"Let me show you," said Murkh as the water began to drain down the cylinder slow and steadily with the woman who once floated in it stood in there. Her brown hair which had been spread out in the liquid previously came to stick on her back and some covering her face. She undoubtedly was one of the most beautiful women she had come across in her life. 

The cylinder began to move as if it were sliding down when Vivian asked, "Why are they placed in here like this?" the last time few times they had come to visit the doctor, the body had been placed in the room without being put in these cylinders.

"This milady is one of my very first creations to keep the bodies in the same conditions without letting it rot," Murkh said is it proudly, his left hand waving at the cylindrical tanks around them. If it wasn"t for the bodies being placed in bubbling liquid in an upright way, the place would be nothing less to a cemetery, "The liquid has added preservatives which will keep the body in the same condition before it was put inside the tank. It will never rot," he a.s.sured her, "Sometimes, the cases that aren"t solved and the bodies are leftover for my use."

"They aren"t buried?" Vivian wasn"t sure on how to feel about it. 

"Murkh needs experimental bodies to create the necessary resistance medicine and not all lab rats work," Leo added coming to stand in front of the cylindrical tank that moved to lay down. With a stiff noise, the door opened so that one could touch the body and inspect it. 

The vampire doctor went ahead and moved the body as if it were made out of twigs in ease, "Do you see this, Duke Leonard?" he put the girl on her side, her naked body exposed to them.

Taking a step closer, Leo placed his hand on her shoulder, his expression blank, "She feels like a doll."

At his comment, Vivian bit the inside of her cheek. She was a beautiful woman but he didn"t have to put it that way, she thought to herself, wondering why she envied the dead woman. As Leo moved the woman back and forth as one would with an empty box, she realized that when he had called the person in her to be like a doll it wasn"t in reference to the way she looked but the way she felt. The bones inside her had been loosened like coins in there that rattled softly inside her, making her feel like an empty sh.e.l.l. 

"Is it just her?" inquired Leonard. Murkh shook his head to say,

"I sent the rest to be buried as they were same, I just kept her here so that I could study. I was told the case would be closed."

Leonard shared a look with Vivian which she understood as she had the same thought. With the way, the case was sent directly to the court so that it could be dealt and completed it seemed that someone was waiting to close the matter by also telling it wouldn"t be investigated any further. The boy was surely innocent which made the brother-in-law as the first suspect. 

Vivian wondered why the man would kill the family when he had married his wife voluntarily. He came from a considerably better background to what his wife"s family came from. 

"The case has been reopened. What did you find in her?"

"Nothing," Murkh shook his head with disappointment, "I cut open her," he came back to the body and showed the line of st.i.tched marks on the back of her body which was delicately sewed back together, "Her body seems like any other human but it is only when you handled it like this, does one find something wrong."

Curious Vivian placed her hand on the subject when she felt a spark erupt up her hand which made her retrace back her hand immediately. Was is static energy? asked Vivian to herself. Thinking it was just a basic charge from her hands, she went to place back her hand on the woman but she felt the same again as if she were unable to keep her hands on it. The more she tried to touch, that much more the shock was produced that made her arms feel weak.

"Cut her open again and see what you find," Leonard ordered the man. 

When they came out of the cell rooms and its building, Vivian said, "It was the first time I felt anyone"s body to be this light."

"Same. There is a possibility that what the man said was true," Leonard responded back by taking out his kerchief and wiping his hands on it, "He spoke about the devil?" That he did, thought Vivian to herself, "It isn"t common but there have one or two cases that come to the councilors hand when it comes to dealing with the devils."

"I thought they were only stories," she commented, keeping up with his footsteps which were long compared to her shorter ones. 

"Summoning devils are an unorthodox form of witchcraft and they aren"t much different to what black witches do. While the witches can make use of spells, humans can use a certain set of curses which are effective with the right sacrifices."

"Sacrifices?" 

"Yes. They can vary from a small offering of blood to the deaths of animals or their own kind," explained Leonard before asking her, "Did you see any odd behavior from the man?"

"Nothing I can think of. He seemed to be absolutely normal. Only that he couldn"t stand the boy"s presence because he believed that the boy was the one who killed his parents and his wife. And the mark was on the boy, on his back."

"What kind? The reports have missed a lot of details as if wanting to take back the case from our hands which would have caused due to untimely closure of not finding answers."

Recollecting the mark on the boy"s mark, she said, "It was like a crescent moon with two lines," pausing her steps, she picked the stick that laid on the ground so that she could draw what she saw on the boy"s back, "It looked like this. Do you know what it is?" she asked Leonard was staring down at what she had drawn. 

"I don"t but Heuren will know about it," and with this information, they went back to their departmental room where Hueren and Dutan had been sitting, one playing with a crystal ball while the latter reading the same file which Vivian had read in the morning on the case they were on. 

With the pace, Leonard had pushed opened the door wide with the back of it hitting the wall with a loud bang, Hueren"s hands fumbled around the crystal to catch hold of it before it fell on the ground to break into pieces. 

"Heuren," Leonard called his junior. Going to his desk, Leonard pulled a blank parchment and borrowed the quill that laid at the side. As he drew something on it, Heuren placed the crystal ball safely in his pocket stood to see what the Duke was drawing, "Have you seen this before?" asked the senior man as the junior turned around the parchment to see what is drawn in there.

Hueren nodded his head very slowly while making sure it was what he thought it was to be, "It is a mark used for sealing ritual. Very old and you may not find it in the books or in any library. Even the mouth of the word you won"t find."

