Dead Men Smiling

4.2

Most crimes start with something small- but sometimes, its the opposite.

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Sora could feel everyone's attention on him and frowned slightly at the feeling, squirming slightly where he sat cross legged besides Caroline who also had her attention on him.

He mulled her question over; why had he saved her when she was the potential cause of the fire and tried to kill him?

He then shrugged his shoulders. "Someone special once told me that 'no matter what we see on the outside, everyone is a being with a heart and therefore we must treat them as we wish for ourselves to be treated.' I guess that must have been running through my mind."

Caroline nodded weakly. "I see. I shouldn't have tried to kill you based on my superstitions. Thanks for saving me."

"It was the right thing to do." Sora smiled down at the woman

Caroline's breathing slowed and Sora faced the still burning building with a furrow in his brow; shouldn't the rain have put that out by now?

"Rowan...?" Sora's voice was wary as his brain went into overdrive. "Do you know what kind of fire this is?"

Maximus and Sora exchanged glances and Rowan nodded. "It is the purest form of fire to exist. You probably know it as Holy Fire."

Sora faced Caroline and counted every breath she was taking before standing. "But only an Angel can produce Holy Fire and even if' it hasn't been seen in-"

"Over a thousand years," Rowan said, finishing Sora's sentence. "But you're an Angel so you're probably-"

Sora shook his head rapidly, blocking out Rowan's voice. He didn't cause that fire, he was banished, he can't have caused that fire.

Caroline's chest had stopped moving and a cold sense of dread seized him as he locked eyes with someone he knew well.

"See you very soon." The figure chuckled deeply.

His gray eyes showed no emotion as he stared into the fire that he had caused. The fire that killed Caroline who was unable to repent before death took her so cruelly.

Maxims watched Sora in shock. His lack of reaction was not the reaction that he had expected. He stood next to Sora and watched the dying flame with interest. He side-eyed Sora and furrowed his brow; odd how someone who once cried about being banished and losing his wings could harness Holy Fire.

"Hey, Sora." Rowan called. "Mind if I see the ring?"

The former handed him the ring with no comment while Maximus glared at him for being insensitive. Rowan shrugged off the glare and slipped the ring on his right pinkie finger.

"Come on, guys," Sora said while standing. "We have to find Wynter." As an afterthought, he mentioned how maybe they'd also meet Dolan and Leilani if luck was on their side.

-seven days ago-

Leilani eyed the man she married with a furrowed brow. "What do we have to discuss, Your Highness?"

"First things first, you're alive."

It wasn't a question. It didn't deserve an answer. She briefly considered walking away from him but something in his eyes told her that whatever he had to say was either something she wouldn't like or something that would ruin things for her.

she folded her arms over her chest and pursed her lip. "What do you want?"

King Leonardo smirked. "You aren't as formal as you make yourself out to be."

Years in charm school kicked in and Leilani straightened her back and fixed Leonardo with the infamous Imperial family glare.

Something stirred within her and at that moment, she wasn't Queen Leilani who was raised to silently rule by a King's side, she wasn't King who lusted the blood of her enemies, she wasn't Leilani who was twenty-three and the self-appointed embodiment of fun-loving.

She was something far more greater; a woman who knew what she wanted and had the knowledge and will to retrieve it no matter what the circumstances were.

"Your Highness, I'd appreciate if you could stop beating around the bush and tell me what you want."

He rose a surprised eyebrow. "Oh? You still like to read yes?"

She wasn't impressed with his attempt to gain her interest but nodded her head, interested in what he possibly wanted her to read. He handed her a book entitled Creatures of the Dark and smiled as she opened the first page which was about Demons.

When she asked why he gave her a book about Demons, he smiled and told her that he book was written about all the Unwanted that were considered 'dark' like Vampires, Demons, Giants, Sirens, Fairies, Walkers and others that she had never encountered.

She rolled her eyes, claiming that Vampires couldn't possibly be real to which he replied with a scoff before telling her to read what was on chapter five.

Leilani hesitated to do as he told before taking a deep breath and opening the aforementioned chapter.

Vampires are one of the least known and spoken about species that happen to be only appear at night due to the lack of sunlight. It was observed that this rule can easily be beaten by Vampires that either possess a piece of jewellery that grants them immunity to the sun, are Elders or are really powerful.

Vampires are noted to be pale for two possible reasons. It is either because most spent little to no time outside during the day or because these creatures were brought back from the dead which is why they are also called 'undead'.

Leilani pulled her lower lip between her teeth as she processed the information. "Not going to lie, but this doesn't sound possible at all. In short, Vampires are those Zombie creatures that people were claiming to see."

The King glared at her. "I suggest that you keep reading."

Vampires are ruthless creatures that kill amongst themselves and outside their kind to get the one thing that they lust for; blood.

With every sentence that Leilani read, her expression remained blank while one person danced at the back of her mind.

Some Vampires, drink coconut milk and eat crystals in order to satiate their constant hunger.

Her eyes widened. "Dolan eats crystals."

When in vicinity of blood, these Vampires tend to increase their consumption.

She dropped the book with a frown but that didn't stop the last few paragraphs she skimmed over to play in her mind like a broken record. She didn't expect the sense of fear that filled her very being as her mind took her back to the one night where she nearly lost her mother to a Vampire; the night she had first met Dolan.

She had remembered running from the scene in hopes it wouldn't catch up with her and soon found herself running once more, ignoring Leonardo's call for her to return.

When she had bumped into Dolan, she nearly laughed that fourteen years ago, she had been running from a Vampire and nearly laughed as she pushed him away; what she assumed was her best friend needed up being her most dreaded nightmare.

She had called him a monster and punched him. He never retaliated- he just wanted to know what was wrong.

She threatened to kill him.

And to an extent, she probably did.

When she was a good distance away from Dolan, she found a letter addressed to her from the King telling her to meet him in the next town so that they could discuss everything.

The weight of everything that occurred in less than two hours crashed on her and she let the tears fall before covering her face as she sobbed. "I'm sorry, dolly. I'm just so scared and I don't know what to do."

Red eyes gleamed as someone watched. "I have the target within sight."