Grace's Point of View:

"I am sorry Your Highness," he bowed down. "I wanted to inform you that Queen Mother Elizabeth is missing."

My forehead creased. With my dropped jaw, I looked towards the soldier.

"You may go now," Andrew said, with a blank face.

The soldier bowed towards us and walked away.

Oh goodness, how could this happen? I looked towards Andrew, he must be feeling so horrible.

"Andrew... don't worry. We'll find her, and she'll be here very soon," I said, squeezing his hands.

He looked into my eyes. His brows were furrowed.

I bit my lip and tucked a stray lock of my hair behind my ear.

Silence engulfed the room, we didn't speak for some seconds.

"Let's go," he said. He walked out of the room and I followed him. His shoulders were tensed.

Oh goodness, I hope Elizabeth is safe. She is one of the best persons I've ever met in my life. I don't want her in any danger.

What if someone kidnapped her? That'd be worst. My heart started pounding. My mind fell into a spiral of all worst case scenarios.

We entered the Hall. Humongous pillars supported its ceiling. The walls were white, the chandelier was glowing. At the end of the hall, the ceiling was a dome; the throne of Andrew was placed under it.

Katherine stood near a pillar, tears were shimmering in her eyes. Casper was trying to her calm down.

I immediately walked towards her. She saw me and gave me a tight hug.

"Grace, what if she is in some danger?" she sobbed. Even I was dreading the same.

My heart broke looking her in this condition.

"Don't think like that, Kath. She'll be fine," I tried comforting her, rubbing her back.

The gates of the Hall opened and Thomas came in, with a paper in his hands. The murmuring of the people stopped.

Thomas bowed and greeted Andrew.

"Your Highness, there's nothing to worry about. Her Highness is now in the city of Rakina, attending a meeting," Thomas said.

I sighed in relief.

"Meeting? Why didn't she inform me?" Andrew asked, eyes narrowed on the paper.

"Maybe Her Highness forgot to inform you because she was in a hurry," Thomas reasoned.

"Why wasn't I invited into such an important meeting on getting rid of Slaves of Darkness?" Andrew's face turned sour.

"I am sorry Your Highness, I don't have the answer to that question," Thomas lowered his head.

Andrew nodded and went out of the Hall.

I glanced towards Katherine. She had a big grin on her face.

"Phew!" she said, dramatically.

The corners of my lips curled up.

"Ahem," Thomas said, looking at me. I frowned. What does he want?

"I need to talk to you," he muttered.

---

Thomas needs to change the color of his room's walls. I looked around again, my eyes fell on Thomas and my grandma's photo.

Why did she leave him?

I took the cup of tea in my hand. Maybe she left him because he was rude to her. I looked towards him, he was putting sugar in his tea.

A smile made its way on my face looking at Thomas smiling. Thomas smiles rarely.

"Humans created wonderful music, always warms my heart," he said.

The Blue Danube was playing on the gramophone.

"Indeed," I replied. His face was lit up, hearing the music.

"So what did you wanna talk about?" I asked.

"Klataria is surely going to see the dark times. It can't be stopped," Thomas said.

"Yeah, Lord Darkness is back, Elizabeth told me," I interrupted.

Thomas narrowed his eyes at me.

"So, the time has come for me to tell you some things," Thomas sighed.

"Grace, not everyone around you is trustworthy. And... Elizabeth is the most treacherous woman I've ever seen."

I gasped. What the hell?! How could he speak something like that?

Before I could tell him something he started speaking again.

"Too hard to believe? I know. But I did see her doing sinistrous things," Thomas shook his head, "sacrificing kids, killing people for fun. Her middle name should be gore."

The tiny hair on my hands stood up in fear.

"She turned people into Slaves of Darkness," Thomas' nose flared with anger, "she made me one of them too."

"OH MY GOSH!" I placed my hand of my pounding heart. Is he evil?!

Thomas didn't stop speaking.

"She took you away from me when you were so young. You used to play around the castle. Those were such merry days," Thomas' eyes glossed.

"W-w-what are you saying, Thomas?"

"You might not believe me, Grace. She sent you to those humans who don't deserve to be called parents."

"How could Elizabeth do that?! She is such a sweet lady!" My breaths quickened.

"Have you never noticed how the King glares at her whenever she is around?" Thomas said.

