Cursed

When she woke up the following morning Marino was gone, only the imprint of his body remained on the sheets. She got up and spread the bed before deciding to take a shower. A colder shower was just what she needed to make her feel pumped and refreshed, to get her thinking and those creative juices flowing.

First there would be some changes around this place starting with Eileen. She went and unlocked the caged room that Eileen was kept in. Marino never quite told her why he kept the sweet old lady locked there in the first place.

"Aah my lovely child, back so soon?"

"I'm here to set you free, you can come and occupy one of the guest rooms on the second floor."

"Set me free?" Eileen chuckled. She shook her head before continuing to speak, "Does Marino even know you're doing this?"

"No, this is my own decision of my own free will. Marino and I kind of came to an understanding last night, and if he wants me to remain as lady of the house, then he would also have to abide by my wishes, or I swear I will return to my homeland."

"Surely, you jest my love. Free will is only recognized by the human race. No one of the supernatural world would ever understand such faulty human logic. Marino is beyond obsessed with you now, he would never let you go and would follow you to the ends of the earth. As for myself, you are new here, I will forgive your naivety since you have so much left to learn."

"What do you mean?"

"There is so much that Marino has left unsaid between the two of you besides it is not my place to share. Do not think Marino is cruel for keeping me here as a prisoner, it is what has kept me alive for so long, he is not a cruel taskmaster and he has always seen to my comfort all these years. Without ever receiving a dime for my care, I have been nothing but a drain and expense yet he continues to look after me. You waltz in here like you own the place and expect me to betray my master, you insolent fool. I despise how you judge him so harshly without knowing the full story."

Taken aback, Juri's mouth gaped open like a fish. She felt attacked, corrected and even chastened by the sweet old lady all at the same time. Her words filled Juri's head with more questions than answers.

"So..so you're okay with staying here in the basement in these cramped quarters?"

"Yes, turn around and lock the door behind you. All I can say is that it's for your own protection too. If you still feel like being kind to me all I ask is for extra sweets, it's been so long since Marino has brought me chocolates, I guess in all the excitement he forgot about my sweet tooth. With the war between the Vampires and Merfolks, and him taking a risk bringing you here. I can't say I blame him, you are a true beauty, a hidden gem in need of more polishing before you can shine."

"Wait, I will bring you some chocolates, I swear but there is so much I don't understand. Since you won't tell me your reason for staying in the basement, can you at least explain what started the war between the Vampires and the Merfolks?"

"Sure, it's really simple truth be told. After the witch hunts, humans long feared anything from the realm of the supernatural world. So to continue to live freely and remain undetected amongst the humans the Vampires decided to shift their home from land to the sea. Unfortunately, the sea bed wasn't just a denizen for fish and other sea creatures, the merfolk had inhabited the sea world long before and called it their home. Nevertheless, King Nebozz, ruler of the merfolk, decided that as a peaceful tribe, they would enter into negotiations with the vampires and form a peace treaty. The vampires would occupy west of the sea and the merfolk would occupy east of the sea. Of course, there were merfolk who dissented, they did not agree with this decree, they went behind the king's back and attacked the Vampires, who of course fought back and got their first taste of merfolk blood, something that the King had hoped to avoid. Merfolk's blood tasted like a strong aphrodisiac to the vampires, the more they consumed, the more they could never get their fil, it energized them and made the Vampires feel invincible and they craved the Merfolk blood. The Merfolk population started to dwindle rapidly in numbers as the vampires hunted them. Uncertain for the future of the merfolk race, King Nebozz struck a deal with the most vile, hated sea witch of them all Ursula, no matter how many had tried to kill that wicked sea creature in different legends, she always managed to survive and prey on weaklings. She tricked the king and deliberately cursed both the vampires and the merfolk to a never ending war, both races will continue to be wealthy and their population will continue to prosper as long as blood was shed through endless wars, with only one cadet, the only way for the spell to be broken, was by the power of true love, a descendant from the vampire race and one from the merfolk race, given the intense hatred between two, that has never happened to this day."

"Thanks Eileen, that was a lot to absorb. I won't try to persuade you to leave the confines anymore, thank you for being honest with me and in return I will bring you chocolates as promised."

"Don't be a stranger now Juri, I appreciate the company, it can get boring being tucked away for an old goat like me."

The two embraced and hugged but not before Juri promised herself to visit Eileen more regularly now that she was aware of her existence. Besides, since she would get no further explanations from Eileen, Marino had some explaining to do and she wanted answers.

Sounds like the problems between the Merfolk and the Vampire went far beyond human comprehension, centuries of hate was not something that could ever disappear overnight. Eileen also pointed out something essential, war was profitable.

Both sides despite the loss and heartache had seen their riches grow, just like humans these supernatural folk also gave into their greed neither would be willing to let that go anytime soon.

In her naivety, she thought she could find a way to intervene and suggest a way to put an end to the ongoing war as an outsider, she realized now that was just a foolish whim. She did some cleaning around the mansion.

It was a lot of work for one person, and after a while she got tired of that too. She hadn't seen Selene since the attack and she wanted to check on her friend and make sure she was alright.

From what she remembered at the party, Blake's mansion wasn't too far from here, she would leave Marino a note and set out to look for her friend.