Chapter 453: The strange energy in the house_Part 2
After Belle’s conversation with Rav, she noticed how the vampire smiled more often. He took walks with Evenly around the castle, with Angel trailing behind them, talking his little head off. Seeing that scene made Belle even more determined to help the vampire.
That same night, she went with Rohan to take a batch of another souls before moving the hands of his time, while the souls crossed through the portal into the land of the dead. She added two more months for Rav, as she couldn’t add too much or risk getting noticed by those who watched over fate.
Since she had noticed that her pregnancy was pacing like a normal pregnancy and not as fast as her first, Belle understood she had only two months before she would be due, before she would finally be able to cross into the world and clear Rav’s name. But for now, she had to make sure nothing else would trigger Rav’s corruption. When it came to cases where people were dying of sickness, sometimes the sickness killed even before the Reaper arrived to take the soul.
But after talking to him and slowing his time, there was already an improvement. The hands of his time had stopped ticking backwards. Belle smiled to herself, proud that she could help in any way she could.
Soon, the day finally came when she would journey to Groovestill with Rohan to take the next two souls, a father and daughter. They had to travel ahead of time so they wouldn’t risk interfering with the hour given to this particular two, hence they planned to take off the night before, as the two souls’ time was set for nine in the evening of the next day.
Normally, she could take souls at random, those who had already escaped death because of her past mistakes and disobedience as a reaper, but these two were different. They weren’t among the ones she had spared or whose destinies she had altered. They were special additions to the list, souls meant to be taken precisely at their appointed time. They were like vital pieces of a puzzle in a game; if either one was missed, the entire balance in her mission to right her past wrong would collapse.
Hence, it was important they got there on time.
Before they departed, Rohan made sure Belle was fully covered and bundled in a thick, warm coat. When they stepped outside the castle, he noticed her shiver even with the layers, her breath visible in the air like smoke.
The air in Nightbrook had turned bitterly cold in the recent months, a thick fog hanging low and shifting around the atmosphere like smoke.
Rohan noticed his wife clutching the fur coat tighter around her body and he clicked his tongue softly in disapproval.
"Tsk... this coat is just fashionably big, not warm, my love. Here, let’s do it like this," he murmured as he swiftly took off his own coat, the very one she had gifted him on his birthday, and wrapped it over her shoulders, adding it to the fur coat she already wore.
Her cheeks were rosy from the cold, skin turning even fairer. Rohan tugged her forward, buttoning up the coat and making her look like a big snowman with the amount of clothing she wore. Her chin was swallowed inside the collar, her face peeking out like an adorable little rabbit peeking out of a hole, and it made Rohan’s lips twitch, his heart warming. She looked far too cute to be a Reaper on her way to claim souls.
She didn’t even look pregnant at this moment with her figure hidden inside his coat. "Warm enough?" he asked as he brought his gloved hands up to cup her cheeks, rubbing gently to warm her. Unable to stop himself, he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.
"I think I am more than warm enough," Belle laughed as he pulled back. He then tugged her cap lower, covering her ears and tucking away every strand of hair, ensuring the cold couldn’t get to her.
Rohan had observed how her body had become more sensitive in recent weeks, unable to tolerate the winter wind. Sometimes she suffered so intensely from the cold he would have to cuddle her beneath the sheets just to warm her up despite the fireplace burning with woods every hour of the day.
"Whenever you feel too tired to continue, let me know," Rohan said as he bent and gathered her into his arms, her arms immediately curling around his neck. With a loud, powerful snap, his wings unfurled behind him.
"We have done this more than once. I can handle it," Belle assured him, resting her head against his shoulder. After taking these souls, the next would be weeks from now, so whatever exhaustion she might suffer, she would have time to rest before another journey. Though she had been given the work of a Reaper, her body was human and wasn’t truly meant for all of this, but having someone with wings made it easier, and she tightened her arms around him as he began to ascend into the sky.
Hours later, Belle was more than exhausted long before they reached their destination, but she had no luxury to dare want rest. Time was not on their side. She bit back every discomfort and told Rohan not to stop, even when he looked down and began to slow for her sake.
