Music Recommendation: Industry- Mire Kay

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  Mr. Evans stared at the Corvin, watching it closely as it stood right next to Julie. He said, "Looks like you know my name, Corvin. You aren't good at hiding yourself. Showing yourself to others would lead to creating more trouble for the girl."

  'Protecting the girl important. What you doing here?' questioned the Corvin, the staff from its hand disappeared, showing only its twigs-like fingers, as it moved.

  "I have been looking for her for quite some time, but it seems like I finally found her," replied Mr. Evans, and a smile spread on his lips. "I am here for the same reason as you. For her," his gaze moved to look at Julie……

  'She is not safe here. Vampire knows,' the Corvin informed, and the counsellor checked Julie's pulse, noticing her skin had turned cold.

  "She's not safe outside either," replied Mr. Evans, and he slipped his hand into his pocket and took out a small blue glass vail. Opening the lid, he poured the liquid inside it into Julie's mouth. "This place is closer to the original home where her family once lived. It is safer for her here than outside, where there's going to be bloodshed."

  The Corvin stared at the man, its emotions filled with suspicion, and it asked, "You a vampire. How you have potion?"

  Mr. Evans closed the glass vial and slipped it back in his pocket, "I have carried it with me for a very long time. For years so that it would come to some better use."

  The smile on his lips slowly slipped away from it, and he said, "Don't do something stupid like by letting you being seen by more people. You are lucky that Azazel Donovan didn't kill her, and it wasn't for her sake but because of the other vampire who was with him."

  "The vampire with hollow heart," said the Corvin in its raspy voice, and Mr. Evans turned to look at the creature. "The boy's heart is corrupting. Was going to be corrupted."

  "She must have tried to absorb it into her… That explains why she's in this condition," replied Mr. Evans.

  'Sullivan Evans,' the Corvin called the counsellor's name and said, 'You took too long.'

  Mr. Evans stared back at Julie. He had been waiting for far too long, and he wasn't even sure in the past if his mistress had opened the right path for him. When the deaths of witches took place, where the night creature had set them up to kill them, where a curse was placed in Willow Creek, the portal had been opened, and three people had been sent to different periods of time.

  His thoughts went back to his time in the past to which he originally belonged, to the family and the woman he served lived a quiet and peaceful life. He now understood what it meant for the young lady to appear from another period.

  Year 1674

  Heavy rain poured in the land of Willow Creek and the places around it. The sky had turned dark, and the clouds rumbled, leaving the land wet and in puddles of muddy water. Most townsfolk had either returned to their houses or had taken shelter under another person's roof, which was only a very few of them.

  And in the rain, a carriage rode into the town, the sound made by the wheels, along with the horses' hooves. When the carriage stopped in front of the magistrate's office building, one of the guards who was going to burn Natalie quickly ran out of the building, holding an umbrella in his hand.

  The umbrella was quickly opened, and when the coachman opened the door, two men stepped out of it. And another servant of the magistrate appeared to hold the opened umbrella above the visitor's head.

  The two visitors started to walk towards the building entrance, with their clean black shoes splattering with mud. The magistrate came to stand at the front, ready to greet them.

  Magistrate Alberto deeply bowed his head, and he looked up at the two visitors who wore expensive clothes and the material of it made out of fur and silk, "It's so good to have you two in Willow Creek. I have been eagerly waiting for your arrival. Mr. Donovan and Mr. Enoch."

  Donovan held a serious-looking face, where he only moved his eyes without moving his head much to look at the magistrate, who had a round belly. He said, "You have invited us when it's raining and there's puddles on the road."

  "My apologies, my sire. I never thought it would be this bad. The soothsayer must have mistaken when he took the readings," replied magistrate Alberto. He offered a smile, but Donovan didn't smile back at him, and neither did another man named Mr. Enoch. "Why don't we go inside to take a seat, so that we can serve you some of the best tea that we have? Please."

  The two vampires followed the magistrate as he led them through the inner corridor before opening a room that had been prepared beforehand so that they could discuss things in there. The magistrate was unaware that he was dealing with a pair of night creatures while only believing that these men were wealthy, and he aimed to be one of them.

