Chapter 8：Romeow and Julisqueak

He was outside, inspecting the garden for one last time when he caught sight of a man who pulled the gates to step inside the mansion. It appeared that the devil had read his mind. The man wore a butler's uniform and Lucas saw him approach him.

It was the night when he had arrived at the mansion where he had eavesdropped on a conversation that was taking place in the corner of the corridor. It was how he had found out there had been an opening for a butler in here. If he didn't know about it earlier before joining this mansion on who and why this man was here, then Lucas would have only chased the man away. But this was the place he was living in right now. It was his territory and Lucas didn't like to share his space.

He knew exactly who these creatures were who were in the house. They were the creatures who fed on people's souls. He still hadn't got to the other two who were in the mansion which he would do later. The man appeared to be in his early thirties, sharing the same kind of clothes where his brown hair was combed neatly to one side without a single strand sitting out of place.

Before the creature could reach the entrance of the mansion, Lucas stopped him midway, "May I help you?" he asked in a polite voice and the man immediately stopped his footsteps from going any further. He could tell the person was checking his clothes and him out.

The man gave out a smile which Lucas returned back, "I am here to fill the spot of the butler and would like to meet Mr. Adams."

Smart one, thought Lucas and he said, "Mr. Adams is not home right now. Both he and Mrs. Adams have gone out and they won't be returning until late at night. As you see, I have been hired as the butler," his face was passive that held no expression.

"Is that so? I think I would like to meet them and only then leave. I was offered a job and it would not be right to turn me down without a word about it," the man outstretched his hand for Lucas to take but Lucas' hand never came forward, and instead, he moved to the side to show the way towards the mansion.

Bringing him inside the house would not only cause confusion but the Adams would also find out the truth that he wasn't the butler who was meant to be working here.

"Follow me. The Adams' don't let in servants through the front door," Lucas informed the man. Seeing the man start to follow him, he led him halfway until he reached the shed and made the man standing there to say, "Give me a moment. I will go fetch the key to it."

Though Lucas said this, he only behaved as if he had gone away to only get a shovel along with him. Taking a casual look around to make sure no one was watching, he raised the shovel to hit it straight against the man's head with a good amount of force but seeing it wasn't enough, he swung his hand to have the person's neck turn and fall down and he dragged the man behind the shed by his leg while humming a tune. The backyard of the Adams' was huge and he started to dig and put the body in it before covering it with mud.

Standing up, he whispered something in the air to hear a small sound underneath the mud he had just placed, "Burn," he uttered the words and turned around.

On his way, he caught sight of the carriage door which was left ajar and when he went to close it, he noticed the stuffed rabbit sitting in the corner of the seat. Rabbitnapped, thought Lucas to himself, who even used that kind of word.

Rolling his eyes, he picked up the toy and went back inside the mansion. During the time of night, the Adams' had finished their supper and the little girl appeared to be not looking at the butler because of the little betrayal.

She sat quietly at the table, finishing her meal and going back in search of Mr. Fluffs not knowing where he was. She knew he couldn't be far away and he was somewhere here but this was the first time she was spending her time apart from him, "Belle, stay inside the house and do not step outside," her mother said, not happy that the little girl had climbed the tree for God knows how many times as she had lost count by now.

Mr. Adams stood next to his wife, wiping his hand with the kerchief when he asked, "She's going to be bored inside the mansion."

"Papa, Mr. Fluffs has been Rabbitnapped. I am unable to find him," Belle looked up at her father worried. Mr. Adams blinked at what he just heard and then nodded.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Adams' didn't know why someone would steal an old ragged rabbit, "Maybe it is time to get a new toy," her father said and Belle looked heartbroken.

"But he is lost," came her small voice, "He needs me," she said worriedly.

"Belle, the rabbit has lost an eye, has an arm that is loose, and it's turned dirty," her mother said, "Maybe it is a sign for you to have a better-looking rabbit. Let's go out tomorrow to Isle Valley to bring you a new one. "

"No."

Her mother sighed. The rabbit had not one bit of appeal yet their daughter was attached to it, "Just don't step outside the house. You don't want to get picked up by a ghost," said her mother knowing it was the only effective way to keep her in without worrying where she would be out looking for that toy.

