The Crown's Obsession

Music Recommendation: Tick-Tock by Hans Zimmer

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Calhoun turned around to see Lucy who was on the ground, and he closed his eyes.

He felt his hands turn to fists, and rage consumed his mind. His teeth gritted against each other, and his fist hit the pillar to leave the wall cracked. White dust fell on the ground, and his already bloody knuckles left a smear of blood on the white pillar.

Walking towards his sister, Calhoun sat down on his knees and Lucy's blood that was on the ground, started to soak his slacks. In the beginning, he had kept a distance from her, but she was probably the only person when he had entered the castle to check up on him. Though they shared the same father and not the same mother, Calhoun had come to watch over his half-sister over the years.

Her eyes continued to stare blankly, and he held the same hand that Madeline had held before she had disappeared from here. Calhoun's fingers gently brushed Lucy's hand, and he then held it firmly in his hand as if the life from his own body would transfer and bring her back to life.

From the other end of the corridor, Theodore who had come in search of Calhoun, came running to where Calhoun was but seeing the person who laid on the ground, his body froze, and his feet came to a halt. Disbelief spread on his face like others as he hadn't expected this to happen.

"What happened?" asked Theodore, his voice stiff, and Calhoun who sat next to Lucy didn't go to meet Theodore's eyes.

"It was Samuel!" came the voice of Ethan, who tried to get near them slowly, his body staggering as Samuel had pushed the icicle into his stomach earlier.

"Bastard!" cursed Theodore, his hands clenched into fists similar to how Calhoun's hands had turned.

Calhoun could sense the turmoil of anger, and confusion in Theodore. Before Theodore could go hunting for Samuel, Calhoun said through gritted teeth, "He's dead." He tried to figure out what to do next.

Maybe if the stranger and Madeline went by land or flight, he would have been able to hunt them down. But the vampire had disappeared in thin air, taking Madeline with him.

Silence filled around them, and Theodore bent down to look at Lucy's eyes that continued to fill itself with darkness, moving dot by dot. He lifted his hand, moving it near her head before he placed it on the top of her forehead, brushing her hair without much pressure, while both Calhoun and he refused to close her eyes.

Calhoun heard the flapping of wings, and he turned around to stand, seeing it was Reginald. His eyes blazed, and he walked to where the person was, not caring if this person was an angel. Calhoun's hand went straight at Paschar's neck, and he pushed him against the wall.

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now?" Calhoun growled in anger. His red eyes had already turned to a darker shade as he glowered at the grey eyes.

"I didn't expect things to turn this bad. I spoke to-" Paschar's couldn't complete his words as Calhoun's grip only tightened around the angel's neck. The angel didn't know why, but there had been many times in the past, where he had noticed how strong Calhoun was, almost as strong as him, making him question why it was so.

"I don't care what you spoke in Heaven or what the deal is with your people, but because of you, my peace has been screwed. I have lost my sister, and Madeline has been taken to who knows where," Calhoun glared at Paschar, and the angel's face turned to a frown. "It is because of your mistake, people are suffering and you haven't done anything about it!"

Paschar felt the push against the wall, but he didn't retaliate to Calhoun's gesture, knowing the vampire was in rage because of the current events. "The demons and the fallen angels cannot make use of Madeline. The Heavens have forgiven my deeds. They cannot hunt her. The punishment has been uplifted, and they cannot use her for any redemption."

Calhoun's eyes narrowed, "Do you think the demons and the fallen angels care about it?! Madeline might be strong, but that doesn't mean she cannot be outnumbered. We have fucking Mortems walking in and around the castle like they are guests!" He then let go of Paschar before running his hands through his hair in frustration.

At the same time, Calhoun caught sight of a dark shadow that was lurking behind the pillar. When he saw the boney stag's face peek out of the pillar, he pulled out the gun he had and aimed it at Paschar.

"The bullet is not going to kill me, Calhoun," Paschar let him know.

"Tell me what will help, and I will use it on you unless you plan to fix it," Calhoun deadpanned, pulling the cork. "You and I both know that there's something different about me. Who knows, the bullet might work better in my hands."

The creature of death started to move away from the pillar, making its way towards the corridor and heading in the direction where Lucy was.

Away from Calhoun and Paschar, Theodore's eyes fell on Lucy's wounds that were on her stomach and above it, which was covered in blood. He could see the indentation of the wounds, and he pulled out his handkerchief to cover the wounds, but even the handkerchief stained itself in Lucy's blood.

"Things that have happened have only run its course. Something that was supposed to happen," said Paschar.

Calhoun shifted his hand away from Paschar, and without turning his head, he aimed the gun at the walking Salvette Mortem, whose hands were covered in blood. Without blinking his eyes, he pulled the trigger of the gun for the bullet to hit the stag's head. Paschar's eyes slightly narrowed.

"Mortals cannot touch the creatures," whispered Paschar with a hint of confusion in his voice.

Calhoun then turned around to unload all the bullets from the gun at the stag-like creature to stop it from getting closer to where Lucy was. The creature stepped back from getting shot again and turned its head to look in Calhoun's direction and then back at the girl who was on the ground.

Leaving Paschar's side, Calhoun made his way to come and stand in the way of Salvette Mortem. "I heard my mother once say, that you creatures can speak. So why don't we strike a deal," said Calhoun to it.

The creature of death stared at Calhoun for a few seconds. It finally spoke, 'I cannot take her.'

It seemed like only Calhoun and Paschar understood or heard what it said as Theodore only stared at the creature, while Ethan couldn't see the creature.

"What do you mean?" questioned Calhoun.

'Her life is frozen,' said the stag-like creature, and it started to walk towards Calhoun and said something to him to which he frowned. Calhoun didn't move from his place since he didn't fear the Salvette Mortem, and as the creature continued to walk, it almost passed through him only to vanish in thin air.

Calhoun turned around, bending down to sit beside where Lucy laid, staring into her eyes where the dots of darkness continued to spread in her open eyes. But then it slowly started to reverse until her pupil turned back to normal.

Lucy took a huge gasp as if life was breathing back into her.