“Was it really necessary to go this far?” Warren asked with his hands folded against his chest while he leaned over the uneven wall.

  “I think it is a very befitting punishment,” Nicholas replied, his entire front which was splattered with blood. Not his blood, but the blood of the man who was in front of him.

  The man had only one of his arm chained while the other was unchained as the lord had driven the old, rusted saw he had been holding through the man’s forearm, decapitating the arm away from his body. It resulted in the blood spluttering over the ground and on the Lord’s white clean shirt and on his face which he now wiped with his hand.

  “Ahh!! Ahh! Argh,” the half vampire suffered in pain at the loss of his hand.

  “He looks to be in pain,” the Lord then murmured seriously and the tortured vampire looked up in rage.

  “You dare look down at me?! You just wait, you fucker. You will have death worse than anything you have ever heard. Hell is waiting for you!” the man yelled in between the pan.

  “This is hell,” the lord replied taking the pocket square from his pocket and wiping his face with it, “You must be really delusional to think that heaven and hell exist. No one wonder you are a half vampire. Fear not, being a vampire you won’t die this easily. But then you aren’t a complete vampire which is why you will feel the sting of the iron slowly before your bones start melting and corroding just like this metal. Isn’t that just wonderful,” he asked in delight.

  “You fucking piece of-aah!” Nicholas jabbed the saw slowly over the man’s arm as though he was grazing a knife over a cake which needed to be sliced.

  “You have to be careful with what you speak. Or is it hard for you to comprehend the state you are in? Ah. Maybe you’re still in shock. Let us give the man the required space,” Nicholas said to the guards and Warren, walking out of the cell while throwing the pocket square on the dirty ground which was stained with blood.

  After reaching the mansion, Heidi hadn’t got a wink of sleep. She kept turning in her bed until the moon was up high and finally she sat up to pour herself water in a glass. Taking few gulps from it, she got up to walk towards the open doors of the balcony. Standing at the frontier of the balcony she saw trees shake due to the wind, rustling against each other with a hush of whisper that disappeared in the wind that blew across the land.

  Recollecting what happened at the soiree, she wondered why the man had attacked the lord. That wasn’t the only thought though. She found the man to be extremely brainless to stab the lord when there were so many other vampires in the same room. May be he was trying for a surprise attack, she thought. Too bad the surprise didn’t work for him. Warren and the Lord must have taken the man for questioning as she had seen the Lord take the man somewhere in to the forest. Thinking about the lord she wondered if he was alright. It reminded her of the night they had first met. She wondered if he was alright, after all she had seen stains of blood on his shirt before they had left the party. Unconsciously she worried for the man’s health.

  Still standing at the frontier she caught sight of figures moving closer to the mansion. It was Warren with Lord Nicholas. It seemed like they were talking about something serious as the lord had a serious look on his face while he spoke to Warren. Heidi was so used to looking at lord Nicholas smile that the face he currently adorned deterred her thoughts of what the Duke had asked her to do. It made her throat go dry at the expectation of what she was supposed to do. Luckily for her, standing afar, she missed the lord’s blood stained clothes.

  She didn’t want to have murder on her hands, not that she would or could. No matter how angelic the lord seemed, it didn’t mean he shared the same characteristics of an angel. The look on his face right now was a living proof of it. Before she could even try, she was sure she would be dead. And then there was the Duke she worried about. If she would go against him, God only knew what would happen to Howard or her. There was also her sister, Nora. No matter how rude or cruel she was to Heidi, she was still a sister who grew up with her. The thought of what happened at the Scathlok mansion scared her. It brought unwanted memories and she shut her eyes close tightly, hoping they would go away.

  Opening her eyes, she saw the men getting closer towards the mansion. Out of nowhere when Lord Nicholas looked up to where she was, she turned behind the large pillar, hiding herself away from the eyes.

  “What is it?” She heard Warren question. Why did she hide like a thief?Heidi banged her head on the wall.

  “I think I just saw a cat now,” replied the Lord.

  “I don’t think we have one, Nick. Don’t tell me you are planning to get one?”


  “Who knows. It was a pretty little cat.”


  “Did Lord Alexander’s character finally rub off on you after the Hallow. You already have Toby I……” she heard the conversation die once they got into the mansion.

  Heidi didn’t know why she did, what she did just now. Even if he was a vampire that didn’t mean she had to be wary of him by hiding herself behind the pillar. Who was she joking, he was a pure blooded vampire whom she couldn’t read or understand most of the times. The man was an unsolvable mystery. She looked at the wide stretched forest, enjoying the quiet night by herself. Somewhere in between the time when she was travelling back to Bonelake did she realize that she found this place to be much more peaceful than the time she spent at her house. She should have known something like this was going to happen. To be caught in the middle of the humans and vampires dispute.

  She felt uneasy thinking about the future. Happiness was a far fetched word in her life right now and somewhere deep down the thought of leaving everything behind still appealed to her. But then, even if she did want to run this time, it wouldn’t be easy. This time it wouldn’t be just her family but also Lord Nicholas, Warren and the council who would come to find her. It was as if she was cornered and she wasn’t able to find her way out of it.

  Ready to go back to bed, she turned around to only gasp and hit the back of her head.

  “I am sorry if I surprised you,” Lord Nicholas said, who was leaning his back against the railings.

  “You did,” Heidi murmured, “How did you get in?” she looked at the door which was locked since she had entered.

  “Doors aren’t the only way one can get in, darling. You live in the vampire lands, you need to remember to lock not just your doors but also the windows,” he replied not answering her question directly. Did that mean he jumped from the ground to her balcony? she looked at him skeptically before her eyes fell on the bloodied shirt which she hadn’t taken notice of. Looking back in his eyes the man didn’t comment anything at her questioning gaze.

  If Warren and him had come after talking to the intruder who attacked the lord, it would mean that they hadn’t gone easy on the man. It would be a miracle if the man was still alive. She had often heard of how the high class vampires didn’t take treason well. It didn’t matter if it was men or women, people were punished immediately. The thought made her throat go dry. She was walking on a lone single thread which could break anytime.