Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 57: The little clues

Rain and thunder were no longer the only ambient sounds traversing the place. More voices and noises rose to ricochet against the walls of the manor as the daytime staff began their work.

Silas chose to walk a few inches behind Arabella whose shoulders slumped from the weight of his glare which only added to everything else she had to carry.

Although at the time, only one name trotted through her mind: Edna. She had to be the one who did that to her, didn't she?

How she did it remained a mystery, and the lack of proof on her end only meant that Arabella needed to curb the intention to broach the subject with Silas.

Pointing a finger would surely lead to consequences the young woman could never be able to take back should she accuse the wrong person.

But who else could it be if not Edna? Who else had it out for her in that place since her arrival?

"We've arrived,"

Silas' voice snapped her out of her daze, prompting her to spin around only to find him standing by the door to her own room, about to twist the knob.

Realizing she had walked several feet past it, Arabella hastened back and went inside when he ushered her to after opening the door.

"Your mind is quite busy," he stood still, watching as she walked closer to a chair before sitting down.

"It is,"

There was no denying it. Even if he couldn't read her mind, there was much more for him to go off on in order to assess her state. Her heart rate was one, her posture was surely another and her fidgeting might have been the icing on the cake.

Silas' eyes finally landed on the anthology that lay on the table, "Is that the anthology my mother has given you?" he walked around the table, caressing its edges only to stop by the book.

"Yes," she said without a glance his way.

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Word traveled fast and Arabella had already accepted that fact, therefore his words were no revelation. Of course he'd know what went around the manor.

"How many have you already memorized?" Silas lifted the hardcover of the book for his eyes to land on the first page.

"So far only thirteen," she stated, hands clasped together on her lap.

Arabella missed the little eyebrow twitch that overcame him upon hearing the answer as she had her back turned to him.

Thirteen poems in one day were not a number to scoff at, but alas Arabella seemed to believe otherwise.

Though she could hardly be blamed considering how scattered her mind must have been at that moment.

"Clean yourself. I shall send someone to keep an eye on you for the day,"

Silas had started to walk towards the door when something on the floor caught his eye. A shredded piece of green fabric that lay forsaken right by the wardrobe doors.

"And what might that be?" the vampire bent down and picked the bit in his hand.

An electrifying spark shot up Arabella's spine the instant her eyes fell on the fabric. She soared off her chair and ran to him, taking the velvet out of his hand.

"Oh dear! Please don't tell me...," she trailed off as she rushed to open the wardrobe doors, "Oh no!" she cried, "Oh no!"

"What is it?" Silas asked, trying to read through her panic.

"It is... It was the dress that I... What will I do now? What should I say to the Lady?" tears streaming down her face, her hand hovered over her open mouth.

"The dress for the ball?" he questioned, eyes on that poor thing that had been torn to pieces.

The dress, or what was left of it, looked like it had been mangled by a pack of rabid monsters. Not a single part of it had been spared.

"And Mr Kallum worked so hard on it...," the young woman collapsed to her knees, "How could this have happened?" her sore throat struggled to push the words out through every sniffle.

Arabella picked one of the ripped pieces and fiddled with it between her fingers. Meanwhile and upon closer look, Silas spotted a pair of scissors laying on the bed, barely peeking from underneath the pillows.

"Have you ever used these?" he held the item up to get her attention.

"No, I have never seen these in the room before," Arabella inhaled and stood on her feet again before moving closer to Silas.

With every little clue revealed, Arabella was more and more inclined to believe it had truly been Edna's doing.

However, no matter how much she turned and tossed the matter around in her head, nothing convinced her enough to share the idea out loud.

"I shall keep this," he said, "On second thought, I will wait for you here," he paused before adding, "Clean up and change. I need you to follow me somewhere,"

Arabella asked no questions and headed towards the wardrobe to pick up a clean dress where her flooded eyes were unable to look away from that sublime ball gown that took somebody's blood, sweat and tears to make yet was ruined in the snap of a finger.

Mr Kallum's smile and laugh when he'd seen her in the dress haunted her. The young woman dreaded knowing what those would turn to should he be made aware of what had happened to his so cherished creation.

Had Edna cut up the dress in her absence? Or had Arabella done it under the influence of that spell?

Silas had spoken about a hypnosis spell. Could that have been her end? And why was she heading towards the gates?

So much to think about and so little energy to deal with it all.