Hearing a mad voice echoing in the darkness and a ghostly form appeared before them, Joey had no time to scream because he quickly fainted as soon as his eyes saw it, floating on the torturing chair. Medina might be scared, but she wasn't chicken out like Joey does; she fell onto her knees, frightened at the sight. Meanwhile, Skylar wasn't. She was smirking since she didn't need to do anything to call their wandering soul.
"A Saison," Skylar responded, making the ghost of a lady narrow its eyes as it stared intently at her.
'Saison…the human Saison or the vampire Saison?'
"Well, the Saison family name is broad…I'm a Vampire Halfling Saison." She replied, shrugging her shoulders.
'Hm, I see…based on how you carry yourself and the blood reflecting your eyes, you're the great-granddaughter of the crimson thorn vampire empress Saison.'
"Never heard that code before." She said, not caring about that part, since that's not the reason why she called a wandering soul.
'She's a quiet vampire, living in the shadows but never seen in one place for more than a week. She moved like a ghost, a fleeting moment like what Immortal Blood does, but once she appears among the Saison family, whether in the human realm or among vampires, a bloody destiny will tick.'
"What's her connection to this moment?" She coldly wondered, making the ghost chuckle slightly before appearing closer to her.
'State your name and I'll tell you.'
"Skylar Saison-Monsour." Without hesitation, she introduced herself.
'Ah, the young Halfling Skylar, her only daughter. Your mother and I have known each other since I was an apprentice of her mother. We teach each other a thing or two about using our vampire magical gifts, exploring them, but she got married and has children. However, I was surprised when she suddenly visited the main manor of the Saison family. Nobody dared to go there unless they were either called or something came up, and she's carrying you with her.'
"How old was I?" She wondered as she attentively listened to a side of her younger years she had no idea about.
'I think you were three or at least four. She took you there, and it was my first time meeting the crimson thorn vampire empress. She only showed up in the Saison family when someone inherited a bloody destiny and met you without hesitation. Your mother was horrified and guilty for involving you in something which made me realize your bloody destiny was about him.'
"Rudolf Strange." She whispered coldly, making the ghost nod, but Skylar noticed something in the ghost's rage. There was something beneath it, hidden, but it was there, making her question it. "What's your connection to him?"
The ghost might fill with rage, but when it heard her soft and sincere voice, she smiled painfully.
'Rudolf Strange was once a noble vampire working at the Cross family. He was a great doctor that everyone adored and admired, but none of them caught his interest. He just focused on where he was good at, regardless of how many failures he faced; he still stood tall, and I was once his patient, but my mate. He was a good man, loyal, but something shifted in him. One devastating failure almost caused my life to change drastically. His ego became big and creeping too high, forgetting me as he fools around to get what he wanted, and he always gets what he wanted until your mother's presence happened. He hated refusal, defeat, rejection, or being ignored, and all of it, he tasted it with your mother. It crushed him, making him obsessed without noticing it.'
"Your mates, how come he fell?" She asked curiously, making the ghost look away, sighing.
'He had a couple of mates before I even came into his life. I heard them say that they would reject the bond with him, or I'll end up dead. I didn't believe them because he's my first and I wanted to learn it myself, sadly, I learned it the hard way. I was in critical condition due to the rogue attack at the main manor, and when I regained consciousness, fully healed, he became different and got jealous of your mother for getting his attention, but learning she's married and has beautiful children, I forgot why I befriended your mother in the first place. I tried to save him through the mate bond we still had and the mark we shared, but he didn't dare to look at me anymore and was killing me slowly.'
"And you snapped?" she guessed, and the ghost chuckled sadly, nodding.
'Yes, and I'm the first one he killed when I snapped and fought with him. I thought I got him back to his senses and away from his obsession, but it was no use. He had fallen for the worse, leaving him with no choice, and cursed him.'
"Wait, what do you mean, got him back? What did you do? And what about the curse?" Skylar asked curiously and directly, making the ghost smile softly.
'Our mated mark has still had an effect on him, but it didn't take him two days to return to his old habit, forcing me to overpower my mark on him. My mark turned into a crimson death, which can only be given to a mate who betrayed love.'
"And you had that ability through family line?" she guessed.
'Yes, and through the help of your family, your mother particularly helped me manage and control and explore it, but I died in the process, and he had no idea what happened. Your mother kept me away from him and buried me, protectively, in this yard – in this very isolated cell of yours. And since he's no longer coming back to me, the mark escalated, eating him from the inside out. It may be slow, but it was painful.'
"Is that the reason why he's digging corpses around here to ease the pain or to look for a cure?" she guessed, wondering about what they learned about the dug up grave in the prison tower before deeply thinking something else, "Or perhaps looking for her remains."
'Yes. He's looking for a cure for the curse that I put on him. But sadly, it won't. Nothing could save him until his soul turned to dust.'
"But every curse has a cure." She commented, making the ghost nod.
