The Blood Contract
Chapter 72: Unrestricted access

Chapter 72: Unrestricted access

"They’re all dead? Is that what you’re saying? The council killed them all?" Serena threw the questions, unsure if that was what Marlowe meant when she said the entire family were eliminated in a calculated manner.

"Yes. That is exactly what I’m saying. All four of them died in one night from food poisoning. And although the maid who carried out the act has paid with her life, the brains behind it are still walking free," Marlowe explained as she put a few things in order.

Serena’s heart dropped, a heavy weight settling in her chest. "Oh my God, that is so cruel. I feel so sad for him," she said softly, her voice trembling with emotion. She couldn’t begin to imagine the kind of pain that came with having your entire family with you one moment, laughing, living, breathing—and the next, they’re all just... gone. The thought alone was unbearable, and she found herself shaken by the depth of loss he must have felt.

"No need to be sad. It’s been over 20 years, and although I know he hasn’t forgotten it, it doesn’t bother him as much as it did when it happened."

Serena stayed quiet for a while before something occurred to her. "But I’ve not..." She trailed off, not sure whether to continue the question or not, as possible answers to the question already began to register in her mind.

"But what?" Marlowe urged, wanting to hear her question.

"I was wondering. I haven’t seen a single picture around the house. I mean, there should at least be a family portrait, or portraits of either the father or mother. But there’s nothing like that here. Unless if this is a new house."

"It’s not a new house," Marlowe clarified, her voice calm but tinged with something unreadable. She went silent for a moment as she methodically wiped her hands, her movements slow and deliberate, as though gathering her thoughts. Once she was done with that task, she turned toward the door without meeting Serena’s eyes. "Come with me," she said quietly, her tone leaving no room for questions, then started for the door with measured steps.

Serena followed her outside, through a different hallway—one she hadn’t paid much attention to before, tucked away from the main parts of the house. It felt more secluded, almost hidden. They walked in silence until they arrived in front of a door she was certain she hadn’t seen during the initial tour of the house. Despite how observant she usually was, this particular part of the house had somehow escaped her attention.

Marlowe opened the door and stepped in, holding the wooden barrier open for Serena.

Serena’s eyes widened in surprise when she stepped into the room—or office, rather. Although it was clean, the furniture looked untouched, the air slightly stale, as though time had paused within those four walls. It felt more like a preserved memory than a functional room.

All the portraits she hadn’t seen anywhere in the house were in there.

"Meet the Dravens," Marlowe announced, pointing at the pictures mounted on the wall, and those resting in other places.

Serena’s gaze immediately landed on a striking portrait on the wall. It was a woman who looked to be in her early forties. She needed no one to tell her that was Lucian’s mother, because she could conveniently say the woman was the female version of her child. The resemblance was unmistakable.

"Mrs. Alina Draven, Lucian’s mother," Marlowe confirmed, coming to stand beside Serena, who had unconsciously taken several steps until she was right in front of the portrait. "Lucian was very close to his mother. They share a very tight bond. It took him a very long time to accept she was gone and finally let her go."

"Why were they killed?" Serena probed in a small voice, her heart already aching from the latest discovery. She knew how bad it was when she lost her father, and she was sure she would go crazy should she lose Elias as well.

So she couldn’t bring herself to imagine what it felt like to lose four people in one day. That would devastate her.

"They wanted unrestricted access to the last child, who happened to be Lucian, and his parents refused, suspecting something fishy with the offer. And the council didn’t want anyone standing in the way between them and their goals."

Serena turned around, giving her full attention to Marlowe. Before another question could escape her lips, however, Marlowe continued speaking, giving her in-depth explanation.

"When Lucian turned ten, a research was conducted, followed by a test, and he was one of the eight boys whose results came back positive.

The parents of these boys were approached by the council with an offer to take custody of the boys for proper care and treatment, because a curse was found in their bodies that had the capacity to cause great harm in the future, both to them and the society at large.

Out of eight families, six agreed, and two disagreed. The two families who disagreed no longer exist today.

With no one to stand in their way, the council took custody of the boy, and I believe that was the period they introduced the curse to his body. He spent the next eight years of his life there. You don’t want to know what they did to him and the other boys.

As we speak, all the other boys are dead. Out of eight boys, Lucian was the only one who came out alive. But he didn’t come out as the pure, innocent boy who went in.

He held on for five years, calling out for his mother every morning he wakes up. The last day he called out for her marked the beginning of his transformation." Marlowe uttered the last part with a faraway look in her eyes, recalling the single tear that fell from the boy’s eyes that day, as he finally let go of the one person who kept him sane for so long.

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