Chapter 327 - Lake Of Bones- Part 2

Though Belle didn't know the duchess, she felt sad for her. Barron had told her that many years had passed and even though it did, the pain of her own father killing the girl still reflected on Ophelia's face. She looked down to see Barron who didn't speak a word and neither did the girl. 

"I don't feel bad about it," said Ophelia which was a lie, "I only wished I had time to say my goodbyes," she smiled before her eyes fell on Belle, "Who are you?" 

"I am Belle Adams," introduced Belle with a bow and the lady bowed her head who looked possibly younger than Belle. Somewhere at a distance, everyone heard a wolf-howl that echoed in the forest that was attached to the lake of bones. 

"I am happy to see you," Ophelia's words were directed to Barron. 

Barron continued to look at the ghost, "You were supposed to end up in a better place," he murmured, the words which only Belle heard because she stood behind him. The fourth Grim then said, "I was supposed to help you pass through the gates."

Ophelia looked at him confused. Unsure of what he meant but she said, "I am okay here. Don't worry about me." 

Lucas who was listening to the conversation between Barron and Ophelia spotted something in the lake. It was very subtle but the waves started to gain momentum which he doubted not because of the snow falling down on it. His black eyes narrowed and he noticed something moving underneath the fog,

"Get away from the shore!" Lucas shouted and Belle frowned hearing this. By the time she realised, a black shadow had crept out of the fog to pull both Barron and Belle into the lakes. 

"AHHH!" they screamed.

Before Lucas and Greed reached where Belle and Barron were previously standing, whatever shadow it was had pulled both of them inside the lake leaving the shore quiet like there were only two people and not four who had been standing. 

Belle didn't know what happened, in a blink of an eye, something had crawled around one of her legs and she was pulled inside the lake of bones. With her body already exhausted, she tried to bring her hands together and tap into the magic but the creature was pulling her and Barron in such speed that she could barely control her body movements. 

When people had called it the lake of bones, they weren't kidding because as Belle was being dragged, she came across countless skeleton bodies that rested in the bed of the lake but that wasn't all. There were actual souls that were swimming in the lake which was previously covered by the smoke-like fog. And the souls in here weren't pretty. They were as good as the corrupted souls on the land. The deeper they were pulled, the darker it got and Belle couldn't see Barron. She brought her hand up, bringing the glow of light around her to come face to face with the other souls who were horribly disfigured. 

"Lucas?! Barron?!" Belle called out but she couldn't see or hear them. 

One of the souls that came to tag along was a woman who had only half of her face in view while the other half was not nonexistent, reminding her of her mother. Belle struggled to keep the soul away from her but the soul of the woman had latched onto her like a parasite. The ghost-like soul raised its hand to Belle's face and scraped her skin. 

After a lot of struggle, Belle kicked the soul away from her to hear the soul scream as it was pulled in the opposite direction. She didn't know for how long she travelled as she had lost consciousness in the middle to only wake up when she felt something throw her on the land. Belle coughed the water that had gone inside her. 

When she looked around, she was surrounded by trees that were tall and thick in appearance. The roots of the trees weren't hidden under the ground but they had surfaced out to crawl like creepers. 

Looking at the river next to her, she noticed it looked less like water because of its murky appearance that was a mix of green and yellow in colour. Belle had a look of disbelief on her face. If she wasn't wrong, she was back to where she had started today. 

The land of the dead. 

With Lucas who had informed her about the connection of the lake, Belle came to the conclusion that this was the river which was used to reach and pass the gates. How was she supposed to get back from here? Standing up, Belle took two steps to feel her legs shake and she had to take the support of the tree to lean against it. Her body had already been weak and she should have rested but she would have never thought that something would crawl out of the lake to pull both her and Barron. Where was the fourth Grim though? She didn't find him anywhere around. 

Being part of the dead, she told herself to expect the unexpected. 

Right now, all she could think was to sleep. She could barely keep her head straight. Her eyes kept dimming in and out and she raised her hand up to her mouth to yawn. Before she knew it, Belle's body had given up and she fell on the ground. 

When Belle had been pulled into the lake, Lucas had dived right into it but the creature that had pulled her and Barron was too fast and agile. And in time he had lost sight of them. Knowing where the lake of bones connected, he had disappeared to appear in the forest of the dead to look for Belle. 

On the other hand, Barron who had been pulled into the lake had been pushed back to the shore. The rabbit wiggled its arm to get rid of the water that had soaked into its rabbit suit, to ask,

"What the hell was that?!" 

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