The Crown's Obsession (WN)

Music Recommendation: David's Writings by Christopher Willis

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Madeline's eyes went wide at the amount of smoothness that Calhoun used when delivering the news that she wanted to break to her parents. Her parents looked visibly shaken, their eyes as wide as hers as they stared at the King.

Taken aback, her father responded, "My King?"

Calhoun went around and took a seat on the couch, waving his hands at the empty ones so that Madeline's parents could sit. Once they were seated, he said,

"Before you ask what, let me tell you that your daughter and I are already aware of your deeds and we would like to hear your version of the story of why you did, what you did to her." Madeline saw how her parents' gaze shifted from Calhoun to her. They had a look of worry in their eyes, wondering how to respond to the King.

"W-where did you hear it from?" asked her father.

"We never wanted you to be put in the coffin, Maddie," said her mother, "It was something I never wanted but-"

"But you did it anyway," Calhoun completed her mother's sentence, "Yes, we know that."

Her mother shook her head, "No. It is very hard to let go of your first child. But the situation back then was so confusing. Your father and I, are not the same as what your grandparents are. Did you hear it from them?"

Madeline slowly nodded her head, "Why didn't you ever tell me? You had all these years. I even came to speak about it, but you said nothing," she asked her mother. It had been days since both her parents and she had not discussed about the subject and were playing hide and seek on the issue. Madeline decided that it was time to sort out things and get everything on the table no matter how guilty their actions were.

"I was scared when you mentioned about breaking the glass. I know I should have told you something, but when you spoke about it, I got worried that they would be sending you back to the coffin. Your father is a dormant fallen angel, and this includes your sister because it seems like you took all the traits leaving none for Beth," explained her mother, "Neither did your father nor I ever wish something like that upon you. Even after your grandparents put you in graves, I didn't stop visiting you."

Her father agreed, "Your mother isn't lying, Madeline. Though my parents aren't aware, we made visits over those sixteen years."

"What did grandpa and grandma tell you about me?" asked Madeline. Though she and Calhoun had heard a few things about her from her grandmother, she still felt the need to ask her parents to make sure nothing was hidden and to be aware of what happened until now.

"Didn't they tell you?" asked her father slightly confused as he thought that is where Madeline heard about her being kept in the coffin.

Madeline bit the inside of her cheek. Before she could frame her sentence, Calhoun beat her to it. He said, "Madeline's grandfather is dead, and her grandmother is being kept imprisoned for trying to kill Madeline not once but many times in the past when they found who she was."

Both Mr. and Mrs. Harris' face turned pale in shock, "What?"

"Are you asking 'what' for their punishment or because you are shocked they tried to kill your daughter?" Calhoun didn't know how to hold his tongue, and his words came as smooth as he had given Madeline his word to ease the situation, only that it would be done in his way.

Mr. Harris was shocked over both the things, while Mrs. Harris turned to look at Madeline, making sure she was alright. The woman said, "They said they were going to protect you."

"Which person is protected by being nailed in the coffin so that even if they wake up, they are expected to die out of lack of air, food and company," Calhoun demanded, his eyes narrowing at Madeline's parents. If Madeline didn't love her family, everyone would have been dead by now upon his word.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Harris looked guilty, and her mother was the first one to drop her gaze. Mr. Harris was in shock that the King had killed one of his parents. When he went to open his mouth, Calhoun said,

"Your father instructed your mother to kill your very own daughter, someone who killed people in the past as self-defence. Do you understand what that means? Be careful with your words because anything that will be said against me or your daughter will be held in the same way to what happened to my cousin Markus."

Mr. Harris stared at the vampire. The King was not only cruel but also cunning. He was right there when the trial had taken place, listening to the trials that were going on in the courtroom. He knew something was off about the situation. He knew it from the very beginning of how wrong this vampire was, who was sitting in front of him was not suitable for his daughter Madeline.

The King had used one single piece of letter which was written by a maid to Markus.

The letter that Markus had used to frame the King, the King had used the same letter to frame his cousin to create treason. The truth was that there was nothing much in the case except for treason, but then treason was the highest betrayal that could warrant immediate death.

Calhoun decided to put some light on the matter with his in-laws, a constant smile on his face.

"I know you are smart Mr. and Mrs. Harris. Now as we are going to be family, I would expect nothing but you people coming out clean, while I will mostly do the same. I know what you are thinking," he said to Mr. Harris, "The High House was here not just for Markus but also for me. For my past actions, but as you saw, my dear cousin dug his grave far too deep, and he tried to put the blame on me with a piece of made-up evidence by him. Now we all know what happens when you make up things that doesn't exist. One loose end of the thread and it pulls out the whole fabric."

"There are people in the High House who are involved with you," murmured Mr. Harris and Calhoun's smile broadened.

"Life is sometimes the connection that you make, if you know people, you will go places. If you don't, the only place a person will hit is dust," answered Calhoun and this had Madeline surprised. "There are people who hate me, but there are also people who know why I do certain things. I did what I had to do, to protect things that matter to me. Let's speak about my family another time and get back to your family issues."

