Chapter Seventeen
Adrian
I rode back to the castle with a heavy heart, the journey through the woods a blur of thoughts and emotions. I couldn’t shake the haunting revelations I had uncovered about my shared bloodline with Constantine, and the consequences it might carry. The witch’s words echoed in my mind, their weight a heavy burden on my shoulders.
As I approached the castle, my anticipation turned to dread. The moonlight bathed the courtyard in an eerie glow, and the scene that greeted me was nothing short of a nightmare. The lifeless bodies of the castle guards lay strewn across the cobblestones, a grim testament to the fierce battle that had taken place.
My heart pounded in my chest as I dismounted and hurried to inspect the gruesome scene. Among the fallen guards, I saw the unmistakable presence of vampires—unearthly beings with pale, twisted faces and sharp fangs. The air was thick with the scent of blood and the echoes of a violent clash.
“Your… Highness…” I heard someone call out to me.
I quickly looked around to see where the voice was coming from. Finally, I saw someone on the ground move. When he lifted his bloodied head, I recognized him.
“Leopold!” I exclaimed, rushing over to his side.
He was wounded, his breathing labored, but his eyes still held a flicker of resolve. I knelt beside him. “What happened here?” I asked, fearing what the answer might be.
His gaze met mine, as he struggled to speak, a thin trickle of blood running down the corner of his lip. “The vampires… came without warning… We did… our best to protect… the castle…” He coughed violently, under the pressure of talking.
I clenched my jaw, anger and despair welling up within me as tried to help him. It was obvious that the castle guards had fought bravely, but there were obviously too many vampires. Worst of all, I believed that our castle was a safe place, that would keep everyone in it guarded. I was wrong. So very wrong. I should have anticipated that no place was safe before Constantine’s anger.
“Where is Lil? And Cass?” I asked, once his onslaught of coughing had subsided.
“They… took them,” he whispered.
As the realization hit me that the vampires had taken Lilith and Cass, a fiery rage surged within me, a tempest of anger and despair. The castle courtyard, once a place of protection, was now a battleground marred by the destruction wrought by the vampires. I knew who their leader was. It was easy to guess.
Now, Leopold’s words, spoken through labored breaths, confirmed my worst fears. My beloved wife and our precious daughter had been taken from me, their safety, their very lives hanging in the balance. The weight of their absence, the guilt that was pressing heavily upon me was equaled only by the anger I felt, which was a fiery inferno, consuming all reason and restraint.
“You must go…” he told me, coughing again. “Before it’s too late…”
“Do you know where they have taken them?” I asked, although I was fairly certain what the reply would be.
“No,” he shook his head apologetically.
The grim task ahead of me was clear. The hunt for Constantine had begun, and there was no force on earth or beyond that could keep me from reuniting with my family. My fury would fuel the relentless pursuit of my adversaries, and I hoped that Constantine knew that I would stop at nothing to bring Lil and Cass back home, safe and sound.
But I couldn’t leave Leopold like this. Gently, I helped him up to his feet. Leopold groaned with pain, his forehead wrinkling as he breathed heavily, fighting the onslaught. His wounded body leaned on me for support. He was pressing his hand to his side, which was all bloody. As we started to walk back into the castle, he was dragging his left foot. I made sure to walk as slowly as possible, helping him along the way.
As I looked around, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The battle had left a chaotic aftermath within the castle’s pristine halls and courtyard. The destruction was immediately evident. Scattered across the cobblestone courtyard were the lifeless bodies of the fallen guards, their armor tarnished and weapons scattered haphazardly. The air was heavy with the pungent scent of blood, and the echoes of a violent clash still resonated through the castles walls.
Inside the castle, the mess was no less frightening. Furniture had been overturned, tapestries torn, and priceless heirlooms shattered. The once-gleaming stone floors were marred with the marks of combat, and the walls bore the scars of the fierce struggle that had taken place. I felt as if this wasn’t my home at all. It felt like a place that had been wronged, that had been violated. My blood boiled with rage.
As Leopold and I made our way through the castles disrupted corridors, a few servants emerged from the shadows, their faces filled with a mix of concern and shock. They had witnessed the grim aftermath of the vampire attack and were eager to assist in any way they could.
“Your Highness!” one of them shouted as they approached us.
I turned to them with a sense of urgency. “Please, help Commander Leopold to the infirmary. He needs immediate attention.”
