THE KNIGHT OF BLOOD

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The forest was animated with the sounds of winter wind and water dripping off the trees from the incoming fog. An owl hooted in the distance. Milley lay on the ground, trembling. She looked up to see Dante's eyes turn from amber to dark red as he surveyed her, and his face had an almost serene expression. He was too calm.

Giselle watched her Master and knew by Dante's tranquil exterior that he would enjoy playing cat and mouse with Milley.

"W-what are you doing here, your Grace?" the maid asked bewilderedly. Her tongue was swollen from being split, and she had difficulty speaking. It had become excruciatingly painful.

"I was just wondering the same thing, Milley. So what do you think has brought me to the forest on such a wet and unpleasant day? Please illuminate me with your explanation." Dante signaled for Giselle to come closer. He was going to let her join in on the game.

"I-I'm not sure what you are asking, your Grace. I was just out for a stroll. There must be some mistake." Milley thought acting dumb would help mislead the Count about her real intentions.

"Hmm... Giselle, I would say she is quite the actress. Wouldn't you?" The Count chuckled at her poor attempt to fool him. "Start talking, Milley. My time is valuable, and I have no patience for your nonsense today. Giselle, please get Milley to her feet." Dante spoke firmly, and he knew what was coming next.

Giselle reached out, hoisted the young girl up by her throat, and shoved her back against an enormous tree. Dante's face had a cynical smile as he watched Giselle work. She was a vicious demon when it came to handing out discipline. He sat on the ground and leaned against a tree leisurely to watch the maid squirm under the hands of his subordinate.

"Listen carefully, girl. I will not repeat myself. So, speak the truth and do it quickly when I ask you something. If not, you suffer the consequences. Do you understand the instructions?" Giselle asked bluntly.

Milley nodded her head, too afraid to speak.

"I didn't hear you. Now answer quick!"

"Y-yes, YES! I will do as you ask." Milley stammered as she answered.

Giselle started the interrogation. "Now that the ground rules are set, why are you out here and not back at the mansion attending to your duties?"

"I was just out for a walk. It is New Year's Eve, and I thought this was an excellent time to reflect on the past year quietly." Milley tried to speak calmly. She did not want Giselle to see she was intimidated by her glare.

Giselle watched Milley closely. She could tell the girl was uneasy even though she tried to hide it. She played with the hem of her skirt and avoided eye contact. Giselle was going to play on her body language. "Stop rolling the hem of your dress and look at people when they speak to you." Giselle wanted her to know she could see through her diversions. "Are you scared?"

"Yes, Milady, I am nervous."

"Good, you should be," Dante interrupted from behind them. He had a travel bag in his hands, which wasn't Milley's. He noticed it hidden up under a fern as he sat watching the two women. "Do you always pack for a trip when you're reflecting in the woods? It looks like someone was running away to me."

"It's not mine, your Grace." Milley denied the bag was hers.

"You are correct about that, Milley. It belongs to my darling Rose." Dante opened the case to show Giselle it contained two books, the necklace, and a dagger.

"You Lied!!!," Giselle shrieked into Milley's face. She reached out, gripped the young woman's shoulder, and squeezed until an audible snap and crunching noise was heard. Milley cried aloud in pain and dropped to her knees. Giselle had pulverized the girl's shoulder. "Get up! I warned about the outcomes of lying." Giselle kicked the girl in the thigh, making her take a sharp breath from the discomfort of being jolted.

"Don't be so cruel, Giselle. Can't you see she's hurt?" Dante's words were mocking, and Milley could hear their sarcasm. He stroked her hair and then grabbed it and pulled her head back hard to look him in the eyes. Milley gasped in distress. "I wonder if this is close to the pain Rose was feeling. What do you think, Milley? She almost bled to death in my hands this morning. Tell me, young lady, how did you know to use a rosary to damage my child?" Dante was anxious to know how she had figured it out.

