The Blood Painted Cage

I sat in the study with Lucius standing by the window, staring out at the fading sun, as I calmly and very patiently waited for him to speak.

Shortly after their arrival, I had shown Susan and Lucius theirs rooms then was quickly ushered to bed as I appeared to nearly fall over from exhaustion. Dana fussed over me for a little while and I vaguely remembered her promising to care for my guests before snapping at Sonia to keep guard of the doors after Lucius informed them of her notorious attempts at escaping. Thankfully she had tried nothing during the night. She just pottered around the house, nosing at anything she could find while Livia remained close to her.

Vincent however vanished from the study when I went there to look for him before I retired for the evening. I guessed he went for a walk to go calm himself down and take some control of the parasite.

He came back however while I slept. Even in a deep sleep I could sense him sitting beside me, stroking my hair and holding my mind close to his to keep in control of his sanity. I am not sure how long he stayed beside me but he wasn’t there when I woke up that afternoon and again, he was nowhere to be found in the house.

To keep the worry away from my mind, I decided to search in the large library for anything that my predecessors left behind about the nightmare but to no avail. The only books that were held in the library were old novels and books holding information of other countries, wars and history. There was never anything about our kind here, whether it was a diary or printed book. It was too risky I knew but it still didn’t stop me from hoping. The nightmare bothered me.

It was early evening when both Lucius and Susan emerged from their rooms. Susan, while a human, was nocturnal and seemed to mimic her master in his sleeping pattern. Once Susan had gone with Viorel to explore some more, or finding the best hiding spots as Lucius had commented under his breath, I had taken him to the study so he could explain to me what he wanted help with.

Five minutes had gone by while he organised his thoughts and I opened my eyes from my mental search for Vincent when his voice finally echoed in the room.

“Susan’s a witch.” He stated, decided that was the best way to start. “And she’s the only member of the Harlow Family.”

I nodded when understanding clicked. “An unclaimed Family.”

“Yes, and her Family is known to produce quite strong witches. It is quite likely Susan will have an abnormally high amount of Matter within her. She already has shown quite a strong potential to.” Lucius sighed wearily. “And my clan is very old fashioned. If the older members of the clan find out about an unclaimed witch being in the heart of our domain there is no doubt they will determine she should be killed, especially as she is a Harlow and often tries to kill me or runaway.”

“So would you like me to take her in?” I suggested.

He looked stunned for a moment before he laughed and shook his head. “No, I don’t want her taken from me. She may be a handful but she gives me something to do. Watching her and keeping her out of trouble is very much keeping the fire alive in me after what’s happened. No doubt you know about our clan history.”

I nodded. The Rain family was very secretive but it did hold the oldest Blue blood which of course gave the Elders a very good reason to keep an eye on them. When I was brought here I vaguely remember having to go through the recent history and dealings of each clan and familiarise myself with them. From what I could remember, twenty years before I was found, the Rain family suffered some terrible loses to a Witch. They had lost their Head, Dunstan, and his wife to the witch Amalia but, as I was told this, I had the distinct impression that the account the Ancient mother and her son Lucius gave were not trusted by the Elders but they accepted it all the same. Lucius must’ve suffered greatly afterward his brother’s death and this troublesome witch-child obviously gave him a reason to focus on life, much like Viorel did to me.

“Then what would you like me to do?” I asked.

“I would like you to seal her Matter.” He said. “I had spoken with Arnold, my butler, about a way to stop her running away. The problem was is that she can put up a very good fight only because of the Matter. If we can seal it, then she can longer run.”

“You wish to clip her wings as such.”

He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably before sitting heavily on the chair opposite me. “You could put it like that.” He mumbled. “And Arnold told me that sealing was permanent. There was no way of undoing it.”

By his tone he sounded depressed and I knew what he was silently asking of me.

“You want me to find a way of sealing her Matter and making it temporary.”

He inclined his head in confirmation. “If there is a way to make a key for me to unlock her Matter I would be appreciative.”

“And what happens if I can’t find a way of creating a temporary seal for you?”

Lucius shrugged nonchalantly. “Then we leave. I won’t have her Matter sealed away from her forever.” He told me firmly. “Susan is a witch and she will remain so.”

“Then I will see what I can do but I can’t promise anything. First I will need to know how to work out what it takes to seal Matter so I will be spending a lot of time with Susan for the next few days.” I explained with a warm smile. “You can use my house however you see fit, just beware of Vincent and Dana. They can be quite distrustful towards strangers.”

“Thank you for the warning.”

“I will let you two settle though and begin my research tomorrow, besides there’s a little problem I want to solve first.”

Lucius looked inquisitive but he didn’t speak. Instead he stood, gave me a slight bow then left me to my thoughts, knowing I would not speak of them.

