Chapter 74 - Blood - Part 1

The white snow was tarnished by droplets of blood, the stains leading us to an unknown place. We were standing in the middle of the garden, where there was a four-headed statue. Each head was looking to four different paths, each path being the one we were in right now and then to our right, left, and front.

I realized the blood came from the direction in front of us, meaning—it came from the manor, then turned to the path by our right. I was sure that this was the same path that we walked on before, but there was no such thing when we walked past this path just a moment ago. Something must have happened while we were on the lake—something very wrong. 

"Stay behind me," said Luke, holding my hand tighter. 

We were supposed to go straight to the path in front of us to go back to our room, but because of the newly found bloodstains, we took a right turn, following where the blood was heading to. Along with the bloodstains, there were also the footprints of the ȧssumed owner of the blood, seemingly to be a man's based on the size. 

I could feel my heart thumping inside my ċhėst, sincerely hoping that these bloodstains will not lead us to something bad—though it seems to be inevitable now by the amount of blood on the ground. My best hope for this situation was to find someone with a little wound, hence the blood. 

I didn't even need to have a heightened sense like Luke to smell the metal scent that lingered in the air. It was getting stronger the more we followed the blood, and the droplets started to get bigger along with it. 

A few minutes after we started to follow the trail, what came to sight was a group of dried trees. Some stood tall, but some broken to half. The blood on the snow was not again small droplets, but a big gush of it splattered all around the place. And if one looks closely, we could see another bloodstain on the body of the broken trees. It was clear that a fight had occurred in this place. 

"We should go back," said Luke, his brows furrowing together, "It's too dangerous for you to be here. We'll need to tell Kiel about this."

I nodded to his words, not wanting to go any further after all the warning signs. Just before we turned around to the direction we came from, something caught my attention. Someone was sitting behind one of the broken trees, a part of his or her shoulder seen. 

"Wait, there's someone over there," I told Luke, pointing my fingers towards where the person was.

Noticing the presence, we walked towards the person, albeit not knowing whether it was a friend or a foe. At least, this person could give us some leads about what had happened here. As we walked closer, I noticed it was a woman, her long hair gently blowing against the wind. 

Although she had her back towards us, I could tell from her attire that she was not a guest of the manor but a maid. She was wearing the same plain black dress that all the maids here were wearing. 

"Excuse me, miss?" Luke asked, but the woman did not reply. "Miss?" he inquired a second time, but received no answer. Luke decided to give the woman a little tap on her shoulder, but the little tap he gave caused her body to collapse to the ground. 

When I saw her body fall lifelessly to the ground, I let out a gasp, surprised to see what had happened to the woman. Half of her face had been ripped apart, with blood gushing down from her face to her entire body, which was also in a mutually terrifying state. The two of her arms were crushed, while one of her feet was only hanging by a thread.

The snow around her had been painted red with her blood. 

"T-this..." I faltered. My brain couldn't seem to function well due to the amount of shock received, bȧrėly able to stutter out the words, "...this is a massacre."

Though I was used to seeing blood, it was always my own blood that I see and not others. The white of the snow was painted red with blood, and the remains of the bodies were scattered all around the place. Several bodies had their limbs separated from them, leaving only their torso and head. Some even had their heads cut off. 

Who could have done all of this?

Luke, who also seemed to be in shock, stared at the terrifying sight in silence. He gritted his teeth, saying, "We need to go." 

He immediately pulled me away from the horrible scene, his grip on my hand firm. We walked past the trees as fast as we could, leaving the corpses behind. The look on his face was grim, in contrast with the cheerful one he had back on the lake. 

Even with the warmth from Luke's hand, the discovery of the corpses made my hands grow cold and made me turn slightly nauseous. It suddenly reminded me of the day where I found my mom's corpse, looking at her body cut into pieces. I still remember it as clear as day.

Feeling the panic started to hit in, I tried to calm myself by taking deep breaths as I walked back to the manor. I shouldn't be acting like this, knowing that there was a bigger problem to solve. The killer might still be around—lurking and hiding amongst the crowd or even the bushes here. We need to locate them as soon as possible before another person falls victim to their murder.

Was this why the first floor of the manor look so empty? I thought the servants were busy serving the guests, but now I knew that was not the case at all. Someone had killed them all.

"Do you have any idea about who did this?" I asked Luke.

"I do have an idea," he replied, his voice stern, "I'm afraid there might be a deranged vampire among us." 

A deranged vampire... that seems to be the most probable answer. From what Luke had told me, things would turn a lot worst if they turned someone else into a deranged vampire with their bites. This whole place will turn into a bloodbath.

All the corpses we found had no bite marks, but there could be some people who got bitten. We had no idea about how many of them were here, and things were not looking good for us. We better hurry and tell Kiel about this as he must be the one who knows best about how to deal with this situation. 

Oh gosh, I have only heard about deranged vampires today, and now you are telling me there might be one right now?

We were now in an intersection, with bushes all around our sides. Right before we made a turn, Luke suddenly stopped, hiding me behind him. "Stop," he warned, looking ahead, "Someone is here."

Along with the halt in my feet, I unconsciously held back my breath to prevent myself from making any noise. Aside from the hoot of the night owls, I could hear something—the sound of something being dragged across the snow. 

We waited for the presence to appear, my heart thumping faster by the minute as my anxiety increased. I clutched the hem of my dress, bracing myself to flee if necessary. If the rogue who kidnapped me before was still on his sane mind, how much worst would it be to meet a deranged vampire who was blinded by their bloodlust?

Minutes went by in silence, and someone finally appeared around the corner. It was a man who I knew to be the butler of the manor, but his appearance was no longer of what I've seen before. Blood covered his whole body, and his silver eyes now appear to be in the color of black.

I noticed how Luke's body tense up when he saw the man in front of us, even though he had ȧssumed the killer to be a deranged vampire. He wasn't afraid of him—he was taken aback. The butler must be someone that he was familiar with during all the time he spent here. 

"Blood... I... want... more... blood...." I heard the man muttering to himself while he dragged someone by the hair. The person he was dragging was another dead body, killed in a way similar to the corpses we had previously found. It was him. He was the killer. 

"Ross?" Luke called out to the man, still couldn't believe what he was seeing. I didn't know about his relationship with this man, but it seems to be closer than a stranger. 

Ross finally noticed our presence as soon as he heard Luke calling him, his head turning in our direction as quickly as lightning. When he saw us, he let out a loud sinister laugh, his eyes widening as if he had found another victim to kill. He then let go of the corpse and dashed towards us at full speed, a frightening grin upon his face. 

"BLOOD!!" he shouted.