Chapter 3

Vincent awoke to find himself floating around in darkness. He tried moving, but it got him nowhere. Where am I? Vincent wondered anxiously.

"Hello my dear", a malevolent voice spoke through the void.

"Who are you? Where are you?" Vincent demanded.

"I am your worst nightmare. Only listen to this child: you shall be haunted by your past till the end of your short, miserable life. We shall meet again soon", the voice faded.

A face materialised before Vincent, one that had disappeared from his life four years ago.

Vincent jolted upright, panting, as a wet cloth fell off his head. "Vincent!", a voice cried. It felt fuzzy to Vincent's ears. Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he immediately took in his surroundings. He was in his bedroom, with his aunt Eliza, Meg and Ed. And his eye was exposed. He clamped his hand over it.

"What happened", he groaned. Meg and Ed threw their arms around him almost instantly.

"You passed out all of a sudden in the circus," Meg said into Vincent's shoulder.

"We panicked and carried you out to the carriage,'' Ed added.

"We were so worried, dear." His aunt gave him a small smile. The earl breathed a sigh of relief. They hadn't noticed his eye.

Vincent smiled and, in almost four years, hugged them back.

"It's okay. I'm fine now. I just need some rest.", he assured them.

The two left the room very reluctantly, being close to being dragged out by aunt Eliza. Camille only visited to give the young master his dinner and left him to rest for the night.

Vincent was tucked into bed to sleep and comfortable, but… he couldn't sleep. He lay tossing and turning, throwing off his blanket, pulling it back on for hours.

"That's it", Vincent said, throwing off his blanket. He looked over at the clock near the window. 12:14.

Ah, a midnight trip never harmed anyone, Vincent thought as he threw his balcony doors open. He walked to the banister and jumped over it in a single leap.

The last unusual thing that could be seen from the master's balcony was a boy in a nightshirt flying over the countryside with the aid of red demon wings.