Married To The Mad Vampire Lord - Chapter 517

Chapter 517: “Is somebody there?”
“Nightbrook has fallen in one of its biggest disasters, one I don’t think we can ever recover from, with the humans’ population overshadowing us. We have lost everything without having anyone to blame for it. And my condolences to everyone who lost someone in it, and also my wishes to the many who have made the decision to move away for future protection. Since many of you have made the decision to leave the land behind, I believe there is no use in rebuilding anything anymore.”

There were murmurs of agreement among the vampires at the prince’s words. Apart from the earthquake and fire that had destroyed things, rogues had infested almost every town and city, with no way of driving them back into the forest where the trees were burned down. They did not have soldiers to kill and clear the lands of rogues, hence Nightbrook was no longer a place to stay for the remaining vampires.

“We will move to the mountains and far away lands to start afresh, that’s the only way,” said another vampire, causing many to agree.

“What do you plan to do, Your Highness? Are you going to stay in Nightbrook?” someone asked the prince, who heaved a long sigh. To think that he and his brother had done everything to ascend the throne, and their father had done everything to be the king, only for everything to turn out this way, for them to not only lose their castle and king but also the land to rogues and unknown fire.

The prince looked up at the gray sky and at the far distance where smoke had been rising like ribbons for days now and said, “Before I decide on what to do, I planned to stay in the old castle. I have sent men to check and clear it for me, and they said the Mad Duke no longer stays there. It’s clear.”

“What about the crazy Duke? What do you think has happened to him?” came someone’s curious question that made the prince’s face turn a bit hard.

“I do hope he is dead, for he deserted Nightbrook when it needed him to fight.”

“No doubt he also didn’t survive, because if he did, the castle wouldn’t have been empty,” murmured someone.

While everyone were deciding on a course of action to take and shaping their new life, Angel stepped out of the portal into the castle grounds. The boy couldn’t help but find it cool that he could travel this fast through his father’s portal. He looked at himself and smiled, seeing everything of his was intact along with the coat his mother had put on him. Then he lifted his head to look around, only to realize he hadn’t been sent anywhere near the castle’s front door. Instead, he had appeared on a side of the grounds he had never seen before.

“Are you there, Max?” came his father’s voice in his mind.

Angel bobbed his head automatically, forgetting that his father wasn’t standing in front of him to see him nod. So he quickly spoke through the mind link instead. “Yes, Papa. I’m inside the castle grounds, but not inside the castle.”

“That’s fine. Can you find your way to the front door? I have my vision set there; I need to see you go inside,” his papa said. Angel started to nod again, caught himself, and spoke through his mind.

“Yes, Papa.” Then he added, with a small frown, “I cannot think when I talk in my mind and you talk. Can I not talk until I get inside? And you also please not talk inside my head until you see me inside.” Angel requested it earnestly, realizing he couldn’t think and talk in the mind link at the same time. He needed to do one thing at a time.

Rohan chuckled softly. “I know how that feels, it happened to me too. Okay, I won’t talk. Now start walking and don’t stand around or get distracted by other things,” he told him, and then closed the link to allow the boy do his thing and find his way into the castle.

Angel nodded his head again, this time not bothering to correct himself since the link had already closed. He let out a small sigh and finally began to walk forward, looking around the gloomy grounds. A thin veil of fog was rising, and the whole atmosphere felt so different from the cottage he loved so much, the place he had been born.

But since he had never been to this side of the castle before, Angel didn’t hurry. He walked slowly, taking his time as he looked around and tried to take in every unfamiliar detail of his surroundings.

He was passing a rusty, opened small gate connected to the castle building when he stopped, thinking he heard something from inside the gate. He turned to look in the direction where darkness was the only thing he could see inside the gate, and a curious look came to settle on his face.

He was here for Enny, and Papa had told him not to get distracted, but Angel had always been a curious person. What was inside that gate making a banging sound? He wondered, looking around to make sure his papa wasn’t seeing him as he retraced his steps towards the direction of the gate.

I just want to take a quick look, he told himself, realizing his father couldn’t see him here since the vision was in front of the castle and this was at the back. He dashed into the darkness and slowed his steps when his eyes adjusted to the dark enough to notice that on either side of the place were rooms with cage doors, as that was what he could describe them as.

There was a rotten smell in the air that made him pinch his nose and begin to turn and leave, but the clanging and banging sounds made him stop again and look ahead into the darkness.

“Is somebody there?” Angel asked, his voice echoing back at him. But his words only made the clanging sounds turn into a louder bang and a growl, and his brows shot up.

“I know that smell,” Angel muttered to himself and began to run in that direction, his small heart beginning to beat fast in his chest. It couldn’t be what he was thinking, but when he reached the place, he saw it was exactly what he had been thinking.

“Uncle Rav!” Angel exclaimed as he took in the rogue standing behind the cage, hitting his head against the iron and sticking his hands out through the bars to reach him while growling.

“You have turned worse, Uncle Rav,” Angel muttered, watching the creature that still had the hair and features of his uncle Rav, only it was covered by bulging veins and wrinkled, blood-stained skin and white eyes, with darkened nails that tried to reach for him. However, he stood a safe distance away from the cell, remembering vividly the way his arm had once been bitten with the skin ripped off.