Belle who stood quietly felt her father's hand gently pat her head, "He must have not gone too far. You will find him eventually," he said and went to the room with his wife.

She still had time before going to bed, therefore, she made use of that time to search for her dear Mr. Fluffs. As it was the time of night, Belle made use of a candle so that the corridors wouldn't look as dark as they looked right now. The servants had begun cleaning the dining room, and the little girl left the lower floor wondering if she had left her rabbit somewhere at the top.

The house of the Adams family was big enough to accommodate more than fifteen members excluding the servants whose rooms were located below on the other side of the mansion. Belle right now walked in the lonely corridor, her eyes darting everywhere as the flame flickered with every step she took. She walked until the far end of the corridor when she heard something in the atmosphere. It was a faint whispering that made the little girl stop walking and gulp. The walls held the candles in the candle stand in the corridor but it worried the little girl. Trying to be brave, she took a couple more steps until the candle she had been holding suddenly had its flame blown out.

She saw something on the other end of the corridor, a silhouette that stood unmoving. The wind outside had increased that shook the window panes lightly.

Little Belle took a step back when she saw the figure move towards her and suddenly there was light as the butler had arrived with a bigger candle stand that held four candles.

"Lucas!" Belle suddenly stuck to the butler's leg making her look like a Koala bear.

"You alright there?" he asked, looking down at her.

Belle looked at the corridor again and when she saw nothing there, the little girl wondered if it was the shadow of the object.

Lucas had come to look at the windows if all of them had been closed when he found the little girl standing at the end of the corridor. Her small body was shivering out of fright. She wasn't ready to let go of his leg. He looked at the other side to see nothing there.

"Someone's there," said her small voice.

"There isn't anyone there," he said and she finally let go of his leg. Seeing the candle on the ground, he bent down to pick it up and looked at the little girl, "You shouldn't be afraid of the dark," he said to her while she stood there quietly until a loud thunderstruck with a series of lightning and she jumped being back the koala by putting her hands around the butler's neck with her eyes closed.

The butler sighed, "You don't listen, do you?"

Lucas didn't know what to do with the little girl who had her small arms around his neck right now. She appeared to be scared and frightened over the thunder and lightning. Weren't children who grew up in the land of Bonelake supposed to be used to this weather?

Little Belle was scared. First, it was the phantom-like ghost that had been standing at the end of the corridor before it had vanished. She wasn't scared about the lightning but her already scared little heart had jumped out of her chest making her jump on Lucas who had been sitting next to her. Right now, the butler was her safety line which she didn't want to let go. Having an adult who was much older than her was like protection to her. She was sure the butler would chase the ghost away and she continued to cling to him.

Lucas on the other hand sat there on his heels. He sighed for the second time in less than two minutes. This little thing was troublesome. First, she climbed the tree, and now she had her arms around him which he wasn't comfortable with. It was usually the other way round where he made people uncomfortable with his presence. And kids were not something he was looking forward to when it came to making friends.

He was a private man who didn't like the touchy and emotional things that the creature of this land was used to. He didn't belong here yet he was here, taking shelter under this roof.

"Are you going to keep holding me?" he asked her and the girl heeded none of his words, "Alright," he said, wanting to get this little thing off of him and he picked her up in his arms. Walking through the corridors and making his way to the young vampiress' room as he carried her.

When they finally did reach the room, Belle had still not let go of him. Turning the knob of the door, he stepped into her room. Taking her towards the bed and leaning forward hoping she would get a hint to step down and leave him so that he could get his own breathing space back again.

"You can open your eyes now," Lucas said to her to finally have the girl open her eyes. Noticing that she was in her room. She finally decided to let go of his neck by pulling away her hands as her feet found the soft mattress.

"Let me close the windows," he said walking towards the windows that were in the room and he locked it before pulling the curtain close so that she wouldn't be scared of the light coming through to magnify the objects in the room. It would be worrisome if the girl would again be scared, though he did want to check the corridors where she had seen this so-called ghost that had got her scared in the first place, "There. You have nothing to worry about."

This one was supposed to be a vampire. A much higher being than the normal humans, a creature who sucked blood, yet she was scared. He wondered if it was her mother who had instilled fear about ghosts. It made him think what Mrs. Adams would think if she knew who he truly was.

"You can now go to sleep, Miss Belle," he said ready to leave.