With a collective nod, the servants hurried to support Leopold, allowing me a moment to gather my resolve and plan my next steps. I watched them disappear down the corridor, then I turned around. I had no idea where to start looking for them. I considered going back to the witch to see if there was any way she could find this out, but that would take too much time. I couldn’t risk being late. The consequences could be dire.
With a sense of urgency and desperation, I rushed through the castle, searching for any sign or clue that might lead me to Lilith and Cass. My first stop was my study, where I scoured through the papers and documents that might contain a hint or message. But it yielded nothing. Next, I hurried to our bedroom, where I examined every nook and cranny for any indication of their whereabouts. Their absence in our once-cozy space only intensified my anxiety.
Finally, I arrived at Casss room, her toys and belongings scattered as if left in haste. My heart ached as I realized the impact of the sudden and violent intrusion into our lives. I searched for any clues that might provide a lead, but there was no trace of where they might have been taken or why. The helplessness I felt was overwhelming, but I knew that I couldn’t afford to despair.
“Think, Adrian… Think!” I pounded my head with my own fist, in an effort to force my mind to consider any option, no matter how insignificant it might seem at first.
Then, it hit me. Where would Lil go if she saw that the vampires were attacking? She would try to find the safest place. But what was the safest place? I thought about it for a moment.
The attic!
As I ascended the stairs to the attic, my heart pounded with anxiety, fearing what I might find in the aftermath of the vampire attack. I had no idea what I would find there, if anything. I noticed the broken door immediately, the furniture that was lined against it. So, someone tried to barricade themselves inside.
Lil. My clever girl.
I looked around, walking slowly. Broken furniture and signs of struggle were scattered across the room, telling a grim tale. I was right. Lil did come here in an effort to hide away from the vampires, but they found them.
I looked around and my eyes fell upon a message scrawled on the wall, hastily written but legible. It read: the old mill.
My heart sank at those words. That had to be where Constantine was keeping Lilith and Cass. There were many mills around, but only one was known as the old mill. That same mill was the place humans steered clear of. We all knew of the legend of Willow Wraith, although no one had actually seen her ghost. There were several variations of the legend, but in every one of them, Willow Wraith was a simple woman who had been wronged in her life, her soul twisted by a terrible injustice. One version claimed her to be a witch, and the village people hunted her down, until she met her untimely end inside the mill itself. The other version claimed her to be just a poor soul in love, who died of a broken heart, after she had fed bread made of her own blood and flour from the mill to her cheating fiancée. There was a third version, where she had been captured by a group of robbers, who abused her then murdered her. All versions were chilling enough to keep any human as far away from that place as possible.
But not only that. There had been several deaths in the mill, where travelers decided to rest there for the night, thinking it abandoned, only to never see the light of day again. This only seemed to add to the legend, which now claimed that Willow Wraith could not endure the presence of intruders, and those who dared to venture into the mill would suffer a fate worse than death. It was said that she would torment trespassers, luring them deeper into the woods with eerie whispers, only to ensnare them in her malevolent grasp. The unfortunate souls who fell victim to her wiles would vanish without a trace, their fates sealed in the darkness.
I knew better than to question the existence of ghosts, and decided to steer clear of the place myself, like the humans did. But if Constantine wanted me there, to save my family, then I would be there. There was no room in my heart for fear and doubt.
I rushed to the stables, mounting my horse. I rode through the moonlit night, the path ahead enshrouded in a thick veil of ancient trees and gnarled branches. The forest surrounding the mill was even more frightening than during the day, and the very air around it was thick with a chilling stillness.
The path I followed was overgrown with gnarled roots and thorny underbrush, and the skeletal fingers of the trees seemed to reach out as if to deter any intruders. Shadows danced in the moonlight, casting ominous silhouettes that played tricks on my imagination.
The closer I came to the Old Mill, the more oppressive the atmosphere became. The sounds of the forest grew muted, as if the very woods held their breath, aware of the sinister reputation of the place. The air grew heavy with an uncanny stillness, and the sensation of being watched sent shivers down my spine.
Despite the fear, I had to continue. Lil and Cass were counting on me. I had already let them down once, by not being there when they needed me the most. A claw clenched around my heart, as I remembered how Lil asked me to go back with her, but I refused. I turned my back on her, and now, she was in the clutches of my brother, and my worst enemy. I couldn’t let anything happen to her or my daughter. I had to save them, even if that was the last thing I did.