"Tell me more about it," asked Leonard for Hueren to turn the parchment the other side which hadn"t been used. Taking back the quill, he drew some stick people with hands and legs.

"A centuries, no-no a few decades ago there used to be a tribe who used to sacrifice to get better luck. They thought offering blood would make their wishes come true and some warranted that it did but now it is only a myth. The mark is called a sealing emblem because the moon represents the time of sacrifice where it can be performed only during the time of a crescent moon. And these two lines," Heuren tapped his quill on the two lines on the half-moon where a drop of ink fell out, "One represents opening the portal to the devil so that the transaction can be done, while the second one is where it shows that you are closing the gate. It is a belief that if you didn"t mark it with the second one, the devil would come to take your soul away." 

After what Heuren had to say about the mark, she asked, "Is the mark formed on the person who starts the ritual?" she felt her hold her breath. 

"Not at all, Lady Vivian. The marks are done on the sacrificer. By the way, why do you ask about it?" Hueren asked clueless as he hadn"t gone through the file which Dutan currently held in his hands. 

Dutan hadn"t bothered to get up from his seat and he had instead been listening to them keenly from where he sat, "Is it the case we received? I heard rumors about it on my way back here," Vivian turned around to hear what those rumors were, "Your behavior at the council was irresponsible for barging in through a court proceeding which was in session. Not only that but after a lot of them saw a mark, they happened to say that you were interfering with G.o.d"s work and helping the devil."

"The councilmen think a lot of things, don"t heed to it," Leo said directing his words to Vivian as her face turned one to be of worry, "They might have written the exams, but that doesn"t guarantee that they are sane minded. Some cheat and some pa.s.s through luck, very much similar to how the man named Axel pa.s.sed through the second exam by only hiding in the cupboard," Leo filled both his men with what he found out and it seemed to be the same drill. Most of the times, Leonard spent his time to get the information before handing it down his subordinates.

"Thanks to Heuren, we won"t have to do extensive research, though," said Leonard with his back resting at the edge of the table as he looked at the other three members, "I would still want Dutan and Vivian to go verify about it. The murder and the mark stemmed from the town, so that must be a good place to start searching. You won"t get the information readily as the spells for humans to use has been banned. Be discreet as you find it," in normal circ.u.mstances, Leo would have taken Vivian along with him but doing it would only show the partially in his team that would make him appear poorly. Another part also told him that she needed s.p.a.ce away from him. Having each other around, she would not be able to do things while she had him to rely on. 

He wasn"t ecstatic about it but in the future, there would be times when she would have to take decisions independently if their team was asked to help other teams by being split apart. Not that he would allow it but it was always good to be prepared. 

"Hueren and I will be visiting the boy and the boy"s guardian to see what is with the mark," Leonard confirmed their work which the younger human councilman didn"t look eager to work on. 

As much as Hueren enjoyed reading the facts and abilities with the curses and other odd details related to te witchcraft, the man didn"t show the same enthusiasm when it came to getting involved in it. At least not after the last time, where they had been surrounded by a village full of half turned witches who wanted to tear him into pieces. 

Thinking about it, he could still feel the s.h.i.+vers run down his spine. 

Vivian had wanted to tag with the Leo and it was something she had gotten used to now, the change of plans made her give Leo an anxious look. The Duke noticing this went to her, bending down and kissing her lips before hugging her in his arms without bothering the other two men who at first ogled their eyes and then coughed looking the other way. 

"What"s the matter?" he asked her to see her shake her head. 

"Nothing. Will you be alright?" she asked him, making him chuckle. 

"Yes. Take care on your way to the town. I will meet you later," he said giving her another kiss, while the other two men had busied themselves behind parchments of paper, discussing in a hushed tone about the file as Hueren didn"t read the file. 

"Okay, see you back at the mansion," she smiled, nodding her head. Dutan and Vivian stepped out of the room to head to the town. 

Reaching the town while getting down from the carriage, they decided to walk to the far end of the houses without realizing that an ominous presence was following them since they had entered the town. 

Book 4: "Young master Damien"s pet"

"Who touched you?" he asked, his eyes brooding down at her and when she didn"t answer, his voice thundered in the room, "WHO?"

The butler who stood near the wall spoke shakily, "Sir it was Mr. Reverale," Damien"s face turned sour, his jaw ticking in anger he turned his face to the side where the butler stood behind.

"Bring the man here."

"N-now?" stuttered the butler. It was the time of night.

Damien who hadn"t broken his eyes contact with the girl in front of him pushed his hand against the wall which previously rested beside his beautiful girl"s head. Turning his body, he first looked at his butler who had his head bowed. With great courage, the butler came to meet his master"s eyes, "Do you have any other better time? Or should it be after I wring your neck?" Damien asked calmly tilting his head. Not a second later, the butler ran out of the room to return back with Mr. Reverale after twenty minutes.

"Damien, are we having a late tea party?" Mr. Reverale came to greet but the master of the house had other plans. Spotting the knife that was stuck to the apple on the table, he reached for it to pull it out.

Just as Mr. Reverale went to exchange a handshake with him, Damien took hold of his hand to place it on the table. In one swift movement as if he were chopping onions, he chopped the four fingers of the man off his hand making him yelp and cry in pain.

"No one touches what is mine. I am sure this will remind you the next time you even think about touching her," sighed Damien as if he were tired of telling people to keep their dirty hands off his belongings.