Chapter 137 - Souls- Part 3

Lucas stood in Belle's room which was in the land of the dead in the broken mansion. The windows to her room were open and so was the door of the patio where the wind blew to fly the tattered curtains in the air. 

"We should get going," he heard Belle say who was seated on the bed. She turned her body to place her feet on the dirty ground where she had no shoes on her feet. She looked up at him with a smile on her lips. 

She started to walk away from the bed but noticing Lucas not move, she paused her steps to ask, "What's the matter?" 

Lucas smiled back, shaking his head, "Your dress has a lot of blood. Whose is it?" he asked her. 

Belle looked down at her dress to notice the blood, "I don't know how I got them…I don't know how I ended up here," she gave him a confused look, her brows knitting together. 

"That's okay. Let's get you out of here and we can figure it out," Lucas placed his hand on her arm and they started to walk out of the room. Walking through the corridors, Belle who was walking ahead of him, her lips pulled up to a sinister smile that was hidden away from the man who walked behind her. 

"How did you find me?" she asked him.

"You had your scent in the streets and the alleys. I guessed this would be where you would be as you fainted in the house," Lucas answered her, looking at the windows that were broken and then outside the mansion which was deserted and quiet. 

"I am happy you were able to find me. If it weren't for you, I would still be sleeping here in this lonely mansion," said Belle to him, "It is so quiet, isn't it?" she hummed the question, her hand going to push back the piece of hair behind her ear and he noticed her nails that weren't white as it used to be. These nails had turned black and she dropped her hand down. 

"Quiet?" asked Lucas as if oblivious, "Didn't you hear the hellhounds howl?" he asked. 

The next moment, Belle turned around with a stake in her hand and Lucas pulled out his scythe that clashed against the wooden stake. 

"You found out," smiled Belle, who wasn't the girl he knew, "When did you find out about it?" when she smiled this time, her teeth appeared to be bigger and sharper like she had been corrupted. 

Lucas gave the person his own smile, his eyes turning brighter in expression as a smile graced on his lips which were no less to the creature that was trying to attack him. 

"Since you woke up," Lucas responded back with his scythe clashing against the wood and she pulled out a metal rod to try to clash against him, laughing. 

"I didn't know you could be smart. For someone who turned rogue, I thought you would be a fool, you know, because of this face," she used all her might in attacking and trying to get a hit at him but Lucas blocked every attempt she made, "Where is she? I have been smelling her more and been wanting to meet her," sparks flew from the metals that touched each other.

"I was going to ask you that," said Lucas who swiped his scythe in speed that had the rod break into two parts. 

Lucas had known the moment he had touched this creature who was on the bed. Knowing she wasn't the girl he knew. The colour of her nails, the way she appeared to be relaxed not caring about time and her skin. Just touching her skin was enough for him to know that she wasn't a living and breathing person. That she belonged to the land of the dead.

Though it would be wrong to tell that this wasn't Belle, the truth was she was Belle and at the same time she wasn't. This was the other half of Belle's soul that had been eaten by the scavengers and had landed up here without crossing through the gates. 

And souls that didn't cross through the gates in time would always end up corrupting and turning to something they were not. They were considered the waste in the land of the dead who would eventually turn to the black spirits who craved for life. 

Lucas dodged every attack and he heard the creature say, 

"I cannot believe that I ended up here and she is there enjoying her life without knowing the pain I was in. The pain of a child being here all alone, being hunted and nowhere to survive. I grew up with her with the thought that one day I would take her with me. After all, we are one," smiled the creature. 

At first, Lucas had thought about searching the other half of Belle's soul but he knew this would what he would get. A soul that was sinister and everything Belle wasn't. Unifying the souls was out of the question. 

On the other side of the town, Belle and Barron walked in the streets in the shadows without creating much noise.

"Barron, slow down!" Belle said to the rabbit who was quickly walking. 

"This is no time to slow down," Barron responded back to her, "Follow me!" and Belle did just that. Hearing the multiple sounds of hellhounds crying in a distant place, both Belle as well as Barron were worried and hoped to not meet one of them. 

They were walking in a straight path and Belle heard a sound come from behind and she turned around to see if there was something following them. At the same time, Barron who was continuously walking without a pause thought Belle was still following him, he raised his hand as if asking her to follow him without a sound and took a right to the alley to continue walking, leaving both of them separated.