Music Recommendation: The War Room- Trevor Morris

A murmur of thunder could be heard coming from the heavy clouds that clashed in the sky. Now and then, the sky lit up with lightning, showing a hint of brown in the clouds, preparing to release a series of lightning to strike the lands.

In one of the Council room's, thirty-seven skeletons and a few bodies with flesh being decomposed lay on mortuary tables. Lit lanterns were left to hand on the walls, while candles were lit to keep the room bright.

Two members of the Inner Circle stood in the big room, along with the Head of the Council and the Duke of Woodlock.

Sylvester tapered the end of his moustache with his fingers, whilst he looked at the skeletons. Because of the time that had passed since the bodies had been buried, the deceased who had been buried for many years had decomposed, and the only available items of them were damaged in tatters. Men and women of great stature had leather boots or belts, along with stoned ornaments.

Vincent entered the room, and Mr. Stoker commented, "Aren't you working rather late tonight, Vincent?"

"It would be a sin to sleep when the Council discovered thirty-seven deceased who haven't been identified yet , Mr. Stoker. Not to mention, the man who was caught last night and the woman he buried are people of my town. My family would be disappointed if I didn't try to help," Vincent responded as he made his way to where they stood.

"It looks like people of Skellington like to kill," Mr. Stoker taunted, not too fond of Vincent after his previous remarks in the Head Council's chamber.

"We must be excellent diggers then," Vincent smiled at Mr. Stoker, whose eyes narrowed. Clayton looked at the silver-haired vampire from the corner of his eyes.

Sylvester, who was looking at the nearby body, turned to comment, "I hope you aren't telling us that you have contributed to the number in this room, Mr. Moriarty." The man's red eyes stared at Vincent cooly, but Vincent returned it with an unfazed smile.

"I didn't know you liked me so much that you want to see me behind the cell," Vincent raised one of his eyebrows at Sylvester. "I was talking about gardening, but it seems like you took it wrongly."

Sylvester smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes, and he said, "Certainly not. The Head of the Council sees you as his prodigy. It would be a great loss for the Council if you were to step behind the cells."

lghtnvlubm fr bttr ur rn

"Don't worry about it. I wouldn't do anything the Head of the Council wouldn't like. And even if I do, I wouldn't be this careless," Vincent's eyes lit up with amusement.

The last sentence was something everyone could believe. Vincent Moriarty rarely made any mistakes and wasn't foolish to make a blunder like this one. But they didn't know he had dragged them to his handiwork.

One of the councilmen entered the room, and walked to where Vincent and the others stood. He offered a deep bow to them. Clayton questioned the person,

"What do we have so far, Aldworth?"

The councilman named Aldworth passed the parchment to Clayton and reported,

"We could recognize only twenty-nine bodies out of thirty-seven. We went through the previous missing reports. We summoned the families to identify them. From the identified, sixteen of them were from high society, seven of them from the middle class and the rest from the lower ones."

"What about the unidentified?" Noah asked the council member. "What kind and sex?"

Vincent's eyes moved to look at the Duke of Woodlock, watching him as the councilman answered,

"Clarks rechecked and the remaining are four humans, two vampires and two werewolves. Four females and five males, Duke Noah. I think they all belong to the lower status as nothing was found on them."

Noah nodded, and walked to look at the skeletons that had tattered belongings next to them. Vincent remarked, "If the bodies aren't identified, it could also be because the families of these are all dead or they didn't have one to begin with."

A deep frown came to settle on Clayton's face. He said, "Did you find anything more about Mr. Walsh?"

The councilman nodded, before he said, "I did, Sire. From the information we received, his wife told us that he's never been someone of temper. But he has a list of mistresses he's been seeing. Eight of them in total."

lghtnvlubm fr bttr ur rn

Mr. Stoker said, "I met the man at the cell and he told a councilman came to get him, telling one of his mistresses was dead and something about a letter."