  Once they were seated and tea was served to the two visitors, Mr. Enoch, who had brown hair and green eyes with a peaceful looking face, questioned the magistrate,

  "Did you hear any news about the witches?" He took a sip of tea from the teacup, drinking the tea slowly as if it was bitter.

  "So far we have heard nothing about it, Sire," answered magistrate Alberto. "All the people who are living in this town, they are people who have been born, and have lived here. There is no sign of any deaths, or any voodoo magic anywhere around the place, as you have explained about it. The last time when one of the women was caught, she was burnt in the middle of the town, she was an orphan." He chuckled softly and said, "After all witches and their families often get burnt or killed. As a matter-of-fact, they usually end up alone, isn't it?"

  Donovan stirred the spoon in the teacup, doing it deliberately slow. He finally looked up at the human and said in a cold voice, "I thought we were very clear when we spoke in the beginning that before you kill any witches, you should bring them to us first."

  The magistrate looked at Mr. Enoch and said, "T-that, it was Mr. Enoch who said to do it."

  Donovan's glare shifted from the magistrate to look at the vampire, who had accompanied him. Mr. Enoch spoke, "The woman whom Alberto picked was of no value as she held no stones or information. A completely useless witch."

  "I don't care if the person holds no values. I want the witch to be brought in front of me before you do anything. I will decide on what has to be done to the witch," ordered Donovan, his eyes glaring at the magistrate.

  "Of course, Sire. I will do as you want from next time," agreed the magistrate, bowing his head. He then looked up at Donovan and said as if he was telling a secret in a low voice. "Two weeks ago, there was a young lady who showed up here. Very strange appearance, and she had arrived here during the time near to the evening or night I believe."

  "Bring her here," ordered Mr. Enoch, "Mr. Donovan and I would like to take a look at this girl who has entered the town."

  The magistrate quickly turned to look at one of his servants, who stood at the door, ready to comply with the beck and call of the magistrate as well as the two wealthy men, and he ordered, "Bring the girl right this instant."

  The servant bowed his head and left the spot where he had been until now standing.

  In the meantime, in the house that belonged to Opaline La Fay, the family members had taken their seats in the living room, near the fireplace, where logs of wood burned brightly, same as their worry that was plaguing in their mind.

  The Elder daughter of Opaline La Fay sat right next to her mother, with her young son sleeping in her arms. She spoke in a hushed tone, "The magistrate has turned suspicious. His men keep following us when we leave and enter the town."

  "It's probably because of this one," said another daughter, jerking her head towards the human, who now sat with them. "We were fine until she showed up, mother. Why don't you send her away from here?"

  Natalie, sitting on the other side of the room, turned uncomfortable as she heard them speaking about her. Two weeks had passed since she had come here, and she didn't know how to get back to the year that she actually belonged to. She was scared to step outside these four walls of the house because when she did, she could feel people's eyes suspiciously follow her.

  But that wasn't all. It was only last week did she get harassed by a few men and women, being dragged while she screamed for help. After being rescued by Opaline, where the woman scolded them to leave her guest alone, Natalie had been too scared to place even a foot outside the house.

  It was as if someone was waiting to kill her, and she had to constantly keep watching over her back, even though she was a human. The constant fear of people ready to set her ablaze kept plaguing her mind.

  "We don't abandon people when they are in need, Gwenyth," said Opaline with a small frown on her face. "You don't have to worry about it. We have been living here in peace and it is what will continue."

  "And what if someone catches the hint?" asked another daughter of Lady Opaline La Fay.

  "When we stay together, nothing? will come to harm us. You should remember that all of you are my children, and belong to the family of La Fays," said the elderly woman, who didn't look to be the one by appearance while she carried a child in her stomach. "Bad things happen to bad people, not to good people."

  "But she was one of them, wasn't she? The night creatures who suck blood and are trying to cause us trouble. Disgusting vampires," said the second eldest daughter.

