Bambi and the Duke

The cold wind blew across the Meyers mansion, the moon hidden behind the grey clouds as both Leonard and Rhys sat in the study room. It was Rhys' birthday and he wanted to celebrate it quietly than in pomp. The fireplace crackled in the corner of the room the woods burning bright red as they gave out light, casting shadows on the walls and floor of the dark room. Clouds growled in the sky, the wind picked up the wet leaves that were stuck on the ground. Silence filled the room.

"I heard you visited Julliard," spoke the dark-haired man, glancing at his cousin who had leaned black in a relaxed posture with his eyes closed.

"He needs to keep the damn bird away from me," murmured Leonard with no apparent hint of irritation in his voice.

"Bird?" Rhys tilted his head in question before continuing to speak, "No it wasn't Toby but sister Isabelle who had gone to purify the town."

"I forgot I met her there."

"Nicholas isn't happy that she's been told to purify the grounds near the lake. He would rather have it not done. I don't know why he won't tell it himself," said Rhys picking up the red bottle that contained alcohol in it. Pouring the half-filled glasses on the small table, he placed it on the ground next to an already completed bottle which was empty.

"The council is involved in it and we both know how Nicholas doesn't involve himself anywhere directly with the council. More than six humans went missing in broad daylight which has caused a surge of anxiety among the townsfolk," Leonard answered, picking the glass to take a sip from it, "The men of the village are agitated."

Rhys scrunched his brows, "Did you file the report to the council?"

Leonard shook his head in denial, "It was the region where Cavilry is assigned," his cousin nodded his head in understanding, "The villagers wanted answers. With no sightings of any black witches, the man filed the report in the council for purification of the ground. People who reside there have come to believe that it is the lake that is behind the missing people."

"No wonder, the lord was on the conversion of the lake to forbidden grounds which would avoid causing any more rifts...but then that doesn't solve the problem," commented Rhys.

"It doesn't," Leonard responded back.

Coming back to the conversation, Rhys said, "You need to stop blaming yourself over things you aren't responsible for," seeing his cousin not speak a word on it, he exhaled.

Like many others, Rhys wished he could turn back time, to the time where they could have saved people who were dear to them. Rhys had been the kind of man who normally didn't associate himself with anyone, Julliard, on the other hand, warmed up easily. Both Charlotte and he were the most approachable ones while he and Leonard were difficult to get through. The only difference between Leonard and him was that he didn't care too much while Leonard cared but never showed his emotions until it started spilling out.

Leonard hadn't opened up about his parent's death.

The night the tragic event took place, Rhys was helping another relative of theirs who had been wounded due to which he couldn't witness Uncle Giles and Aunt Renae's death. When Leonard came to find the cause of the commotion, his father was already found dead but his mother, thought Rhys closing his eyes.

To kill someone you love and adore with your hands, it was something Rhys couldn't fathom himself. Not a word had been uttered or discussed and it was as if his cousin was trying to prolong and push the pain away which wasn't healthy. Pain like that could turn toxic in time, unbearable until it would burst out. He knew his cousin didn't like being probed with personal information and only listened to what everyone spoke which included the Lord who was so fond of him.

Leonard didn't bother to look at Rhys when he felt his gaze on him. Ignoring the eyes, he wondered what Julliard would have said if he were here with them.

"Do you think souls exist?"

"Are you asking because of what was proposed?" Leonard raised his brows at his cousin, "You shouldn't take his words seriously, his sense of humour is as dry as the wind in Woville."

They were talking about the time when the idea of placing Julliard's body in the lake was proposed. The lake of bones wasn't just a name but took the word in a literal sense. It was a mass grave for the dead. For the beings who didn't have a land to bury in, nameless people without families, criminals who had created serious offence in the society. It was very rare for a pureblooded vampire to end up the lake of bones. The lake of bones which was located far away from the towns was hidden behind the thick forest.

It was a place of tortured souls put together. Though in the years that had come by and gone, no one could prove what made the place so eerie, if it was the smoke in the night or the haunting quietness that brought into the fearful minds of the humans.

"I didn't," Rhys stated uncrossing his legs and getting up from his plush chair, "But the idea did sound intriguing. Sometimes it's better to have at least a figment of the person than have nothing at all but loss."

"I would have never agreed to put any of them there," Leonard frowned as Rhys walked by him to push the woods further into the fire with his shoes. As much as like the others who wanted to keep a piece of everyone to see and remember by, Leo couldn't bring himself to do demean them by putting them in the lake of bones with the low-level creatures.

"I know," Rhys responded back with a sigh.

Getting up from his seat himself, Leonard walked to sand next to the closed window. Looking outside where the wind blew shaking the leaves and moving the branches, he saw lightning strike from the sky. It would soon begin to pour, he thought to himself.

"How is she doing?" he heard his cousin ask knowing well he was asking about Vivian. Though Rhys never intervened in his personal matters, it didn't settle well with him that his cousin showed an interest in her well being, "She was close to the housekeeper, wasn't she? I thought she would leave the mansion after what was done to him and his family," at Rhys' words, Leonard felt his hand twitch at the thought of her leaving the mansion. Leaving his side. Thinking about it, he looked at the clock on the wall to notice that he had stayed longer than he had expected.

"She's doing fine," keeping his words short, he turned to look at his cousin, "I should get going," the dark-haired man nodded his head.

"Let me ask Harper to ready your carriage."

On his way back to his mansion, Leonard couldn't help but think about what Rhys said to him. It wasn't that he hadn't thought about it. Though he would never admit it out loud in words to anyone, the girl worried him to no end. She was someone he cared for immensely, someone he loved for a very long time and losing her from his side was not something he wanted.

It wasn't that he didn't feel her pain but he had hoped she would understand why he did what he had to do.

When he first found Paul was behind his parent's death, it had left him shocked. So shocked that he had pushed the date of the housekeeper's execution for more than four weeks of time so that he could find the loopholes, after all, he had grown up to know the man in a close distance. When a crime was committed in their society, death was something that was quickly bestowed. It was never delayed yet even after extending time no loopholes could be found.

As much as it pained her, Leonard had to push aside his sentiments and do what was followed in the society and for his family. Letting go of murder in the society would do nothing but encourage the ones who were about to commit a crime close to it.

With worry also came belief of understanding when it came to Vivian.

Reaching the mansion, he walked through the dark deserted halls while counting his servants one by one to make sure they were in the mansion and not outside. The servants were compliant and fearful thanks to the Lord who killed one of his previous.

Early in the night, Leonard found it hard to fall asleep. Just when he slipped into his dream, something from the recent past came to haunt him, waking him up in an instant from his sleep.

Blood, there was blood everywhere. On the walls, the floors that had turned crimson red. On his hands, he closed his eyes with a sigh bringing his mother's image of what he had seen in his dream. No, it wasn't a dream. He was reliving it with every passing night. The memory of his beautiful mother coming to attack him with her eyes that had gone black and livid without any emotion. His hands covered in her blood after he had run his hand through her chest. The same chest that had kept him close when he was a child.

The memory felt fresh like only a minute had passed.

Taking the glass of water from the side table, he drank it completely as if it would wash away the angst and the pain that he was hidden in his own chest. But that didn't change the fact that he had killed her. He had killed his mother. As the thought repeated in his mind, unable to contain the anger, he threw the glass on the wall that broke into thousands of little pieces which reflected in the air for a spare moment when the lightning struck from the sky.

Both his hands ran through his hair as he held his head while sitting on the edge of his bed.