Doctor Carriage and The Three Witches

  Book 1 Of The Doctor Carriage Adult Novel Series

  Fantasy Murder Mystery Novel

  By: Andi Brit (Andrea Britanik)

  Instagram: authorandibrit

  1/27/2025

  Chapter 1

  Snowflakes fell lightly from the light gray early morning clouds amongst the road tunnels that were in the sky. The tunnels were being held up here and there by massive, bronze, studded beams. This was the neighborhood called Airia’s Field. It was a neighborhood that was the parallel Skyworld neighborhood to the Earthworld neighborhood Gramercy Park Maxi also called Earthworld Gramercy Park Maxi. It was also called Skyworld Gramercy Park Maxi as it was just above the Earthworld Gramercy Park Maxi neighborhood. All of these neighborhoods were in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. However, Skyworld in general, which consisted of any building that was in the sky above ground New York and any road that was connected to it. Earthworld in general consisted of any building that was on the ground in New York and any road that was connected to it. Airia’s Field was founded by the Airia Flightdweller, a notorious air pirate who lived in the 1500s otherwise known as the American Renaissance era, an alternate era that was a part of the history of this alternate America. Her hometown was Long Island, but she was known for having post in several different areas around New York and New York City as well. This was the year of 1890, otherwise known as the American Gilded Age or the American Progressive Era or the American Victorian Period, alternate periods of what we know today in American history. So, this wasn’t just an ordinary world of 1890, it was an alternate, magical one where magic is more normal than what we are familiar with in our own world, or Earth. Because after all, what do you call the supernatural when you see it all the time? Normal.

  There’s also the Skyworld Gramercy Park Mini neighborhood within Airia’s Field as well which is also called Gramercy Park Mini. This is a parallel neighborhood that is directly above Gramercy Park Mini, a neighborhood in Earthworld called Earthworld Gramercy Park Mini or Gramercy Park Mini which is a part of the bigger Gramercy Park, Earthworld. This was all in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The neighborhood of Airia’s Field consisted of houses, business parks and regular parks. There were also pocket parks, parking garages, carriage houses, and tunnels were of dark, studded metal, and they went thru every direction in the sky and in between the skyscrapers and high rises which were made of similar metal. The tunnels, which consisted of roads, highways, pedestrian walkways also known as pedways, and train tracks that carried freight and passenger trains. The tunnels even went between some very tall trees, such as oak trees with twisting branches that were very long and twisting and every direction you could think of, and almost blending in with the buildings around them. In fact, the branches were actually a part of some of the buildings or at the very least, scraping the outer sides of the buildings and tunnels.

  Some of the tunnels were going above and amongst the low rise buildings even, and other lower buildings and houses. Some of the tunnels were fully-enclosed tunnels, while others were half tunnels. Meaning, that they were road tunnels or railway tunnels or highway tunnels that were half open to the open air and the other half was enclosed by metal. There were also subway lines that ran through some of the tunnels up here in Skyworld, just as they did below. There were also trolley tracks along some of the roads up here and they were along pedestrian walkways as well. Even gondola lifts that were studded tin, copper and bronze were either going back and forth to their stations or dangling in place in their depots. Skyways went in between buildings, offering more walkways for pedestrians and their pets. Skylights and pavement lights illuminated the tunnels with natural lighting. The windows for these were made either or cut or stained glass.

  The pedestrian walkways or pedways were if in the inside of the tunnel, alongside the road, highway or train track. If they were on the outside, they were either open or closed colonnades that consisted of wrought iron railings and structures or some type of metal, or stone columns and stone railings. Bikers, such as people who had their safety bicycles, could go onto these pedestrian ways as well. No motorized vehicles were allowed on the pavement and non-road portions of the pedways but people did it anyway.

  The skyways were full of big open city views but still protected by columns and railings, maybe. If the owner was feeling merciful. The same with all of the other pedestrian walkways. Some of the columns of skyways and pedways were statues of various types of humans and animals, such as, vampires with menacing, open mouths, and several inch fangs coming out where there should have been canines, and panthers, with the same menacing look but their fangs were much larger. The railings of some were elaborate wrought iron spirals.

