Chapter 333: Ones Who Lurk In Shadows-I

Elise felt overwhelmed with the wind brushing her face, it was not an exaggeration to say that Ian ran faster than a stallion. It took him less than three minutes to arrive on the South side of the forest. Entering the forest, Ian then helped her to walk down from his arm. 

"You are fast," Elise took a mouthful of breaths. She wasn't the one who ran yet she felt her whole body tired and her breaths depleting from her lungs.

"Thank you for your praise, it's one of an advantage of being a Demon. You might be able to do it soon since you have a demon's blood in you," saying this, Ian saw her taking a little silence, still confused as it was only an hour ago did she learn there was a demon's blood running in her. 

Elise guessed, "I think I must have inherited it from my father's side," because during the time she lived with her mother, she remembered how her mother was a human, she could get hurt and she was harmed mentally. Was that also the reason why her father had disappeared?

Ian raised his hand and smothered the back of her hair as they walked through the forest, "Don't stress it now, nothing comes well by thinking about one thing and stressing it. Once we found your sister we can hope to find the answer of your father too," and Elise nodded, hoping the same. "Also whatever you might be, I don't care, as the one I love is you not your blood."

Elise's lips widened, she looked around, hearing no voice, "Where do you think they are? I can't hear anything."

"Me neither. Now I understand why I feel my Demonic's power is being interfered by something that was casted to this land, the magic isn't for humans but Demons." 

"But Ernest, Alfred, and Mr. Gabriel is a human," Elise said when it dawned to her as the informations fell to pieces as if she had found the last piece to the zigzag puzzle, "Unless two of them isn't human?" Before they could discuss it any further, a piercing scream came from their left, starting Elise who fell to a brief contemplation. She shared a fraction second of gaze with Ian and nodded before they left to the source of the voice.

Elise looked around to the place, finding a trail of blood and Ian spread his hand over her, choosing to walk before her to follow the blood trail. Looking at who it was, Elise was alarmed, "Mr. Alfred!"

The man curled himself behind the bark of the tree. He was holding to his arm that caused the pool trail of blood as he had a missing arm. Alarmed, Elise come to his side.

"He is loosing too much blood," Elise informed and Ian came near to look at it. "We need to bring him to the doctor as soon as possible. Can't you heal him?" She asked in whisper.

Ian took a look but shook his head, "I can't fully heal him. My power is currently unstable it would be undesirable if I instead turn to the demon side. But I can stop his bleeding for now."

And when Ian reached out his hand, Alfred who had fainted from pain and shock woke up drowsily. Catching Ian's face, his good hand went to clutch to his sleeve and horror colored his paled face, "Milord! Ernest! Ernest is still out there! The black ghost-like creatures were chasing after him!"

Ian frowned and Elise said, "I will wait here with Mr. Alfred. I will be fine."

"This time don't forget to call my name, understand?" Ian stared deep to her eyes making sure that Elise had kept his words to her mind. "It's the first thing that you should do."

"I will," Elise convinced him, "I won't make the same mistake."

"Good girl, I will be back soon," Ian put his hand lightly on her back before taking his leave. Watching him left, Elise was then occupied with taking care of Alfred's grave injury. Pulling her skirt, she took one end to her teeth and pulled her right arm to rip the skirt.

Taking the fabric, she then dapped the excess blood, "It would have been better if there is water, but we have nothing here," she said while circling the fabric tightly on the end of his shoulder to where his arm had been severed. "It will hurt a little," and Alfred gave her a nod as she tightened the tie.

"How did you learn this?" asked the man exasperatedly inhaling a deep breath which quickly flew from his lungs. 

"I used to help animals, there are some who lost their limbs," Elise explained, she frowned when seeing that the blood continuously flow from the injury. If it keep up, Alfred would soon die from loosing too much blood. She knew she can't have the man sleep, and spoke to fill the silence, "What happened during checking the houses?"

"I don't understand. We were with Mr. Beel, knocking on the doors but then suddenly a door open on the house next to which we had knocked and black figures appeared. They had horrible view; wide mouth like what a wolf would have with sharp teeth glistened from drolls, their eyes were red and most of them had horns on their head. They looked at us as if we were food we didn't have any chance to discern what happened when it ran to us."

From the description, Elise could imagine how frightening the ghouls must have looked. Mr. Alfred and Ernest didn't have weapon to defended themselves hence, causing them to be in the most vulnerable position. "How long have you've been separated with Mr. Ernest?" 

"I don't remember, I fainted when I tried to stall the ghouls with my body, I told Ernest to run to notify you and the Lord."

Suddenly, Elise's hand suspended mid-air when she was about to dab more cloth on the man's wounds. Her eyes widened slightly and she immediately took a step, "You are not Mr. Alfred."

Alfred blinked at him, confused at what she was saying and pulled a nervous smile, "What are you saying Miss Scott? Do I not look and sound like how I usually do?"

"Alfred was a human," Elise announced, she pulled her hands in front of her body, "He wouldn't know anything about ghouls."

"Oh!" The man's tired and aggrieved expression suddenly turn to a surprise as if he reached an epiphany and his lips widened to an ear-to-ear grin, spreading wide to show his smile where his white teeth had turned to zigzag shape gleamed. "I must have slipped that from my mouth. I should have known better that you were a smart and clever girl. When I look at you, I knew there was may things off from you. But you know clever girls are always the first one to die. It is fun to chase them, however, they always gives you the excitement as they always created the longest chase which I like."

When Alfred stood up, Elise caught his hand that was severed begin to grew in a gruesome manner that could cause people's stomach to churn.

"Where is the real Mr. Alfred?" She demanded to know while keeping her distance.

"Him? Here," the man rubbed his stomach and before he could come to her, Elise took a mouthful of breath and yelled,

"Ian!"