Madeline looked at both her parents who looked uncomfortable, but at the same time, it looked like they were trying to come in terms with the news that was told to them, or more like slapped on their face by the King.

"What did they tell you?" asked Madeline. Her mother looked more willing to speak than her father, who was still processing the news about her grandfather being dead.

"That day, your grandmother brought you back home while you were still covered in blood," started her mother, "We were not allowed to go near you. Your grandfather said something about you holding too much energy, and if we tried to irritate that ability within you, we would follow the same fate as the people whom you k-killed."

Her mother wrung both her hands that were on her lap, not meeting Madeline's eyes.

She continued, "It is only your father who was aware of angels. I didn't know anything about it, Maddie. I learned from what was told at that time, they said that you were highly volatile and told us to leave you with them. I didn't want to leave you! You are my firstborn!"

Madeline remembered her mother crying before they left the Carnival village, "I know," she whispered.

"We were told not to speak about you, to let people forget you," said her mother.

"And that worked well," commented Calhoun.

If the person in front of them wasn't the King, Mr. and Mrs. Harris would have continued to be tight-lipped about this matter, but with his habit of killing, they didn't want to take a chance.

"It is how the fallen angels have worked until now," said Madeline's father. "The fallen angels have tried to protect their kind by not letting others know about their existence. In the past, there have been times when dark angels have been born, at that time there was nothing but chaos, bloodshed everywhere. It was then did the fallen angels start to kill those dark angels."

"But they didn't die," stated Calhoun and Mr. Harris nodded his head.

"They couldn't kill them. Fire, water, nothing worked, and that's when they decided to hammer those dark angels in the coffin, by putting spells on them and burying them so that they would never wake up. They continue to exist, but they are as good as dead. In a dormant state," Madeline's father looked at Madeline who was listening to him keenly. "Your grandfather believed it would be the same case with you, and we had to take a call back then. But it didn't work on you."

"We don't know how you woke up, but we were happy to see you back and in front of your grandparent's house after those sixteen years," confessed her mother, who had tears in her eyes.

"What happened next?" Calhoun questioned, unmoved by Mrs. Harris' tears, "It must have been like seeing a ghost at your house, isn't it?"

Mr. Harris had a look of guilt on his face. He continued, "My parents were shocked because they didn't expect her to wake up."

"Did you find out who woke her up?" interrogated Calhoun. Madeline's attention fell on her father, who gave a nod.

"It took a long time for my parents to realize that she was woken up by whisperers of the first fallen angel." Madeline and Calhoun stared at her father, waiting for him to elaborate, "There has been a rumour about dark angels who are being summoned by the first fallen angel. As much as we like to call the person to be a devil, there is a little inaccuracy in there. The story doesn't follow what humans have come to believe."

Calhoun titled his head, asking, "And how little is this inaccuracy that you speak." His interest had piqued, and it almost looked like he was going to bite Mr. Harris' head off of him.

Madeline's eyebrows furrowed, questions appearing on her mind as she waited for her father to speak. This was something her grandmother had not bothered to tell them last night.

Her father took a deep breath and exhaled, "Before the first fallen angel fell from heaven, it seems he wasn't the first one, but second. The one humans know of, that is the second fallen angel. The period when both the events took place was close by, so people associate it as one single incident. Most of them believe that the second fallen angel turned to a devil. But we don't know what happened to the first fallen one. It is told that the first angel has been trying to beckon similar angels of his kind."

Calhoun's mouth twisted with a sad expression on his face, "And is this the whole truth? Anything else that Madeline or I need to know?"

Mr. Harris shook his head, "My parents were tight-lipped about a lot of things. As I do not possess the same abilities as them or Madeline, they keep those things to themselves. Secrets that are not supposed to be whispered about."

Madeline, who was listening to her father, said, "I saw some person, someone who was at my grave the second time I was put in there."

"It must be a whisperer," her father replied, "They are only message takers or delivers, they cannot do anything more than that. But we cannot be sure."

Calhoun said, "Strangely, the fallen angel wants to let Madeline out while your family has been trying to keep her in the coffin. Why hasn't he come for her then?" he raised his eyebrows in question, "He had many years, where he could have come in contact with her."

Mr. Harris frowned, pondering on the question, before he said, "I think it is because until now Madeline's true nature had stayed dormant. My parents tried their best until this very time."

"And they shouldn't," affirmed Calhoun, "Look what happened when they tried. I prefer Madeline out in the open than in the coffin, if you know what I mean," his eyes brightened.

Calhoun looked at Madeline's parents, who were harmless. So far with what he saw and heard, the only threat Madeline had was from her very own family, her grandparents who had tried to nail her back into the coffin.

Calhoun would do everything to protect Madeline, and if anyone would try to harm her, he would be the one to put them in the coffins and nail them down instead.

Mr. Harris asked, "Where is my mother...and father?"

"It would be best if you forgot about them, Mr. Harris. Someone who can kill their own blood without question, I wouldn't try to look for them."

Before they could be dismissed by Calhoun, Madeline asked her mother, "Did you know what they did to Beth?"

Her mother frowned deeply, looking back as if she had no clue, "What happened to Beth? Is she also-"

"She's fine," answered Madeline. Her parents were innocent, and they didn't know what her grandparents did to Beth or to her.

