The Crown's Obsession (WN)

Madeline ran her fingers across the envelope that looked new, yet she noticed the speck of dust that had come to settle on top of it. She turned the envelope around to see no name of the sender written on it. She handed it to Calhoun, and he tore the envelope before taking the letter out.

'Dear Lady Constance,

It has been a while since we last spoke. I write this letter to you in the hope that you are doing well and as requested by you, I wanted to inform you that the bat is now awake. Please do write to me to the same address we first spoke about. The place that comes after the water and the trees.'

Madeline, who was reading the letter standing next to Calhoun craned her neck. she looked up to see him, "The letter is addressed to your mother."

Calhoun didn't reply. He stared at the letter, his face serious, "Looks like there was someone who cared about my mother. Unfortunately, the letter came too late." It felt years had passed by since his mother's death, "She never spoke about anyone. From where she came."

"Not even your grandfather?" questioned Madeline.

He shook his head, "Especially not him. It made the man look like he was a control freak, and wanted things to go the way he wanted." He looked at the word before his mother's name. Lady. People didn't often address a woman with status unless they were of high importance. Until now, all Calhoun knew was that his grandfather was sleeping, hibernating, "He's awake."

Madeline frowned, wondering who Calhoun was speaking about.

"The bat. It refers to my grandfather. He's awake from his hibernation," stated Calhoun.

Calhoun's grandfather?

Madeline wondered why the person had left a letter to his mother, like the person had sent out a warning to be aware and cautious, "Did your mother ever speak to anyone else?" she asked him. She didn't know if Calhoun was interested in finding the person who had written the letter to his mother? Looking at him right now, it didn't seem like he was interested. His face was calm, just like before the storm.

"Apart from the men who fucked her? No," came the words from Calhoun who didn't mince his words. In the next second, the letter caught fire and disappeared from his hand. They heard some clatter come from outside, and both of them turned to look at the door. "Shall we return?" he asked with a smile back upon his lips.

Madeline wondered what Calhoun was thinking right now, which he concealed with a smile on his lips. All these years, she believed she had a perfect family. Grandparents who doted on her and her sister Beth as they always invited them over to their house. An aunt who liked to teach them the life of the high society which somewhere every one of them secretly craved for. Parents who were kind and generous and a sister, even though Beth was self-centred, she was still someone whom Madeline had relied on.

Though her family didn't have a lot of money, it was sufficient, and she was happy with it. Madeline knew only a few things which Calhoun had lived through, and she wondered if there were other dark things which he hadn't shared with her for her own sake.

There must have been somethings in his past that had scarred and carved him to be the person he was.

When Madeline stepped out of the house, she took note of a man who stood in front of the house holding a rod in his hand. Calhoun, who stepped out of the house noticed the man, and he greeted,

"Holden."

"I thought I would not see you here, Calhoun. You have the nerve to show up here," said the man, whose clothes were shabby and his face holding patches of mud on it. "Came here to reminisce about the past," he said, hitting the end of the rod on his palm.

Madeline looked back and forth between the two men, wondering if the man named Holden was a friend or a foe of Calhoun. It looked like he didn't care about Calhoun's status. When Holden's eyes fell on Madeline, her back straightened, and she could felt a magnetic pull towards Calhoun for safety. But at the same time, she felt her hands starting to sizzle.

"I see your speech has not been fixed even after years. No wonder you are still in this hellhole," chuckled Calhoun.

Holden's face hardened in scorn, "What can I say, I am not someone to kill my own parent's to climb on the social ladder. And who is this lady? Come here to shack, is it?"

One would wonder if the King would be angered by the rude words spoken towards Madeline, but instead, Calhoun responded with, "Unfortunately, the bed is broken. Maybe if you could fix the bed and add a new mattress we could do it," he taunted. Calhoun suddenly push her away as Holden came right at him with the rod up in his hand.

The rod came to crash straight at the wall, breaking the already fragile wall as bricks fell on the ground while leaving a cloud of dust in the air. Madeline stepped away from the house, to see the man with the rod look around for Calhoun.

"What are you doing by dodging my attack?" asked Holden.

"I don't want to commit a murder today," said Calhoun, who had quickly come to stand behind him. But suddenly two wings erupted out of the villager's back. Seeing this Madeline frowned. When the cloud of dust settled down on the ground, she saw the wings were not similar to Calhoun's wings, but they were bat-like wings.

The man quickly turned around, he swiped his hand in front of Calhoun in an effort to get a hold of him. Calhoun pulled another rod from the wall of the house that seemed to be sticking out, to block Holden. The villager laughed, "I was hoping you would come here so that I could get even with you for what you did last time."

"It is unfortunate that I do not remember what happened," replied Calhoun while taking a step back and swinging his arm to have the rod hit the villager's face. Madeline flinched when she heard the crack sound that came when the metal touched the demon's head.

The person stopped moving, his body leaning forward with his head that looked like it had moved to the side along with his jaw. He wasn't a human but a demon and she saw him twist his jaw back to its position.

"How would you like to die today?" asked Holden, "You know you cannot kill me, don't you?" he grinned, and Madeline noticed the jagged teeth of the man, reminding her of a fish that was caught by one of the fishermen, "You might not remember what happened, but you killed my wife. Ripped her apart in two pieces. How could you do it?"

"Haven't you heard that demons don't fall in love unless they are destined to be together? And I already told you, she wasn't someone who wanted to live with you. She preferred me, which was why she came to me that night," came the casual words from Calhoun before the demon went to attack him again. Since this was a secluded place where they stood away from the main village and market area, no one was around to see Calhoun or the man fight with each other.

What did the man mean Calhoun couldn't kill him? Questioned Madeline in her mind. It seemed like both of them had a feud years ago because Calhoun had killed the man's wife and the demon wanted to get even.

The other houses that were around them started to collapse as the rods came in contact with the walls, one hit after another. Madeline had never seen a pure demon, who at first glance looked like a human. As more clouds of dust appeared in the air, Holden turned his head to look at her.

"What do you think about tit for tat, huh Calhoun?" asked Holden, making his way quickly like an arrow dashing towards Madeline. But before the demon could harm her, a gunshot was heard, and she saw a red round mark form on the demon's forehead. And he fell on the ground.