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Chapter 11 - Pieces of the Puzzle

It was a sunny morning and the throne hall of the Vitalis Castle had been partially lit by the offending ball of fire. Jerome of course didn’t want to get caught up by the sun’s rays and get fried up, so he moved forward as cautiously as he could to where his master usually sat.

Normally, Cord’s shadows would block the sun’s rays out, but now, they didn’t. Or it was that the Master himself didn’t care of the bright light and chose not to block it.

Jerome couldn’t ascertain why his Master did so, but he chose to keep the question to himself.

“Master Cord, Calvin wishes to talk to you, ” he announced once he was a few feet away from the dais. This part of the throne hall at least had the safety of the shade.

Missing a blindfold, Cord opened his eyes and stiffly nodded.

“Let him come in.”

Jerome dipped his head down and afterwards went back to the throne room kitchen. Calvin was already waiting there. With Jerome’s signal, he entered the hall choosing to walk this time than just swooshing in. Plus, he was also feeling cautious with how the sun’s light was dangerously spread inside the hall.

“What’s up with you?” Calvin spat as soon as he was a stone’s-throw away from Cord. He cringed at the sight of the Master of Vampires. Cord wasn’t physically weary-looking, but his aura was different and Calvin could clearly see it. “You look unlike yourself, Cord. Is this because of Amanda’s absence? No boner lately?”

He joked, at least to lighten the mood, but the Master of Vampires disliked it.

“Sometimes I wish you weren’t an indispensable member of my family so that I could just kill you on the spot for your antics, Calvin, ” Cord announced, a tick on his jaw appeared.

“Aww, Cord, I love you too, ” was Calvin’s reply, disregarding the threat in the former’s words.

“What’s the progress on the task I gave you?” Cord asked, going straight to business.

“Charlie beheaded one biter. She had no choice, ” Calvin started. “The biter killed a homeless person sleeping at St. Elm Street. Plus, she attacked us.”

He noticed the appearance of Cord’s pet panther from the back of the throne and it made him stop. It fluidly moved beside its master and Cord was gracious enough to pet its head.

“The other three escapees are now waiting for your judgment, Cord, ” Calvin started again when he noticed the deafening silence around them. “One had killed a prostitute in the middle of sex while the other two were just about to do the same before we barged in their rented apartment.”

“Such boldness, ” Cord muttered, clenching his jaw.

Calvin felt uneasy. Something was definitely not right with his cousin but he couldn’t put a finger on it.

“Bring them to me. I want to hear them squeak when I end their worthless lives, ” Cord added. He petted his panther’s head again but this time, sharp claws jutted out from his hands.

Calvin saw it and realized that ‘that’ something he felt earlier was a spark of a dark energy reminiscent of a time when Cord had a rampage. It brought him to chills, but despite this, he bowed and gestured for Charlie who was waiting at the threshold of the throne room kitchen together with the escapees.

Wounded and hungry, the three escapees were dragged across the hall and into the base of the dais.

“You really think you could get away from me?” A slender finger tapped with precision against the destroyed armrest just as Cord asked. He glared at the escapees without mercy: one young woman with auburn hair who had been one of the maids of the Vitalis Family before the curse, and two men both in their late thirties, used to be gambling partners of Cord’s father way back in a time when they were all normal. Well…humans.

One of the men grew courage and stood up, looking back at Cord without hesitation.

“Trace had us brainwashed, Master Cord. We were contended with our way of living in the North Wing. We were loyal to you. We followed your rules.”

“Then why would you run away and leave the mansion, break my rules and start terrorizing humans for food?” Cord asked, the sound of his voice particularly low and cold.

“We were...afraid, Master Cord!” the young woman cried out. She looked cachectic, almost to the bone without the nourishment of blood.

“We don’t want to die, ” the earlier man said. “We loved being vampires, but when that witch released her spell on the North Wing, we had no choice but to leave else we would have turned to petrified wood like Trace, Garett and the others.”

“She’s the reason for it all, Master Cord. She has disrupted our way of life!” cried the other man who chose to kneel in front of Cord.

“She’s a witch! She deserves to die!” the young woman seconded.

Cord has had enough. He didn’t mind if these escapees would blame him for their wretched life, but to mock him by asking Amanda’s death was too much.

Slowly, he left his seat and stepped down the dais.

“Only you don’t know one thing, my subjects, ” Cord began as he watched his right palm free of anything other than the transparent swirling of his shadows. “That witch is mine and I don’t want her dead.”

He glared at the three vampires who suddenly huddled closer, fear filling their eyes.

