CHAPTER 515: THE LIGHT WE WAITED FOR (14)

The once bubbly, sunny young woman, Suzie, had changed. In just a few short months, the lightness in her step had vanished, replaced by a cool, measured stride that echoed through the Thornston estate halls like a quiet warning. Her demeanour now mirrored Katie, her predecessor.

Suzie’s eyes, once wide with laughter and wonder, now missed nothing—sharp, unblinking, and shadowed with thoughts she never shared... or rather, thoughts that she could not afford to share with anyone. She was a woman with a great responsibility for the whole Thornston estate now.

Suzie had turned into solemn prim and a no-nonsense person. She had no tolerance for such, as it meant more lives would be lost, if she slacked in her actions, though she had found out with time, that her actions or inactions bore nothing on this. She still walked the estate like she bore it on her shoulders. However, Suzie never lost her pigtails, and those were the only thing that bore any resemblance to the old carefree handmaiden.

Many measures had been put in place since the masters of the estate had gone ’missing’, and Suzie was mostly in charge of making sure that it stayed that way. The fact that this was a near impossible task because of that Aliya creature, was something that Suzie tried not to think about.

She had resorted to thinking that, if the immediate family, including Rocky and Ava, were okay, then the masters would handle the rest upon their return. Suzie was inspecting the corridor just off the Central wing when she turned the corner and froze.

A maid was slumped on the floor, her back trembling with quiet sobs. Cradled in her lap lay another maid—pale, limp, drained and dead.

’Aliya’s handiwork! OMG! Not again!’

A flicker of rage bloomed behind Suzie’s eyes, hot and blinding. Her temples throbbed, and a familiar, low ache nudged at the base of her neck—a headache. In all her life, she had never witnessed that much death since those few months when all of this started.

Suzie inhaled sharply through her nose, trying to steady her breath. Her fury danced dangerously close to the surface.

’Not again! Not again! Not again! Not again!’

She stepped closer. The weeping maid looked up with red-rimmed eyes, fear quickly replacing grief as she scrambled to her knees.

"I-I didn’t know—she—she just—"

Suzie held up a hand. "Quiet." She needed that silence to think! Though it was suffocating.

She looked down at the lifeless girl, who, like the rest, had pale skin, no bruises and no wounds. She looked just... empty.

Her jaw tightened. How was she supposed to explain this?

Another unnatural death had been bound to bring more questions! Questions that she had no logical, humanly way to answer!

This was the time that she needed Murray and Currey more than ever! They could have helped her solve the ’what to do next’. She could feel the pressure tightening around her like a noose. She straightened slowly. Her voice, when it came, was bitter with restraint.

"This is getting out of hand."

She walked over to the crying maid and knocked her out swiftly. She did not need another lose variable now. It goes to say that both Fae brothers and Ian would have been proud of her actions!

’It’s better for her to sleep this off, while I figure out what to do!’’ Suzie told herself and then turned away from the scene, pacing a few steps down the hallway before pausing, one hand resting on the stone wall. She knew that only a handful of maids were at work and there was no probability of this scene being witnessed.

’What can I do? What should I do?’

Suzie blanked on what she could do in that moment ... after all, she was only human.

Only human...

And terribly, hopelessly outmatched. Even ten of her could not deal with one creature that sucked the essence of humans!

Just then, a strange pulse rippled through her—something sudden and electric that stopped her mid-step. Suzie blinked, eyes darting around the dim corridor as her hand flew to her chest. It was like a heartbeat... or not ...., but not her own. A warmth. A calling of a sort... as if some information she had yet to understand had been fed to her. Her breath caught.

"No... it couldn’t be. Could it?"

Suzie closed her eyes and felt it again stronger this time. It surged like light through her veins, tingling at her fingertips and coiling deep in her belly.

She gasped, a hand flying to her lips.

"What the hell! OMG!!!!!!"

She looked back briefly at the two maids’ forms on the floor, and a surge of hope hit her,

"Could it be true? The Miss... was alive?"

Her knees nearly buckled with the weight of sudden joy. Her vision blurred with tears—but this time, not of grief. It was of real hope. The corners of her mouth lifted, trembling with disbelief.