Gently I leaned back in my chair and let my fingers play at the sleeve of my thin blouse as my mind sought Vincent. I didn’t like the fact he was keeping his distance and I didn’t like it that he was hiding from me. It made me both worried and angry. What reason did he have to hide?

After much determination and seeking I finally found the ebb of life that I recognised so completely. And it was at my river. That made a smile replace my frown and gently I stroked his hidden mind. I was surprised when I felt him flinch then harden his mental shell, making it almost impossible to sense whether or not I was actually in his essence. He was very good at this, I had to admit.

Feeling concern bubble again, I went and sort Dana. She looked up at me sharply from her place in the kitchen, having decided to scrub the floors, then stood to attention when she saw the stern expression on my face.

“I know where Vincent is and I wish to go to him.” I stated gently. “He is outside however so I will need you to come with me.”

Dana pulled a sour expression. “I wish you would stop asking me questions as if I am going to say no, Lady. Of course I will come.” She grumbled.

I smiled at her before she flitted away to gather her trusted weapon. Once the scythe was in her hand, I turned and headed outside, zoning in towards the little river I had found all those years ago. It did not take me long to pick my way through the long grass and almost instantly did my eyes latch into the tall dark outline of Vincent standing at the edge of the mini fall, watching the sky absentmindedly. With a wave of my hand, Dana stayed where she was to scout for any dangers and left me to approach Vincent on my own.

At my slow and quiet footsteps, Vincent turned to look at me with a guarded expression.

“I thought I made it clear I wished to be alone.” He muttered darkly.

I shrugged coolly. “Doesn’t mean you will be.” I replied and hopped up onto the rocks to stand closer to him. “What’s bothering you Vince?”

There was a flash of fangs and a growl. He didn’t answer.

“You have been hiding from me since yesterday so I would like to know why. It is not like you at all.” I pressed as firmly as I could without enticing his wrath.

He gave me a long stern look which seemed to soften after a few moments and his mouth formed into something of a half smile.

“You worry too much.”

“I worry just enough.” I argued.

He continued to stare at me before his stern expression returned, indicating that he was going to answer.

“How are your guests?”

I groaned in exasperation. “Vince, that’s not answering my question.”

His eyes narrowed in annoyance. “I will be just answer mine first.” He snapped.

I sighed and did as I was told. He was in one of his stubborn moods and he won’t answer my question until I answered his.

“Lucius is worried but he is fine and well, so is Susan.” I told him grudgingly.

Vincent’s mood plummeted into the bad area and he turned his face sharply to glare at the sky.

“Lucius has not tried to harm me.” I said as comfortingly as I could, seeing as I could not understand the sudden swerve of mood when I just answered his question. “We spent a good time alone in the study and I had no need to defend myself, nor did I feel any sort of threat from him.”

Unfortunately this had the opposite effect of what I was hoping for and seemed to enrage him further. He turned on me, his fangs bared with a hiss slipping out of his mouth.

“You were alone with him?” He snarled.

I nodded my head dumbly, my confusion growing even strong.

“Yes, he felt more comfortable that we spoke of Susan in private.” I explained quietly.

The mention of the witch-child seemed to dampen his angry fire; instead an expression of guilt was shown before it was engulfed by his normal scowl. I realised then that there was also a problem with the child and the more likely reason he was hiding out here.

“It’s Susan, isn’t it?” I asked gently.

His expression caved into something so soft I nearly cried. I had never seen him look so sad. I let my hands cup his strong face, letting my thumbs brush his rough cheeks while my mind fill his in comfort.

“Why does Susan make you sad?”

Vincent sighed heavily and pulled me forward before he raised his hands to engulf my own, taking my right hand so he could press his lips against my palm a few times. Trying to ignore my racing heart and blushing face, I listened to his low voice as he slowly began to open up.

“You know what I did four years ago, all those lives I stole needlessly and without reason.”

I frowned sadly, knowing that while he may be vicious he would never harm someone who did not deserve his wrath. “That was your parasite though, not you Vince.” I said softly, trying my best to console the strong man that suddenly seemed so vulnerable.

“It still doesn’t make it any easier to bear, Eva.” He muttered then closed his easy wearily. “That child, I know her.”

Surprise filled me. “You know Susan? From where?”

“She may not remember me as she was half asleep when I met her andonly very briefly, I would be thankful if she didn’t, but I remember her.” He said then let his eyes latch onto mine. “That child is a member of the small Harlow Family, the only branch which I went for help for the poison.”

My heart stuttered a little, dreading now what he was about to say while his jaw tightened and an expression that could only be described as shame passed over his features before he caught it.

Breathing deeply, he spoke. “In my madness I turned on them. I killed Susan’s family.”