Conspiracy ( 1 )

It was raining heavily that morning when Fransisco and Robert returned back to the Manor. Everyone was having breakfast as usual with only the absence of Andrea who was not yet returned back.

William had mentioned during dinner the previous night that Andrea would be away for another week, as she had a series of surgeries to perform in Settle. That piece of information had come as a surprise to Leah as she had no idea that Andrea was even a surgeon.

This morning was slightly different, as Grace was not glaring at Leah like she usually did because Lucius was speaking to her about something in a hushed tone. Leah could not hear what they were discussing, but whatever Lucius was telling Grace seemed to amuse her as she blushed and giggled softly like a child.

Leah totally ignored them and focused on her food instead. She was a little absentminded as she ate because she couldn't get what had happened earlier that morning out of her head.

It was just past 3 am and she had just stepped out from the kitchen after getting a glass of water when she heard faint whispers coming from the stairway. Though she wasn't one to eavesdrop, she felt compelled to move closer and listen in on the conversation. As she crept toward the stairs, the dim moonlight filtering through the curtains illuminated the sparsely furnished living room of the mansion.

Leah crouched by the side of the stairway and discreetly peeked through the balustrade. She caught a glimpse of two silhouettes dressed in black hooded robes, but couldn't make out their faces. She quickly brought her head down to avoid being seen or heard.

"How many were willing to comply?" a female voice asked.

"F-Four, Miss Heather," a tiny voice replied hesitantly.

"I told you I needed five. We are working towards something bigger here, but I don't think you see that, do you?"

A frown form in between Leah's brows. The female voice who just spoke sound so familiar like she had heard before but she couldn't pinpoint where. The familiarity was like a disturbing presence.

"I will try to arranged that, miss Heather, but it is going to be difficult. You might need to water the ground a little,"

"Hmm. Aren't you a greedy little thing," a shallow chuckle escaped the woman's lips, that sounded very sinister when one listened to it. "I will speak to the one in charge, but first, I have an assignment for you."

Leah heard the small clicking sound of bottles, which sounded as if they were small in size.

"Slip these two little angels into Lucius' drink. You must do it separately, meaning in different cups. Serve the red one first and then the blue one. You will receive your reward once the task is completed," the woman instructed.

"But..."

"No buts. We both know that you can do it," the woman said in a slightly harsher tone. "I will see you once you have completed the task."

The air slightly intensified for just a brief second, and then it returned to normal, leaving the place silent. Leah raised her head to peek at the stairway, but there was no one there. It was as if they had vanished into thin air.

...Back to present

Picking up the glass of water, Leah downed a few gulps before setting the cup back down. She couldn't continue with her meal because she had lost her appetite trying to figure out who those people were.

They were definitely living in the mansion. If not, then in the other buildings in the manor. Anastasia had informed her that there were three other buildings apart from this mansion, with witches and vampires residing in them. Those people from last night were definitely witches because no vampire could vanish.

From what she had heard, it seemed like one of them was a worker in the mansion. But who was the other woman with the commanding voice?

She was worried about the bottles the woman had given the other one, were they planning on poisoning Lucius?

But the method was a little bit strange: one bottle per cup. It might take hours or even a whole day before they would even be able to serve the next poisoned cup.

A small sigh escaped Leah's lips; she felt like she was exaggerating things and needed to calm down a bit. Her brows furrowed slightly as she had been feeling someone's eyes on her for some time now. She raised her gaze in that direction, meeting Francisco's intense gaze. He flashed a small smirk that made her skin crawl.

The feeling of something creeping up her thigh snapped her out of her thoughts. Her eyes settled on Lucius's hands which were slowly caressing her bare lap. She was wearing a short gown and Lucius had pushed the gown even higher, now having his hands on her bare skin. She looked at him only to notice that he was still conversing with Grace while touching her lap simultaneously.

When she tried pulling his hand away and he didn't budge, she decided to pinch him but that didn't work either, as he didn't even spare her a glance. She dug her nails into his hand without holding back. This time, he finally looked her way with a blank expression, as if he wasn't doing anything. He couldn't even feel the pain she was inflicting on him, which only angered her more.

"You seem to be really accelerated, Miss Leah," Fransisco said, drawing Leah and Lucius out from their intense gaze, and even catching everyone else's attention at the table.

"What do you mean?" Leah asked with a confused look.

This is the first time Fransisco had ever spoken to her.

"Your heart... It's been beating really loudly for quite some time now." Fransisco said.

"Is there a problem with that?" Leah asked not understanding where this conversion was heading.

"No... for the witches sitting here at least, and the little puny," his eyes moved to Anastasia when he said that, who only returned a hard glare at him. "But for me, it is a big problem. In fact, a bigger one for you," he added with a calm smile.

"Where are you getting at with this, Fransisco?" Lucius asked, his voice calm and even.

Fransisco's eyes moved to Lucius. "I haven't drunk anything for a while now," his eyes settled on Leah again. "I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I feed from her. She does look eager to feed some of us," he said, with a sly grin.

"You can't feed on her, she's mine," Lucius's voice had a hint of deadly warning to it.

"But I can. Your restriction is..." Fransisco started.

"Enough, Fransisco," Robert cut him off sternly. "Despite Lucius's restriction, Miss Leah is still his guest. You can feed from anyone else, so leave Miss Leah be. Unless you want to spend some time in Moscow," Robert warned.

What he said seemed to work, as Francisco didn't utter another word. His gaze settled on Leah's chest, slowly moving to her breasts before he looked up and met her angry glare. He smirked at her disgustingly before his eyes moved to Lucius, flashing him the same smirk. Lucius returned the smirk, his own carrying a deadly meaning behind it.

Leah felt a strong urge to run a stake through Francisco's heart, but who could blame her when the idiot couldn't keep his eyes off her breasts?

After the heated breakfast, Leah went back to her room, as she was in no mood to read that morning. She was afraid she might accidentally rip some books apart, especially with the rain outside. She spent her time in her room, talking to her dog, which she found calming. At least now she wasn't thinking about staking Francisco.

"Why can't people just be like you, Max?" Leah lay on her stomach, wiggling her legs in the air while resting her jaw on her palm as she gazed at her dog, who also lay on the bed with its head down, staring at her.

She rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling with a pensive look. She was just about to doze off when the sound of the door opening and closing jolted her awake.