"Thank you for answering the questions, Mr. and Mrs. Harris. And for the record, Madeline didn't do anything to your father. It was I who killed him for trying to kill her," said Calhoun, to receive no response from Madeline's father.

Mr. Harris looked like he would need to lay down before any more words could be spoken to him.

Madeline pressed her lips, not knowing what else to say. Her mother came forward, and stood in front of her.

"Madeline, I was the happiest when you returned home after a few days. Even though your grandparents were displeased by your return, your father and I were happy to have you back. We only hoped that nothing bad would happen, and we tried to shield you in the best possible manner. We wanted to protect you and tried to make sure that your grandparents wouldn't get a reason to put you back in there. And as years passed, it looked like things had turned normal."

And it was true, thought the older woman. She and her husband had pushed Elizabeth to take the lead and shine in a way where Madeline got to live a life where she was not in the limelight. Her husband and his family took the utmost care not to trigger the dark angel in her, who could start killing out of the blue.

Madeline's mother hugged Madeline, whispering to her, "You are still my daughter. No matter what." Hearing this from her mother, Madeline felt her eyes prickle.

At the same time, her father said to Calhoun, "My father said that for a dark angel to turn to who they are, they need to come in contact with another creature who is equal to them, a person of darkest thoughts and being. We don't know how Madeline turned to one because we always kept a watch on her. We were extra careful after her second return, letting her mingle with only humans and trying to have as little contact as possible with the vampires."

Hearing what was spoken, Calhoun's eyes considerably narrowed. A dark creature of dark thoughts. His eyes fell on Madeline, who shifted her gaze from her mother to look back at him. Mr. Harris had spoken those words only to Calhoun.

Recollecting the time when he had met Madeline for the very first time, and when she had first shown the traits of being a dark angel, he wondered if it might have been him who had triggered her innate nature.

"I would like to talk alone with Madeline if you will step out of the room now and enjoy the weather outside," Calhoun didn't mince his words.

Madeline wondered if Calhoun had ever minced his words before saying it to someone. The words spoken by him were not all direct, some were indirectly sarcastic, taunting and on rare occasions polite. Her parents offered her a small smile, a heaviness in their heart which was visible on their face. With the door of the room closed, she looked at Calhoun who walked towards the table that had different shapes of bottles with liquor in it. Hearing the glugging of the liquid before it was poured into the glass, she saw him walk towards the couch and take a seat without a word.

Calhoun had asked her parents to step out so that he could speak, but he was quiet.

"Is everything alright?" questioned Madeline.

"I am not sure," he replied, taking a sip from the fancy-looking glass and gulping the liquid that had his Adam's apple bob up and down. "I don't know if I should be happy or not. But then it would be a lie," he said, taking sips from the glass until the last few drops of the liquor. "I am thrilled that I met you before the Eve of the Hallow. I have met a lot of people in the past, Maddie. Some who have stayed in my memories, while some I have met again. But you, I didn't know you could hold so much significance in my world."

"Is this about what my father said?" Madeline asked him. Calhoun had been looking at the empty glass, and he looked into Madeline's eyes.

"You were listening," he murmured, and she gave him a nod.

Though her mother had been speaking with her, some part of her thoughts and ear was listening in on to her father's words. It was hard not to when the topic was about her.

"Do you think it is because of our meeting in the alley?" Madeline didn't know what happened before her mother found her. And what conversation took place between her and Calhoun in the alley.

"It is possible. Your father said you met another dark creature."

"But you are not a dark angel," stated Madeline.

Calhoun sat quietly looking at her, and this had Madeline doubt him. But previously, Calhoun wasn't aware about the existence of fallen angels.

"No. I am not a dark angel. I am a demon vampire, remember?" and Madeline nodded her head.

Calhoun got up, walking back to the table to pour himself another glass of liquor. Madeline bit the inside of her cheek. She wondered if Calhoun was thirsty right now. She had seen him drinking little quantity of alcohol or blood in the dining room, and it had been some time since he had last taken blood from her.

He turned around, leaning his back against the table before he lifted his glass to his lips.

Madeline didn't break her gaze away and stared at him as he tilted the glass that he held in his hand. The liquid slid down to his lips as Calhoun emptied it in one go.

"You seem to be thirsty today," commented Madeline to see one side of his lips pull up.

"I am thirsty," he confessed, running his tongue over his sharp fang.

"You can take blood from me if you want," Madeline offered Calhoun for the very first time. He returned to her, leaving the glass at the table.

Calhoun would have loved to quench his thirst if it weren't for the footsteps that he heard, which stopped right in front of the door.

"Milord!" came the servant's voice from behind the door, having Madeline turn to look at the closed door. "The dressmaker's assistant is here."

Madeline then heard Calhoun say, "Maybe later. Right now, your wedding gown awaits for you to try." He walked to her, offering his hand, and Madeline placed her hand before standing up. Before they got to the door, he paused his footsteps and leaned towards her to kiss on her lips,

"Just because the sky is dark with clouds, it doesn't have to mean that one cannot enjoy the rain."