Golden Mask

From the window, Olivia could slightly make out the words the young boy was shouting at them, "You don't scare me!"

To others it may look like the boy had a fighting chance to escape unscathed, but Olivia was betting on otherwise. To her, what she was witnessing was an extremely familiar scene. One that she didn't particularly want to dwell on.

And just like Olivia had thought, the leader of the pack of children began to laugh before starting his ruthless onslaught. Kick's and punches rained down on the young boy.

The image of her younger self and the boy currently outside the window, started to overlap in her mind. Her lips tightened further.

"You want to help?" A low voice came from the top of her head. Olivia slightly turned back, seeing Alexander peering outside from behind.

She turned back to the window, watching the young boy try and fight them back but alas seemed to be a futile attempt, "I didn't have the slightest thought of doing so."

"I've noticed you're quite apathetic towards your own kind," Alexander pointed out. He had been observing Olivia ever since he first met her.

He had clearly seen her fear and hatred towards witches and thought it was very much justified, but when it came to her attitude towards human's, he found her aloof and callous causing him to feel perplexed.

At his question, Olivia became silent and didn't respond.

Outside, the situation had escalated further.

The young boy no longer had the energy and crumpled down on to the floor. The rest of the children, however, were relentless. Not stopping once, even for a breather.

Just as Olivia was going to stop watching the depressing show, a few older kids had suddenly come from a corner. They fought their way through to the middle, pushing and pulling the other children out of their path. Once they got to the epicentre, one of them scooped the young boy into his arms, worriedly looking over his wounds.

They didn't seem to do anything more following that, only looking to warn the pack of children before walking away. After that, the show had inevitably come to an end, everyone dispersing to their own places.

Olivia continued to watch outside the window. Even after everything had concluded, she remained standing there.

The image of her younger self and the boy no longer overlapped in her mind. She realised that they were not in the least any similar. The boy had people who came to the rescue and affectionately held on to him while she had to rely on a passer-by's sympathy to save her.

As she noticed her thoughts turning down a dark path, Olivia took a deep breath to refresh her mind. She had no need to continue thinking of the past. Anyway, wasn't she living better now?

Soon, Alexander and Olivia left the shop, with Mr Poole promising to deliver the goods directly to the De Vere household.

Once again, they were back on the crowded streets.

Alexander had been in a few other shops during this time, leaving all his purchases to the carriage driver.

As they continued strolling, Olivia's eyes were flitting about the shops and the people, before a striking golden masked person slipped in and out between the crowds.

Olivia's breath hitched as her walking came to an abrupt stop. Her eyes never left the place where the masked person was just standing at.

Alexander could no longer hear her footsteps behind him so he turned around to look for the foolish girl, only to find her staring far off into the distance with her eyebrows in a tight knit.

She was so focused in her staring that she had yet to discover Alexander standing next to her.

"Why are you not moving?"

Only after looking for a few more seconds, she slowly faced Alexander, "I… I think I just saw a person wearing a gold mask."

"Gold mask?"

Olivia nodded, "The same one I saw in my vision."

Upon hearing her explanation, his crimson eyes narrowed.

"Where did they go?"

Olivia pointed in the direction she last saw them at.

Without saying anymore, Alexander walked off to that very area, Olivia hastily running after him.

After walking for a few minutes, they unfortunately couldn't find the person.

Just as they were about to turn a corner, Alexander quickly walked back, causing Olivia to bump into him.

"What's wrong?"

"Do not make a sound," Alexander warned. He slowly edged near the corner and took a peek before stepping back again.

Olivia was wondering whether the golden masked person was behind the corner but seeing that Alexander would not allow her to advance, she stood beside him quietly.

Behind the corner, the person was seen talking to what seemed to be an ordinary shopkeeper.

As soon as the shopkeeper had left Alexander made his move.

He quickly walked behind the corner, looking to firmly secure the person but as soon as he was close enough, they abruptly turned around.

Alexander slowly came to a stop, standing a small distance from them.

Silence had ensued before the man broke it first.

"A pureblood vampire," The person spoke, their voice croaky and gruff.

Having had observed enough of Alexander, his eyes caught sight of Olivia who stood a few steps behind.

"And a human…" He confirmed after seeing her chestnut brown eyes.

Olivia felt uncomfortable under the man's gaze but nevertheless did not falter.

"Why are you with them?" The man questioned.

Olivia looked at Alexander thinking the question was directed at him only to find the man was staring straight at her.

Before she could even attempt to reply, he answered his own question, "Ah! Perhaps it's for a reason. In that case, doesn't that only mean you're a Giver?"

Olivia frowned. The man was far too intrusive for her liking.

Seeing her not reply, the man's eyes turned cold while his lips wrinkled in disgust, "A tainted human is no longer a being amongst the people."

For a moment, the area turned quiet while the atmosphere tensed.

"Oh? Is that so?" Olivia nonchalantly replied. His words did not affect her in the slightest. Anyway to her, she had long stopped referring to herself as human.

Although both Alexander and Olivia could not see the man's face beneath his half mask, they could feel his anger rise at her unconcerned tone.

"Both vampire's and Givers should perish together!" He bellowed, his body slightly trembling due to rage. In contrast, Olivia felt as if she was watching a rabid dog constantly bark.

Suddenly his voice turned somewhat gentle as if he was coaxing a child, "If you care for your family, your parents, and your fellow humans, you should repent. End this immoral life of yours in order to awash your sins."

As soon as Olivia heard him mention family, her entire being turned gloomy. She tightly pursed her lips and took a deep breath.

While she was readjusting herself, there was one thing she could not put her finger on. She couldn't fathom why his words were mostly directed at her. From what she could deduce, she could see his outright hatred for Alexander as he stood there in front of him yet his words were all addressed mostly to her.

After some thinking, Olivia finally concluded that although he had all this built up hate and disgust for vampires, when confronted by one, he still did not dare cross the line.

This caused Olivia's mood to considerably brighten as she amused herself with her findings.

Still lost in her thoughts, she quickly snapped out of it once she felt the man's anger increase even further and although she could only see Alexander's side profile, she could feel his impatience.

"Oh? I seem to have caused a misunderstanding," Olivia blinked her eyes at the man, causing him to slowly become bewildered.

"What misunderstanding?" He questioned. Then he thought back to their conversation trying to find whether there indeed was one. Soon, he thought of one possibility.

'Perhaps when I named her a Giver? If so, does that mean that it was my mistake and I incorrectly classed her as so?'

Through his thoughts, the man had somehow deluded himself.

Once he had been convinced by his speculation, he started to feel guilty. He looked back at Olivia. This young girl in front of him must've had a hard life. Hard enough, that she no longer had any choice but to be submissive to this evil vampire.

Thinking of his duty to save the young girl, his body calmed, while his lips formed a smile, "Young girl if you want why don-"

"I was just thinking, when did I say I was human?" Olivia interrupted his pipe dream. A seemingly harmless soft smile gracing her face.

Hearing her reply, the man's face turned pale and blanched. His hand rose as he pointed at her, his finger trembling from either fear or rage.

Before he could spout any other words, Alexander seemed to have reached him in a blink of an eye.

Olivia could not see what was going on from behind Alexander's broad shoulders.

Just as she took a step forward, she heard a loud thud before something rolled towards her, stopping just in front.

On the floor, covered in blood, lay the masked man's head.