Barron was in shock, since the time Lucas had mentioned about the list. On who was having the highest bounty on their head in the land of the dead while who had the least bounty in the fallen Grims. Three days passed and since the time he had heard it. Barron had kept annoying Lucas,

"What if you heard it wrong?" asked the rabbit, coming around to stand in front of Lucas.

"It might be possible," sighed Lucas, who was tired with the repeated question and he decided to agree to everyting that Barron said.

Barron quickly moved back to keep up with Lucas who was not standing in one place as they were decorating the Christmas tree right now, "Why did you say the reaper said I had the highest bounty then?" asked Barron, tugging Lucas' trouser to get his attention.

"Because he said so," came the bland answer from Lucas.

"He must be lying!" hissed Barron for the umpteenth time.

Belle who was standing on the stool looked down at Barron, "Barron, do you know what sound a snake makes?" she asked, curious if the fourth Grim reaper knew the difference in the sound the animals made.

Barron turned to look at Belle, staring at her while taking a second to remember and then said, "Pspspsps."

"It is safe to say that Barron needs to be sent to school with the other children to know the difference between the sound of animals," murmured Greed who was walking past them carrying the decorative items for the stairs.

Barron was not interested with Greed's comment as his head had the highest bounty. If it was true, that means he was the most probable person to be hunted down by the hellhounds and the Grim reapers, along with the lowly death reapers, "Lil 'ole me has done nothing. You know I am not even popular compared to you or Wrath. Shouldn't they put more money on you?" asked Barron.

"I thought you were Barron the great," Lucas moved his eyes at Barron for a moment before handing stars to Belle that were used in the previous year to decorate the tree.

The rabbit laughed nervously, moving its hand in front of his small body, waving it, "I was only joking. I am just a poor Grim, who brings plague. Why?! Why in Satan's name would they decide to put a higher bounty on me?"

Lucas walked away from the hall, and Barron looked up at Belle with a pleading look on his face.

"I don't think Lucas knows anything more than what he told to us. Only the Hawverts would know why they did it," Belle said, and she wondered if it was because Barron was the easiest to be caught. Surely the Hawverts wouldn't know that there were four Grims accumulated under one roof. Would they?

She tried to remember the day when each of the Grim had been caught in here. Lucas had trapped every one of them in specific intervals of time. Baltimore was negligible as he had disappeared from the land of the dead years ago. There was no way they could link each of them to be working together. Belle wondered what was special about Barron, was there something that even the rabbit didn't know about?

But Greed broke the silence as a chuckle escaped his lips, "I wonder how much he can be protected. His soul is the same, as when he had left the land of the dead. It has remained unchanged. All it needs is one whiff from the hellhound who is lurking around to sink its teeth over that cotton body of yours to be dragged back."

Greed was right.

The probability was indeed high about Barron being caught. Because of his short-tempered, impulsive nature, there was no saying what he would blurt out once he would be caught.

Then she said to Barron, "No more apple picking," and he looked at her in shock.

As the evening came to pass by, Belle sat down on the stairs, candle light being lit everywhere and tomorrow was the day when the guests would be arriving to celebrate Christmas in the Adams' mansion. During the time of Winter and Christmas here, Belle missed her parents. She was staring at the empty ground when she saw a pair of shoes come to take its spot there. Her eyes trailed up to see, it was Lucas who held two glasses of blood in his hands.

"This will keep you warm and hydrated," said Lucas as she took hold of the glass and Lucas took himself to sit down next to her on the stairs.

"You are drinking blood," noted Belle, bringing the glass to her lap. It was rare to see Lucas drinking blood.

"I invited your friend Simon. He will be here tomorrow," informed Lucas and Belle smiled, glad to hear that Lucas was finally letting her friend in without shooing him away as he did in the past.

"Will everything go well tomorrow?" she asked Lucas, "Every time I think we can breathe, we have something waiting in the corner, waiting for us."

"It will," Lucas promised Belle for a peaceful day which wouldn't involve death or the reapers. They didn't know who was knocking on the door, but whoever it was, the person had not returned back to knock again.

Belle moved closer to him, her head going to lean against Lucas' shoulder, "It feels like years have passed. How did you live alone?" she asked him. Remembering her parents shadow of the past as if they were still here, walking in the hallways.

Occasions like these turned her heart heavy, and she felt her eyes burn as she stared at the space. She closed her eyes when the water-filled up and dropped down on her lap. She knew Lucas was here with her, and she was not alone. Some part of her past still existed in this mansion, but sometimes loneliness of the past crept into her heart.

"You get used to it. Living the routine life over and over again until your existence doesn't come to matter unless there's a purpose," came Lucas' soothing words and he put his hand around her shoulder, kissing the top of her head to add, "It gets better in time."

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