'Yes, but not with the likes of him, who doesn't learn about the power of love. He's given chances, but he kept repeating the same thing, taking for granted those mates who loved him despite his flaws.'
"You still love him." She pointed bluntly, catching the ghost off guard and furious.
'NO! I DESPISE HIM.'
"Don't lie. I can read between the lines, and by the way you speak about his loss. You're still hoping…" She pointed firmly, making the ghost narrow its eyes on her, studying until it sighed upon seeing a reflection of a friend.
'You…you're like your mother but more on your father…and maybe yes, I still love him and hoping that he'll see me, the love that I pour in him, but – he won't…'
"How can you be so sure?" She asked bluntly before adding, "I mean, he fell miserably when he almost lost you, and looking back at it, he might have been scared of facing you because he saw you badly injured and maybe afraid of losing you."
'It will be funny if that was the case, young Skylar. He was losing me slowly, and the last straw, he did, completely lost me.'
"But not in the afterlife." She said, making the ghost stare at her, amused by her cleverness.
'You…'
"You're still here, wandering or maybe, waiting for him." She winked before collecting the things she had brought with them, making the ghost laugh.
'HAHAHA! You got me there, lass. Fine, what do you want from a wandering soul like me?'
"I just want to know how to defeat Rudolf, but it seems I've got an idea how to make him remember." She hummed a little but answered, grinning at the ghost.
'Use my mark. It's spreading and I'm going to give you the sight to see my crimson mark...'
Skylar faced the ghost again when she felt its cold hand placed on her temple; her triquetra medallion glowed, blinding. She began to feel the wave of heat spreading throughout her body, making her eyes go white and bloodshot. When the ghost's hand left her temple, Skylar gasped and fell onto her knees, trembling a little.
'Remember, young Skylar, once it bleeds too much, he's nearly dying, but if it's still faint, find the inner core, that's where he's painfully wounded.'
She looked back at the faint glow of the ghost before her, wiping her bloody tears away until it vanished, whispering her last hopeful request.
'Help me bring him back. Bring him back to me, please, young Skylar.'
***
When the eeriness around her old cell vanished, Skylar found her leg still shaken up, a little numbed in her spot, making her look back at Medina, who was holding her ground beside the unconscious Joey on her left.
"You two okay there?" Skylar asked coldly, but worried.
"We're good, but he's still not good with creepy things like this," Medina responded before leaving. Joey slept on his spot.
"Seems like it." She chuckled, shaking her head before looking seriously around the area.
"So, what do we do now?" She asked, standing beside Skylar.
"Can you scan the area and look for a potential spot where a coffin could be placed secretly around here?" She asked politely as she remembered what the ghost had just mentioned. She wanted to check it for herself.
"Skylar, it's not a good idea to disturb a grave." Medina reasoned quickly, making Skylar chuckle slightly.
"We're not. We just need to know where it was and if the remains were still inside." She refuted defensively, stating her reason.
"Still, that's disturbing." Medina pointed out, sighing.
"It won't be disturbing if we're not taking it out." She refuted firmly, reasoning with her before adding seriously, "We just need to know because I'm doing her a favor, a last request."
"I don't want to be cursed later after doing this." Medina sighed, hoping not to be cursed for disturbing a grave.
"You won't because she knew." She reassured, making Medina shiver, but sighed before doing what she was told to. "Let's find your remains before I do the rest."
As Medina checked the entire cell, Skylar started to feel her legs and decided to meditate. She closed her eyes and emptied her mind after a couple of breaths. When she does, she begins channeling the medallion, and her vampire side begins kicking in as well. She could feel the heat from her veins rushing and radiating around her body, jolting Joey from his sleep.
"What happened?"
"Quiet down, chicken, she's meditating. Help me to look around."
"What to look?"
"A remains."
"You're kidding, right?"
"Sadly, I'm not. General's orders."
"Damn. I'll check on the left."
When they still couldn't find anything, Skylar's aura began spreading around the cell, touching everything faintly until it stopped around her torturing chair.
"Something is not right with my old chair." She thought, curious about the strange energy flow coming out of her old torturing chair.
Skylar's eyes opened, narrowing her vampire eyes curiously at her chair, where she sensed a faint energy coming out from it. But she knew it was not the core; instead, she began tracing the energy flowing out from the chair and went to the chains, wrapping around the walls, the ground, and up to the ceiling, scattered, making her gasp.
"You've got to be kidding me," Skylar muttered, making Medina and Joey look confused at her reaction.
"What is it?" Medina wondered, stopping what they were doing.
"My mom had a trickiest way of protecting an old friend's remains," Skylar responded, sighing in disbelief but smirking.
"Just like you?" Joey nonchalantly said, making Medina smack his arm. "What? It's true, though."
"Joey, shut up." Medina spat softly, making Joey frown.
Skylar didn't listen to their banter and just snickered at how her mother placed protection around the entire cell – blocking anyone who tried to disturb her old friend's remains, making the entire cell her mausoleum.