431 People at the doorstep- Part 1

"The Salvete Mortem was here with the axe in its hand," answered Calhoun, staring at Beth before he turned around to look at Madeline with a bright smile on his face. "It disappeared after hearing the gunshot." 

Madeline looked around the room, then looked at Beth who was awake, "Are you alright? Did it harm you?" 

Beth didn't know what to say because she didn't know what was going on again. Before she could say something, Calhoun said,

"Don't worry, my sweet. Until I am here, I will make sure your sister will be safe."

Beth had a look of shock on her face because of the bullet that hit next to her. Calhoun had aimed the gun straight at her before he had pulled the trigger, and she had flinched back in fear, not realizing that Calhoun had moved his hand one second before pulling the trigger, missing the aim at her to shoot right behind the headboard of the bed. She was sure she would die, but now that she was still alive, she stared at Calhoun in disbelief, who stared back at her. 

"Do you think it will come back?" questioned Madeline. Beth, who had no idea of who this Salvete Mortem was, looked at them with a puzzled look on her face. 

"Not for a while at least. You can stay here with her," suggested Calhoun and Madeline nodded her head. 

Beth looked more than disoriented. Calhoun had not killed her and had let her live. Then why did he pull the trigger? She couldn't believe when Calhoun suggested Madeline to stay in here with her?

Calhoun's gaze had not left Beth, and he continued to stare at her. "With the second greeter of death who showed up here, you can keep an eye on it if it appears again because I doubt your sister can see it."

Madeline sighed, "Beth, don't worry. I won't let anything bad happen to you, okay?" She walked to her sister and sat down on the bed. "I will be right here with you." Right now, Beth needed Madeline around her more than anyone else. She didn't know if the King had let her off the hook for now, but if there was someone who wanted her alive, it was Madeline. 

"I will be back soon," informed Calhoun, and Madeline gave him a nod. 

Sparing one more look at his sister-in-law, Calhoun stepped out of the room. He found Raphael sitting in the same place where he had been sitting earlier. The card reader stared at the King, and a faint smile appeared on his face. 

"Did you get the answers which you were looking for?" asked Raphael. He had heard the entire conversation that took place in the room while making sure not to interrupt Calhoun.

Raphael, who kept his feet with Calhoun, raised his eyebrows in question, "Blockage?" 

Torches on the walls lit up as they walked in the empty and dark corridor every time when Calhoun's feet stepped near the torches on the walls, and they exhausted themselves when he walked past them. 

"Apart from losing memories and having a reset where you start from where the intruder last visited the memory, there are times where memories changes. Every time a spell is put on the person, it builds a wall to hide the memory, and the wall builds so much that there is no more space left to hide the memories. But I believe there is a slight modification when it comes to Miss Elizabeth's case," explained Calhoun, "As much as her actions were driven through emotions that were filled in by her grandparents, the old memories have stayed intact. After seeing what happened to Madeline, she must have created a block that caused the spell to not have any effect on her. She has probably turned immune to it."

"So it's not because she is an angel?" inquired Raphael and Calhoun shook his head. 

"According to the lady in the graveyard, Paschar had only one child, which is Madeline. Being the firstborn to Mr. and Mrs. Harris, Madeline must have taken up all the genes that left Beth as human as one can find the person to be," stated Calhoun. "It seems like she's trying to fix things and I will give her a chance. But if she lapses back to her previous behaviour, you know what happens after that."

Raphael didn't say anything. When he had heard things breaking inside the room, the card reader came to believe it was Elizabeth who was breaking it, but all the while, it was the King who had tried to intimidate her. 

The reason Calhoun had shot near Beth was to see if she held the same ability as Madeline. Dark angel's abilities played differently in each person. Beth was driven by harmful desires in the past, while Madeline was driven through kinder thoughts. And fortunately, the roles that each of the sisters held was not destructive. 

Another reason why Calhoun had not shot at Beth even though he remembered Madeline's tear-streaked face was that his wife had stayed next to Beth for years, and until now she had never turned dark angelic to give Beth's judgment. This only meant subconsciously, Madeline had a sense of hope for her sister, and she saw the goodness which some of them failed to see. 

"So what now?" questioned Raphael. 

With what Calhoun noticed, it only looked like it was the start of something big, and it had him on alert.

"There are other things in this castle. Apart from the guests who are already here in the castle," said Calhoun. His footsteps stopped when he caught sight of the boney stag-like face creature walking past the corridor. Raphael looked in the direction of where Calhoun was looking, but he saw nothing but emptiness in there. "Something big is going to happen," and Calhoun's eyes narrowed when the first Salvete Mortem disappeared behind the wall of the corridor. 

Calhoun's eyes caught sight of something, and he stepped towards the large window that started from the ground to stretch until the ceiling. 

He saw four more creatures that stood like the stone-like statues in the castle's grounds. They didn't enter the castle, but they continued to stand there as if waiting for something to happen. 

"It would be quite unfortunate if the girl dies because of the werewolf's bite," commented Calhoun. "Get the guards positioned. Change the old ones to the new ones whom I appointed recently so that it safeguards the boundaries of the castle and also the ones who are inside." 

Raphael looked slightly taken aback at Calhoun's serious tone. To the pure demon, he didn't see anything on the castle grounds through the window. 

"I will go see what Monique has found out," said Calhoun, leaving the card reader standing in front of the window. 

.