Why did it make her feel annoyed to see the brunette leave with Leonardo? Her flashlight-like crimson eyes had been watching, so to speak, she was contemplating and almost close to considering the idea of showing herself to Leonardo–no one ever got the chance to see Red-handed Jill and live to tell about it.

Tsk, what a damsel! She is so confusing! It was stingy for the pale-haired girl to admit that the boiling vexation was irrational and heavily mixed with envy. As she hid there, completely obscured by the darkness, a shard of thought passed her head that only made the feelings heavier.

I was a maiden once too… But–

“There is no point in reveling in this nonsense!” She growled, pulling onto her long snowy locks, irking at the uncontrollable thoughts that hit her.

Focus on the goal, eyes on the goal ahead.

The girl emerged from the shadows as Leonardo and Justine left, now back to being an angelic visage hiding her monstrosity underneath. It was already decided what she’d do next, she shifted those glowing red eyes back to the recent vampires she introduced to tragedy.

No exception, Red-handed Jill would not give any excuses or special treatment to anyone.

She crouched down, reluctantly but with fierceness, biting onto the shoulder of the unmoving vampire and sucking its blood. Disgusting, and putrid, you taste nothing different to Raulo and Joneil. All of you are corrupted! This was almost akin to devouring a sack of bitter gourd or rotten meat, repulsive to her digestion but she carried on because as much as despicable it was, this was her only way of gaining more strength and avoiding her hunger from taking over.

Red-handed Jill would require new strength and recharge to execute her next plan in mind.

—

A passing carriage on an empty road lined with trees and houses that echoed the past and its aesthetics, within the carriage sat a male whose attention remained glued on the notebook he was writing on. Not even some occasional bumps or hooves of the horses outside could tear his focus away. He was completely unbothered.

His eyes were amber but the left was darker and lacking in shimmer compared to the other. He glanced at the large mansion-like hotel as soon as the carriage skidded to a stop. It was lit up with lights, a stark contrast against the dark sky above.

He only sat there, watching with the open notebook on his lap and half a paragraph written inside:

‘The untouched and stagnant water pruned out from the past and present will be tainted with velvet red, a world meant to stand alone for those given the second chance to feel their hearts beating again but with payment costlier than money.

Once was a mistake which created a monster to the monsters.’

“Lord Shakespeare? Will you not be going inside? You received an invitation from the head of the hotel, yes?” The coachman sitting upfront and holding the pair of black stallions’ saddles intercepted through the man’s musings.

William Shakespeare smiled faintly and then averted his gaze back to the notebook, picking up the pen. “No I change my mind, tonight is a plot twist not meant for me to partake in. Tonight onward I will not be on the stage with the rest, no, we will be in the audience to witness an unfolding” Fueled up with ideas, he continued writing in the notebook.

‘Twice was redemption, the sanguine moon turned its illuminating and serene light to this frozen world. A heroine and a monster.’

—

“The table has been set sire and that spare room you asked me to prepare is good to be used” Sebastian reported in his usual no-nonsense tone upon entering the hotel owner’s office–there Comte sat while sorting through some documents and then staring at the large hour-glass display on the shelf. “Do you mind me asking, what is the spare room going to be for?” If there would be a new guest, Comte would notify everyone in here advance and inform them about the guest’s background.

Comte shifted around to give his attendant/butler a reassuring, small smile. “I have an inkling…” No, it was not simply a mere guess, he was absolute about this. “...someone different will be joining us soon, I do not want to put a wrong impression out there, but this person is going to be confused for sure” The last part of his words was stated as a low murmur.

The black-haired butler peered for no more than a minute, no hint of doubt in those charcoal eyes. He never once doubted Comte despite being cryptic sometimes. Sebastian believed and knew the former would not put anyone in here at a compromising situation. “Understood, if you will require my assistance in ensuring this confusion is cleared thoroughly, I will be happy to help. I am going to call the others now and ask them to dine with us”

As soon as Sebastian stepped out of the office, he went to another hall and knocked on each door occupied by their current guests. Two of them were already on their way to the dining area.

“Sir Vincent, Sir Theo” Sebastian gave a curt nod of his head towards the brothers.

Vincent Van Gogh was older yet between them, he had an angelic appearance with his bright blonde hair framing his handsome face and Sapphire blue eyes. Whereas the younger sibling, Theodorus Van Gogh, or Theo for short, was inches taller and with darker brown hair, his eyes were also blue but his default expression seemed always to be grumpy so he appeared unapproachable.

