The Crown's Obsession (WN)
chapter-281

"Six," her grandmother was the one to answer, "Your parents were so scared that they didn't dare to have another child for ten years after the incident took place."

Ten years and six...She was in the coffin for sixteen years, and nobody came to see her? Unable to look at them, Madeline looked down at the table that was in the middle.

"You could have searched for other ways," she whispered.

"There was no other way, Madeline," said her grandfather, "When your parents visited Carnival's village again, the last thing we expected was you showing up at the doorstep. Do you know how much trouble that had caused us. And you woke up yourself, probably opening it yourself."

"You are blaming me for something I had no control of," Madeline raised her head to meet their gaze.

Her grandfather shook his head.

"I don't think everything was peach after that," said Calhoun, gaining the old couple's attention.

"No, we had to make up reasons. The worst thing was, during the same time, one of the members of the High House had visited the village. Of course, we took precautions making sure she wouldn't kill," answered her grandfather. "But after two years it happened again. Breaking glasses, screaming or finding herself in odd places. We thought maybe staying in the coffin for sixteen years had taken away whatever darkness was in her, but we should have known better. Madeline killed another girl, and this time, it was in front of her sister Elizabeth."

Madeline sat on the couch uncomfortably with the way her grandparents looked at her right now and the things they had hidden for years. They looked at her like she was not supposed to exist.

"Beth said she saw a vampire kill the girl. The girl who shared the same name. Jennine our friend," stated Madeline.

"We didn't want Beth to follow your path, so we decided to tamper her memory. It took more than a week to get her to believe that it was a vampire," her grandmother looked like she was tired, with her lips set in a thin line and her eyebrows raised.

They tried to meddle with Beth's mind?

"But that is not all you did. Is it?" Came Calhoun's voice who was staring at the couple in front of them intensely.

When her grandparents didn't respond, Madeline turned anxious. She wasn't sure if she was ready to hear it, "Did you put me back in the coffin?" Madeline questioned.

"We did," replied her grandfather, "But we did something else along with it."

Madeline asked, "What?" The silence in the room felt dreadful.

"The fallen angels lost most of their powers, and it was just a few basic ones that they possess. But in Madeline's case, the second time she attacked that girl, she sprouted wings," explained her grandpa, "The wings that were white, were drenched in blood. An angel is not supposed to harm anyone."

"Is that why you placed the knife on my neck the night you put me in the coffin for the first time?" inquired Madeline.

Calhoun was more than interested in seeing the story being unfolded and the way Madeline was asking questions which he needed answers for.

"We did it for our own protection. To keep your parents safe," replied her grandfather to stand up from his seat, walking towards one of the windows which was kept open for ventilation. "We couldn't keep you like that, with the wings which were soaked with blood. We knew you were going to cause more death, deaths of innocent people. So we sent you to this man named Walter Penhallick. He has been around for some time, dealing with the rare cases of the apples that turn bad."

"You need to stop saying that if you want you and your wife to continue to stay in one piece," warned Calhoun, not liking the way Madeline's grandfather was speaking about her like she was the bad one. She was a child, and children knew nothing. "Who knows, she got your genes, maybe the tree was rotten from the very start, and you need to stop blaming the apple."

Senior Mr. Harris' eyes flared in anger, gritting his teeth.

"What happened with Walter?" Madeline continued to ask her questions.

"We left you with him to see what could be done. Asking for his help, and he came up with a solution to it. To get rid of your wings that had sprouted." When the old man said this, his back faced them, "He burned the wings."

Madeline didn't know what happened next because the information was too much to take in and she was still processing it when Calhoun disappeared from her side of the couch and appeared behind her grandfather.

In less than a second, when Senior Mr. Harris turned, Calhoun's hand went straight at the older man's neck.

"Calhoun!" Madeline exclaimed, quickly standing up and went to where they were, and so did her grandmother.

"Let him go right now!" demanded her grandmother.

"You have quite some nerve to show up in front of Madeline and behave as if nothing has happened for all these years. Here I have been thinking all these years that the angels are a symbol of purity, but then I see you and see the disgusting fallen angels—correction descendants of fallen angels. As I said, the tree itself is soiled, and you blame it on the lone apple," Calhoun glared into the man's eyes.