“Your fates however are a different matter entirely. For your transgressions, I put you to eternal death.”

“No! You...you can’t do this to us! It is our right to live!” shouted the first man with his hand on his chest.

Cord shook his head and tsk’ed.

“You took that right away when you killed that prostitute, Sir Oswald. I could still smell her distasteful blood in you.”

“No...no!” the first man cried out as Cord’s shadows enveloped him. The two other vampires automatically tossed themselves away from their dying comrade. The second man crawled into a pillar, seeking safety there while the young woman, seeing that it was a good way, groveled at Cord’s feet.

“Master Cord please spare me! Please!” she wailed, but was cut off when Cord’s pet panther mauled her to death on the very spot.

Cord directed his attention to the second man and like the first, he was enveloped by the shadows and was shredded to pieces midair.

Calvin and Charlie saw the grotesque scene in front of them. They couldn’t do anything other than watch and keep their tongues tied.

When everything was done, Cord sat back on his throne as if nothing had happened. He pressed his left knuckles against his cheek and released a bored sigh.

“You—you’re giving me the goose bumps, Cord, ” Calvin managed to say whilst looking at Bagheera still mauling the young woman’s face. Her tongue had detached from her skull. Calvin couldn’t be sure if it was the pet which did it or the shadows themselves.

“You don’t need to worry about your life if you follow my rules, Calvin, ” said Cord without looking at him. The stench of the dead vampires’ blood wafted through his nostrils and a disgusted expression appeared quickly, marring his handsome visage.

“You know I always do so, ” Calvin hurriedly answered.

“Then good.”

Cord stood up again realizing he didn’t want to stay inside the throne room anymore especially with the unappetizing odor.

“Ensure that whatever body parts left of those vampires is burned before I return, ” he ordered. “It’s time to take my witch home.”

It was past four in the afternoon when Amanda was discharged from the hospital. After making calls to both her step-dad and to Mr. Fowler, the head of her pit-stop team, she, Noman and Jonathan left the room with plans to hire a taxi once they reach the street.

However, just as when they got to the lobby of the hospital, they were met by a very happy Heather who immediately tossed a hug on Amanda’s way.

Amanda hugged her back but wasn’t able to start a good conversation when Cord appeared.

“I’ll take it from here, ” he said, looking at Heather and the rest of the group.

“Aww, Cord. You really can’t wait to get her alone with you, huh?” Heather complained, placing her arms akimbo.

Cord raised his chin up and gave his cousin a pointed glare through his blindfold. “I told you already tagging along with me was unnecessary.”

“I just wanted to see Amanda before you whisk her away to your chamber, ” Heather twisted her lips. She quickly turned her attention back to Amanda and gave her another warm hug.

“It’s good to see you well, Cait. Let’s have a party soon to celebrate your safety.”

Amanda hid a surprised gasp. “Oh, no, you don’t really need to do that, Heather.”

“Well, I insist, ” the latter declared with a firm voice.

On the sidelines, Noman nodded his approval while Jonathan showed no reaction.

Cord however gave a displeased look. “There will be no party until I approve it, ” he stated pointblank. Swiftly, he took Amanda’s hand and guided her straight to the Vitalis limousine.

“Cord, ” Amanda stopped and gave him a stern look. “Let me properly say my goodbyes to my best friend.”

Cord answered her with a throaty groan and despite being hesitant, he stepped to the side and gave her way.

“I’ll call you later, Dom. Thanks for everything this past three days, ” Amanda stated just as she embraced him.

Noman returned the gesture. “Sure, I’ll wait for your call.” He moved to look at the Vitalis Master and smacked his lips. “Make sure she’s well taken care of.”

Cord answered him with cold silence.

“Uhm, well then, we’ll be on our way, ” Amanda cut in. She pushed Cord by the shoulder and in they went to the limousine.

When Heather followed, Cord raised a hand and stopped her. “Hire a taxi. This car’s full.”

Heather gave him a glare. “You’re not serious are you?”

“No, he’s just joking Heather, ” Amanda stated, smiling. “Come inside.”

But the look in Cord’s eyes told Heather otherwise.

“Okay, fine. I’ll ride a taxi, ” she relented. “I have something to buy in the market anyway.” She looked at the sinking sun in the distance and heaved a sigh. At least the danger of roasting had passed.

Cord’s shadows closed the car door and within seconds, it drove away from the hospital premises.

“You didn’t really have to get me yourself. Jonathan could always accompany me to the mansion, ” Amanda stated as she turned to face Cord.

“I’m ensuring you go directly there and not Mr. Ashgar’s apartment, ” he replied, his eyes set on the busy street past the window.

