Who's At Fault?

"You have seen her?"

The vampire he sent was fast, granted that it had only been a month since the man had risen from being mortal to beginning another life as a new being. It was baffling how he made a human's wish, to live an almost immortal life, come true just for her. No hesitations for it was also his hope that she wins the honor of the vampire race.

"I bumped into her and almost did not recognize her. M'lady was wearing a mask." Alardis' face crumpled. A mask? But the man was not yet done. "If it were not for her temper and her voice, I would never have recognized her."

The pureblood shook his head. "You say that she was wearing a mask, when she was only strolling in town? What for?"

Avoiding his eyes, the servant clicked his tongue, looking around the dark parlour. The mirror showed no reflection of both the undead and the pureblood, yet Rocco felt the menace of his master's mood radiating the whole room."I- it looked like she was getting ready for a performance."

Alardis stared at him, his eyes grim. The lesser vampire cowered under his gaze, his stomach growling from deep hunger for blood. But that must be it. He had embarrassed himself in front of his creator, his master. With one mission, he had already failed him.

But he could stand to his words. He did see the vampiress with a disguise. And he watched her join another group, too. A mask-wearing group, he concluded how they must be performing. But he could not quite figure out why the soon-heiress was there.

That's when he realized his mistake.

He did not stay for long, for he was driven by the prize he will get. Human blood. What was promised was for him to report once he had seen the daughter of Damyon, and he will receive the forbidden meal.

What he did not do was stay so that he might be able to report more than seeing her. Stay so that he could have answered all of Lord Alardis' questions.

The lesser vampire bowed his head lower, if possible. "Forgive me, my lord. I was not a reliable servant to you."

There was an uncomfortable minute of silence before the pureblood bellowed a loud laugh, his voice booming and heard in every room of the mansion. The man's heart thumped, as if it could. He was already dead and in no way would his heart beat again, unlike the purebloods', but the pressure brought to him by that laughter- mockery and shame- made it look like he could die an early death a month after gaining another life.

"Do lift your head, Rocco. You are a vampire now, not your former self." Alardis leaned back, his fingertips playing on his skin. "Remember that we will never be inferior to them. She was sent there to prove that."

And she had already earned his support ever since.

Alardis' mind travelled back in time. It had not been long that long since Lionel died in the war. At least for him and Evelina, it had not. They were sharing the same grief, the wound not showing signs of healing. The war took more from them than what was thought, with those puny humans thinking too highly of themselves.

But when the deed is done, they would suffer.

And if the vampiress who was trusted to do this was caught fooling around, then he might as well pay her a visit and remind her of her duty. Remind her of him.

"Fetch yourself a drink," Alardis told his servant. "I am sure that you will find satisfaction down the cellar."

Rocco bowed his head before exiting the room. As he closed the door, he felt like he could already smell the irony scent of blood, his stomach growling louder than before. He imagined the screams of unrelenting agony before turning into moans of pleasure- the humans suddenly forgetting that they were being sucked dry of their life.

The servants were truly lucky for their master had been the one storing their food, feeding them. No need to bear with the disgust of animal blood nor once-beens.

He let out a hum as he passed the hallways, ignoring the slow creek coming from the door he just closed, his last thought about trusting his master to be really merciful.

Merciful, indeed.

--*--

"Who are you?"

Evelina watched the witches blink in confusion.

The man was looking at them like they were the ones who were at the wrong for knocking him out and roping him on a chair. Like they were the suspicious ones.

"We should ask you the same thing," said West. "You have our things, you're even wearing it. I think it is only proper for us to ask who you are, and what do you want from us?"

He did not answer. The man, instead, groaned and hung back his head, not even struggling to be released.

"I guess I deserve this, don't I?" He let out a snicker, scornful and distressed. His eyes travel to every person in the room, looking them down from masks to trousers. "I never thought that a group of performers would be the one to shackle me."

Oh, Evelina had the same thought. But Eglantine was not just any group of performers. They were witches. She was again reminded of it after seeing them perform a powerful binding spell, all three of them connecting.

It made her take a step back.

"So we are only performers, aren't we," Giles raised an eyebrow. "And yet you have no recollection of how you got tied down?"