  There were also open railroads without any railings and that were supported by big, metal beams. They were very impressive looking, in fact, in this steampunk world. These open railroads weren’t enclosed by a tunnel at all, but, just a floating railroad, again supported by lower beams. There was a double decker steam train, passenger edition, that went along one of the open railroads. Hot steam came shooting out of the locomotive and into the air like a hot ghost that was shaped like a mushroom.

  Carriages of all shapes and sizes and their horses in some cases at least, along with cars, trucks, and busses drove along the roads and highways. Some of the carriages, such as landaus, the luxury four-wheeled carriages with roofs that could be let down. The lower shell providing maximal visibility of the occupants and their clothing, meaning that all of the posh residents of this posh neighborhood of Manhattan with their posh accents could really show off their upper class mannerisms and haute couture outfits of wools, taffetas, silks and velvets. Louis Vuitton would be their trunks and cases of choice. The royal families such as the American royals would be doing the exact same thing, except they would also have much more flamboyant ceremonies and rituals involving these things, at least in some cases.

  This was a luxurious and a posh neighborhood that only the very rich could afford, that was, if you wanted to be in a house at all, or an apartment. The neighborhood could easily be lived in by the passing vagrant, if they knew all of the right people and all of the right things to do, that was.

  Some of the carriages had drivers with their top hats on, and leading two horses, but, some of them had more than that, sometimes six, down the pathways. Certain carriages didn’t have drivers, but had horses, and intelligent ones too. They could guide the carriages all on their own, without human interference. Cars were boxy, and with big, round headlights, convertible or no convertible. Trucks were boxy, and with big headlights too, and their beds were full with wooden barrels and crates of all shapes and sizes, round and square, that were bound by ropes and straps, full of all kinds of merchandise, such as fruits and vegetables, meats and grains. Bakery items filled trucks too. Others were full of antiques, some from over a thousand years ago. One truck was so full of barrels that said “Brooklyn Intl Imported Wine” that it looked like the barrels were going to burst right out of their bindings at any minute. There were several people, as in humans, at least, as far as you could tell, of several varying heights, walking along the pedestrian footpaths, all dressed in their wool coats, leather boots, knit scarves and leather gloves and hats. They were all cozy for winter, as it was January 1st and it was a Wednesday. It was a supernaturally cold winter and only the species that were fit to be out in weather this cold, that was, temperatures way below freezing at exactly -35 degrees and the air was a lightly tinted blue. It was also very cold up above, and with the wind blowing strong in whipping gusts. One man, who was about eight feet tall, grabbed onto his black bowler hat that was about to blow right off. Others were wearing outfits that were fit to keep them warm in these scorching, freezing temperatures. A lot of them were walking or holding some sort of pet, such as dogs, cats, and even birds, monkeys, tigers and horses as they walked along with their owners down the lane in Skyworld. Not all of them were on leashes, such as a tiger, which walked free besides his owner, he supposedly feeling ruthless that day, a short man who wore a remarkably high top hat that slanted to the side. It was a dark green velvet and a feather was sticking out of it. His breeches were striped. Scarlet Rose Carriage, otherwise known as Scar to her friends, and also known as Doctor Carriage, walked alongside Caleb Drew Carriage, her paternal cousin on her father’s side, her Uncle’s brother’s son, and Ellery “Ellie” Eve Crane, her best friend, with Scar in the middle. And they walked amongst these people. This same man also walked with an exceptionally large trunk that was levitating along with him and the tiger on the journey. This man walked past them at a brisk speed, the tiger matching his brisk walking speed, and the man’s trunk had “Dumbo Family Cirus” on it, and in that curly, baroque circus font and in bright letters. The man was obviously in a hurry to go somewhere and fast. But who knows where and who knows why. Scarlet wanted to know it all desperately. She wanted to follow him wherever he went. A man wearing a shorter top hat, and with gold goggles on top of the hat, walked with a bright green parrot on his shoulder that was mocking every word that he heard by every passerby that they passed by such as: crockpot, teapot, sandbag, and brewing irons.

  On a hunch, Scarlet had decided to leave the cozy warmness of her fireplace lit brownstone in Gramercy Park Mini of Earthworld and her Siberian cat Marbles, along with many other pets, in order to get a library book from the New York Public Library, the main branch in Central Park. She had talked about the book with Victoria Redgrave, her old vampire hunting boss that she still occasionally works with from time to time and she had given Scarlet the notion that she should get the book from the library like many of their conversations during their vampire quests, they were discussing what to do about a vampire ghost, a human that was. And she had recommended a book to Scar to read about it and Scar had recommended another book for Victoria or “Tori” to read herself in order to help out with her current vampire hunting quest.