  Natalie was too scared to side with anybody, and knowing La Fay's had offered her shelter, and she was grateful to the woman. She quickly said, "I would never side with them. Please believe me."

  The third daughter stared at the human and said, "You look like someone who would like to lie right on the face. Truthfully mama, I don't believe her. Can you honestly say that you have led your life being pure, without causing anyone trouble?"

  Natalie turned anxious, and worry came to hover on her face. She didn't know how to reply to the question asked to her.

  Opaline's third daughter continued to speak, "Obviously if she is here, there must be a reason for it. What did you do to end up here?"

  Natalie's eyes lowered down in guilt, she squeezed her hands that were on her lap. She had already answered all the questions that the woman of the house had asked her in private, and she didn't want to repeat it again in front of everyone. The more she thought about her past actions, the more embarrassed and terrible she felt about it.

  "Stop trying to scare the poor girl,right now there are other pressing matters to think about," said Opaline. She got up from her chair and walked towards the mantle and pulled out one of the bricks, and she took out the wooden box carved with intricate designs. "Sullivan," she called the servant of the house, and the blonde man stepped forward. She said, "Take this with you and keep it in your room. Even if they come to check, they will check only the belongings of the females of this family. It will be safer in your hands."

  "Yes, milady," Evans bowed his head, taking the box from her, he took it away from the living room and kept it in the room that belonged to him.

  While the witches continued to discuss the matter within themselves in a whisper so that no one could hear them over the sound of the rain, someone knocked on the main door. The knock on the door was equal to the thundering sound produced by the clouds in the sky.

  The people in the house turned startled, and they turned to look at the door. Sullivan returned from his room, and he quickly went near the front door. Opening the door, he saw one of the magistrate's guards, who held an umbrella over his head.

  "How can I help you?" the servant offered the magistrate's man a polite smile.

  "Magistrate Alberto asked me to bring your guest to his office,to whom you have given shelter. He has a few questions for her," informed the man, and his eyes looked behind the servant of the house, noticing some of the family members appearing in the corridor to see who it was.

  "Is there any reason why? It's raining quite heavily and maybe it would be better for the young lady to visit the magistrate when the rain stops," proposed Sullivan, but the man wasn't ready to take a no for an answer.

  "It is the magistrate's wish to present the girl in front of the two visitors to make sure she doesn't belong to any witch's family," the man finally saw the girl, the same girl whom he had earlier dragged towards the centre of the town to burn her alive.

  Before Sullivan could speak anything, Lady Opaline appeared from behind, and she placed a hand on her servant's back so that he wouldn't speak anything more. The servant moved to the side, and the woman said, "Tell the magistrate that she will visit the office in five minutes. I don't know about you, but it would be rude to let a young lady out in an unpresentable attire outside a house."

  The man stared at Lady Opaline, not wanting to be rude to the woman, he finally nodded his head and said, "Five minutes it is then."

  "You can come inside and sit in the living room where the fireplace is," offered Lady Opaline, but the man gave her a slight look of suspicion.

  "That's fine. I will be waiting right here."

  "Suit yourself," said Lady Opaline, and she closed the main door.

  Before her daughters or her sons could speak, Lady Opaline raised her hand as if to stop them from uttering even a single word. She walked away from the door, walking past her children and went to where Natalie was, who looked like she was about to faint by the pure thought of being killed.

  Lady Opaline placed her hand on Natalie's shoulder, and in a firm tone, she said, "You might have been a vampire in the time where you came from. But you should remember that right now you are not a vampire, nor are you a witch. A human is what you are, and you have no reason to fear," she offered the human an encouraging smile. "Now go and get yourself dressed to a presentable state."

  Natalie involuntarily dragged her feet away from there to go to her room and quickly changed herself.

  Sullivan asked the lady, "Would you want me to accompany the girl to the magistrate's office, milady?"

  "No," replied Lady Opaline with a grim expression on her face, and the worry in her mind increased. "This is one way of her repenting for what she has done in the past. Like the fools vampires are, she took matters into her own hands. Sending her alone, we can also judge if we can trust her on what I have on my mind."

