The XIII Card

Little Belle stepped into the mansion to find many guests who were already present in the room. Her mother walked forward to greet the pureblooded vampires who were the owner of this mansion. She didn't go to find people of her own age and when she did catch sight of another girl who appeared to be of Belle's age, she turned her head away looking up at her mother who was still talking.

In the middle of the conversation, she had somehow slipped her hand out of her mother's hold and quietly tiptoed away from the room so that she could take a look around the mansion. Taking a stroll in the corridors where it was only the maids who walked by her without minding the little girl, she made her way up in the mansion and then stepped down.

She was walking by a room when she heard a tap on the black colored glass. For a second, Belle's heart slipped in her chest and she was sure this time it was a ghost that was following her but when she turned to look at the glass she caught sight of a shadow from afar.

Walking closer to the glass, she came to realize there was a little girl just like her on the other side of it.

To a person who was walking by it, it wouldn't have been noticeable because of the light music that was going on in the other room but the music had stopped and she had heard the tap on the glass.

"What are you doing there?" Belle asked the little girl who looked sad.

With a small frown on her face, she searched for the door and tried to open it but it didn't open. Standing on her toes and reaching for the knob, she turned it again but the door never opened. Was it locked from inside? She came back to stand in front of the glass, "I am not able to open. Open it from your side," but the other girl shook her head, and a drop of tear fell down from her eye.

Belle wondered if the girl was being punished but she looked sad as if she had been crying for hours. She wished she could open the door so that she could let the other girl out.

"I will be here for some time you don't have to feel alone," Belle spoke to the girl with a smile on her face, "My name is Belle."

The other girl who hadn't spoken all this while finally replied back to her, "Vivi."

Belle, who had been living freely, asked the girl named Vivi, "Did you do something that you are locked in the room?" she stood close to the window so that she could see the other girl.

Vivi shook her head, her eyes looked mellow and sad, "I don't know," she replied.

"That's alright. I am sure you will be out in the open soon," and Belle started to talk to Vivi, growing a friendship not considering the black glass that was between them. Almost twenty minutes passed when a man, a pureblooded vampire who was walking by the corridor, found a little girl talking to the glass which he found to be rather strange.

When he spotted a girl inside the room, his eyebrows furrowed and he quickly went to the door that was locked but using his strength he opened the door. At the same time, Mrs. Harlow arrived at the scene. Her eyes widened when she saw what was happening,

"Abel, wait. Emmanuel said not to open-"

"That's enough, Elaine! I cannot believe what you have done to your own child!" the man went to hug the child.

"I merely asked her to stay in the room," replied the vampiress. Before anything more could happen, Mrs. Harlow quickly called a servant who was walking by and said, "Take this one back to her mother and call Mr. Harlow."

Belle who had got only a glimpse of the girl without the window didn't know what was going on. She didn't even get to say bye as once the servant took her to her mother, her mother didn't let her wander away from her side. Belle didn't know what happened and her eyes kept darting to the corridor she had walked back into this room,

"Mama," she pulled her mother's dress to get her attention without being too loud but her mother was still talking to the other guests and she sighed hoping the girl would be alright and wouldn't be scolded by her parents. The girl appeared to be nice and maybe she could ask her parents if she could visit her but Belle didn't know what fate had in store for the other girl. While Mrs. Adams and her daughter were inside enjoying their little tea party, Lucas stood outside the mansion with his back leaning against the carriage.

Years ago, one wouldn't have imagined that vampires and humans would come in terms of living next to each other. Though it applied to the higher society, the same didn't hold true when it came to the people who belonged to the lower society. People were merciless and in the end, it was all about thriving up in position, thought Lucas to himself.

"Do you want a smoke?" the coachman offered him.

The butler didn't bother to reply to the coachman who was smoking right now. By the looks of it, Lucas could tell the man would last for three or four years before his body would give up on himself. What a waste of soul, he muttered under his breath.

