“Yes miss,” the butler waited, wondering what the favor was about.

  “You are well aware with the cities of the Bonelake, aren’t you? Would you be knowing which is the oldest library that has the most insane and bizarre books?” Stanley scrunched his brows.

  “Oldest, I am not sure but if you’re looking for books that were categorized to be unsuitable for the townsfolk to read as the books were inked down with unsuitable and made up information then I do know one person who collects them. Gabriel Moore. He lives two towns away,” the butler replied to see the lady give him a hope filled looked, “When would you like to go?” he asked her.

  “If you aren’t busy, would now be alright? Or I could go by myself, if you could write down the address,” Heidi suggested. It seemed to be a better idea to do something than do nothing while sitting in the mansion.

  “Let me prepare the carriage. I will meet you at the entrance in half an hour’s time,” the butler answered, deciding to go along with the lady as it would be something his master would want.

  “Thank you.”


  The butler didn’t probe on what she was looking for as it wasn’t his place to ask, after all Heidi Curtis wasn’t just any woman anymore but someone his master had soul bonded with. He had been aware with the fact that his Lord held interest with the young woman but not even in his dreams would he have expected for his lord to create a soul bond in such short amount of time. He could still remember the night when his master had arrived back at the mansion, carrying the unconscious lady in his arms. That wasn’t that had stolen his attention but the mark that laid around her neck with his Lord’s name which wasn’t there anymore now. Yet, there were still few things that he pondered with the way things were going.

  By the time they arrived at Gabriel Moore’s house, rain continued to pour down as usual from the sky non-stop since the time they left the mansion. With the ground covered in water and being pelted by the on going drops of rain, Heidi made sure to stand on the small pavement that was built in front of the door. As the butler knocked the door, they waited outside, waiting for the door to be opened. The sound of thunder reverberated on her skin and she covered herself from the rain with the long cloak she wore. It was an average town with few houses and buildings that laid on the ground. There was no one in sight and it seemed that the rain had driven everyone inside their houses to seek shelter.

  The door opened on the sixth knock on the door, a woman with olive skin and black eyes looking at Stanley and then the person behind him.

  “Please come in,” the woman said moving aside to let them in, “Mr. Moore will join you shortly. Would you like something to drink in the meantime?” she asked.

  Stanley turned back, to ask Heidi but she shook her head, “We are fine, thank you.”


  Living in the mansion for many weeks now, she found the house rather small. It wasn’t that there wasn’t any space, it was just that the hall was filled with so many strange objects which she had never seen before. Candles were lit around the room but not enough and due to the dark weather, the house looked darker than a regular sunny day. As decorative items, neck pieces with different color of pendants were hung on the wall. To have a closer look, Heidi stepped forward to see the enchanting looking stones that was enclosed in a series of thin metal around it. They didn’t look like any order stones with the glow each one held within it.

  “Those are charm stones,” a man entered the living room. He must be Gabriel Moore, thought Heidi, “They are stones that has been used as a protection charm. They are very rare as the stones were previously made by the black and white witches. Due to the council orders, new stones haven’t been created since some time now. If you do find them, it’s either passed on as a family heirloom or it can be found in the black market.”


  “Good afternoon, Gabriel,” Stanley shook hands with the man.

  “I wasn’t expecting you this soon. After all it has only been two weeks since you last visited. You even brought the lady home. I thought the elites had other things to do with the marriage to look forward,” Gabriel commented knowing whom Stanley had brought to his house. The news was all over the local papers of the empire. He was a short man in his early thirties, his eyes slanted down at the ends, “Lady Heidi, you shouldn’t be walking down these streets at this time. It must be something really important, if you are here at this hour of the day.”


  “Lady Heidi had something to look from your book collections,” Stanley stated to see the short man raise his eyebrows.

  “What is it that you’re looking for?”


  “The hooded creatures,” Heidi replied to see him look at her with a curious expression before asking the duo to follow him up the narrow stairs where he placed the books.

  The room was as big as the hall and much messier than what they had just walked past from. There was hardly any place to step on as several books laid on the ground as well as the corners of the room. Heidi began rummaging through the books, flipping the pages of the handwritten books. Most of the books that were present in this room was in bad condition. The rain didn’t stop and neither did she, from trying to find anything she could get. The hooded cloak wasn’t the only reason why she had come here. There was something she wanted to confirm on the lake of bones. Her memory was fresh as if the incident took place yesterday. She knew the incident that took place when she drowned a few weeks ago and what occured today were somewhere related to each other.

  But even after two hours had passed she didn’t find anything. The rain had finally stopped, leaving the ground wet and slippery as an aftermath.

  “I don’t think it’s here,” she said, placing back the book on the ground from where she had picked. Even with the mess, the man had categorized his books to different groups.

  “We could look for it in another place,” Stanley suggested.

  “That’s alright. Maybe it was just a figment of my imagination,” said Heidi, tired from going through too many books in the room. With the rain, the air seemed to have clogged in the room, making the atmosphere stuffy which she hadn’t realized until she was done with the books.

  “Sometimes, imagination can turn into a reality,” the butler said making her chuckle.

  “Is that so,” she trailed, “I should be careful with what I dream then.”


  They thanked Gabriel for allowing them to go through his books and then headed back to the mansion.