Aldworth added, "Mrs. Walsh said she won't be paying a penny for his defence. Uh- after finding out about his affairs."

"Either the man is lying through his teeth or someone framed him," Clayton's lips set themselves in a thin line. "Keep him in the dungeon. Handover the skeletons to their respective families. The unidentified can be buried in the Darthmore's cemetery," he looked at Vincent and Sylvester, "I will leave this work to be done in your good hands."

When Clayton and Mr. Stoker stepped out of the room, Sylvester stepped in front of Vincent and said in a low voice, "Don't think you will always get away with what you do or how you handle things, Vincent. Everything has a reverse action and it is only yet to come."

A sinister look crept into Vincent's eyes as he smiled. He responded, "How strange that I was thinking about the same thing. Especially after your name came up with one of the assassins."

"You will have to be more specific about what you are talking about," Sylvester smiled.

"You do anything to Clayton, I will come after you without a doubt," Vincent watched Sylvester stare at him with an unwavering expression.

"I will keep that in mind," Sylvester offered a slight smile before walking away from the room.

Noah, who had been looking at the skeletons until now, turned to look at the two vampires. Vincent watched the Inner Council's back, and as Sylvester left, he spared a look at the Duke, offering a slight bow and Noah did the same in greetings.

Vincent walked up to where Noah stood and looked at the werewolf's skeleton on the table. The vampire asked cheerily, "Anyone you know?"

"No," Noah replied, and he slipped his hands into his pockets before asking, "There is something I have been wanting to ask you, Mr. Moriarty." He turned to meet the vampire's eyes.

"Why does it seem like it is about the governess? Unless I am wrong, but I am not, am I?" Vincent watched the Duke stare at him, where his face lacked the polite smile he often wore.

lghtnvlubm fr th bt nvl rdng rn

"What are your intentions with Genevieve?" Noah asked without beating around the bush, and Vincent liked it, but not enough.

"That is something between her and me, isn't it, Duke Noah. It isn't very polite to snoop in the matters of people, lest you like her," Vincent let his back rest against the edge of one of the mortuary tables.

"We are friends, and I care about her," a look of seriousness appeared in Noah's eyes.

"So are we," Vincent quickly replied and added, "And when I said we, I meant Eve and I are friends too."

"I never knew friends suck blood out," stated Noah.

"When you are friends with a vampire, it is obvious. She doesn't mind, why do you care?" Vincent noticed Noah's eyes hardened at his words, and he only enjoyed it. But there was also something that fascinated his curiosity. Wanting to push the werewolf further, he said, "Her blood tastes divine. You are a werewolf, so it is hard to imagine, but every drop is delicious. Especially the places I bit--"

Noah's hands clenched, and he hit Vincent's face, his eyes shifting from black to yellow.

A chuckle escaped from Vincent's lips, and he ran his tongue on the corner of his lips to taste blood. He said, "You don't love her enough, do you? If someone told that to me about the woman I love, I would have killed the person."

Noah unclenched his hands and calmed his emotions. He stared at the vampire. He had underestimated this vampire's skills when it came to provoking people. He knew he could not have Eve, and he had told himself, when someone worthy came along, who cared for the woman, he would step away.

But the Duke knew that this pureblooded vampire standing before him didn't do relationships. Yet as diabolic Vincent was, Eve was still alive next to him.

Was he the one for her? Noah asked himself.

When Noah started to walk away from there, Vincent remarked with one corner of lips curling , "I have been curious why a remarkable man as yourself didn't reveal his affections to the woman he has harboured affections for four-five years."

lghtnvlubm fr th bt nvl rdng rn

For a moment, Noah stopped at the door and turned back to look at Vincent. He said, "Looks like you have done a lot of background checks to find something like that."

Vincent hummed, "It is one of my many amazing qualities," and his eyes slightly narrowed, when Noah walked away from there. He then turned to look at the humans skeletons that was placed next to the werewolves skeleton. He murmured, "Now which one is the right one."