More blood came out of Belle's mouth, even a handkerchief didn't suffice as the cough wrecked her chest. It was a searing pain which almost tore her apart, far worse than anything she had ever felt in her life. Corruption of the heart was not easy for vampires. When the smoke had got out from Portia's body into her body, she hadn't realized it, not even when the pain had started.

She knew what the smoke was. Belle had seen the same smoke that had tried to enter the little boy's body. Lord Nicholas' body, yet her mind had been slow because she had believed the words of the first cards of the Grims.

"What's going on?" asked Greed who had returned after knocking the other death reapers down.

Barron turned his head around to say, "Belle's heart is corrupting." Belle's face was turning where veins started to pop up on her face, like little roots of a tree that started from the bridge of her nose.

At that, they heard hellhounds howl at a distance, "We need to leave the mansion. We have stayed here for too long," said Lucas and he pulled Belle up before hoisting her behind him. Holding both her legs firmly and her hands at the front, "The gates must be closed too with other passages. Our possible escape is the river of death. Let's head there. If one of us ends up being lost, keep heading forward and reach the bank of the river."

Barron and Greed nodded before they started to head out of the house.

Belle felt sick and there were times where she wanted to tear things or people around her. She could feel herself changing. Though initially she felt weak, she could feel her strength returning back to her which was because of the corruption. The thirst for blood increased and she wanted to bite into Lucas.

She wanted to sleep yet she couldn't.

"Am I going to die?" asked Belle to Lucas who was carrying her behind his back.

"You won't," assured Lucas to her. He wouldn't let anything bad happen to her, not when he was right next to her, "Why did you try taking her back inside your body?"

"Edith said it would stop Portia from chasing me...also that Crane would not be able to spot her that way to question anything," she huffed for air. Her arms tightened around Lucas' neck which he didn't mind.

"Was this yesterday?" asked Lucas and he heard Belle hum.

"Why would Edith do that? A corrupted soul getting back inside another will only create or fasten the process," stated Greed, "Do you think she changed sides?"

Lucas had a grave expression on his face, "It is possible."

He continued to carry Belle on his back, hiding from the death reapers and trying not to cause any scene. Barron was being carried by Greed so that no one would find it to be suspicious. The cloak on Belle's head was pulled enough to hide her face so that they wouldn't see a mortal being carried.

"Everyone is searching for us," stated Greed, his head moving to look at the lowly death reapers who passed them without realising they were the Grim reapers. The scent couldn't be hidden but it could be dispersed in the air if one didn't stay at a place for a long time.

Once they reached the forest where no one was there, Lucas carefully put Belle on the ground, "What happened??" asked Barron, finally stepping out and jumping down on the ground to see Belle's condition turning worse.

Lucas sat down on his knees, "Belle," he called her name, taking both her hands in his, "I need you to try to switch back to the reaper form. Right now." If her body turned to a skeleton, there would be no heart or body to corrupt. This way they could buy time for themselves until they could figure out what to do next.

In pain, Belle heard Lucas's words. She spouted more blood out, her hand coming up to her mouth but blood seeped between her fingers.

She shook her head, coughing, to say "I am not able to."

"The corruption must be interfering and changing her body," said Barron, who came to stand next to her and used his small cotton hand to pat Belle's hand. But on seeing a rabbit so close, which was fluff and looked well-fed, Belle's hand swiped close enough to catch hold of Barron who quickly ran away to hide behind Greed.

Belle's face was changing along with her body, heading to a complete corruption state. "Try it again, Belle," said Lucas.

She had tried it earlier when she had met Portia, but Belle wasn't able to get back to the reaper form. Upon Lucas' word, she tried again, her words barely audible as she whispered the spells. Each time her body kept interrupting with fits of corruption and she had to retry it.

Her spells started to finally move around her, the wind increased like earlier and her body slowly started to change from the tips of her fingers to move up, taking its time while her heart was moving in its own pace towards the corruption where she would turn nothing less to a creature of death.

Before the corruption could complete itself, the blackness in her eyes was inching to cover the white part in her eyes, her body turned to its skeleton form and Belle felt like life was breathed back into her again.

Gone was the fatigue and the pain, with no heart and body to corrupt, Belle had paused the corruption and she was safe until she would turn back to her living form. Her boney head clunked at the back of the tree before she leaned forward to hug Lucas. She had been so scared and worried that she was not going to make it.

Barron let out a sigh, his hand moving across his forehead, "Phew, that was a close one. We can finally breathe," said the rabbit, moving away from Greed where he had taken shelter before to step in the front and pat her leg.

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