Esmeralda was working on her experiment inside her bedroom when she heard a soft knocking on the door.

She put back the thing she was holding in her hand into the table and opened the door.

The one who's knocking on the door was no other than a leaf.

Esmeralda exited the room and faced the leaf.

"Any good news today?" she asked a little bit desperate.

The leaf nods. "Yes, we have detected Kate's human scent in the vampires dwelling. It came out as sudden, very strong but disappeared afterward. I think it's worth investigating. If you want, we can continue spying on the vampires' place," the leaf suggested.

"No need. I will go there myself. You may go back now to the tree," she ordered.

The leaf obeyed and flew towards the window.

Esmeralda massage the back of her neck and closed her eyes for a moment.

It's time to visit the vampires!

If today is going to be the end of life here on this Godforsaken castle, she will let the vampires decide. She will give them a taste of their own medicine if they won't give Kate back to her.

A smirk appeared in her lips.

She went back to her bedroom and picked up something...and then another.

Well...looking at the objects she was holding in her hands...they are sufficient enough to get her point across to those vampire hooligans!

Hmph!

Part of her was worrying about the many possible things they can do to Kate. Her human body won't be able to endure longer if she was subjected to any type of torture such as emotional, physical, and psychological.

The majority of creatures inside the castle are not that human friendly, they don't regard human life as valuable and sacred. For them, human life is just a speck of dust in their skin, a commodity that can be enjoyed, used, and discard anytime.

She'd better leave now!

She exited her house and went outside.

"Do you want some of my leaves coming to help you?" asked the tree. "Just in case you will be outnumbered?"

Esmeralda shook her head. "No need. But just in case I need your help, you will know about it, right?"

"Of course, I do! Be careful. Those vampires might do something nasty this time," the tree reminded her.

A smile appeared on Esmeralda's lips. "What can they do to me? If they are stupid enough to kill me, then that means they have no regard for their life and they are willing to die here inside the castle with me. There are so many things they don't know about me yet. They always think I'm just a useless old woman. Maybe, because I just don't like engaging my self in their bullying," she pouted.

"Good luck then!" the tree finally said.

Esmeralda looked at the tree and nods her head.

"I can go with you if you wish..." the tree offered.

"Nah, just stay here and take care of my place and my house," said Esmeralda taking a few steps forward and suddenly disappeared in seconds.

In the vampires' domain.

The three brothers were discussing their plans on how to speed up in getting the third sister to come to the castle.

"We already have the eldest and the second girl, now we only need the third one which is the last one, and after that, we can start the ritual in restoring our father to life," Maxwell said.

"Speaking of that issue, why can't the minions we hired outside can't get the youngest? Why they failed in achieving the task over and over again?" asked Lothaire.

"Because...the youngest was protected by some damn winged creatures!" answered Xenon.

"Then send more of our minions into the girls' house and abduct her! That is easy to do. Why don't we hire humans as well? We have lots of gold in our disposal, we can bribe anyone human or monsters to do our bidding. Why aren't we doing it? Where is Ricardo the leader of the caravan who brought us the 100 men and women from the village? We can bribe him, right?" said Lothaire.

Maxwell was shaking his head. "Not anymore."

Xenon raised his brows and asked, "Why brother? Where is Ricardo?"

"He died of illness two weeks ago. As you can see...human life is fragile...they can die easily unlike us," Lothaire interjected.

"That is not a problem. Many humans can take his place, we can always hire new ones," Xenon suggested casually.

Maxwell sighed. "We are still on the process of hiring new human contacts to the outside world. As you can see, humans seem to be slowly avoiding this place.

We have such a negative impression on them after our reputation got marred due to the many people we hired in the past that no longer able to come home to their families.

Because the usual reasons we give them... such as those workers abandoned their jobs and left without saying goodbye...blah blah...doesn't work anymore. Therefore, we have to get humans far away from here, from the place that no one heard of our soiled reputation yet.

But we can always bribe humans to buy things for us using our gold reserve as rewards, it's the human life that is hard to get nowadays. I'm still thinking about how to resolve this problem... "

Xenon and Lothaire were silent for a moment, reflecting on the serious issues revealed by their brother.

"What happened if we can no longer get humans from the outside world?" asked Lothaire out of the blue.

Xenon grinned. "No worries. We have lots of creatures inside this castle, we will feed on them! We will survive somehow!"

Lothaire's face turns sour. "What? No way! I'm not gonna sink my precious fangs on those dirty and smelly creature's neck. Their blood, gah! taste like urine! Ewww!"

Maxwell and Xenon erupted into peals of laughter after seeing the horrific and disgusting expression exploding on their brother's face.

All of a sudden...

Esmeralda appeared in a flash of light near the door of the room where the vampires were having a conversation.

Instantly the brothers were alerted of her presence, they looked behind their shoulders to investigate who dare comes into their domain uninvited!

The brothers looked at the visitor, horror flashing in their eyes.

Was she eavesdropping on their conversation?

Did the old hag hear about their plans in restoring their father to life using the blood of the imprisoned virgin women?

They looked at each other, the same thoughts running on their heads.

Esmeralda was smirking, flipping her hair, amused by the look on their faces after seeing her uninvited presence inside the room. "Huh? What is wrong with you, guys? Have you seen a ghost? Don't worry, I didn't hear anything, just your laughter. I just arrive, didn't I?" she smiled dryly.

The brothers looked at each other, disbelief in their eyes. Should they believe her?

Maxwell was able to recover from his shock and muster a fake smile. "Esmeralda my dear, welcome back to our humble abode! Can you please inform us first, before you come to visit us so that we can welcome you properly?" he said sarcastically.

Esmeralda studied the brothers' features trying to read their minds, she gives up after a few seconds.

Xenon and Lothaire were shooting daggers at their unwelcome visitor.

"Is there something we can do for you?" Maxwell asked he felt uneasiness sinking in his stomach.

Esmeralda's countenance turned serious. "Boys, I believed that the one I'm looking for is here inside your territory. Give Kate back to me!" she demanded in a hard voice. "And I can assure you, I won't take it against you!" she added.

Maxwell feigned innocence. "Huh? Don't accuse us of something you have no evidence of," he protested.

"Really?" Esmeralda shrugged her shoulders. Of course, they will deny that they hide Kate somewhere. Arguing with the brothers is a complete waste of her time. She went to the table nearby and placed the item she was holding in her hand. It was just a sand timer.

"Look, guys! I will leave it here...since you can't decide yet," she addressed them calmly.

The brothers glanced at the thing on the table.

"What is that?" Maxwell asked in confusion.

"It's a sand timer, it will measure the passage of time. The sand will flow...filling the lower part of the bottle...after the time is up and you have not brought Kate to my place yet. I will burn this place down!" she threw them an icy glare.

"Are you threatening us!?" hissed Lothaire, ready to lunge at the old woman.

Esmeralda rolled her eyes. "If you know what's good for you, you know what to do!" she replied blatantly and disappeared from their vision, instantly.

The brothers were not able to respond due to shock.

It took them a moment or two before they were able to utter a word.

"What the hell!" Maxwell gritted his teeth in anger.