"Belle!" she heard Pauline call her and Belle turned to see her friend who was holding the bouquet of flowers in her hands. Pauline, her friend had escaped from the house and had got married to the man she loved. A human. Now that they were married, all Pauline would have to do was convert the man to a vampire and live with him.

Pauline put her hands around Belle, "Thank you for coming today. I didn"t know who else to ask to be by my side," she could tell Pauline was being emotional right now.

Belle patted Pauline"s back before she pulled away with a smile, "I am happy to be invited for your wedding. It"s not like I have many people"s weddings to attend do," and she laughed, "I am happy for you."

"Thank you, again," Pauline thanked her, grateful that Belle had come as she had no one to call as her family who was going to attend the wedding. 

"Will you be staying here?" asked Belle. The village here was calm and quiet, the people appeared to be welcoming when it came to vampires, unlike the other humans who often carried pitchforks and stakes in their hands. Words of curses flying when they tried to chase the vampires away from their village. 

"For two weeks," answered Pauline who turned to look at her husband who was talking to Lucas and Simon now, "He bought a house in the next town. Said it will be better to start fresh for both of us. But I know he feels bad that I won"t be able to have the life I have been used to. I told him it"s alright but he just worries."

Pauline and her husband were in love for some time now and she could tell that the man would keep Pauline happy. 

"I will come to see you, day after tomorrow then," Belle replied to her friend who gave her a nod, "Your new family is waiting," and with those words, Belle went to meet Lucas again who asked her,

"Ready to leave?" 

Belle nodded her head, "I guess. There"s nothing more to do right now," When she turned to look at her friend, she saw Simon wave at her. Though he liked poking at Lucas very subtly, he knew when to give the couple the s.p.a.ce they needed, "Do you think we can go visit the witch in the church?" she asked him.

"I don"t see why not," saying their bye to everyone they met, Belle and Lucas made their way to the carriage and travelled to the church which was looked after by Isabell.

When they reached the church, Belle heard the church bells rang which gave her a feeling of strange calmness. The sound rang over and over again that had Belle"s attention.

"Does it hurt getting inside the church?" Belle asked him as they stood outside the church. In the past, Belle had noticed how Lucas didn"t stay too long inside the church and he often stood out waiting for the Adams" family to return. 

"I didn"t know you noticed," he said,that had her smile. 

"You were the one who has been my role model as I grew up. I would pick things like that," at first Belle had thought it was because Lucas didn"t believe in church but then she had noticed how he would enter and leave without staying too long. 

"Miss Belle grew up well," Lucas had a small smirk on his face before it fell down, "The death reapers find it hard to stay in the church for too long. It hurts the skin that we wear. As if it wants to burn and show the bones that we are made of. The church and the land of the dead stand on two opposite ends. One that shows light and the other that shows darkness. Do not worry about me. I can bare the light burn," he said before they started to walk inside the church. 

Belle went ahead to pray at the chapel while Lucas stood back, watching her as well as the people who entered and went. Father Connor had only finished taking a confession of a woman who had apparently slept with another man and was scared as she was pregnant and didn"t know whose baby she was carrying. 

It was supposed to be a secret confession but Lucas heard it well enough who didn"t react when the woman pa.s.sed by him. 

"Lucas," Father Connor greeted and Lucas greeted the man back.

"Connor. Where"s Isabell?" 

"She said she had some business to complete and wouldn"t be returning soon," said the priest. 

Lucas"s eyebrows furrowed at this. The last he had met her, she had not mentioned about any business, "Did she tell what it was about?" 

Connor looked around the church to make sure no one would hear and he leaned forward to say in a whisper, "She said there were switchers and black witches who have been causing problems in the villages. Girls and boys have been getting abducted who are untouched virgins."

"Isn"t it a common issue?" asked Lucas. It wasn"t the first time he had heard about black witches abducting people, especially virgins to create sacrifice.

"No, she told me it was different this time. There are some not only the girls from the villages but also pureblooded vampires who had gone missing. The activities of the black witches, as well as the switchers, have reduced." 

That was concerning, thought Lucas to himself. The witches often went quiet when they didn"t want any attention from them as they were working on something big. 

"But Isabell did leave you a letter. I should have it right here," said father Connor who fished his pocket to pull out a letter and gave it to the Grim Reaper.