NIGHTS OF HALLOW

Throughout the kingdom of Vamlone, the activities of the people continued as the hours of the day ticked away, the weather was still its usual damp with the continuous downpour of snow.

Away from the part of the kingdom where most of the people could be seen going for their various activities for the day and inside one of the mansions in the town of Witfroley were Serena, Leonard, and Fredrick, each with a glass of blood in their hands, the look on their faces solemn.

Seconds turned into minutes with no one uttering a word to each other, as though their thoughts were passed through their minds.

”Are you certain about this, Your Ladyship?” Leonard couldn’t hold back anymore, breaking the uncomfortable silence in the room.

”If I am not certain, I wouldn’t inform you two,” Serena replied, her tone firm.

Another silence ensued, this one more deafening than the last one. Fredrick and Leonard exchanged looks with each other, the expression on their faces mirroring the same thought they had in their minds.

Fredrick shifted in his sitting position, his lips twitching as he said, ”I thought we had till the following year for him to come back. Why so soon?”

”I have relayed the message I needed to tell you two, it is left for us to hasten everything we do from now onwards. If not, we are going to be in deep trouble.” Serena responded to Fredrick’s words. She swirled the blood in her glass and took a sip from it, her green eyes stared ahead from where she sat, her thoughts distant as her gaze appeared.

She went on to say, ”The coming back of His Lordship came as a shock to me also. I didn’t expect that the opening of his grave would happen so quickly as we hadn’t completed any task as he had ordered. Marco still hasn’t learned anything about his powers that are resurfacing. His sister is somewhere in that castle, and I’m not sure how she is coping with her powers. Time is running out on us. If we do not hasten with everything, doom will befall everyone.”

The gravity of the situation seemed to escalate in the room as Serena listed things which plagued her mind and that of Leonard and Fredrick.

”I’m sure Marco’s sister is doing quite well. I mean, the King will help her along the way.” Leonard opined, standing to his feet as he gulped remnants of the blood in his glass. He walked towards the window overlooking the mansion’s environment and beyond the tall walls blocking the curious eyes of intruders.

Outside the vicinity, snow still fell, its white flakes evident before his eyes. However, inside the mansion’s environment, there was no trace of the snow on the ground nor any sign of it falling in. These were one of the reasons people dreaded this part of the kingdom saying it was haunted and some saying it was bewitched.

”We mustn’t wait for the King, we must get her back. She needs to be here and not there in that castle. If only you guys had followed my instructions, it wouldn’t only be Marco who would be here, his sister would be too.” Serena hissed, her lips pressed into a thin line.

”Perdita is strong-minded. I do not know how she woke from the dream state to which I had enkdorsed her. We were able to get Marco because he was sick and wasn’t conscious, if not, we would have also lost both siblings.” Fredrick explained shaking his head at how everything had turned out.

”What if we use another approach that is not through coercion but by having an open-minded discussion with Perdita? Who knows, it would have a better effect than when we are taking them as though we are abducting them. They think we mean harm to them.” Leonard interjected, staring between Serena and Fredrick hoping to get a favourable reply to his suggestion.

Serena kept mute, not replying immediately and after a while shook her head negatively, ”I doubt it would work that way. As I said before, Perdita is strong-minded. Do you think she would agree to anything you say after we took her brother? She wouldn’t. If I am not mistaken, she is planning on how to get her brother back from this place. It is not going to be as easy as you think.”

”What do you suggest we do? We have run out of options. We could ask Marco for help? Maybe talk to his sister?” Leonard exhaled, already looking exhausted than he was when the meeting began.

”We will use the coming ritual as a trap to bring her to our side,” Serena replied, her mind already plotting her next move on how to get Perdita.

”Ritual?!” Fredrick exclaimed, ”The church members are not going to enter the forest of peril, are they?” That was the last thing that would have to happen, he thought. That forest holds and still holds so much sacred history about the witch’s lineage, and it wasn’t a place where anybody would go in as they wished.

”I have to,” Serena replied, her resolve final. ”We will through Marco send Perdita a letter saying he will be present there. She will surely come knowing Marco will be present. That way we would be able to get her.”

”I don’t think this is a good idea,” Leonard drawled, his gaze on Serena who looked as though she wasn’t going to change her mind.

”We do not have the time to think what is a good idea or not. We just have to go through it no matter what.” Came Serena’s next words. ”This must go through no matter what. The awakening of His Lordship will happen any time soon and we need both of them in this mansion even if it means abducting Perdita”

”You know this is going to be harder than the last time? I mean, the King is now involved. He wouldn’t just sit and allow us to take Perdita away.” Fredrick put in. He had observed the interaction between the King and Perdita to know that the king had affection towards Perdita.

Serena scoffed on hearing Fredrick mention the king being involved. She replied, standing to her feet to exit the room they were in, ”If you follow my instructions, there wouldn’t be any need to worry about the king. The only thing here is that we must get Perdita no matter what it takes.”