"Doesn't matter. You are only stronger in number."

"West," Leila called, giving the man an open glare. "Do it."

The male witch sighed, but shook his head in response.

"So he cannot do it huh," Freeda whispered beside her. The lady noticed the vampiress' puzzled expression, only giving her a smile before glancing back at West. "The binding spell carries extra weight as it is conjured by three witches."

"And what is that extra weight?"

Freeda shrugged. "Veritas."

Veritas?

"Have you heard of it? Veritas was also a spell that powers veritaserum, the truth potion."

Evelina nodded, but she did not quite feel understanding reach her. After all, so much had happened and it had only been a day. She was the one who found the man, yet she could not take action. She had never been this cautious about herself.

But some had to sacrifice who they are to reach their goal. Evelina was one of them.

"If you're not the one who will do it, I will." Leila showed fierceness with her words. A new sight that partnered with her pixie-like image.

Leila stepped forward, her hand grasping tight to a feather. The man looked back at her, eyebrows furrowed, yet ready for whatever may strike him. "What do you think can you do to me? A slap would be expected, but do you think I will care? Do you think you could push me to answer your every question?"

Pushing her auburn hair back, Leila leaned her face close to the man. Her black feather touched his face, giving the outsider an uncomfortable tickle. Smiling, the woman whispered, "Veritas."

Shocked crossed his face, as if he was unable to breathe for a second. His eyes turned white as he heaved, then black and the bind seemed to tighten, until it finally returned to its original shade of blue. But the man who threw them useless answers before appeared to be replaced by a lifeless doll.

"Who are you?"

"...Mitchel."

His voice was drowsy, following the beats of his breath.

It reminded Evelina of how she could easily put mortals in that state, using them to do her bidding. She looked at Royce and Sybil, and saw the realization on the brother's face as he watched what Leila was doing to the man. He and his sister had experienced the state of trance once, and it was the vampiress' doing.

"What did you follow us here, Mitchel? What were you thinking?"

"...I didn't. I saw the box on the ground, and saw your group wearing the mask. I was on the run from the soldiers of the palace. I...I joined to blend in."

The palace?

Was it her or was it really the first time that Evelina had heard someone say the word 'palace' directly? It sparked her attention, her gut that was telling her that she had been treading losely and only fooling around was shushed down. It felt like another door was opened for her.

Because if she will gain nothing here, might as well partner up with a criminal, right?

"You were on the run?"

"Yes."

"What for?"

The man paused, blinking to consciousness. His sight, then, diverted to his tied body as he gasped for his breath.

Mitchel started struggling free.

"What happened?" He shot Leila an accusing glare. "What did you do to me?"

Evelina turned to Freeda. She was biting her lip, a trouble expression on her face. It was if the witch sensed her stare, as she returned her look, panicked. "The magic was limited. This is terrible. There were three of us there, how could it turn out like this?"

"If it is, what could happen next?"

"The bind."

The bind was still tight, still embraced around the man. But it began glowing abnormally, catching his attention, finally realizing that there was nothing normal with the group that he had decided to blend in with.

"No," he said in this disbelief. He tried to struggle against his bind more. "No, no, no. Out of all creatures. This cannot be."

From the bind, his eyes traveled to his capturers. His face was beet red, eyes wide, as he trembled under their gaze. Like a mad man, he mumbled to himself. He shook his head, throwing disgusted glares to the people in the room with him.

"Set me free! You cannot kill me like what you did to others."

They looked at one another in confusion. Giles even turned to Evelina, his eyebrows furrowed, knowing that she was the only one there with the natural ability to kill. The others followed his action, making the vampiress put in an uncomfortable position.

She cannot speak for herself. Cannot even say a bold comeback against the eyes that was condemning her.

But she knew one thing. They did not trust her.

And maybe if she were them, she would not also trust herself. But there was something in the manner of their gazes that was hurting her, like how an invisible knife was being stabbed through her. Over and over again, knowing that she would heal from scars but the ache would still exist.

She should not be feeling that way.

But the scream coming from the odd man freed her from those punishing looks.

"I am not an instrument of your revenge, you witches! I have nothing for you!"

At last, Evelina was not the one at fault.