He sensed that energy again when they passed by an alley close to the hospital building; that faint energy the previous night whose source was questionable, but now, it was unmistakable. It came from the mage cockroach he disliked.

“Cord, we had this conversation before. I’m not going anywhere, ” Amanda pulled his left hand and squeezed it.

He moved to look at her and arched a brow.

“How about New Zealand then?”

Amanda huffed.

“Well, that’s an entirely different matter. I just need to visit my step-dad and tell him about my plans on transferring residences to Bath.”

Cord reached to touch her cheek.

“New Zealand is on the other side of the world, Amanda. That’s a whole lot of chances for anyone to attack you. I don’t want that to happen.”

“We don’t even know if we have an enemy, Cord.” Well, for the most part, she used to believe they have none, but after speaking with Matteo earlier, she was having second thoughts.

“I greatly believe we have, ” Cord confessed without hesitation. “The visions you had aren’t just normal visions, Amanda. They were conjured to distract you and to catch my attention.”

Amanda’s forehead creased. “You’re so sure of yourself. Do you have evidences, Cord?”

The expression on his face didn’t change. It was as stern as earlier.

“None, but the fact that Matteo is alive is enough proof he could have done it.” Then, Cord observed Amanda’s reaction which consisted of a faint and brief increase of her breathing. It was enough to spill the intel he just heard from a reliable source.

“You became silent. Why? You don’t have plans on telling me about his visit earlier?”

Amanda was taken aback.

“How...?” she muttered feeling slightly guilty.

The corner of Cord’s mouth quirked upward. “If you think I only gave you one bodyguard, Love, then you’re dead wrong.”

“What?” Her eyes rounded with confusion.

“Your second bodyguard has the ability to camouflage herself. She had been with you since day one of your hospitalization. She’s the one who reported about Matteo’s visit before I arrived in the hospital to get you.”

Instead of getting offended, Amanda shook her head and let out a chuckle.

“Wow, I’m both fascinated and terrified with your slyness, Cord.”

Cord moved to caress her cheek again, but after some time, his fingers lingered to the plane of her neck.

“You talked with Matteo earlier. What did he say?”

Time to be truthful it seems. Amanda wasn’t planning on lying to him anyway. As Master of the Vitalis Castle and Lord of the Vampires, he had the right to know what happened to one of his opponents during last week’s scuffle.

“He was clueless about the visions when I confronted him, Cord. Meaning, he wasn’t the one who created it. You are right. The visions could have been conjured to distract me and catch your attention, but the question now is who?”

A moment of silence passed by between the two of them: each one trying to puzzle the clues they have on hand, but after a while, Cord cut off the silence.

“What else, Amanda?” he urged.

“Well, he also told me something about a family member who saved him from my spell blast in the North Wing, ” she added. “This supposed family member also tended his gunshot wound, Cord.”

“A family member?” he parroted.

Amanda shrugged her shoulders and eased back against the car seat, letting her head fall behind the cushion.

“Yeah, sounds ridiculous right?”

As twisted as it looked, Cord actually smirked.

“Not at all. It’s another mystery I want to solve about you, ” he said.

“The only family I knew was my mother who had long died of natural causes. My other relatives, as you may know, are also dead: you killed my cousin Arriana; her mother was torched by an angry mob of villagers. Any blood family I have, if there are even any, could be in hiding from your kind. Matteo must have found someone who had the courage to come out of her hiding and work with him.”

“You are surprisingly calm talking about it, ” Cord pointed out after her telling.

Amanda scoffed. “Well, it’s not like I made a bond with them. I hadn’t even met them because my mother and I hid when she found out about the dark ones.”

As if the words were like a matchstick, it consequently ignited the long sleeping ember of truth about their statuses as enemies.

Amanda noticed the look of guilt on Cord’s face then.

“If it’s too late to ask your forgiveness...” he said, but then she quickly placed a long finger against his lips.

“No, it’s alright, Cord, ” she stated, shaking her head. “You don’t need to. I’m fine. We were both victims of the curse.”

Cord released a deep breath. He pulled out something from the car’s secret storage area under the seat and gave it to Amanda.

She cocked an eyebrow in response.

“What’s this?” she asked, taking into account the familiar design and color of the object.

“Tickets going to New Zealand, ” Cord clarified.

“But two tickets?” Amanda took it from his grasp and read the names written on it. She expected her name and Noman’s to be present, but the other one was different entirely. It read: Rexcord Alexander Vitalis.

“I’m coming with you, Love, ” Cord worded smoothly.

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