Investigation

As they left, late that night, Milena was exhausted. She hated dancing, and her feet were sore from wearing those heels for so long. Valentin had stayed behind with his fiancee, and would come back later, hence it was only Raphael, Lucian and Milena in the carriage. While one was dozing off, Raphael seemed concerned.

“What is it?” Asked Milena.

“There were more murders while you were gone, Millie. I discussed it with some of our friends, tonight. Bodies found sucked dry, and abandoned in plain sight.

“...In plain sight?”

“It sounds odd, doesn’t it? Any vampire a bit smart would at least try to conceal their wrongdoings, but this one seems to be provocative. The townspeople are scared, the situation with the vampires is getting worse downtown.”

It was strange indeed. At such a crucial time, why would one be so reckless?

“How many?”

“The sixteenth body was found three days before your return.”

That mean sixteen corpses in four months… Even thinking that they had found them all, one body per week was too much, really too much. The work of several vampires then? Milena couldn’t help but think something was odd.

“Anything on the victims?”

“According to the official statements the Royal Guard provided, there were fourteen women and two young girls. But after discussing with the Society, seven of them were prostitutes, four women from downtown, two were orphan girls, three of them haven’t been identified yet.”

“Seven prostitutes…” repeated Milena. “No one claimed their disappearance?”

“I’m not sure.”

This whole affair was really too odd. At least, Milena was satisfied on one point: Raphael’s relationship to the Society proved itself helpful, after all.

“What about your circumstances?”

“As you predicted, the Society has been… very helpful on the matter.”

“Good.”

Indeed, it was huge relief. However, Milena couldn’t settle down. This whole killing situation didn’t look good at all. Didn’t the Society of Vampires had said it was a rogue? Why would a vampire need to drink a full body’s worth every week…?

“Stop the car.”

“What? But Millie…”

“I need to go elsewhere.”

She opened the carriage door and gave her orders to Dinah and Olivia. After a few minutes, someone brought Black Bella over, and Milena got on her horse. Blanche, jumping down for the carriage too, took the appearance of a snow fox, ready to follow her.

“You’re not going alone, are you?” Asked Raphael, worried, pushing Lucian’s head away from his shoulder.

“I’m taking Olivia, Blanche, and Ruby, too.”

“What about our knights?”

“The main objective is to stay discreet, why would I take a full battalion? Bring the boys home, Raphael. I’ll be home before dawn, I promise.”

“You stubborn… Father will be mad.”

“I know.”

Without adding a word, she had Black Bella run away, her maids following. The carriage was left behind with a sighing Raphael.

Milena was indeed tired, but she knew she would get another sleepless night if she didn’t look into this first. The women rode downtown, through the forest to avoid being seen by people. At night and at this time of the year, the temperature wasn’t bearable for a human. Hence, she had left Dinah behind, and only Olivia and Ruby, her vampire followers, had followed. Even for a Dhampir like Milena, her lips were turning a bit purple, and her hands were shivering despite the thickness of her leather gloves. 

They got down the horses in front of the church, and a young vampire boy came to greet them with surprise.

“Lady! You’re back!”

“Go wake Bandit and Mint for me, please.”

“Yes, my Lady!”

They walked inside the Church, trying not to wake the sleeping children. Most of them were snuggling against the others to stay warm, under piles of blankets. There was a little fire, warming the whole place, watched by two other little vampires. 

Bandit appeared from one of the piles of sleeping kids, looking sleepy. Mint soon followed behind him too, carrying a baby.

“Purple Eyes!”

“Hello, Bandit, Mint. It’s been a while.”

“Yeah, I heard you went away.”

“Was everything alright here?”

“Yes. It’s not the worst winter we’ve had.”

Milena nodded. Indeed, it could have been way worse, and they had enough to watch out for themselves now. Mint tilted her head.

“Lady, you don’t usually come here so late. Do you need something…?”

“Have you heard about the deaths?”

“Ah, yes. But the orphans weren’t some of our group. Actually, from what we heard the deaths took place at the other end of the City.”

“What do you know about the victims?”

Bandit shook his head with a frown.

“Not much. The two girls were from that Orphanage the Lady de Winter pays. Their disappearance was signaled right away, and they found the bodies soon after. Since the second one, their benefactor has given them more security.”

“They have two Winter Knights watching their orphanage all the time,” added Mint.

“Also, one of the victims was the miller’s daughter, she was nice. She used to give money to some of the younger ones.”

“Was she pretty?”

Milena’s sudden question seemed to give them a bit of a surprise. Mint and Bandit exchanged looks, shrugging.

“Huh… Not really, probably average. But she was really nice.”

“What about the others?”

“Three of them were from Madam Red’s house.”

This time, Milena was the one frowning. Olivia sighed.

“You mean the Director of that entertainment establishment?”

So, they meant the Brothel… Of course, Milena couldn’t really be aware of that kind of thing. It wasn’t proper for a young Lady.

“Who is Madam Red?” She asked.

“The Head of the working ladies,” explained Mint. “She is kind of famous for running most of the brothels around here. She is very respected for being strict on the customers, and she is good to her girls. Actually, some of her… well, workers used to be orphans from the streets. if Madam Red though they were pretty, she would give them jobs.”