"You need to loosen up there. You always seem uptight. I don't see you speaking to the other servants," he heard the coachman speak to him. Pushing himself against the carriage, Lucas went around to pick up the stick that was rolled to smoke, "That's what I am speaking about!"

He chuckled under his breath, "You should stop smoking so much. You're going to die sooner."

"The same would imply to you too," said the coachman laughing to himself. Lightning the cigarette, Lucas took a smoke and then muttered under his breath as the smoke blew out of his lips,

"I will still live."

The coachman turned to ask, "Did you say something?" The butler's eyes were looking around when he caught sight of someone familiar walking behind the building. A shadow that moved on the ground.

"I am taking a walk."

"Where are you going?" asked the coachman who was still smoking to see the butler leave the side of the carriage and walk towards the mansion.

Lucas followed the person and once he had reached the backside of the mansion, the shadow on the ground disappeared. In a blink of an eye, the butler turned around and held a person's neck pushing him against the wall.

"Who do we have here, sneaking around," Lucas tutted in a dull tone while looking at the creature he had caught.

"Let go!" the creature disguised as a man tried to get away from him and as if in realization after hearing his voice it uttered, "Card thirteen," the creature wore a brown collar band around its neck, "You are here," came the whispered voice. Lucas was the butler's name who was supposed to be assigned to the Adams' family.

"What are you doing here? Attending tea parties? I don't think it is to your liking."

"You are supposed to go back right this instance!" said the man named Judas who when opened his mouth showed the jagged teeth. His face changed for a fraction of a second from being human to showing the skeleton face that belonged to him.

"Says who?"

"You took a soul before it was due! You need to go back and repent for your sin."

"Aren't you eager to see me repent."

"Do you think you will be spared that easily for what you did?"

Lucas gave him a bored look, "I don't think what you're saying rings any bell," he shook his head. The man moved his clawed hand across Lucas' stomach to hurt him to only have his hands twisted around and his neck squeezed further that had him struggling. He gave the man a polite and patient smile.

"By the looks of the band around your neck you must be new to only know me by my name and not know what I am capable of," the butler smiled looking at the man. He squeezed the man's neck further with little sparks of electric light forming around Judas' neck as if he were being electrocuted and just as he passed out, Lucas let go of the man and waved his hand for the body to fly into the thicket of trees with a dull thud.

It seemed like people were hunting him right now.

Dusting his hands and straightening the coat, he returned back to the carriage as if nothing had happened.

When they left the mansion, Belle fell asleep on her mother's lap as the journey was long before they reached the Adams mansion. When the door of the carriage opened, the butler was surprised to see that Mrs. Adams who often tried to be strict with her daughter, didn't wake the little girl but instead carried her out of the carriage in her arms.

Before Mrs. Adams carried her daughter inside, she looked at the butler to ask,

"Did you hurt yourself?" she asked him.

Vampires.

She could smell the blood on him.

"A little bit, milady," the butler bowed his head.

The woman gave him a look and then said, "Get it cleaned."

With that, the woman went inside the mansion and went to Belle's room. Mrs. Adams placed her daughter in the bed and tucked her in before unbuckling her shoes. Making sure she was comfortable and sleeping well. The woman leaned forward and kissed the top of Belle's head. Blowing the candles out, she stepped out of the room to close the door behind her quietly.

When the other servants and the Adams went to their respective rooms to sleep, the butler in the mansion made rounds in the corridor to see if the windows had been closed. Out of the four lands, Bonelake was a place that rained almost every day. The clouds were often dark and sunlight was rare.

The movement on his feet and the expression on his face unmoving as he walked like a ghost with a candle in his hand. With everyone out of sight, Lucas finally pulled the coat he had gotten used to wearing off his body only to reveal a deep wound near his abdomen. He lifted his hand to touch the wound which felt wet and warm on his fingers, blood was still oozing and he didn't care much about it.

He discarded the shirt to see three lines which were the wounds that were caused by a lower creature of his own. Starting to clean it, he wondered what really went wrong two weeks ago for him to be where he was right now.