weeks before you moved in", he placed a hand on his chin. "It could be years before he decides to return"
Vanessa gulped. "Years...?!", she cursed under her breath. "Could I send a letter to my family today?"
Chadwick frowned. "The rules clearly said-"
"I know... But please!", she pleaded while getting to her feet. "My mother is sickly and my little sister is twelve! They will be worried about my well-being"
"You'll have to wait till the master returns...", his eyes were serious.
There was no way she could wait years and keep her sanity!
"Ohh lord!", she tugged at her hair while trying to hold back tears.
Some seconds after regaining composure, she made a final request before leaving the dining area. "Could I please get some ink and paper?"
"What for?"
She sighed. "Since I can't send letters to my family, I want to write them down for myself at the very least"
He hesitated a bit. "Okay, but don't do anything to break the rules"
She nodded before going upstairs to wash the sheets.
After spreading it out to dry, she took a nice long bath.
And just like that, Dante didn't return home.
Days turned to weeks and weeks to months...
Vanessa often stood outside the castle to watch the sunset, and await the return of her master. No matter how hard she tried to recall the events that had gone on that night... it was always hazy in her head.
Winter was to start soon and the weather had become colder as the days went by.
At times she cried when she was alone, never leaving her room after midnight... but she wrote a letter or two every week to her family.
Even though her words never went past the four edges of the paper.