  "And what is that?" questioned Sullivan, his dull eyes staring at the woman.

  "In the future, if things turn worse, I will need your help," said Lady Opaline, turning her gaze to look at her loyal servant, who had been serving her dedicatedly. "I will tell you when the time comes. It is also important that you don't reveal yourself to many people, especially the night creatures, who have come here."

  Even though Sullivan Evans was a human, he had been saved by the woman when he was a small boy. And since that time, he had served the witch while knowing that if other humans found out about him siding with the witches, they would burn him along with them."

  "They often used to come and leave from here after they were done with their work. What do you think they are looking for? The stones?"

  "Probably," replied Lady Opaline. "The vampires are always greedy in nature, never satisfied with what they have and it is better to maintain a low profile in front of them."

  After two minutes, Natalie stepped out of the room, dressed like any other young lady of Willow Creek and the year she had been thrown into. Before sending the human out of there, Lady Opaline said to Natalie,

  "Don't be scared. Remember that they only want to check if you are a witch. Put this in your mouth," she offered a leaf. "I would have given you Silverwater to drink, but it would be troublesome if they would like to take a bite from you."

  Hearing about the word bite, Natalie's eyes widened, "How do I protect myself then?"

  "You play along with them. Don't let them know that you know about them, and listen to them. If you fail I don't think I can help you in any way to keep your head on your shoulders," said Lady Opaline.

  So far, Natalie had been the only one to bite the humans, and back then, she had never expected that one day she would be thrown on the other side, where she would become a prey to someone.

  Natalie gave a nod and then stepped out of the house, where the rain continued to pour. She took her umbrella given to her by Lady Opaline for her use, and opening it, she placed it above her head before following the vile man, who had earlier pulled her hair. She quickly put the leaf that Opaline had given her inside the corner of her mouth.

  On reaching the building where the magistrate's office was located, she folded the umbrella and followed the guard. Natalie was led by the man towards the room where the magistrate had been waiting with the two night creatures.

  "Magistrate Alberto, the young lady is here," informed the man, and saying it, he left the front of the room.

  "Welcome to the magistrate's office, please come in. Mr. Donovan and Mr. Enoch are eagerly waiting? to meet you," said the magistrate, and Natalie shifted her gaze from the chubby man to look at the two men who were sitting on the plush chairs.

  It was obvious by the looks that these were no humans, and right now, she was in the company of two vampires. In her mind, she prayed to God to show mercy on her for the sins she had committed when she was a vampire. She didn't want to die here! The panic got to her while she tried to maintain a calm expression on her face.

  One of the men, who had platinum blonde hair stood up from his seat, and he made his way to where Natalie stood.

  He didn't waste a second, and his hand was quick to shoot up to hold the human girl's chin in a firm grip.

  "W-what do you want?" questioned Natalie, feeling chills run down her spine.

  "I have a few questions for you, you wouldn't mind answering them, do you, milady?" asked Mr. Enoch, his eyes turning red, and Natalie noticed the pupil of his dilate, trying to compel her. "She doesn't look like a witch," he said, letting go of her face, and for a brief moment, relief flooded in her mind. "Come sit," ordered the vampire, and Natalie obeyed the man and took a seat on the empty chair.

  "What? made you think she's a witch, Alberto?" questioned Donovan, his eyes sweeping at the girl, where he noticed nothing unusual about her.

  "When she came here, she had these red colours on her toes and I was sure it was blood," on hearing the magistrate's words, Donovan subtly rolled his eyes.

  "She had no features of being a witch. None at all," stated Donovan. He placed the cup on the table. He then turned to look at the other vampire, "We should replace this magistrate with someone better. He seems unfit for the role, especially when it's a simple job like this."

  The magistrate let out an awkward laugh, "Mr. Donovan, the witches sometimes transform themselves into people or things. It is hard to know who is who."

  Mr. Enoch turned to Natalie and questioned her, "Where did you come from?"

  "From a city," Natalie replied truthfully, and this earned her a stare from the vampire.

  "A city?" questioned Mr. Enoch.