"She’s really alright..." Suzie whispered. "She’s alive...!"

And just as the hope bloomed within her, Gabriel’s scream pierced the corridor—sharp, terrified, and very close.

"Mamammammaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!"

The sound jolted Suzie fully back into the moment. Her spine straightened. Her eyes narrowed. She turned towards the direction of the voice, which seemed not far from her.

She turned on her heel and ran—not away, but toward the scream.

"Hell, if I’m going to let something happen to these kids on my watch!"

No more hiding. No more pretending she couldn’t act because she was "only human."

Suzie could feel her strength rising—mysterious, unfamiliar, but hers.

And as she flew down the hallway, skirts catching the wind, she thought only one thing:

"You will not feed on the innocent again. I will not let her!"

Suzie rounded the last corner and upon the scene of Gabriel in his mother’s hands, she took in Aliya’s already scary and rotting features, standing her ground. She needed to be strong for Gabriel! And that stance in itself irked Aliya to her very bones. The fact that the maid was not cowering in fear or reverence her presence was unforgivable.

Suzie’s upper lip twitched in disgust.

’How dare Aliya stand there so openly? Like she could do anything she wanted? Like no one could stop her.’

On the contrary, Aliya also thought that Suzie was being silly, thinking that’s he could stop her.

The hunger clawed at her belly. Her skin was already tightening over her bones. She felt herself get unstable. She needed to feed. Now.

Suzie did not chance it, and just as Aliya was looking at her, she yanked Gabriel from her arms. Even she, Suzie, had no idea how she had done that.

"You promised you would not feed inside these walls! Not from staff and especially, not from family. What is wrong with you?!"

It happened too fast, and all Suzie heard was that,

"Then I’ll feed from you!"

It took Suzie a moment to understand Aliya’s implications. All she saw was that Aliya’s eyes locked with hers, and she felt a chill run down her back. Aliya moved so quickly, that Suzie did not realize, until she was in her hands, but Suzie did not flinch.

Not far from there, the rest of the family, including Alex, Geneva and the other kids, had rushed out behind Gabriel only to hear that thunderous scream. The adults jolted, fear, recognition, and urgency flashed between them, but they also knew that they would be helpless if the situation involved that creature, Aliya.

But when they arrived, they saw a scene of Suzie in Aliya’s hands, and Gabriel scrambling behind one of the big curtains.

Geneva rushed to Gabriel and picked the trembling boy up. They had seen a picture of what Aliya supposedly was but seeing it in person was something else altogether.

’Was this what they had been dealing with?’

Decaying flesh and vile, disgusting! Geneva lacked any other description of what Aliya was turning into.

Ingrid and Samantha inched closer, and Alex stood protectively in front of them.

Suzie now dangled from Aliya’s clawed fingers, her feet inches above the ground, her neck caught in a vice-like grip as Aliya brought her mouth closer to hers.

Suzie’s heart lurched in her chest, but her eyes... her eyes were steady.

Aliya laughed—a horrible, guttural sound. Her face was inches away from Suzie’s, twisted into a sneer.

"Hahahaha... Where did all your bravado go now?"

Suzie struggled for air, but her lips curved into a smile, soft, unwavering.

The air between them seemed to crackle. Suzie was at death’s door, so why was she smiling? Was she crazy?

"You think you have anything in you that will stop me? Are you that confident or plain silly as you look?" Aliya hissed, opening her mouth wide.

"N-o," Suzie whispered, voice trembling but clear. "But they will."

Aliya’s brow furrowed, and she closed her wide mouth. "What—"

Boom. It was so sudden, catching Aliya by surprise - A blinding blast of light erupted from behind, and beside her, slamming into Aliya’s back like a lightning bolt from the heavens.

Aliya let out a shriek of pure rage and shock, her body stiffening violently as if struck by a divine hand. Her grip loosened. She was too stunned to react momentarily. Suzie, in turn, fell, landing hard on her side, gasping in pain—but alive.

*********

Thank you so much to all for your votes and comments! I hope we can keep it up ^_^

Support the author by reading only on Webnovel :) ~Uploaded only on webnovel by Loctovia ~