They didn’t arrive until the evening of the next day. The journey was treacherous because Groovestill was buried in layers of thick snow. It was a small village nestled far from the known lands, with houses hidden behind towering trees. Belle could barely breathe through the frigid wind that assaulted her lungs like shards of ice when they landed.
"Are you all right?" Rohan asked as he came down in the middle of the village, where everyone had already retired into their small homes to hide from the deadly winter. There was a snow-covered path running through the heart of the village, houses on either side with kerosene lamp posts glowing faintly, guiding the darkness. A single wooden bench sat beside one of the posts. Rohan gently set Belle down there.
"I am fine... just parched and hungry," she muttered, cupping her gloved palms over her mouth so her warm breath could melt the chill on her face.
"I’ll get you warm water to drink. I have some jerkies packed in my pocket," he said as he pulled the pack out and placed it in her gloved palm, his eyes scanning the houses for where he could get water.
Golden lights spilled from the tiny windows of the nearest cottages, but Rohan could tell many people had already begun to retire for the night. He took a step, wanting to go to the nearest house, but Belle quickly reached out and stopped him.
"Don’t go. I can have water after we take the souls, time is going. I can’t miss this," she told him, fog escaping her breath as she looked up at him with tired determination.
As thirsty as she was, she could hold it in and finish what brought them here first. She wasn’t feeling well, every part of her body ached painfully, but she hid it well for now and convinced Rohan to take her straight and fly toward the house.
By the time they reached their destination, Belle had only a few minutes left before the moment she was to send the souls back. The house looked just like the others in Groovestill, wooden walls, a slanted roof coated in heavy snow, but as always, she told Rohan to stay outside and wait. He looked reluctant to do so now because he could see and sense her exhaustion, but seeing Kuhn appear beside her, Rohan nodded and stepped back.
Until now Belle had taken the souls while being invisible, however not once had she thought that the invisibility wouldn’t work on some certain people until she encountered this family.
Something about their house even gave off a bad energy that made her wary the moment she entered it, but she stilled herself and brought out her scythe. She made sure to create a scenario that would lead to every victim’s death, but when time was running out, she could only make the death look like an accident after taking them, because she couldn’t risk her own time.
Thus, as time was not in her favor this time, Belle planned to make this one look like an accident. But she didn’t expect to step into the house and find a man standing in the middle of it, holding something in front of him that looked like black thread wrapped around a stick, causing Belle to stop as the man’s eyes were on her like he could see her.
She didn’t need his name to know he was her next victim as he carried the aura and scent of her victims. The middle-aged man had a solid build and right behind him was her other victim, sitting cross-legged before a burning fire muttering something like a spell under her breath.
Belle’s already coiling stomach turned even more as she realized they were a family of black witches known to cheat death just like demons. Witches made pacts with demons and had dark abilities, and many reapers tried to avoid the likes of them as they could see them and could make spells to either freeze the reaper or turn them into dust until the elders interfere, but in her case, no elders would interfere or come to assist her.
The man eyed her up and down before his hateful gaze settled on hers. "A reaper in the form of a human," he spat, clutching the spell in his hand that allowed him to see the reaper who dared come for his soul. He had looked into his own future and seen that he would die tonight, which had driven him to prepare himself to fight death itself.
"I have run from death for ages, and you think you can walk into my house to take me and my only daughter?" He made a spitting gesture to the side. "I want to see you try. Maria, cast the spell and freeze it!" he ordered his daughter, who was making a spell behind him on the floor, pouring blood into a black pot.
Belle had not come prepared for this, but she didn’t waste a moment to raise her scythe in an attempt to beat the girl into opening a portal before she would finish casting her spell. However, the man saw her movement and muttered something under his breath, making her scythe fly away from her hand with a force that almost pulled her along with it.
Before she knew what was coming, the man muttered another spell and an iron pot came flying from behind, hitting her squarely on the back of her head. Pain and dizziness washed over her instantly.
If she had the reaper’s ability to disappear, she would have long fled like every other reaper who avoided black witches. But the blow made her lose balance and she went falling. Just before she could hit the hard floor, a strong arm came out of nowhere and stopped her fall, wrapping around her protectively.