“We heard about a news regarding a killer on the loose, is this something we should be concerned with?” Vincent asked curiously, “Arthur filled us in when he came back today. It’s the first time we heard about such a thing”

“Vampires being killed off easily? That’s unheard of” Theo snorted, looking away and grunting as he crossed his arms. “It better not get in the way, we have events to attend this week and show off my brother’s paintings”

Sebastian nodded to this, he was unfazed and already used to Theo’s default aloof nature. “There is no word from Sire yet about this but we shall expect he will speak to us all about the killer, perhaps later when we gather”

The three gents heard a faint sound from downstairs–sounds of someone being surprised and Arthur’s playful laughter. Then there was the deep reverberating voice from Leonardo. They went to see what the minor commotion was about and to their astonishment, Leonardo was standing in front of a petite woman and glowering at Arthur.

But their eyes were on the female–ebony black hair loose on her shoulders, wide raven eyes gleaming with discomfort whilst she tried hiding from Arthur’s view.

This must be the guest Sir Comte was about. Sebastian mentally concluded. There was no oddity surrounding the female brunette, no strange scent about her, she was completely normal. Except for her clothing style.

“Arthur, for the love of anything holy, keep your hands to yourself” Leonardo didn’t sound pleased, he was exasperated that the first thing to greet Justine here was the author’s flamboyant nature–he did not even hold back on the compliments and already subtly hinted about wanting to get to the third base.

But Arthur only pouted and was not at all bothered by the gnawing irritation he was giving Leonardo. “How can I control myself?! She is such a fresh, good vibe brought here to counter the gloominess I felt today! Imagine how distraught I was and suddenly you came back with a piece of good news!”

A sigh from Leonardo before he turned to the cowering woman near him. “I apologize, Cara Mia but believe me when I say not everyone is like Arthur. You are only unfortunate to see him first”

Justine straightened up, putting herself at ease. She already got Leonardo’s name earlier when they were on their way here. “It’s okay, I am just not used to the attention” Between Joneil and Arthur, the latter was more tolerable but she wouldn’t appreciate being flirted like this every day. She stiffened and turned to the window pane across the spacious area not covered by the curtains–there was an unshakeable feeling that someone had been watching her from that window minutes ago.

The same set of soft glowing eyes, the angelic feminine face. Would she follow me here?

“Oy Leonardo, where did you pick up this hondje?” Theo asked brashly in a loud voice without a care if it sounded brusque.

A hondje? Did this guy just refer to her as a freaking puppy? Justine’s thoughts on the pale-haired girl disappeared and were replaced by disbelief. “I beg your pardon? Why would you refer to me as one?!” It was unnerving and to think he asked it loudly in front of more men she didn’t know yet.

Leonardo sweatdropped, “You and your brashness, Theo…but I found Justine in that place, she was alone and lost. I needed to get her to safety”

Something dawned on Arthur and made his flirtatious side vanish. “That place, you mean the abandoned museum?”

“Yes, Celestial Rose, it was out of bounds and forbidden to go to” Leonardo supplied, “I know it was locked from the public because it was unoccupied for eons and it had such an ugly history that remained unclear until now”

Sebastian glanced at their only female guest, somewhat sympathizing after knowing briefly about where she was found. “It must be hard for you, Miss Justine, to roam in a place like Celestial Rose. No one ever set foot there, no one we knew”

Who was this guy? Justine blinked, taken by Sebastian’s manner and also his appearance. All of them were good-looking but she found herself gazing longer at Sebastian. Internally shaking her head, she replied. “Yes I was really scared and had questions to ask, Leonardo told me I would get my answers today…although I don’t know from whom and how…” The question mark above her head only got bigger.

Leonardo chuckled lightly, he patted Justine’s head. “Fret not, do expect more shocks to come but at the end of this night you will get the information you need to be equipped with”

“Apologies for our manners we forgot introductions” Vincent spoke softly, giving a friendly smile to the female brunette. “My name is Vincent Van Gogh,” He then gestured to his sibling. “This is my younger brother, Theodorus Van Gogh”

Sebastian gave a nod and a quick head bow. “Sebastian,”

Huh? Van Gogh brothers? Then Leonardo? What kind of pattern was this? Justine wondered if they were roleplaying historical figures. She decided to park it first in her head and ask later.

—

Justine was not the only unexpected guest they’d have tonight.

Outside, perched up the tree was the girl who bore the notorious title of ‘Red-handed Jill’.

Chapter 4

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