On the word of the creature that had decided to stick with her which somewhere she felt because she had killed the spirit that was beating it up. they continued to walk which felt like hours before Belle turned to it.

"Are you sure this is the way?

" she asked the creature.

The creature named Hector gave a thought which she believed was something it did often to say,

"This was the way a few months ago,

" it answered. Belle narrowed her eyes at it,

"Why you look at me?

" it asked like it didn't know what it had done.

Belle moved her head, her eyes searching for any possible way or path to the town as it felt like they were walking in a circle for quite some time,

"How long have you been living here?

"

"Me has been here for four decades,

" the creature answered and Belle raised her eyebrows.

"Such a short duration of time. Of course, you wouldn't remember,

" she responded to Hector and sighed. Not only was she supposed to find the way back to the town where her house was but she also had to make sure she would not turn to someone's meal here.

"When you bring me food?

" asked Hector while Belle was trying to figure how to get out of this forest.

"You just ate,

" Belle pointed out. She remembered the first time she had met this creature, it was in this forest and at that time she wasn't able to get her way out of here too. They continued to walk by taking a different route to end up nowhere again. At this rate, she would forever be stuck in this forest without getting out of here.

Almost two hours passed and she couldn't find her way out. She wondered when she would start to feel hungry.

She asked the creature,

"Have you ever seen the town, Hector?

"

"No,

" was the quick answer.

Belle took in a deep breath of air, trying to calm herself so that she wouldn't drag this creature to its own hot pot and dip it inside. She wondered if she was getting violent thoughts because she was tired by walking in the forest or if it was because she was turning to one of the many creatures of the land of the dead. To be in the middle of the hierarchy in the land of the living and being demoted to the low-level creature in the land of the dead didn't feel good to her.

Now this made her question if the creatures who ended up here ever got out of this place. Mighouls were of higher creatures compared to the spirit and Hector who appeared to be looking up at the sky. Her reflection, Portia was able to get a deal with the mighouls and she was able to get in and out of this place, almost unharmed so it should work for her too. Because they were the mirror image of each other, same yet different at the same time.

And then came the beacon of light in the sign of a bird that flew up in the sky which Belle noticed even though the sky was not light but dark.

The black bird continued to fly until it came to perch on the tree near them.

"Food!

" Exclaimed Hector who took three steps forward before being hit on the head by Belle to stop him from pouncing on the bird.

"That is not for you to eat!

" Belle scolded the creature and took a few steps towards the bird that didn't look like a crow,

"Raven?

" she asked the bird.

"Belle?

" asked the bird and for a second she almost felt startled that the bird had spoken to her but what was she expecting by calling its name?

"Is that you?

" asked the bird.

Back in the land of the living, both Lucas and Portia were still in George's house. Searching for anything until they came to stop near a cupboard that was loose and was left half-opened,

"Looks like there's nothing in here. The council or the magistrate have cleaned the walls of the house without leaving a spot,

" sighed Lucas.

Portia had to act glum as Lucas thought she was Belle without a hint of knowledge that Portia had switched places by putting Belle in the land of the dead forever to never return so that she could live the deserved life.

"Maybe we should look at the other graves to see if his body is there,

" she proposed to him,

"I don't know what must have happened because the magistrates and his words don't match. Sometimes I wish there was an easier way to figure out,

" she said, mindlessly she pushed the door of the cupboard close which only opened again.

Lucas furrowed his brows and pulled the cupboard wide open and he smiled,

"Looks like the council or whoever tried to cover up the place missed a spot.

"

There were black spots inside the cupboard and Portia said,

"But what do we get by seeing the blood in here? The magistrate already mentioned that it was George who killed his parents even though we know it is untrue.

"

"You can make use of your ability. See what you get,

" said Lucas and Portia for a second didn't know what to do as she didn't have the ability but she nodded anyway. She ran her fingers over the dried blood for sometime before saying,

"There's...death of his parents,

" she lied.

"What do you see?

" asked Lucas.

Portia didn't want to blow her cover because of a stupid dead vampire. She closed her eyes and behaved as if she could feel and see something when she said,

"It is unclear but it's his mother's blood in here. I can hear people scream,

" and she opened her eyes to look back at him.

Seeing the dejected look on Lucas, she said,

"Maybe we should ask someone who lives around in here,

" and she saw him give her a nod.

"Let's go find the neighbours.

"

Lucas and Portia left Clifton's house and went to find the other houses that resided close to the one they had just visited. Every house they stepped into, none of them had heard much about the Cliftons and even if some did, it was an event that took place months ago which had washed away the gory day of the death.

"You were speaking to someone before I came back. Three days ago. Who was it?

" inquired Lucas. Portia had to search in Belle's memories regarding whom Lucas was talking about.

Finding it, she replied,

"It was an old lady. She wanted to have some tea and cookies with me.

"

Hearing this, Lucas decided to go visit the lady's house along with Belle. The Clifton's house was already near the ends of the town and the house was located in the woods. Reaching the house built of woods like a cabin, Lucas stepped forward and knocked on the door.

After a while, the door opened and the woman who had spoken to Belle a few days ago appeared in front of the house.

"Yes?

" asked the Lady.

"We are here to ask you a few questions regarding the death of Clifton's,

" said Lucas, his eyes falling on the woman's hand that was on the surface of the door that was black and rotten in colour,

"Do you mind if we ask you some things?

"

"I have already answered what I wanted to say that day to this young lady,

" the woman responded to his question,

"Come on in,

" the woman moved back and they stepped inside the house.

"Would you like something to drink?

" asked the woman who appeared to be past her fifties.

Lucas looked at Belle, seeing her look back at him and said,

"We wouldn't want to impose on you.

"

"That's alright,

" answered the woman,

"It would be rude to send you away without a glass of water.

"

Lucas looked at the back of the woman who continued to walk towards the kitchen, getting the glasses and pouring water. He noticed how the woman slipped something into the glass of water and his eyes narrowed.

The woman then returned back with the tray of glasses that had water, offering each of them one glass to drink with a smile on her face,

"Here's the water.

"

.

Scroll to the next chapter...