  "Yes."

  "The girl looks like someone who has lost her mind. She speaks of things that don't even exist, and everyone already knows that she's a crazy young lady, who was probably thrown out of her house by her family," explained the magistrate. "The first day she kept on asking questions, and thankfully she's finally stopped asking."

  The vampire who was inquiring questioned, "Do you know any witches?"

  "Witches?" asked Natalie, and when she closed her mouth, her tongue felt the small leaf that had been given to her, which would stop her from being compelled. "Are there witches here?" she could feel her voice trying to threaten to crack at the end of her sentence.

  "Looks like she doesn't know anything after all," said Mr. Enoch.

  "How pointless to be here. I will be leaving," stated Donovan.

  "I will join you later, Azazel," said Mr. Enoch, and Donovan stepped out of the room.

  Donovan stepped outside the building, lighting up his cigar. Seeing him, the coachman got wet while placing the umbrella above Donovan's head. Donovon looked at the rain that continued to pour around, took a drag, blowing the smoke through his lips.

  His black eyes turned red, scanning through the place around him as if he would try a little harder, he would know. He felt someone looking at him, his eyes snapped to his right, but there was no one there.

  After a minute, Donovan got into the carriage and left the town of Willow Creek.

  Back in the magistrate's office, the vampire, Mr. Enoch, continued to stare at Natalie. His eyes keenly looked at the human's neck while he could hear the light pulse. "Come here, girl," said the vampire, and Natalie came to stand near him because she had no other choice if she wanted to see the next day.

  The vampire took a bite from her neck, drinking her blood, while Natalie tried not to wince, and she dug her hands into her palms. The pain was too much, as the vampire was not subtle with his actions. When he was finally done drinking from her, he pulled himself away from her.

  He compelled her, "Forget we ever asked anything with you, and you only had tea with the magistrate. If someone asks you about the mark on your neck, tell them how you have been a bad young lady. I want you to keep your eyes and ears open, because I know there's a witch in here. If you find someone behaving suspicious, you come meet the magistrate. Clean that neck and leave this place," he dismissed her.

  Once Natalie left the room, she quickly ran away from there. She felt goosebumps rise on her neck, feeling how close she had escaped death. She remembered the fear that she had tried to instil in people around her in the past.

  When she came out of the building, the bitter taste of the leaf had filled her mouth and she spat it out of her mouth. The leaf fell on the ground that was covered in rainwater, which let the leaf float.

  During the evening, Lady Opaline sent her servant to fetch Natalie, who then came to know on the lady's door. "Did you ask for me, Lady Opaline?"

  "Yes, close the door, Natalie," said Lady Opaline, "Close the door."

  Natalie didn't understand what was going on, but she did as she was told. When she went near the woman, who was sitting on the chair, Lady Opaline stood up. The witch asked her, "Natalie, there is something important that I want from you. A favour in return for letting you stay here. Do you think I can trust you with it?"

  "Yes," the girl nodded her head. This was the only remote place that Natalie believed that she was safe. She didn't have anywhere else to go.

  "How sure are you with your answer?" asked Lady Opaline, her gaze serious and staring at the human. "If you aren't, I will have to ask you to find somewhere else—"

  Natalie quickly knelt on the ground; with her head bowed, she said, "I would never betray you. I promise to never expose you or your family to anyone. Please let me stay here. I will always remain grateful for letting me stay here, and saving me. This is like my second life and as I said before, I am very much ashamed of what I did to others in the past. Please don't let me die."

  Opaline La Fay stared at the human. After a few seconds of silence passed between them, she finally said, "Give me your hand."

  Natalie raised her head, looking at the woman, who had stretched her right hand forward. She did as she was told, and the woman held her hand. Her eyes widened when she saw green strings of light appear from nowhere, and it looked like threads that were being sewed into her and the woman's hands.

  "You shall not speak of what you have seen here or try to change the course. When the time is right, I will give you something. You shall not forget what happened here no matter what the time is," stated Opaline until the strings of light disappeared, and she let go of the girl's hand.