A man walked into his house, closing the door behind him. He appeared tired, and the black circle under his eyes made it even more obvious.
Once he stepped inside, he immediately sensed the presence of someone and was already on high alert. The person's back faced him as they stared outside his window.
But looking at the person's back closely, he gave out a relief sigh, dropping his guard.
"Why are you here, Philippa?" He questioned, walking inside his kitchen only to return with a glass of water on his lips as he drank from it.
"Oh, my dear Zachariah, is that how you welcome me after such a long time?" The lady turned to him to ask, with a hint of hurt in her voice.
"You should have known better." Zack hissed back in contempt.
She waved him off and said, "We can talk about your rudeness later. But now I want to see my grandniece."
His face fell a bit in sadness. "So you have heard?"
"Yes. That's the reason I'm here to take her back with me." There was not a single hitch in her voice as she let him know of her intention.
Zack was quiet for a moment, slightly taken aback by her confession. He said, "I can't let you take her; it is too dangerous for her kind out there. You know this personally."
The woman sighed indignantly, "This topic is not up for further discussion. I have already decided on it." Her voice came out stern, where it didn't leave any room for a debate.
Philippa strolled away from the window to go sit down on the pouch chair. Zack's eyes followed her every movement, and his thoughts were left in total turmoil.
He wondered if letting her take Belle away was fine. His sister had left her in his care, and he couldn't just send her along with Philippa.
"You ca—"
"I was not asking your permission." She cut him off, and then a screwed-up smile played on her lips. "Zachariah, just like you, I care about her.'' Her voice sounded sincere, but Zachariah could not help being spiteful.
"Says the one that did not stick around."
The tension between the two was quite overwhelming, and it was not hard to guess that they never got along too well.
Philippa hummed, trailing her fingers on the arm rest of the chair as she drew patterns on it mindlessly. She said, "Keeping her cooped up in this illusion without once experiencing a normal life is anything but fair, don't you think?"
He wanted to disagree with her words completely, but he knew there was a little truth in what she said. "As much as I want to agree, I still can't help but disagree. Branchwood is the last place Belle should be". Zack stated matter of fact.
The older lady raised her perfectly arched brow in slight amusement. "It's Winstol. We would both stay at Winstol," she clarified.
Zack's face went pale from the information. "That's even worse." He deadpanned before continuing to explain, "With the council building in Bevylore, which is closest to the town of Winstol, the count of different creatures who stay and visit would not be of any help." He pointed out the obvious, "All of which want her kind."
His fingers pinched the bridge of his nose, and his eyes closed as if that could help him decide faster.
The woman shrugged; the thought seemed not to bother her. "Isn't that the good thing about it? Nobody will notice, at least not if she can blend in perfectly, just like the witches, who sneak their way in." Philippa reasoned out.
It was clear that she had given her plan some thought, and not only that, she had lived in Winstol for some years enough to know that not every person was a human or a vampire. Some were what society deemed evil and dangerous.
The other towns weren't exceptions, and neither was she an exception.
Zachariah thought about what Philippa had said for a moment before stating, "Everything is going to make her standout. Her bright hair color, smooth skin, silver gray eyes, and delicate and alluring features would be hard not to pick out from a crowd."
Philippa smiled at him and said, "Dear Zack, it is not hard to find beautiful women these days."
The worry in his eyes didn't seem to dissipate even as he refuted, "That's not what I mean.'' And Philippa could only nod, not wanting to dwell more on the topic. "Now forget all that," she waved off. "I want to see her."
By the time Zack decided to go bring Belle to meet her aunt, it had started pouring outside. He had to take two umbrellas along with him as he hurried outside and then down the path that led to the cemetery.
On the cemetery grounds, the rain went pit-a-pat on the soil, sometimes leaving little dents on it. The sky had grown a tiny bit darker, as if it were already the time of even, whereas it was only the time between the morning and noon.
The trees around swayed their leaves and branches, howling along with the wind rhythmically.
Belle sat on her knees in front of the freshly placed tombstone that had her mom's name scratched on it. Her black dress bunched up around her; the hem and sides of the dress clung to mud, and her body was drenched in the rain.
Her sobs were muffled by the rain, and the tears, which were evidence of the girl's grief, were wiped away the moment it started to rain.
She stayed there for another hour, not paying much attention to her surroundings, as they were not important at the moment.
Zack was an acquaintance of the cemetery keeper, so he was able to get a spot where too many eyes would not see when they visited, and he also helped Belle out of the house without being seen.
The drops of rain that had been beating down on her skin stopped suddenly, and her brows furrowed in confusion.
She turned her head to look up behind her. Relief and pain smoothly flooded her vision as she stared at Zack, who soon lowered himself to hug her.
"Everything is going to be fine." He tried to assure her when she sniffed harshly, forcing herself not to cry anymore. "Someone is waiting to see you." Zack informed as he stood up and handed her another umbrella.
And at that same moment, she felt a shiver run down her spine. Somehow, she felt as though they were being watched.
Her eyes quickly scanned the graveyard, only to be met with a void other than the endless number of tombstones.
She internally shook her head to wade off the thought. 'It must be the rain playing tricks on me, or Uncle Zack's words.' She sighed before quickly hurrying along.