Belle was still standing on the bed, looking at him, "You won't tuck me in?" she asked with a sweet small voice of hers, "Mama tucks me in."

"I am not your mother," He pursed his lips then nodded his head, "Alright. Let's put you in bed," he knew most of the things a butler did when it came to the job.

Going to her, he helped the little girl in the bed and pulled the covers until it reached right above her stomach, "All tucked in, Miss Belle," he stood up again, turning around to leave to hear the little girl say,

"Bedtime stories?"

Lucas didn't know if he should call the little girl to be a spoiled one or if she was just a cute child who was living life just as it came. Taken that this one was a sheltered child, he wondered how she would grow up to be but then...he wouldn't be staying here for that long. He was merely using the opportunity to stay here so that when the time came he would come to leave without much problem.

Walking back around, to her side, he pulled the chair that was there which was quite small for him. Taking a seat in front of her, he said, "If you're not going to sleep after this I will personally put you next to the ghosts."

Her face brightened quickly and she turned her face waiting for him to start.

Lucas had decided to put this one to sleep and go back to his work but now that he sat down, he didn't know what story to pick. Something told him that speaking about graveyard would not be something she would sleep to.

"Here we go," he said looking at her, "Once there was a cat that went by the name Romeow. Romeow used to drink a lot of milk. He liked to prowl in the house he lived in. And then there was his neighbor…"

"What was the name?" asked little Belle.

"She went by the name Julisqueak. So what happened was, one-day Julisqueak went to fetch a piece of cheese and she stepped out of the little hole in the wood. Just before she could eat the cheese Romeow came and ate her as dinner. The end," said Lucas, getting up he pulled the girl's blanket where she looked at him in horror, "Now get to sleep," he didn't bother to blow the candles, "Goodnight, Miss Belle," and he closed the door.

Getting out of the room, a small smirk made its way up to his lips. This would make sure so that she wouldn't ask for bedtime stories.

He looked to his right and then to his left before taking the left side of the corridor so that he could see what had happened earlier with the young vampiress. Lucas didn't need the candles and he didn't care about light or darkness. With every step, he took forward to walk past the candles that were burning, which only extinguished themselves for the corridor to turn dark.

Reaching the specific spot, he looked at the windows at first and then walked near the empty and lonely corridor that had no light.

When he sniffed the air, he could tell something was there in here but he couldn't point his finger on what it was. After making a couple of more rounds and not finding anyone, he decided to keep a closer watch.

He doubted that his creatures would have found out about him. He had covered his scent well. There was no way they could. Once a creature of his kind disguised themselves into the creature of living, a lot of them couldn't get the difference between them. But there were higher creatures, creatures like him who had the ability to look past the facade that the creatures wore.

But why would anything come here without a good reason?

When the morning arrived at the dining table, Belle asked her mother, "Mama, have you heard about the story of Romeow and Julisqueak?"

Her mother who was buttering her bread, looking up from the loaf of bread to look at her daughter, "Do you mean to say, Romero and Juliann, Belle?"

Belle quickly shook her head, "No no."

A worried line came to form on Mrs. Adams' forehead. She wondered what her daughter was up to, "No, dear, I haven't heard about it. Talking while eating is rude, you finish eating and then tell me about it," she said to her daughter who went back to finishing her food.

The butler was serving her blood juice which was made by thinning the red liquid drawn from the humans when Belle turned to look at the man, "Lucas tells good stories!" she declared in joy.

Lucas continued to fill up the glass while his mind went: wait...what just happened? The point of the story was to not make her ask for stories again. His eyes narrowed down looking at her.

"I didn't like the end part though…" Belle confessed. So it did work, thought Lucas, and then heard her say, "But I like Romeow and Julisqueak."

Okay. Next time this girl was going to get graveyard stories, he thought to himself and smiled politely at the girl, "I am glad to hear that."

"I am going to draw Romeow and Julisqueak," declared Belle, eating her breakfast quickly she slid down her chair and left the dining room after kissing her mother and father's cheek.

"Thank you for looking after Belle, Lucas," Mr. Adams thanked the butler, "Mr. Rufus got us the right butler this time. You have been doing excellent," he praised the butler, "By the way, what was with Romeow and squeak?"

"It was about kittens and its family how they lived happily," answered Lucas.