Bambi And The Duke

Both Vivian and Leonard laid next to each other on the forest-covered lands. Lifeless with both their eyes that were closed after their life was taken by the ghoul, the lord of Bonelake had his coachman and Vivian's brother to carry the dead bodies into the carriage. With the ghouls that never came in presence of the others without Nicholas' word, Everest, in particular, hovered around the closest trees that were near the carriage. Seeing both of them being taken inside it.

The pureblooded vampires were usually buried in the cemetery of the Isle valley which was were many elites resided in memory of their loved ones. Nicholas was skeptical as he didn't want the council finding of it. Especially the way Vivian's face had changed due to the sudden change in the texture of her skin, the council wouldn't hold back in dissecting her body along with Leonard's which he didn't want.

Both of them had suffered enough for him to take the decision to not let anyone know about it. If people were to know it would only lead to more misfortune and the stain in reputation.

When they came to a town, Lord Nicholas said to Vivian's brother, "Go fetch Sullivan Carmichael. Tell him that I am calling for him," the boy was young who obeyed the lord.

With a good amount of money to the guard who looked after the cemetery, a new casket was prepared with the ground being dug deep. Lord Nicholas, though polite and kind to people around him, the man had lost people around him one by one which made him wonder about attachments. Leonard was like a brother to him and though knowing the girl for scarce time, he had grown fond over both of them which only made his heart heavier.

Death was inevitable to humans but for pureblooded vampires, a single crack in the core of the heart was enough to topple upside down.

When Sullivan arrived both the bodies had been put in the coffin The man looked utterly shocked. As rude as he was, the man like Nicholas adored his nephew not to forget he was the only living proof of his older brother.

"W-what happened?" the man stuttered, his heart dropping at the sight of Leonard who laid peaceful in the coffin, "What happened to him, Lord Nicholas?" demanded the man, "Why are you burying him like this? Who did this to him? What happened to her?"

Lord Nicholas didn't know how to answer his questions as there was nothing that could have reduced the painful burden for the people who were close to them. The snow continued to fall from the sky, the land white as heaven itself.

"Their heart got corrupted," Nicholas kept it short not wanting to delve into details right now because he wasn't in the mood for it, "Before he passed away...Leo wanted you to keep the matter quiet and not take it to the council. It was one of his last dying wished from you."

"When did this happen?" asked Sullivan.

"Two days ago," answered the Lord before Sullivan commented.

"Is there a scarcity of space or casket in here that you are making use of one. Don't tell me Leonard asked you to do this," a frown hovered over Leonard's uncle's face. Holding back his emotions with dull comments.

"Some love and relationship run deeper than blood, Mr. Carmichael. Something that cannot be measured through status and likes of us. Love that blooms from a young age which has been nurtured with care to the point you would be willing to give up your life to ease the person's pain," said Nicholas when the casket was lowered down into the grave.

"He died protecting her?" a simmer of anger raged through the pureblooded vampire's veins at the simple thought of it, "That girl was never fit for him. She was-"

"I understand your hate for humans but don't speak ill towards her. I might not take it kindly," Lord Nicholas turned to look at Sullivan with an intimidating smile. He was much younger to Sullivan but that didn't stop him from daunting the older man, "Vivian was protecting Leo. She loved him as much as he loved her. For a person who thinks so highly of himself and his kind, I would suggest you get down from that high horse of yours and appreciate things that really matter."

"Don't you dare get that tone with me, Nicholas just because you are the Lord. I meant nothing but best for my family," the man who was equal to his sight glared at him.

"Then you should accept that Leonard picked what was best for him. Or are you saying that your brother along with yourself didn't raise him right? Sometimes you should know that best doesn't always mean best. If you failed to notice Vivian was Leo's happiness. She was the girl for what he turned to be," which was the truth. One of the days previously when the Duke had gone to meet Vivian, he had come back to Rune's mansion angry and green with envy. It took nosey Nicholas more than a month to know what had got the young man all flustered.

He remembered the time Leonard had decided to be a better but also an outstanding man to the point where the girl he loved would look at no one but himself. The boy loved her so much that at one point he would have called it to be the subtle manipulation which was laughable as it never went right under his hawk eyes. Vivian was as clueless with what he heard but in the end, everything had turned right.

"One mustn't talk if the person doesn't have all the fact," Lord Nicholas stayed quiet with Sullivan who didn't have any more words to spare to the Lord. Vivian's brother stood a few feet away from them but on Nicholas' side watching his sister buried in the same coffin as the Duke's.

The young man hadn't got to spend time with his sister but he wished she could return back. Everything had turned around so fast as if the family both he and his sister came to know, almost holding it to only have it taken away from them. His eyes moist, he saw the coffin door close and the white witch who was a fellow priest who lord Nicholas knew started to pray for their souls to rest in peace.

The grave was completely closed and the Lord stood there until the headstone was placed on it before he turned around, promising to visit them soon. With the blizzard snow in the atmosphere at night, no one dared to walk around the Isle town nor the black market where a lot of things were shut down.

But that particular night, there was one person who left the home it had known to go back to the cemetery where the girl and the boy had been buried. Everest, the ghoul had been far too attached to the girl. It was a creature that was born due to pain and angst in the young boy's heart who was now the Lord of Bonelake. While its brother got the worse emotions where it showed no mercy, Everest had turned out to be less vengeful.

Young Vivian's act of kindness had gone a long way which had caught the hideous creature's attention. The ghoul hadn't forgotten it as no one had ever shown it kindness but only fear which it fed on.

The ghoul instead of letting things be without its brother or master's knowledge had tiptoed out of the mansion. Like a phantom of a ghost who now stood in front of the grave. Everyone had spoken and given their words about the people in this grave but no one knew how sad the ghoul could have been.

And though it hadn't told anything, it somewhere had suspected the fate of her since the first time she had indirectly touched it. It had touched her fragile heart, the heart beating so sweetly which made it want to squeeze but in the end, it hadn't.

The ghoul had left the girl to never return until a few more years had passed. The grave the ghoul stood in front of was getting covered in snow. It stared for hours looking at it. Thankfully there was no one who was passing by due to the harsh snow but if it weren't for it, a person was sure to get a heart attack at the mere sight of it.

It then looked around before it bent down to start digging the snow first and then the mud. It clawed on the mud until its hands met with the casket. Taking out the bodies that hadn't been decayed yet due to the snowy weather and also because the bodies had been preserved in the snow which was take by the ghouls.

That night, the ghoul stole two bodies from the grave to place the mud back with the snow to hide its deeds without saying anything to anyone. It would have taken only the girl but seeing the girl held some sort of attachment to the person next to her, it had stolen Leo too.

As a few days passed with the ghoul trying to mend their bodies, getting rid of the impurities from Vivian's bodies, testing and trying everything the hardest was to work with its brother who always had a suspicion aura. At one point it had to run and hide from being followed.

Such were the days of Everest the ghoul.

Everest knew his master would not be happy if he found the bodies moved away from the grave for its own interest and experiment as it hid the bodies in the snow which was one of the ways to keep the body still in the same condition. The ghoul often lurked in the houses of white witches, trying to get its own potion before putting it into Vivian.

During the first week of death, the ghoul walked through the corridors of the mansion when it decided to make a visit. Stepping out of the mansion, it traveled to the place it was born for the very first time.

Trailing its bony fingers on the faded walls, a house that no one used and was locked down, it walked with its ragged robes sweeping the dusty ground until it came to stand right under the pouring rain to look at the couple, the man holding the umbrella while walking beside the girl.

The ghoul continued to look at them where it had sent them to this world. A world where it came from before going back to its own world drenched wet in the rain.

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