The baron's brigde

Caellun was in her office, which was right next to her bedroom, since both were more isolated from the rest of the house. The west wing had always been taboo for everyone, and only the chosen one was allowed to see it, for cleaning purposes only. Apart from that, the closest places were the library and the visitation room, where he usually ate. The only people who dared enter those areas, apart from the baron himself, were Corvina and Rowena. However, due to his keen hearing, Caellun was never caught unawares, as he could hear the sound of footsteps of everyone moving around the mansion. At least, until now.

Engrossed in his thoughts, he couldn't understand why he was so shaken by the music he had heard earlier, which made him even more stressed. He paced back and forth, taking off and putting on the jasper ring that Corvina had given him as a present. The accessory looked simple, but it was enchanted to allow him to go out in the daylight without being hurt by the light that burned his skin. It was a gift of gratitude for having saved the witch's life almost 80 years ago, but he didn't wear it often and intended to keep it that way, as he preferred his secluded ward.

While she was thinking, she didn't notice Corvina's entrance, in her agitated state, despite the noise she made with her heels, the woman watched him look at the window, and noticed that the vampire was quiet, with a lost but questioning look on his face. Corvina tried to remember another time when this had happened, but couldn't.

"Caellun? What happened?" she said, but received no reply.

She decided to act more forcefully, raised a finger and caused a pot on the desk to fly towards him. The object moved quickly, almost hitting him in the face, until Caellun caught it seconds before it hit.

"Corvina, why did you do that?" he said, annoyed that he hadn't noticed his friend's arrival.

"What happened? How come I didn't see you coming? What's happening to me?" asked Caellun mentally. Corvina approached him gracefully, showing concern in her gaze.

"Caellun, you don't look well, and you didn't see me coming. What's making you so pensive?" The witch knew something was wrong, after all, he could hear her from meters away, maybe even kilometers. How could he not have seen her coming? Was his friend ill?

"I don't know, Corvina... My mind was too far away this time. But tell me, what happened?"

"Then I'd like to talk to you. I know it's not in my character to do something like this, but unfortunately I couldn't suppress my feelings. One of the girls imprisoned the new girl in the library and, if it hadn't been for me, she'd still be there. So, as punishment, I did what I did!" Corvina pointed to the window, where a storm was raging. It was late at night, and the storm looked intense.

Caellun was amazed as he looked outside. Before, he thought it was just another normal winter storm, but now he could feel the magical energy in the air. Confused, he looked at Corvina.

"You got angry and created a storm? I don't understand what you're getting at."

Waiting for his friend to understand, Corvina remained silent for a few seconds, allowing Caellun to listen to the sounds around him. It was then, as if he had fully recovered his senses, that he heard the desperate cries of the girls outside the house, asking for help and banging on the door.

"Why did you do that?" he said, starting to walk towards the door without waiting for an answer. His eyes were now red with anger, and in an instant he disappeared into the shadows of the corridors.

...

The girls, exhausted from knocking, began to give up and sat down in front of the door, waiting for someone to open it. After the last girl sat down, a noise echoed from inside the mansion, and the door, which had suffered so much from the knocks, opened at once, startling them all.

Caellun had a grim expression on his face, as he had been forced to leave his chambers to rescue them from the storm. He took a few steps back, making room for them to enter, and looked at each of them.

"Please go to your respective rooms and take care of yourselves. Take a hot bath and try to warm up. Then we'll talk."

The girls nodded in unison and hurried past him. Corvina, who was standing at the foot of the stairs, smiled when she saw their displeased expression. As they passed her, each changed their posture, fearing that the witch might do something else.

As soon as they had all disappeared, Corvina walked to the door and passed Caellun, standing on the steps where the girls were sitting, feeling the raindrops on her face and smiling with happiness, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and, slowly, the rain subsided, the clouds dissipated as if they had never been there, and the storm disappeared.

Caellun watched her friend, who looked younger after the prank she had pulled. She knew that Corvina wasn't bad and that she hadn't done it just for fun. The girls had done something wrong, and she took the new girl's side, even if she shouldn't have. Although he didn't entirely agree with Corvina's motives, he liked seeing her smile.

After this moment of appreciation, he went back inside the mansion and disappeared back into the shadows. Rowena, who had gone out to buy groceries, arrived some time later and found Corvina sitting in front of the house with a smile on her face. The ground, which had previously been dry in the forest, now had a few puddles of water on it, and the weather seemed wetter inside the mansion gates. The woman made her way to the stables, where the coachman picked up her things and took them around the back of the mansion. She followed him and, when she reached the kitchen, she didn't see anyone, which she found strange, as Helena and Victoria usually helped her with the tidying up, but she decided that she would try to understand what had happened later.

...

A week had passed, and the girls came down with a bad cold that left them in bed for a few days. This meant that Caellun didn't look for any of them, because she knew that, in withdrawal from her poison, they would become increasingly stressed in the house, and they all knew that everything that had happened was the fault of only one person: Mavka.

Seline, who had disliked the newcomer ever since she arrived, came up with a plan with the help of the others. In the evening, after everyone had retired to their rooms, they met up, each with a box in hand, and headed towards Mavka's room. Victoria was the first to enter, opening the door carefully, as she already knew it wasn't locked, which made the plan easier. One by one, they opened the boxes and dropped what was inside, then left, laughing quietly.

The night passed, and around 3am, Mavka was startled awake by a noise in her room; she couldn't see in the darkness, but she heard small footsteps on the floor. She quickly managed to light a candle that was next to her on the desk and stepped onto the floor, trying to figure out what was going on. It didn't take long.

"Ah! Rats!" Mavka shouted, terrified.

Several rats had been released into her room, they were on the curtains, the armchairs and even her bed, causing her to run to the door, letting the candle fall to the floor. The mansion was completely dark, but Mavka's desperation was so great that she didn't care, so she ran up the stairs to the only place close enough that she knew the way, but as she entered the library, she bumped into someone who, in a matter of seconds, grabbed her by the arms.