Oh, freaking goodness... I remembered how Andrew was glaring at Elizabeth the other day.

I looked at Thomas' eyes. They were full of sincerity.

"The King doesn't know that she is a Slave of Darkness. His Highness just knows that she isn't a good person."

All these days I thought she is an amazing person. I buried my face in my hands in frustration. How could she send me to those people in the human world? Those monsters ruined my life.

Tears started leaking from my eyes.

"My dear, please don't cry. She doesn't deserve your tears," Thomas said.

Thomas stood up and opened a cupboard. He took out the box which I saw on the first day I came here.

"Take this, don't open it now. Wait for the correct time," he said, giving me a warm smile.

"I have an important meeting to attend now," he said and sighed, "maybe I'll reach late there."

---

It wouldn't be wise of me to tell Katherine about her mother. Maybe I should talk to Andrew. Did he know that Elizabeth took me away when I was young?

I always wondered why did he turn so angry on the day I met him. Was he angry because Elizabeth told her something bad about me?

I never asked him about it, thinking that it would make him angry again.

I walked into my bathroom. I splashed water on my face. Gosh, I need a vacation from these vampires. It's still hard to believe that I am one of them.

I passed my hand through my hair. I exhaled deeply. A few months ago I had sort of normal life, I never thought I would fall into this world.

Sometimes I wish I should have never gone into the library that day in the human world...

---

Third Person Point of View:

Casper took two beer mugs from the bartender and walked towards the silent side of the pub. He placed them on the table where Emilia sat.

"It's too crowded here," she said, smiling at Casper.

He nodded and sat on the stool. The pub was old and there were round tables. Casper loved coming here to meet Emilia, his best friend.

"It's been many days since we met," Casper said.

"Yeah, and I really hate leaving my job as a librarian in the Royal castle," Emilia said, sighing she took a gulp of beer.

"I wonder where Flower is," Casper groaned. He tried so hard finding Flower, but he couldn't find her. His hopes were dampening day by day.

"Yeah, where did she suddenly disappear?" Emilia frowned.

"You are a wizard. Why don't you just use some spell and find where she is?" she said.

"It doesn't work like that, Emilia," Casper said with a chuckle.

He was still amazed at how his beloved, Katherine, was a vampire and not one of his kind.

"Okay, okay," Emilia scratched the itch behind her ear.

"WHY AREN'T YOU CALLING MY MOM'S SPIRIT?" A voice boomed into the pub. Everyone went silent.

An old witch and a young vampire were sitting on Casper's neighboring table.

"The Spirit World's gates are closed," the witch said.

"What the f*** are you saying?" the young guy screeched.

"Klataria is now filled with a lot of dark energy, the gates of the other side got closed as the spirit world wants to be safe," the witch said, "maybe the dark deathly times will be back."

Everyone in the pub started murmuring. Fear radiated from them hearing what the witch said.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Emilia said to the witch.

"Yes, young lady?" she looked at Emilia and Casper with her brows snapped together.

"Um, can you please tell us how dark energy filled in the world?" Emilia asked she had already turned pale hearing what the witch said earlier.

"Don't you know that Slaves of Darkness are back?" she said, making many people in the pub gasp.

"Go back to your house. You are crazy," the bartender laughed.

"You shut up," Casper glared at him. He never liked it when people disrespected the old people.

"Can you please tell us more? But how are they back? There's nothing in newspapers," Emilia said.

"I can't be in a place where I was disrespected," the witch said, and hurried out of the pub.

Casper stood up to go behind her but Emilia gripped his hand.

"Leave her, I think she was just fooling around," Emilia said.

Casper hesitated but sat down.

"They are really back. I've heard Grandma Flower talk about it with Queen Floisa," Casper said, in a barely audible voice hoping that no other vampire hear him except Emilia.

"WHAT?!" Emilia said, making some heads snap towards her.

"Sorry," she said. Her face turned red due to the unwanted attention.

"Tell me more, now!" she whispered.

"Not here, let's get out," Casper said.

Casper and Emilia headed outside the old pub.

They walked a little. The streets were deserted. Suddenly Emilia screamed.

At the end of the street, Grace's and Katherine's lifeless bodies were floating in air.

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Wow, this was the longest chapter I've ever published lol.

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Grace's and Katherine's lifeless bodies?

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