Mirrors & Shadows

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝐗𝐗𝐕𝐈

գ 𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔥𝔰 𝔭𝔯𝔦𝔬𝔯~ 𝔑𝔲𝔪𝔟𝔢𝔯 35

Later that evening, as she came home, Luna had the time to reflect back upon Edmond's words. Was he right? Did the riddle refer to the seven days of creation? Furthermore, she had never seen him that way before. Both shy to reveal his inner thoughts but also burning to share them.

Not only was she fascinated with his ideas, but also what they showed about him. It seemed like vampires' lifespan made them creatures of thought. And so, Edmond's thoughts had all the time in the world to wander effortlessly and without purpose to matters of existentialism. He had had centuries to himself to get to know more about the world he would never leave, and centuries to question notions of a believed afterlife that would forever remain unknown to him.

But Edmond's ideas were soon out of her mind as she noticed her neighbors across huddled on their sofa as they watched what Luna supposed must be a horror movie. She enthusiastically prepared some pop corn and settled down to watch it with them by the side of the window. Marie Curie quickly joined her on the windowsill and wouldn't stop begging for pop corn. At an especially tense part in the movie where the killer was holding a bloody knife, and from what Luna lip-read, was soundlessly yelling 'I'll kill you!', Marie Curie took advantage of this brief moment of inattention to snatch the food her owner was holding out in front of her.

The doorbell rang. Luna got up to open the door, only to find people in uniforms at her doorstep.

"Are you Luna Enwright?" One of them demanded.

"Yes. What happened?" She asked, alarmed.

"Weren't you informed? The Duvernay family was found dead yesterday. We need to ask you a few questions."

As Luna asked for details, she was told that the Duvernays lived just next door to her. They were a couple in their mid- thirties. They were found dead with their five year old son when their daughter, aged twelve came back home from school. What was striking though, was that it looked like all three had died from heart attacks. They had no wounds and were all in positions of daily tasks. Luna's heart began to race, her breathing accelerated as she pictured the scene.

"Madame? Are you alright?"

No. She wasn't alright. An entire family dying from a heart attack all at once? Not likely... and somehow even if she couldn't see the connection yet, she had a feeling this was tied to the supernatural world.

"Where were you last night? What time did you come home?"

"I came home around 1am," she confessed slowly.

"Where were you before that?"

"Err... I don't know, I like to wander about Paris from time to time. You could say it's a habit of mine..."

"And when you came home, did you hear anything from the Duvernay apartment?"

"No."

"When was the last time you saw them?"

"I don't remember."

"Did you know them?"

"Not really. We just saw each other in the hallway now and again."

"Alright, Madame. Thank you for your cooperation. We won't bother you further."

When they were gone, she closed the door and stared into emptiness, trying to process what had happened. Marie Curie meowed hopefully, the box of pop corn abandoned on the windowsill. Luna sighed, pouring the pop corn into the cat bowl. Marie Curie jumped avidly toward it with a grateful meow. The crunching sound of her eating filled the silent room.