Mr. Fitz placed his floral teacup back on the coffee table, and his eyes shifted to Ellie’s neck. He had remained hungry for too long, his fangs elongated inside his mouth and he subtly bit into his own lower lip. He swiftly shifted his gaze to the skull, could it really be who he thought it was? 

“He’s staring at me with his creepy eyes, Ellie,” Skully said, annoyed by the fact that they were still here. 

“I believe, Miss, that I have a way for you to impress my masters, and perhaps they will talk to you, a mere human, this way,” Mr. Fitz spoke as he subtly licked his own blood off his lip. 

“Really? That would be helpful. You think they will know something about Skully?” Ellie asked and shifted even closer to the edge of the couch. 

“Yes. They might know something. Though this little mission might be a tad bit dangerous,”  Mr. Fitz smiled – he needed to distract her – just enough to investigate the skull. He needed to confirm the skull’s identity himself – because if it was who he thought it was – then this could be the worst possible thing to happen. 

“I don’t mind a bit of danger, as long as there’s adventure,” Ellie exclaimed a bit too loudly. 

“I mind the danger. Stop putting yourself in danger,” Skully grumbled, even though he knew Ellie would ignore him. 

Mr. Fitz smiled wider in an almost sly manner, “Splendid, Miss. You see, lately, there have been some strange occurrences… Slumbering vampires gone to dust in their sleep, and strange markings on their resting places. We are all quite baffled by it, perhaps a young mind like yours could see something we cannot.” 

“That sounds quite adventurous, I’ll do it.” Ellie abruptly stood, her hair fluttered from side to side. 

“No, no, no. This sounds like a bad idea, Ellie.” Skully tried to stop her in vain.

“Very well, Miss. I have a map of the underground, I shall mark their crypts and note down the instructions for how to get inside them,” Mr. Fitz told Ellie before he too slowly got up. 

He walked over to an old mahogany armoire and opened a small drawer. He unfolded the map that he took out from there, and started writing on it. Ellie watched, full of excitement, Dawn was already giving her so much. She had met a vampire, and now she was getting to go down to the underground. Maybe they could discover Skully’s memories along the way, either way she had to keep herself from squealing in excitement. What had happened earlier was already gone from her mind. 

“There we go, miss. Just follow the instructions, and make note of what you discover. Come back here when you are done with all four,” Mr. Fitz remarked while he folded the map back up and handed it to Ellie. 

“Got it. Thanks so much, all I want is for Skully to have his memories back,” Ellie smiled. 

Mr. Fitz picked up the oil lamp and stepped towards the door in a calm manner, “I wish you all the best, Miss. Let me escort you out of here.”

Ellie followed the butler out of the room, down a long hallway of neverending portraits. Skully couldn’t help but feel like he had been here before, like he had walked this hallway many times. It was all so familiar, yet it filled him with dread. Would Ellie even understand if he tried explaining? 

They made their way down the stairs, back to the front door, “Here we are. Next time please knock,” Mr. Fitz smiled and opened the door for them, one last glance down at the skull. 

“Bye, see you.” Ellie waved and ran out the door with Skully. 

“That skull better not be who I think it is… Tragedy haunts us all because of that person,” Mr. Fitz muttered under his breath as he closed the door.

“Why the fudge did you sign up for more danger? I think that butler is hiding something,” Skully grumbled at Ellie. 

“This could be a chance to find memories or even your body. Maybe it’s underground like these slumbering vampires? You don’t always have to be a sourpuss,” Ellie lifted Skully up high. “I’m kind of tired though, let’s go to our new apartment and meet our roommates. I’m so nervous,” she told Skully as she started wandering out of the property. 

“Ugh, I’m sure it will be fine. As long as they are human, I guess. And I’m not always a sourpuss,” Skully groaned – for a moment he wasn’t sure if he wanted his memories back – perhaps he wanted to go back to the forest. He felt a deep dread, and it kept getting deeper as if the darkness itself was coming for him. 

The crows cawed on the rooftop of the mansion, there were more crows than any other house they had walked by. One crow swooped down, its wings spread out as it flew high and positioned itself directly above Ellie. The crow quietly followed her all the way across the bridge as Old Dawn disappeared behind them. The sound of the fast-flowing river numbed out every distant sound. Ellie swallowed hard and tried not to think too much about what meeting her new roomates would be like. She was not good with people, and now she had to stay with people.