Belle had already shown signs of being a corrupted vampire but that had come only in bits and pieces until now which meant her heart hadn't corrupted itself completely. As the ghoul moved its bony skeleton fingers towards her chest, she felt a jolt of pain run down her entire body when the fingers dipped deep into her chest with not a single drop of blood that came out and when the ghoul held her heart, she could feel it.

She took in a deep and careful breath, staring at the ghoul that slowly let go of her heart and pulled out its fingers from her chest.

And the ghoul finally said, "Corrupted."

She felt her heart sink hearing this and Lucas who was standing next to Belle noticed the way Belle's face fell which meant her heart had corrupted.

"How far is she corrupted?" asked Lucas. He had pulled out his clock to notice how the time appeared normal when he pointed the clock towards Belle.

Belle waited for Everest to reply, who said, "Fully corrupted. Time up," she frowned at its words.

"That's not possible," answered Belle. If she was fully corrupted, it meant she would be the creature of destruction. A corrupted vampire was never sane. The recent person she had seen was Vivian who had struggled the entire day where she was losing her mind and she had gone to the forest so that no one would come to witness it. She turned to look at Lucas and said, "He said I have reached the corruption."

Lucas wondered if the ghoul really knew how to check the state of the corruption but it had done it with Vivian so it wouldn't be any different when it came to Belle.

Before they could discuss more on it, Everest disappeared in a blink of an eye and Belle frowned. Where did he go? At the same time, she heard the voice of the cemetery keeper.

"Miss Adams," and Belle turned around to see the man who bowed his head.

"Mr. Norris," Belle returned back the greeting with a bow and a smile, "How are you doing?" she asked him, walking towards the man with Lucas.

"Old as a horse. Have things been resolved with the councilmen?" he asked and both Lucas and Belle shared a look.

"Ah, you mean the day we arrived here?" she asked and saw the cemetery keeper shake his head.

"There has been a councilman who has been taking random walks in the cemetery, telling he has been stationed to look after the place. I don't know why the magistrate feels they need one more keeper in the cemetery here when I am doing just fine," replied the old man, who held a shovel in his hand.

"I don't think I heard anything about it," answered Belle.

"Really?" the man rubbed his jaw in thought, "I am sure he said he has been positioned in here and he showed these parchments with the sealing."

Lucas then asked, "Was he this height," raising his hand up and then said, "Blonde greasy hair, lean in stature? Hollow cheeks."

"Yes! That was the person," affirmed Mr. Norris.

Belle knew who the person was, who Lucas was describing and she pursed her lips. She wondered why the councilman was looking for unwanted trouble while lurking in here. Was the trip to the Adams' mansion twice not enough for Councilman Joshua?

"Is he a councilman?" asked Mr. Norris with a tone of doubt.

Belle was about to say yes but Lucas was the one who answered, "He is someone who steals bodies. You should not let him roam around the graves," Belle's eyes slightly widened at Lucas' words and she turned to look at Lucas who spoke the lie flawlessly, "I have heard about him from the other villages."

"Oh my! I should go report it!" exclaimed Mr. Norris.

"You don't have to do that. He just saw some ghost and he claims to burn the bodies. It is a pity," Lucas shook his head in sympathy and the cemetery keeper furrowed his brows, "The next time you see him, maybe just shoo him away or scare him away. It should do the job for the poor soul," and Mr. Norris nodded his head.

"I will keep that in mind," said the man before bowing his head, "Have a good day, Miss Adams and Lucas," and they returned it back to him. Seeing him walk away with the shovel in his hand.

"Why is Joshua hanging around in here?" asked Belle, her eyes shifting from the old man to look around the cemetery right now to see if the councilman was still around.

"Probably waiting to be killed by one of the creatures," answered Lucas, "A little scare will do him good." Belle felt sorry for Joshua but the man should have known where to stop and what was not supposed to be done when it came to creatures especially no one was aware of. She wondered when Joshua would stop lurking around. If he was going to come to the mansion again, she doubted any one of them would let him go free.

She then heard Lucas say, "If the ghoul is right about your corruption, nothing has happened to you. I doubt anything will even happen which I think I know the reason for it." Her red eyes met his black soulless looking eyes, "The second half of your soul is taking in the corruption which is stopping your heart from affecting you. If you are able to continue to handle it, it shouldn't cause any problem. Your body will adapt to the corruption and will turn to be part of you."

Belle exhaled the fog through her lips, "I wish she didn't have to go through it."

"I know," said Lucas, taking Belle in his arms, "We all have to walk through the paths even though we don't want to. But you need to remember that as much as she was part of you before, she isn't now. One day in the future you will have to kill her."

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