Chapter 239 - The Lies

Hearing Calhoun"s footsteps, Madeline turned to see him raise his hand that had a flower, "It is rude to visit graves without a flower," he said to her. The grave was quite old, and the only plants that were around them had either dried up or were wild plants with no flowers in them that didn"t need to be looked after.

"Thank you," Madeline took the yellow flower to place it on the grave. Unlike the rose that had turned from red to black when she had seen Calhoun put it in his mother"s hand, the yellow flower continued to hold its colour.

Getting up, she saw there was no one else except them in the cemetery, "This appears to be the oldest cemetery. Why would the girl"s parents s.h.i.+ft her here?" Calhoun"s words were less of a question as he looked at the graves that surrounded them.

"Probably because they wanted to make s.p.a.ce?" proposed Madeline, but she saw Calhoun shake his head.

"Unless your friend"s family are residing in here, it is usually the old bodies that are moved and never the new ones," stated Calhoun.

Madeline didn"t know how true Calhoun"s words were because she didn"t find it to be odd. It wasn"t the first time for bodies to be moved as it had occurred in the past too. Without heeding too much on the matter, she said,

"What are we going to do now?" her eyes looked slightly anxious as they met his.

Calhoun, who took note of her expression, said, "We can go back to the castle or," he paused, "We can make it come true on what I said to your grandparents about us in the forest and behind one of the trees."

From the serious topic, Calhoun had changed it to another one and Madeline didn"t find it amusing. He had gone as far as to indicate to her grandparents that she and Calhoun were doing something one was not supposed to do.

He then asked, "What"s the matter?"

"Villagers here won"t care if you are the King or not. They differentiate between humans and vampires," Madeline had noticed the cold gaze that Calhoun had received from the villagers, but he appeared to be unaffected by it.

"So I have noticed. Your grandparents were very hospitable. Offering me water, though I was hoping they would give me blood. What?" asked Calhoun with a smile on his face, "I am sure they know what is my choice and preference when it comes to what I want to drink."

Madeline"s eyebrows furrowed now, "You were rude to insinuate that grandmother mixed something in the water. I was right there when she poured the water in the gla.s.s." Madeline agreed that getting her grandparents to get along with Calhoun was difficult, but Calhoun had done nothing but poked them.

"My apologies but I do not trust people, even if it"s your own family. She might not have done anything while pouring the water, but she was the first one to get out of the kitchen, which meant you couldn"t see her adding anything even if you wanted to," Calhoun shrugged his shoulders, "I am telling you a possible scenario, which might or might not have happened. And it isn"t like your grandparents are too kind. What did you both speak in the room?"

Madeline blinked at him. Her grandmother was not lying when she said the vampire would not be able to hear a word they were speaking. It also answered why her grandparents were not threatened by Calhoun.

Calhoun gave her a questioning look. His eyes had slightly narrowed, enough to let her know that he knew something was up, and he wished to know the truth.

Her grandmother might have taken her to a room where a vampire could not hear what was spoken in there. But her grandmother had forgotten that Calhoun was someone whose ears were always listening to things around him. Especially, with them being under the same roof of the small house, it was apparent to suspect that she and her grandmother had not exchanged a single word.

"She was asking about our wedding day," replied Madeline, "She was wondering what happened to James."

Calhoun"s eyes that had slightly narrowed looked more apparent at the mention of the tailorman"s name. He had hoped to get rid of James for good, but it looked like his name kept appearing and Calhoun was not pleased with it. He didn"t like the fact that even her grandmother knew about that man.

"What did you say?" asked Calhoun, they started to leave from where they had been standing and walked away from Jennine"s grave.

"I told her that he"s getting married to Lady Catherine," Madeline"s short reply only intrigued Calhoun more. For a person like Calhoun who was possessive, he didn"t like another man"s name on Madeline"s lips. If he could, he would erase the very memory of James from Madeline"s mind.

"What else?" Calhoun dug, not stopping there and Madeline wondered what she should do. She was getting married to him and she loved her grandparents, but she wanted her relatives alive. "How does she know about him? Did you express your feelings with her?"

Madeline shook her head, "I was surprised that she knew about him," and it was the truth. She couldn"t help but think about how brave her grandfather had been to talk to Calhoun, mentioning about stopping the marriage between her and Calhoun.

"I got a word from Mr. Barnes yesterday. Lady Catherine"s father," started Calhoun to gain Madeline"s full attention, "He has decided to prepone the wedding a day earlier."

"I see," murmured Madeline, her words turning even shorter than before.

"I have asked the tailorman to st.i.tch a new dress for the occasion. Catherine was too eager to invite us, saying she would like us to be present," said Calhoun, his words testing Madeline"s expression that didn"t change.

This is what he wanted from her.

Indifference in her heart and mind when it came to another man. But the man was snooping around where his nose didn"t belong. Hopefully, after what Calhoun did last night, James would know not to do something stupid.

"This seems like a neat place," he said to her, his wings coming out to stretch themselves and Madeline quickly looked around to make sure there was no one to witness his wings.

"You didn"t make sure," Madeline said to him. The villagers were already against vampires; if they were to find him with wings that he was another creature, a possible higher creature, she didn"t know what would happen to them.

Calhoun smiled at her words. Stepping closer to her, "I like to see you worried. Especially when you worry about me. It makes me extremely happy," he confessed. Madeline"s eyebrows had drawn together, staring back at him. Calhoun desired her more than anything he ever had in this world. Even in the world of chaos, he would like to choose no one but her.

"I would like to see you alive," replied Madeline.

"Don"t worry I won"t die," Calhoun responded to look into her eyes that looked lighter under the bright sun, "It would be such a waste to die when I have only found you. I have a lot of plans," he grinned, his fangs coming into Madeline"s view, "Ready?" he asked her.

Calhoun bent to pick Madeline up with both his arms, carrying her, "Time to leave." Right after a second, both of them disappeared from the lonely cemetery, leaving dust that rose in the air because of the large wings that flapped before shooting up the sky.

Back in the village of East Carswell, James held the piece of parchment in his hand as he walked towards the house that had the same address as the one he had been given by Mr. Fisher. In the morning, after visiting his shop to make sure the workers had arrived, he had picked up his coat and come in search of the maid. James was counting the number on the houses when he noticed there were people who surrounded the front of a house. On a closer look, he realized it was the same house that he was looking for.

Pus.h.i.+ng through the little crowd, he came to see the door was left open. James turned to his left to ask the man,

"What happened here?"

The village man turned around, "The girl who lives here has gone missing. One of her aunts arrived in the morning to see her gone."

"Maybe she returned to the castle for work?" asked James.

"No, it seems she had a holiday today and tomorrow. She wouldn"t be returning to the castle until the weekend," answered the man, "Her aunt called the magistrate to get it checked," the man then leaned to the side to whisper, "She must have run away from the house. A few days ago, I saw her with a man in the evening. Someone who is of good cla.s.s."

Hearing this, James" lips set itself in a thin line. He had come here in the hope to find the truth if the rumour was true or not, but it seemed like the maid had decided to run away with a man, that was if what this village man was saying was true.

Folding the paper that was still in his hand, he put it back in the pocket of his slacks. After giving another look at the woman who was talking to the magistrate of the village, James finally turned around to go back to his shop.