Chapter One Hundred Two

I darted back to the upper floor. The screams we had heard were of pure agony. Someone was in excruciating pain. My thoughts flew straight to Lily, the frail maid who had promised to reveal the Astors’ darkest secrets to me on the second floor.

Benedict Astor must have sent a demon after that poor girl for daring to speak against them. My legs moved as rapidly as possible, and soon, I reached the source of the screams. I threw open the door to that room and found my fears to be spot on. Lily was on the floor, bleeding heavily through multiple stab wounds. The astonishing part was that instead of a demon, my brother Derrick was standing close to the body with a knife drenched in blood.

“Derrick, what is this?!” I cried. I didn't believe him to be the actual killer. He must be possessed or under the influence of heavy drugs or witchcraft.

My brother didn’t spare me a glance and continued staring mindlessly at the maid. His eyes lacked awareness, and his sluggish movements reminded me of a zombie.

Before I could run in there and seize the knife from Derrick’s hand, Charles walked into the room.

“What in the world is this?” Charles exclaimed. “He stabbed the maid. Weren’t you talking to this man in the hallway?”

I had no answer to his questions except to acknowledge that we were wronged by the Astors again.

Charles grabbed the knife from my brother and tried to help the maid. I think I heard him say she didn’t have a pulse and then the beep of outgoing calls. Frozen with shock and fear, I couldn’t react to it. I thought everything was under control, but the enemies proved us wrong.

A frenzy of rage released my body from the paralyzing effects of shock when the Astors reached the scene with their exaggerated reactions and screams. Those over-dramatic fools belonged in theatre or, better, a circus.

“Oh, my dear lord! This boy has murdered our maid. Someone call the police and an ambulance,” Benedict, Satan’s right hand, yelled. On the other hand, his wife relentlessly screamed.

“I have already done that, uncle,” said Charles. “Whoever this man is, he is beyond sick to murder an innocent maid.”

“He is not the killer. It is a sick setup.” I roared.

“What setup?” Charles looked at me in confusion.

“These two set us up.” I daringly pointed my finger at Jane and Benedict Astor. “My brother is not even moving and talking. What did you do to him?”

Benedict Astor opened his filthy mouth. “You have some nerve, girl, for blaming your brother’s crime on us. It’s all right before our eyes. Your brother is holding the knife. Who knows what this crackhead did to our poor maid before murdering her? He could have raped her.”

“Stop lying!” I shrieked. “What did we ever do to you to deserve this? First, you took our father from us. Now you want to frame my brother for rape and murder? What the fuck is wrong with you? You’re demented and pure evil.”

I broke into tears on the floor. My outrage and grave accusations had sent everyone into grim silence. I was exhausted from their psychotic games. They needed to be called out and stopped before it was too late.

Benedict widened his intimidating eyes to a scary extent. “It’s a pity you’re still set on the hate your parents transferred to you. We welcomed you into our home with open arms, and you dare to accuse us of such unholy acts and murder our maid. The police shall handle this matter now. No one is allowed to leave Rothslor Manor until they get here.”

“Charles, you have to believe me.” I turned for help to the only neutral person in the room. “They are the ones who did it. These two have been involved in Satanic activities for decades. They kill and ruin people’s lives for a pastime. A year ago, they murdered my dad, too.”

“Enough!” Benedict Astor’s powerful voice made me shudder. “Nephew, get this woman out of my sight. I don’t want to lose my cool before the police get here. They are just as thankless and spiteful as their late father.”

At that moment, I completely lost it. I charged at that liar, but Charles got a hold of me before I could grab that man’s neck and do humanity a favor by squeezing the life out of him.

“I will make you pay for slandering my father!” I kicked and punched the air as Charles dragged me out of the room. “Let me go.” I pushed Charles once he released me at some distance from that room. “Well, are you their servant now? It was so rude of you to drag me out of there.”

“Cassidy.” Charles tenderly held my hands. “I know your brother’s heinous crime has hurt you. Still, it’s not fair to place the blame on others. I am not saying he did it deliberately because he seems wasted.”

“Wait a minute.” As I desperately tried to think of something to prove my brother’s innocence to Charles, a question popped into my head. “Where is my sister, Mia? Why didn’t she come to investigate the noises? She had gone downstairs with Derrick. Charles, you saw them leave. How could Derrick have come upstairs before us and killed the maid? He wasn’t drugged when we ran into him in the hallway. I told you Benedict Astor has something to do with it.”

Charles still didn’t appear convinced. “We heard them talk about going downstairs but never actually witnessed them doing that. Also, none of it proves Uncle’s involvement in any of this. Sit down and breathe. You’re not thinking clearly. I’ll bring you some water,” he spoke gently to me like I was a mentally unstable child.

“No.” I jerked his hands away. “You’re not listening. You’re making it seem as if I am the crazy one. I am telling you, Jane and Benedict are monsters. They hide their maliciousness behind polite smiles and extravagant lifestyles. Is anyone in your life dead or hurt? There is a huge possibility that they are the ones behind it.”

Charles exhaled loudly and averted his gaze.

“Don’t you trust me?” I asked with moist eyes. I don’t know why I asked that to someone I had just met, but he seemed the only person I could trust there.

“Look, Cassidy. Don’t take this the wrong way. He is my uncle, and all the evidence is against your brother. I am sorry I can’t help you here,” he said without hesitation. The man before me was related to Benedict Astor by blood. He might be a good person, but he was trapped deep in his uncle’s web of lies. It was useless to say anything to him. “I am sorry.” Charles’s lips curled downward. He seemed genuinely sorry about it.

“It’s fine.” I took a step back. “Can you do me one favor, please?”

“Anything,” he replied promptly.

“Keep an eye on my brother. Don’t leave him alone with the Astors. I’ll be right back,” I said, turning around.

“Where are you going? It’s not safe to leave the property.” Charles asked from behind.

“Don’t worry. I am not leaving. I just need to make an important call. It’s something I should have done before coming here,” I spoke without looking at him and walked away.

With determination, I descended the stairs and entered the great hall. My eyes were on the lookout for my sister, and I found her there.

“Cass. What’s all the noise about?” Mia came to me. “I was in the bathroom, and when I came out, no one was there. What’s going on here?”

“Go upstairs and find Charles. He’ll give you an answer to your questions.”

“Why him? Is everything alright? Please, tell me. I can’t handle the pressure,” Mia beseeched.

“I don’t have time, Mia. The Astors have played their first move, and if we don’t hurry…,” I choked on emotion. “Desmond, my incubus is the only one who can help us. I need to summon him right now. Please go upstairs!”

Mia listened to me and ran up the stairs, leaving me alone with a tough choice. I had taken an oath to die before calling Desmond, a demon, for help. However, it was not me but my sibling in trouble. I couldn’t let my brother go to jail for murder and rape. Someone needed to teach Benedict Astor a lesson before it was too late.

I closed my eyes and balled my hands into fists. My body was shaking with a lot of emotion.

“Desmond, I need you. I need you to send Benedict and Jane Astor to hell. Please, save my innocent brother. Please,” I spoke out loud.

A tingling gust of air touched my body. He was around and had been there for a while. The bang on the wall wasn’t a coincidence.

“Did someone call for my help?” Desmond’s voice entered my ears. My anger disappeared because I knew we were safe now. He had always been my knight in shining armor.