.

Surrounded by darkness, the butler didn't know what had happened. He was sure he had closed the window and then the fire in the lantern had blown out, and not before he had got the opportunity to close the windows. 

Trying to be brave right now than being scared, he waved his hand in the front, trying to get back to the corridor where there was light. With the sudden darkness, his eyes took time to adjust. When it finally did, he could see the scarce light which was falling out from the other end of the corridor which was connected to where he was. 

Maybe the lantern's light decided to blow itself out. It was alright, said the butler to himself. With one step forward, he ended up kicking the lantern which he had placed down that had no light in it. The sound of the lantern rattling against the wall as it moved in the force he had moved his leg. The sound felt harsh on his ears and then came the sudden lightning from the window which had him turning to look outside, at the sky. The clouds continued to growl deeper, the sea that surrounded them quietening due to the snow flow. 

He started to walk through the dark corridor, making his way and as he reached the start of the light where the other lantern was spilling light all around it, Durik decided that he would pick up the lantern tomorrow. Right now his weak heart could not take up the darkness. He should have known to work for more money as a butler meant going through the dark path like this. 

Durik could wake up tomorrow early to clean up the lantern if there were any broken gla.s.s pieces or if the oil had been spilled on the carpet. 

The clouds didn't stop to rumble, the sound continuing and numbing any other possible sound around it. Just when he was about to walk away from there, the side of his eyes caught something in the darkness. 

Durik didn't dare to look at it but neither did he continue to walk on his way leaving the current corridor. He stood there frozen, able to see a shadow in the dark or the silhouette of someone or something every time the lightning struck and the light pa.s.sed through the giant windows. 

The butler was a human by heart, even after turning to a half-vampire his senses had continued to remain the same. The curiosity making him stay there, wanting to see what he could feel. His mind told him to run away from there, walk away without looking back but there were only a few who listened to their gut feeling. Giving in, he finally turned to look at the dark corridor as the lightning had stopped, leaving the path that he had walked through before dark and lonely. It was when the lightning struck did he finally see what was standing there at the ends of the corridor. 

It was a shadow of a person, at least that is what Durik thought at first but with the white flash that came through from the window, Durik did not dare to close his eyes. It wasn't a shadow but a person who wore dark clothes. The robes old and black, torn at the ends which dragged as the person walked. 

Wait, dragged? Durik shook his head to realize that whoever this person was, was walking towards him. Without giving another thought, the butler turned around and started to run. He didn't care about his shoes making noise right now. His life was more precious than some scoldings he would get. Quickly making his way down the stairs and then to the kitchen, he started to walk out of the mansion and towards the servants quarters. 

The lingering curiosity made him turn to look at the back of the mansion. The building looking lonelier than what it appeared inside. 

One of the maids was only going on her way to the quarters when she caught sight of the butler who looked in a hurry. Not paying attention to it as all the butlers they had had until now were always running around, she went on her way. Reaching the entrance of the little quarters that was built for the servants, he again turned to look at the mansion and then at the kitchen backdoor which he had locked and closed before heading here. 

He sighed. He was safe here. Whatever he saw was in there and not here. Even the other day it was in the mansion and he had never experienced anything in the servants quarters. Maybe the ghost went after only rich people, thought the butler to himself. He was a poor man. The d.a.m.n ghost!

In the mansion of the Quinn, Penny laid on the bed, her face turned towards the window where she had to crane her neck to position her head so that she could look at the snow falling down. Her eyes then moved from the window to the man who was at the table, reading parchments and writing something in it. 

Before the snow had fallen one of his subordinates had come to hand over the parchments as they needed to be looked over.

Curious, she asked, "What are those?" 

"Someone put an appeal to have an exorcism in all the villages."

"Witches?" 

"Hmm," Damien responded looking down at the parchment. Though the fireplace was burning brightly, extra logs of wood that had been added to keep the room warm against the freezing cold, a stand of candles were placed on the table where he was seated right now, "Someone believes that the witches have again intruded the villages."

"Why not have them do it?" 

"Things like those take time to process after submitting the request. The council doesn't give away priests, diverting them from their given work. I will have to go out tomorrow, maybe the black market and see if I find something."