84. Murderer Or Attempted Murderer?

**Serene**

Henry stared at the girl in confusion. "You expect me to let them be?" He asked incredulously. "They tried to harm you!"

Serene sighed. "Yes, I know. But I have a way to draw them out. If we go looking for them directly, they might hide or run away. Just let me try. It might work."

"No way," Henry said firmly.

"I have to agree with father." Serene glanced towards Leo, who folded his arms. "There is an active murderer probably running around the palace."

"Attempted murderer," she corrected.

The queen chuckled slightly.

"Oh, so you wanna be killed?" Leo glared.

"I didn't say that!"

"Regardless, he's right. There's no way I'm letting you play bounty hunter."

"Thank you, son!"

Leonard didn't reply.

"Please!" Serene flung the covered off her legs and gripped Elaine at her elbows with a desperate plea in her eyes. "This is the only way. I have a suspicion as to who they might be. I might know their motive, and if I'm correct, they're the same person who killed the other maids. There is no way those were all accidents. You've thought so too, right?"

Elaine held the girl steady. "Child, breathe. Just tell us who the suspect is, and we'll look into them for you. You've just recovered, yet you want us to let you go after someone alone?"

"If I do, there's no way to prove they did it unless they do it again. Besides," she grinned. "I won't be alone."

________

The day rolled by quickly. A few servants who were still on duty made sure that everything was set back in place and no cleaning items were left in the wrong area. Guards who were working got switched out with new colleagues who would take over for the night. One of them was Alfred.

Alfred and Jefferson agreed to patrol the area, since there were enough people at the gates. They parted and went their separate ways with the intention to meet back at the palace steps.

That's how he found Tara and Alan sitting on a bench close to the path leading to the kitchen. Alfred approached them, catching bits of their conversation while doing so.

"Are you frigging crazy?! How many people were there, Tara? You could have been convicted right there and the whole plan would have went to shit!"

"Oh my god, can you stop?" Tara rolled her eyes at Alan. "When Laviere came to the kitchen he said that something she ate didn't go well with some pills she was taking. They won't suspect a thing."

"But they could have!"Alan insisted. "You were the only person you ate from. Remember, when you gave her that bloody drink?"

"I think you're forgetting something."

"What?"

"She ate from Mrs. G, too."

"But they wouldn't suspect Mrs. G who had no reason to poison her, now would they?" Alan gripped his hair in frustration. "Why would you go after her, anyway?"

"Come on, Alan. I can't believe you're still into her." She rolled her eyes. "Don't you see her acting all buddy-buddy with the prince? Lame!"

"That's not what this is about, Tara."

"I know, I know, cool your brakes. The Kings left to have dinner with a noble family. They wouldn't have if they suspected something."

"I swear to the heavens, you just don't get it-"

They continued arguing back and forth without realizing Alfred stopped behind the maid. "Yeah, why did you make such an idiotic move?" He asked.

Tara froze, then slowly turned her head and smiled. "Alfred, I didn't sense you. Guess I'm too overstimulated with joy." A chilling laugh escaped her lips.

Alfred simply stared at her. "My family's lives depend on everything going smoothly."

"Wow, you men just love to burst my bubble." Tara flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Look, within a few days this place will be totaled. You will have your family." She pointed at Alfred, then to Alan. "And you will have immortality. Isn't that grand? The thing I'm supposed to get has another girl drooling on it. So tell me, why can't I protect my property? Alan, go home. Alfred, don't worry so much. I'll be in the kitchen. Mrs. G promised me some toe-curling scones."

She left them by themselves and walked the rest of the path to the kitchen. Alan shook his head. By the foot of the bench laid a brown bag with a single strap. He picked it up and placed the strap on his shoulder. A hand went up to pat Alfred's arm. "You'll get them back soon, buddy."

Alfred nodded, and Alan left.

The guard felt conflicted. He knew he had a choice to make, but what if the choice ended up with the worst possible result?

He looked up. Tara hadn't gone inside yet. She was watching something from the doorway. He left her there and walked away.

Once he was out in a more dense section of the garden, he called a specific number from his contacts. The person who picked up the facetime call was not who he expected, but he recognized the face nonetheless.

It was that rogue guy. The same one who had killed that man and his wife so many weeks ago when he and his team went to patrol the town. He would never mistake that face, one with pure intentions to cause pain to whoever came across his path.

"Hello there~" the being said. "Jenifer told me to expect a call from you."

Alfred felt shock, then anger spread through his entire body.

"Put them on the phone," was all he said while holding his anger in.

"Oh, these guys?"

The camera panned to a young girl and older woman restrained on the floor with metal braces holding their arms together. The little girl raised her blonde head as if she heard something. "Daddy?" She called out, voice thin and broken. His wife could barely look him in the face. Both of them looked weak, but her mother appeared to be the weakest of the two.

Even through the phone he could see that her skin had lost color. Her body had slimmed down to such an extent that he could see her shoulderbones protruding. Worse still, there were long, dried cuts vertically created along her right upper arm.

"What the hell have you been doing to her?!"

"Hm? Oh her, right? You're married, correct? What a lucky bastard."

The rogue placed the camera at a position where Alfred could have a clear view of him licking his wife's neck. She barely flinched. "She makes such a pretty face when she's in pain," the rogue chuckled.

Alfred's blood was boiling at this point. "Listen here, you piece of shit-!"

"No, you listen here, you piece of shit," it bit back. "You better make sure everything goes smoothly. We're too close to accomplishing our goals."

He brandished a knife, and began cutting into her flesh. She trembled but not a word came out. Alfred's daughter screamed and kicked the rogue's hip over and over again, to no avail. Fresh blood trickled down Abigail's flesh and he licked it up.

Alfred's hand gripped the phone so tightly it should have broken. Here he was, watching some filthy undead bloodsucker feed off his beloved, and there was nothing he could do about it.

It looked up and licked its fangs. "Take this as Jenifer's warning. And don't think I'm a bad guy or anything like that! I've gotten permission to feed on the hostages from her. So, in reality, I'm not the one you should be glaring at, Daddy."

He laughed and hung up the phone. Alfred stayed silent, staring at the lit screen. In the next minute, he lifted the phone, prepared to throw it as far as he could, but he stopped himself. He knew if he did so, Jenifer and her rogues would suspect something was up when they couldn't reach him.

The guard turned around and stared at the glowing lights of the palace. Jenifer's promises weren't set in stone. At first, he didn't want to risk them getting hurt. Now, there was only one way he could think of to ensure their safety.

He had made his choice.