Milley gave a short answer. "Vampire, Rose is unholy, like you." She spat the words out at Dante and was panting for breath, drolling from the agony of her injured shoulder. She could barely form a thought because of the pain.

Dante pulled the rosary from his trouser pocket and clutched the cross in his hand with no ill effects. He turned and handed it to Giselle, who put it around her neck without issue. "Oh my..., It looks like the rosary's broken," Dante stated in a biting tone. "Did you know I'm a demon, a drinker of human blood, and can still touch or handle anything holy? Giselle has abilities like me too. See, dear, there is a misconception that the night creatures can't handle holy relics, but that's not true."

"Since you won't be around much longer, I will tell you a secret. Each night creature has unique strengths and weaknesses and holds special powers. Not one is like another. I have figured that because Rose is half-human, it has weakened her immunity as a night creature to sacred objects. That is why she is affected, unlike us."

Dante wasn't finished tormenting the maid and dragged Milley up by her hair. "AHHHHH!" she screamed out in misery. "PLEASE STOP! It hurts." The young maid had tears streaming down her cheeks, her face contorted in excruciating pain. She was in complete hell.

"Milley, you have lied to me, stolen from my family, and injured my only flesh and blood. I'm now taking everything you took from me and more. You should have known better than to touch what does not belong to you." The Count's eyes burned into hers with hatred. He could hear her fearful heart racing as he said the words. "I'm bored with this one already." Dante looked over his shoulder at Giselle. "I should have done this last night, and I could have saved us all a bunch of misery."

Milley's eyes went wide as she shook and gulped in fear.

"Do you have anything to say?" He harshly asked her. "I didn't think so." Before the maid could open her mouth to speak, Dante placed his hand over her heart and thrust his fingers into her chest. Milley's screams of misery echoed throughout the woods. The Count withdrew his hand from the ripped-open chest cavity and held her crushed heart in his blood-soaked hand. She was slack, and he dumped her body on the ground.

Dante was not known as The Knight of Blood for nothing. Killing is what he did best; he loved the smell of fear and the taste of blood on his lips. "Bury this mess. I'm heading back to the mansion to check on Rose." The Count's jaw ticked as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to remove the blood from his hand and tossed it onto the dead body. He leaned down, picked up Rose's belongings, and strode out of the forest.

Giselle held her hand over the dead girl and spoke an incantation. "Sepeli Mortuum." The ground under the body turned itself over and swallowed up the corpse, and the forest floor where the carcass once lay returned to a normal state as if nothing had disrupted it.

***

He was stepping from the back of Thorn mansion towards the stables. Christopher saw Jackson standing next to another saddled stallion. He had readied the horse to ride out towards Dragonwood. Lord Thorn was anxious to see Rose accept the flowers. There were many questions he wanted answers to about the young vampiress. The Lord and Jackson mounted the steeds and galloped into the nearby woods from the estate grounds.

"The weather looks like it's going to turn again, Milord," Jackson was examining the late morning sky as fog, and low clouds began to gather, and light mist started to fall. The horses acted nervous as they moved closer to Dante's estate. "Let's stop here and walk the rest of the way. I fear the horses are too skittish and might bolt if anything goes wrong." Jackson tied the two stallions to a tree branch, and the men began to trek toward their destination.

A clearing appeared before them as they wandered in the forest's silence. Christopher viewed a couple of figures gathered outside of Dragonwood manor. He picked up his field glasses to see if he could get a better look at who was there. It was Dante and his lieutenant Giselle. The Lord assumed she was not supposed to be here yet. Things at Dragonwood must have been more urgent than he first thought for Giselle to be here so soon.

Christopher watched as Dante spoke to the delivery boy and pulled the flowers from his hand. As he continued examining the scene, he also wondered what the Count was doing with a cat. Dante and Giselle ascended the steps into the mansion. They left the puzzled delivery boy to see himself off of the estate.

"Well, that was disappointing." Putting down the binoculars. He finished his thought" I was hoping to at least get a glimpse of the girl," stated Christopher as he looked over at his friend.