"Councilman Damien," one of the fellow councilman came to stand next to him as he looked at the wall which was marked with blood right outside the empty mansion which had been unoccupied for some years now that once upon a time used to belong to the second lord of the Bonelake. The current Lord of Bonelake who was Nicholas Rune was the fourth Lord while his father the third lord. 

They stood at the snow mansion where the white snow covered the ground. Given that it was the time of Winter in the four lands now, this was one of the only places which snowed throughout the year. 

"He doesn't look so good," Damien commented looking down at the man's body who laid on the snow ground, "Was this all the body?"

"Yes, Sir!" answered the junior councilman who had tagged along with Damien, "Councilman Creed said to get it cleaned and have it checked before we close the case."

"Of course. Maybe if they had other ways of setting up the examination this wouldn't have happened," he said looking at the blood which had been soaked by the snow below. The second examination had been closed a few hours ago where they finally called him to have a look to make sure nothing more than the exam took place. Though it was hard to understand with the number of deaths that had taken place what the higher up's were expecting, "Not many come alive or intact when they take part in the second final exams."

"Mine was a simple interview, Sir," answered the young man who was a human turned vampire, a half-vampire. 

"Aren't you a lucky chap. Not every exam is the same. The exams are held with respect to the mood of the higher council members," Damien bent down to look at the man who was a councilman. Oliver was it? He asked himself looking at the face, "Sometimes they are easy as taking a walk in the meadow but sometimes the same meadow is filled with empty pits and things you wouldn't expect."  

The councilman who was younger to him stared at the body and then his senior who was inspecting the body while sitting on his heels, "I must be lucky then, Sir," he responded back. 

"What was the report all about? What did you find?" asked Damien wanting to know what the man had gathered apart from what he himself found out. 

"The second examination was held three days ago and today was the release. Out of all the candidates, only two of them survived while the others were killed or their bodies have disappeared," answered the councilman. 

"Why did our councilman die? Did he decide to take part in it?" 

"Um, no Sir. The plan was to station two councilmen. Each person a day."

"What about the third day? Was it planned to leave the examinees alone?" 

"Yes, Sir. The first councilman stationed was one who belongs to Duke Carmichael's team," hmm, thought Damien to himself. He stepped back inside the mansion which was old and dusty. His red eyes looking through for traces of blood which could be noted on the floor and sprinkles on the dark wall. 

"I take that the female examinee pa.s.sed the exam?" he confirmed already knowing the answer for the man to say yes. 

"It was Lady Vivian and another man who hails from Woville. Though his words have been very strange or rather lunatic," the councilman frowned while he followed Damien up the stairs and other parts of the mansion. 

"Why do you say so?" his words came off to be mindless. 

"He was speaking about a ghost who haunts this house."

"How interesting," Damien entered the room where another body laid on the ground. The wounds on the body were different compared to the dead councilman who was stuck on to the wall like a painting before he was taken down to be placed on the snow ground. 

The other councilman continued to speak giving out the details on what he saw and heard but Damien paid no attention to it. These markings, he looked at the chest of the man. His eyes wide that held shock and terror like he had seen a ghost. No not a ghost. Something far worse that ghost. 

Having done much clean up of the death sights around Bonelake especially when it was regarding a high profile place, it wasn't the first for Damien to come across a wound like this. He had seen these markings at least more than ten times and every time he picked on the trail it somehow pointed out to one person. 

The current Lord of Bonelake. 

His mind started to add the possible things, walking around the mansion before going back to the council to submit the detailed report. It was possible that Lord Nicholas had helped the girl to whatever that had happened here during the three days of the examination. The councilors didn't expect anyone to die, at least not directly but people often died at the need and greed of wanting to be part of the council with the benefits it provided. 

Councilman Creed appeared when was going to submit the files, his eyepatch in place and a smile on his lips.

"How did the scouting go?" asked the older pureblooded vampire. 

"It went as usual. Are you on your break, councilman Creed?" Damien asked, his tone light and harmless. 

"Yes, I thought I would have some fresh air before getting back to work," how ironic, thought Damien to himself. Open-air was outside the building and not further inside where he now stood. He caught the man eye the papers in his hand, "Every year we lose some people who plan to enter the council. This time was no different." 

Damien nodded his head, "Indeed there were too many deaths," he agreed, his eyes flickering with interest.