"Do you know who I am?" questioned Calhoun, his eyes darkening as they glared at Madeline's grandfather.

The old man struggled to get away from the vampire's hold, "You might be a vampire and a demon, but that doesn't mean you can save her. This is how she will be saved, so we took her wings away from her before putting her back in the coffin. And then after a month, we get a letter from my son that Madeline has returned home. They shielded her from any and everything, from the possible ugliness of this world so that it would not trigger her inherent nature."

"Calhoun, please," Madeline placed her hands on Calhoun's hand that continued to choke her grandfather. She wanted more answers from them to know what else she was supposed to be aware of. With the way things looked, Calhoun was going to kill her grandfather.

"Do you know what it means to destroy one's wings, Madeline?" Calhoun asked her, wanting to enlighten her. "It tears a piece of your soul from you. It's the most painful thing, and to burn it..."

There weren't many who he came across who had wings, but there was one person--a demon-like vampire, of his kind. He didn't know how it felt, to have the wings burnt, but he had seen the vampire's wings being torn out like a bird, blood bleeding out from his back and the vampire's screams echoed in the back of Calhoun's mind.

Her grandparents didn't care about her. It was right to say that, all they cared about was keeping their families safe, while willingly ready to give up the child who knew nothing about the world. Madeline was small at that time, someone who knew nothing of what she had done.

"Let him go, or I will put her to sleep this very instant," Madeline heard her grandmother's voice before noticing she stood behind with her hand raised.

"Could you be kind enough to elaborate what you mean when you say sleep in this context?" asked Calhoun, using more force on her grandfather's neck.

Out of nowhere, her grandmother pulled out a knife and tried to stab her. Madeline used her hand to stop her grandmother. Madeline was in shock because she had not expected her grandmother to try stabbing her. The expression that had always been kind changed to a vile one. Upon Madeline's hand's touch, her grandmother started to splatter blood from her mouth.

"Kill her right now, Gemma!" shouted the old man, leaving burns on Calhoun's hand as he tried to get rid of the vampire's hands around his neck.

This was enough cue for Calhoun to dig his fingernails into the sides of the older man's neck. Pushing his fingers to catch hold of the bone which was part of the spine. Pulling it out with the front portion of his neck that left the blood splattering out. Raising his free hand, he threw the woman right at the wall who fell on the ground.

When Madeline turned to see her grandfather, her mouth was left agape, and she staggered back with her hands coming up to cover her mouth.

"I-Is he..."

Calhoun's hand released the man, pushing him to the side, and Madeline saw her grandfather fall straight down on the ground with his eyes open. She then looked in her grandmother's direction,

"She's alive," said Calhoun, wiping the spots of blood that fell on his face.

H-how did this happen...Madeline felt her eyes well up, a small sob escaping from her lips. Her grandfather was dead.

"I am sorry that the day didn't go as we expected. But you need to know, any harm that might come towards you, I will not bat my eyes at it. The first time, they put you in the coffin. The second time, they not only put you in the coffin but also burned the wings which you once possessed. It is either you or them, Madeline. And to me, it is always you," said Calhoun.

He saw a drop of tear escape from one of her eyes that fell and rolled down her cheek.

The door to the room opened, and Theodore appeared, "Take both of them to the dungeon. Separate ones," ordered Calhoun. Like many times in the past, Theodore didn't question what happened and got the guards to fetch the elderly couple, one who was dead and one still alive.

Madeline didn't question if Theodore had gone hunting or if he had returned early to the castle. Her mind had gone blank. Her back hit the wall, and she leaned against it, feeling cold.

She wanted to argue with Calhoun, but she wasn't deaf. She heard her grandfather order her grandmother to kill her, and they were ready to do it without a hint of remorse in their hearts.

"Do you want to spend some time alone by yourself?" Calhoun asked, seeing how Madeline was in a state of shock. She nodded her head.

"I would like to be alone," she didn't wait for him and walked out of the room to make way to her room. Stepping inside the room, she closed it. Her forehead touched the surface of the door as more tears welled up in her eyes.

Taking a sharp breath, a hiccup escaped her lips before more tears spilled down her lashes to fall on the ground before she started to cry.