Butterfly Mask

Esmeralda arrived at the dwellings of the vampires in her invisible form.

Home of the three notorious brothers who ruled the vampire Night Spawn descendant inside the castle.

The oldest brother is Maxwell, the second brother is Xenon, and Lothaire the third brother.

The three brothers were currently having a blood-drinking session inside the living room of their palatial abode.

"Cheers to the succession of our plans one day!" Maxwell said proudly, raising his glass to his brothers.

Xenon and Lothaire raised their wine glass containing human blood and uttered loudly..."Cheers!"

They grinned in delight, their eyes were showing secrets that only the three of them know about.

Then Maxwell clapped his hands...

Six beautiful women with red mask butterfly on their eyes wearing sexy red flowing dresses entered the middle of the spacious living room accompanied by a piece of sultry music... the women start dancing provocatively in an enticing movement putting the room on fire.

Esmeralda snorted her nose, she knew very well where this scene would end in an orgy, for every brother, there will be two women each.

She was about to leave the scene when the door leading outside was opened.

Bringing inside the guy who was wearing a black cloak and hood, she recognized the guy as the one who attacked her in her property demanding Kate to be handed to them.

Interesting!

So... her suspicion was confirmed now! They were the ones who are after Kate!

But why? That is the burning question that she needs to find the answer. She feels like the brothers are cooking something behind her back.

These notorious brothers have been silent for a while and not bothering her, they used to bully her a lot before... but once she got feed up with their bullying and showed them her true colors they stopped harassing her.

They distance themselves away from her... which is a good relief for her.

For the last 500 years, they were trying to be civil to each other.

She was getting curious about who among the brothers wanted to get his hand of Kate?

The dancing women retreated when Maxwell signaled them to leave the room.

"Nostro, where is the girl?" Maxwell asked the guy excitedly.

"I apologize, my Lord, the old woman refused to hand over the girl to us! When we try to attack her and get the girl...she wrapped her property with those golden yellow leaves from the tree resulting in many of my comrades burning to ashes in the process. I'm sorry, my Lord, we fail to get the girl!" Nostro bowed his head in shame.

Maxwell's eyes bulged, he was shaking with rage. "That old hag... why she wouldn't hand over the girl to us! What she's going to do with the girl?"

He looked at Nostro with disappointment in his eyes. "Get lost!"

Nostro exited the room in a hurry afraid of the wrath of his master.

The brothers were staring at each other.

"C-could it be that..that...she know's..." Lothaire's voice trailed off.

"Shh...shhhh...keep your mouth shut!" Xenon put his index finger on his mouth gesturing his brother to stay silent.

"That old hag won't be so brave to venture into our domain, would she?" Lothaire asked his brother.

Maxwell shook his head. "I won't be so sure...that old woman has been sharpening her power all these centuries. We don't know for sure the extent of her power nowadays. It's better to be safe than sorry..."

Lothaire shrugged. "The fun has been ruined... shall we go back now to our respective places?"

The brothers agree.

They were about to rose from their seats and leave the room when suddenly...

The door opened and Esmeralda marched inside casually like she owned the place, smirking.

"Hello gentlemen!" she smiled looking at their faces like a hawk.

The brothers' eyes widened upon seeing the old hag entering their domain bravely without even announcing her intention to visit.

"Ahh, we got a visitor! Esmeralda my dear...come in...have a seat!" Maxwell gestured the sofa and welcome the visitor with a fake smile.

"Thank you... Maxwell dear," Esmeralda replied and lowered herself into the sofa.

Xenon was about to offer the visitor the wine made up of human blood then he remembered that she's not into human blood. "Do you want grape juice, Esmeralda?" he offered.

"No thanks, Xenon..." Esmeralda declined his offer politely.

"What can we do for you...Esme?" Lothaire asked.

Esmeralda rose from the seat and addressed the siblings. "A while ago... your hordes arrived at my place and surrounded my property. I want thinking they're going to attack me, but to my surprised, they demanded that I handed them the girl that my magical net had caught."

Maxwell smiled. "Ah, dear, Esme! It was a mistake on the old man, you know he is getting forgetful nowadays. That girl was meant for us, but...the old man throws her into the pit accidentally. I'm sorry about that. Can you give us back the girl? Please? We don't want to create conflict with you... we just want the girl!"

Esmeralda looked at the faces of the vampires in front of her. "Hmm... can you tell me why? What's so special about this girl that you want her back?"

"Esme...don't bother asking us why? You know very well that a young maiden's blood is sweet as wine. That's why we prefer them as our blood source. That girl that is in your position right now is originally ours, you know...accidents happen from time to time..." Lothaire explained in a gentle voice.

"Besides, you have no uses of that girl. Give her to us, she will be useful to us vampires," Xenon interjected trying to persuade the old woman to part with the girl.

Esmeralda was smirking. "On the contrary, I decided to keep the girl. I have been alone for centuries. I want to have a company this time," she concluded.

"But...Esmeralda dear...I'll give you a better offer that you can't refuse. I'll give you five loyal and devoted servants to keep you company in exchange for that girl. Just give her to us," Maxwell made a bargain.

Esmeralda laughed softy. "Hmm...you guys are desperate to get the girl from me. Maybe if you can tell me the real reason why you want the girl... you might be able to persuade me to hand her to you."

Maxwell clenched his hands in anger. The old hag is playing hard to get and she infuriated him to no end.

"Okay fine... you can have the girl to yourself," Xenon speaks on behalf of his brothers. He was preventing war to broke between his brothers and Esmeralda.

They can't afford war right now, it might destroy all their plans. Besides, they can't allow the old hag to get suspicious of them.

Esmeralda looked at Maxwell and Lothaire's faces... their facial expressions have now softened.

"Yes, Xenon is right, we no longer want the girl," Maxwell said.

"Yeah... you can have the girl all by yourself. But just in case you'll get tired of her then you can give her to us, we would appreciate it if you do," Lothaire added.

"Alright, since we settled it well today, I hope you'll no longer pester me in my place." Esmeralda stood up done with her business with them.

Since the brothers were not saying anything anymore it's better to leave. For she can very well detect in their aura that she was not welcome here.

She sauntered towards the door to leave.

Esmeralda exited the door and disappeared from the brothers' sight.

Maxwell stared at the closed door in fury.

The old hag can now enter their place anytime, she had easily dismantled the barrier he and his brothers erected to keep the outsiders at bay.

It looks like Esmeralda is flaunting her power for them to see...

Maxwell addressed his brothers. "Follow me to the secret chamber! We have an important thing to discuss!"

The brothers left the room and went to a secret passage behind the wall where the painting of the forest stood.