“Some of the... boys, too,” said Bandit, blushing a bit.

“I see…”

Milena stayed lost in her thoughts for a while, but Olivia frowned.

“My Lady, don’t even think about it.”

“What? I haven’t said anything yet.”

“That’s what scares me!”

Milena rolled her eyes, and they fell on the baby.

“An infant?”

Mint looked down, a bit sad.

“Oh… She was left at the Church’s door last night. A newborn.”

“She’s… a vampire?”

“Yes… So we’ve been giving her blood for now, but it’s a bit difficult for us to take care of a baby… i mean, we do have really young ones, but usually, some orphanage takes the younger kids in. But for a baby vampire, it’s a first.”

“Give her to me.”

To their surprise, Milena took the baby in her arms, with a sigh. The baby looked newborn indeed. She didn’t even have any hair yet, and her eyes were closed. Mint looked a bit worried about her, too.

“My Lady? Are you…”

“I’ll take her back to the De Crescent Manor. We are a family of vampires, after all, we have all we need back there to take care of her.”

“Thank you!” Said Mint, looking relieved.

Milena, still holding the baby, turned to them again.

“What about the other… women?”

“We know two of them used to work in the streets,” says Bandit.

“Madam Red should know about them as well,” Mint added, frowning. “Bandit, I’m sure Madam Red knew all the victim women. There isn’t any p********e she hasn’t at least heard off.“

“Yeah, but her Brothel is on the other side of the City, and she doesn’t like us going there, even the oldest…”

“I’ll go,” suddenly said Milena.

“My Lady, no!”

“Olivia, don’t yell, you’ll wake up everyone.”

“I’m against this, completely against you going there!

“You said they have male prostitutes, too?” Asked Milena, ignoring her.

The young man blushed, but Mint nodded.

“Yes. Actually, we know a few of the workers who grew up with us. I could give you their names…”

“My Lady, you can’t possibly think of going there, this isn’t happening! You’re a lady of noble rank, you shouldn’t go anywhere near that kind of establishment!”

“What is the name of the House?”

“The House of Dreams.”

How befitting, thought Milena.

“It’s close to the outskirts, near the North End. The high-ranked customers usually go in black charriots and walk in directly. You have to wear a mask to get in.”

“A mask?”

“It’s Madam Red’s rule, to hide her customer’s identities. Even the staff and the workers all wear masks.”

Milena nodded. How clever… This way, even if someone barged in, they couldn’t recognize who is who. The workers and their clients probably waited until they would be behind closed doors to take them off. She smiled, much to Olivia’s despair.

“Anything else I need to know?”

Mint shook her head, but Bandit was frowning.

“Squirrel and Rat said the building we were showing has probably been abandoned for real. No one’s been in or out for weeks now.”

“I see… If it’s safe, please try to investigate it somewhere, or find where they went next, please.”

“Understood.”

With that, Milena and Bandit discussed their living conditions, but they were done in a few minutes. When she left the Church, carrying the baby safely, Olivia was still mad.

“My Lady, I’m definitely against going to that place.”

“Fine. I’ll go with Dinah then.”

“You know this isn’t what I mean! You can send one of us to investigate, but you definitely can’t go yourself!”

“I need to discuss with that Madam Red. If she knew the victims, she probably has clues of her own about the culprit.”

Milena got on Black Bella’s back, making her horse could find the way back home alone. She let her throttle at the peace she liked, as it wasn’t very late yet.

“Why can’t you let the Royal Guards investigate this? It isn’t your business to begin with!” Insisted Olivia.

“Something is too odd about this. Don’t you think it’s strange? Multiple vampire attacks, all the bodies left in plain sight, right inside the City? Only young women, too, either beautiful or popular. Something that would catch people’s attention.”

“A vampire instincts guide them towards someone they are attracted to…”

“I want to see the bodies.”

“You’re at it again! Most of them should be burnt or buried by now!”

“Not the last victims, right? The Royal Guards must have kept them for investigation. Damn it, I’ll need to ask for a favor again.”

“My Lady, who much more impossible can you get! You want to visit a brothel, and then a morgue? What’s next!”

Milena ignored her, thinking long and hard. She could ask the Prince Ellias for a favor, but he would definitely catch what she was interested in. 

The two women rode back to the Castle, where, as expected, Raphael was anxiously waiting for them. They hadn’t been gone for long, but his sister Dhampir being out in such weather was enough to worry him. He ran out to her as soon as she entered the castle, carrying a thick blanket.

“Finally! I knew you said you wouldn’t be gone for long, but without knowing where you went, I… Wait, Milena, what is that?”

“Can’t you see? It’s a baby. Take her.”

Without asking twice, Milena put the baby inside Raphael’s arms, leaving her brother completely speechless. A vampire baby? What was she thinking!

“Milena! You can’t just bring a baby home like this…”

“Why not? Just adopt her, Raphael. We can hire a nanny and this is the best environment for a child.

“Everyone will think she is my bastard!”

“Well, it’s better having rumors about you having an affair with some random village woman than about your real problem, isn’t it? Think about it as killing two birds with one stone. Moreover, with your tastes, you probably won’t give birth to an heir anytime soon, right?”

Her brother suddenly turned a bit whiter, embarrassed. How could Milena use his weakness for that! Was she serious…?