Encased within Darkness

Chapter 5

Blue eyes were lost in thought as Maria trailed behind Vincent and Diederich as they headed out of the church. It wasn't until Diederich returned to his dorm room did Vincent spare a glance at her and sigh, "What has you in such deep thought?"

"A demon was on campus," she replied.

"A demon huh?" Vincent repeated. He walked to his desk and sat down, his slender fingers reaching for a pencil as he placed his head into his palm. He  softly tapped his pencil against the paperwork laid out on the desk, his brows furrowed as he tried to come to terms with the newfound information. 

"Well, I'm sure you can handle any pesky demons that come around, though it can't be a coincidence. Supposedly there's been a lot of suicides recently and i'm suppose to figure out the cause. You think the demons are the reason?"

Vincent looked to her, raising a single brow. 

"Demon's merely feed on hidden desires, they would not force a person to suicide for that would rob them of a soul," Maria replied. 

"Hm...why would they kill themselves then? It's all so strange..."

"Humans are strange creatures."

Vincent released a sigh and dropped his pencil to fold his hands together. "In any case, I need to get to the bottom of this. I need you to do something for me, something only you can do."

Maria bowed, "As you wish. What do you ask of me?"

"I need you to ask around about a certain person by the name of Twining. He's quite the interesting topic of discussion around the school, though he won't talk to me. Perhaps he'll lend you his time?"

"Very well, I'll ask for this Twining. Is there anything specific I need to ask?"

When Vincent turned to look at her a mischievous grin laced onto his lips. "Well you see, this Twining is of blue house like us, but he spends an awful lot of time with the purple house which is a biiit unusual. Plus, it seems the majority of people whose died belonged to both of those houses."

Puzzlement found itself to Maria's face.  "Isn't your companion a part of the green house?"

"Diederich? Oh yes he is but everyone knows we Prefects are suppose to get along, besides, how would I get by without my loyal German dog?"

The door burst open without warning as Maria only gave a small glance at the direction of the entrance as the figure stepped inside and grumbled, "Who are you calling a dog?" 

Wearing a look of dissatisfaction, Diederich entered carrying a large stack of textbooks which he promptly dropped onto the table. "What is it this time?" He asked, crossing his arms.

Vincent feigned a look of innocence as he replied with, "What do you mean?"

Diedrich scowled, "You know what I mean. What were your orders?"

A light smile crossed Vincent's lips, "You're interested? That's unusual."

"Hmph. I can tell you're up to something. Whenever you get a new case you always try to dump your schoolwork onto me. Let me help you out," Diederich responded, looking away.

"Like I said, loyal dog," Vincent stated, flashing Maria a knowing wink.

"Hey! Don't call me that!"

"Anyways, I'll see you later Oliver. Do your best!"

Maria nodded, "Yes, I will," she said, taking the hint and leaving the two alone in the room.

Once Maria stepped out of the room she immediately began to search for the one named Twining. As she soon discovered, Twining was an unusual student who made excellent grades and tended to stay to himself except when it came to a certain group. Many of the students she asked shied away from speaking about the group in question only saying that they weren't good company which peaked her interest.

'What kind of person are you Twining?' she questioned, unable to explain the strange reaction to those around her.

Deciding it was best to go to the source, Maria made her way to a nearby student and asked where to find him. After being instructed on the location of the blue house resident, she promptly reached his room.  After softly knocking on the door, it opened to reveal a slightly annoyed blonde boy, his green looking her over before commenting, "You must be Oliver Baker."

"Yes indeed."

"I heard you've been asking around about me, so, what do you want?" 

Maria wasn't sure what kind of questions Vincent wanted her to ask so she said, "Why does a blue house resident place themselves around purple house residents?" 

"I have very good friends in purple house. I don't remember it stated in the rules that we can't interact with other houses." Twining sighed and tapped his foot impatiently, "Is that all you wanted with me? I don't have time to entertain you, I have to study after all." 

Maria bowed her head, "Forgive me. I shall go now." 

She turned and began heading back to Vincent's room. Lightly knocking against the door, once the door opened and she stepped inside Vincent smiled at her and  asked, "Well? What did you figure out?"

"There was a demon." She said simply. 

Vincent's brow raised, "Is that so?"

"Yes. When he opened his door I saw it. A familiar that is much more troublesome."

The smile never left Vincent's face as he said, "Really? Do tell."