Flames and Crisped Bodies

With strides as fast as her pounding heart, Ophelia fled through the gates of the council with frantic steps. Her eyes darted backwards from time to time to make sure she wasn't being followed.

She wasn't like this, no. Not the type to escape the law. But her freedom mattered more than anything. She wasn't going to stay back and watch them lock her up. Who would take care of her parents? Just like the saying goes, a desperate situation requires desperate measures.

The opportunity presented itself, and she would be a fool not to seize it.

Looking backwards, she could see the council building diminish from her eyesight and it was going to be a matter of minutes for them to discover she was gone. If only Mark had successfully escaped with her, she thought.

Back in the council building, Emlyn stood behind the table with a frown on his face as he stared at the papers handed to him by Mathias.

"What is this?" Emlyn waved the sheet in front of the lower vampire, his gaze locked sternly on him

"T—those, I mean that is the evidence against them for being involved in an illegal business," Mathias' clasped hands squeezed at themselves, his legs nervously shifting on the ground where he stood. The aura this peculiar councilman exuded has always been nerve-wracking.

"You don't arrest people based on this flimsy thing you call evidence unless you want to be the one inside that cell." Emlyn tossed the papers at Mathias and walked out of the questioning room. "Do not interrupt my work with such things in the future. Take them back just like how you brought them here and perform a proper investigation,"

Mathias' eyes held a subtle frown which he concealed when the eyes of Emlyn landed on him. "I'll get on with it now!" He bowed, excusing himself from there.

The sound of the horse's hooves echoed alongside the carriage wheels which drew closer to where Ophelia held the hem of her dress walking as fast as she could.

Noticing the carriage, she covered her face to avoid being recognized, walking quickly by the side of the road.

To her horror, the carriage made a stop right in front of her. Panic struck in, her eyes wide as she made to run but the voice of the person halted her steps.

"Hello, My Lady?" A head stuck out of the carriage's window calling out to Ophelia. "Would you mind if I gave you a ride?" The man offered, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips.

Ophelia halted, the fear of being caught by the council now replaced by a suspicious look as she accessed the man. A human, she noted, her first fear washed away. But then, he looked like he came from the higher society judging from the costly carriage that shone under the sun which didn't sit well with her as tales about them to the poor had never sounded good in her ears.

She returned the man's smile saying, "Thank you, Mister, for the offer, but—" Her words died in her mouth when from the corners of her eyes, she sighted another carriage which she recognized immediately. The council! It was the same carriage that the vampire had arrested them with, unknown to her that the man was only transporting her co-workers back to Bonville where he had arrested them.

"Yes!" Ophelia said out loud, the wild beating of her heart returning. "I will appreciate that, kind Sire," she didn't care how desperate she sounded. She needed to get out of sight immediately!

The carriage's door swung open, and Ophelia hurriedly climbed inside, the look in her eyes betraying the innocent smile she flashed at the man who stared at her with a calculative gaze.

"Running from someone?" He inquired and Ophelia let out a nervous laugh. "You don't have to be shy. I have at various points run from people when I committed some little troubles," The man whispered as though he was sharing a secret.

"Not exactly," She replied, averting her gaze to the small window just in time for the council's carriage to come into view. She quickly turned away from the window, her hands clenched on her dress.

"You need not worry. Whoever it is wouldn't touch you with me here," The man proudly stated. "I am Silvano, a member of the five heads of the council. May I know the name of the lovely Lady I'm with?"

Oh right! The council. Ophelia screamed in her head. If this man had been a vampire, she was sure the beating of her heart would have given her away. But it seems he doesn't know she was running from the council, not yet at least.

"I am Phelia," She shortened her name, smiling at the man.

"Hmm," Silvano hummed and asked, "So what crime did you commit that got you running?"

The smile on Ophelia's face remained intact as she regarded the man who didn't want to give up on his question earlier.

I am running from the council, obviously escaping being locked up. How about? She said in her mind without voicing the words.

"Oh!" Ophelia exclaimed looking out of the window, "My ride stops here. I appreciate your kindness, Mr. Silvano, for allowing me to ride in your carriage."

"Pleasure all mine," Silvano returned her smile, his eyes crinkling with an expression Ophelia couldn't decipher. "I hope we see again," He said as Ophelia jumped down from the carriage straightening her dress.

Well, I hope not. Ophelia thought, bowing at the man before she turned on her heels and entered the busy market, ready to go back home and perhaps eat the soup she wasn't able to take in the morning.

As Ophelia entered the small village, she noticed only a few persons around which she found strange, and their gaze followed her as she passed them. It wasn't a new thing being stared at as it usually happened wherever she went, but this time, it felt different.

A strange ominous feeling crept to her heart which she brushed aside as she continued down the street leading to her house, the heat of the sun seething into her bones.

A few meters away from Ophelia's house, she halted in her steps, her nose sniffing in the faint smell of smoke that caused the frown on her face to deepen. Almost immediately, an elderly woman came running towards her exclaiming,

"Oh, dear! Where have you been?! Your house—"

Without waiting for the woman to finish talking, immediately realizing what she was implying, Ophelia dashed from there, running towards her house, her heart beat wildly in her chest while she imagined the worst that could have happened. Her house couldn't have entirely burnt down. Could it? Oh, dear heavens. She prayed in her heart.

On reaching her house, she was greeted with the sight that made her heart stop. The villagers had gathered, a sorrowful expression on each of their faces that seemed to heighten the severity of the situation.

Her house! Ophelia screamed in her head. But more than the house, she was greeted with yet another sight that seemed to take the last breath from her. Her steps slowed down as she tried to grasp what she was seeing, a horrified expression on her face.

There before her eyes stood her house now in ashes a—and her parents lay on the floor, unmoving. Could they be—?