When they reached the mansion, Penny and Damien caught the Lord who was only stepping out of the mansion and about to get inside the carriage. Seeing their carriage arrive, Lord Nicholas halted his footsteps, waiting to see who it was,
“Good afternoon, Councilman Damien and Lady Penelope,” the Lord greeted them both. Seeing the seriousness, he waved his coachman to take the carriage back to the shelter as if he had changed his mind.
“Lord Nicholas, we have news about the massacre,” Damien informed the Lord who heard the entire information of what they had found so far. With time being of utmost importance right now, they hadn’t bothered to get inside the mansion and stood outside explaining about it. After a while, the Lord heard what the lady had found out from what she knew.
“As you said, the council members do not get involved with the buildings and if they do it only comes up to the point of the funding which is usually allotted in the beginning. With Creed dead it is one less headache but with the witches, they will keep pouring in no matter how much we try to contain them,” he then turned to face Penelope, “You said they used the plumbing to create the markings. Wouldn’t it be easier to remove and cut the connection off each other?” he asked.
Penny shook her head, “Unfortunately it won’t work, milord. The witches in the past made the markings but after the markings left an invisible bond that couldn’t be erased. Once set it is done and can only come off after the ritual. Removing the plumbing or even demolishing might not work. Because in the future if the town is rebuilt, the place can still be used by the black witches.”
Lord Nicholas nodded his head. With a pensive look, he rubbed his chin, “We can get the council involved but it will be too late by the time everyone puts in their thoughts and come to a conclusion. I have some trusted men who can help in the evacuation. Is it going to be today?”
“We aren’t sure actually. I thought the full moon was today but it has been nothing but cloudy,” Penny had gone through the book again but time was not enough again. There was just too much where she couldn’t read all of it.
“Give me a moment,” the Lord turned his head around, searching for something or someone. When his eyes caught a servant of his who was walking by, he called, “Vermice.”
“Milord?” the servant came forward who had only finished chopping the shrubs to give a better shape in the garden which was actually negligible as the surroundings looked bare.
“When was the last time you saw the moon?”
The servant looked utterly confused as to why his master was asking about it, “Uh, I think it was four days ago,” the servant answered.
“How did the moon look in shape. Was it full, half?”
“It was closing to be a full moon, milord.”
“You can get back to work,” Lord Nicholas saw his servant leave and he turned back to the people who stood near him, “I think it is good to consider that the full moon might be today or tomorrow. I will have the two towns covered and have my trusted officials who will handle it with me. Sending a letter to Wovile and getting the lord there to listen might take time, but if you are going, you should leave now. I will send the people you need.”
“Will the men be enough?” Damien asked for Lord Nicholas to ponder.
“We will have to rely on what we have. If the officials question you, you can turn it to me. Let me sign a letter and seal it as confirmation.”
Lord Nicholas handed the letter to them and saw them leave the mansion in the carriage they had come in. Walking back inside the mansion, he went to his study room, pulling out more letter parchments as he wrote down to the people who could rely in this dire time while also alerting the head council so that he would be aware and in the loop of what was going.
What they would have to do to stop the black witches from entering anywhere near to the two towns was to take the help of the white witches who worked in the churches.
Once he was done with the letters, he twirled the quill around his hand before writing another letter. Writing down in further detail of what happened and was about to come. As he finished folding them, he called his butler and handed all but one to him.
“Send it out immediately,” he ordered. The butler left the room to do the assigned work by asking other servants to take the letter so that it would save time.
The Lord stood up, picking up the letter in his hand to hear a garbled voice behind him. It was one of his most obedient ghoul, Narcissus. Its dark and ragged cloak covering its entire body.
“I have an important task for you as well. This one,” he raised his hand, turning around he handed it to the ghoul, “See that it reaches Leonard and the official there.”
Leonard and his partner, Vivian Carmichael belonged to Councilman Lionel’s team. A team that had solved most of the crucial cases until now. Though Nicholas hadn’t specifically asked for Leonard and his partner to come, he had hoped for both to travel back as they had solved many cases together.
Reaching Quinn’s mansion, Penny started to pack her trunk with the necessary items for their quick trip to Wovile and once done, she had locked the trunk.
“Ready?” Damien asked raising his hand and Penny placed her hand on his.
“Yes,” she said to feel him enclasp his hand around hers. In a blink of an eye, they were no more in the Bonelake and had traveled to Wovile.