  Currently, Scar, Caleb and Ellie walked inside of one of the inner and fully enclosed tunnels that went through Skyworld Gramercy Park Mini. They were on their way to a subway station that was going to the Skyworld Central Park entrance to the New York Public Library, the main branch and the part of the library that was in the sky. Scar had another hunch that they would have to be using the sky entrance to the library and this one in particular, because that’s where they were going to find that book on ghosts.

  They were currently on the subway that was zooming through the city. They were heading towards Central Park, going north. Tall skyscrapers and buildings whizzed past them as they rode by. They were in a car that was jam packed with people of all shapes and sizes. There was a very short man that stood right next to Scarlet, hanging onto one of the poles that was a dark metal. He was about two feet tall and he wore a big, chunky striped scarf and a plaid bowler hat. He had big puffy cheeks and was smoking a big, fat pipe. Out from the pipe came big puffs of smoke that curled around his head like a snake. He had on big, round glasses that were black and flecked with silver and gold and he kept mumbling to himself while reading a newspaper while holding onto the pole with his opposite hand. Scarlet stood there while also holding onto a pole, also of dark metal, wearing her plaid black and red dress that puffed out around her lower body. On top, she had big puffy mutton sleeves and a high collar black jacket over a high collar top. Her dark brown hair was long and braided under a tall top hat that was a match to her dress. She had gold goggles on top of her top hat that slanted to the side. Her shoes were ankle oxford booties that had a Louis heel and were platforms and they also happened to be an electric blue silk. They had a darker blue shoe lace. A big and chunky black and red scarf wrapped around her neck. She had a black Chanel backpack on her shoulders. The skirt split in the front, exposing her black knickerbocker pants with cargo pockets that went to her knees. And below that she was wearing red and black plaid tights and then black socks over that, but there was still red and black plaid showing. Her eyes were green, glowing and wide. She was very excited to go to the library. She could sense that a new case was coming and she could hardly wait. This was literally what she lived for. Everyday was never exactly the same, it always felt different. And that was the part of her job that she absolutely loved. She never knew exactly what kind of adventure that she would be getting into with Ellie and Caleb, her two best friends. Caleb stood next to her, Scarlet, also holding onto a pole and he was also reading a newspaper that was half folded and he was zooming on something with his goggles that were also on his shorter top hat that slanted to the side and they were now on his face, secured with a thick, buckled strap. The lenses were now popping out that’s how Scarlet knew that he was zooming in on something extra as the lenses were extra long now. His goggles were bronze and his hat was black and dark green striped. His hair under the hat was light brown and his eyes were a hazel. They were now extra big because of the zoom on his goggles. But normally, they were almond shape and normal sized. He was wearing a black and dark green striped wool tailcoat and a dark green chunky scarf around his neck. His jacket was buttoned up but split at his pants which were black studded trousers and he wore black combat lace up boots over that with black shoe laces.

  Ellie sat down next to Scarlet and Caleb on a bench that was dark brown leather. She read a newspaper as well and where she sat, Scarlet could see snowflakes whirling behind her outside of the windows violently. The windows were draped with dark red brocade curtains. The icy skyscrapers were a bit farther away now. And Scarlet could tell that they were getting closer to Central Park now because of that, and more trees began to fill up the window space, all dead of course and with leaves either mostly gone or all gone, making them all look like haunted skeletons. Their long, skinny bare branches looking like disembodied limbs reaching out for their graves to give them some release. Ellie and Caleb were able to read clearly because there were lights on in their car. They were hanging lanterns or fancy lamp shades that had fringe dangling from below them. Almost everyone in the car was smoking. Either they were smoking cigars, pipes or fat cigarettes. Ellie had blonde hair that was in a long pony tail, but her hair wasn’t as long as Scarlet’s, whose hair went all the way down to her waist. Ellie’s hair went to about mid back. Ellie had bright blue eyes under her gold reading glasses. She wore a light blue picture hat with ear muffs over the ears, but it was still built into the hat. The top exploded with a huge plume of feathers of white, tan, and turquoise. Her dress was also covered in feathers, at least at the bottom, as her edging. It was also a light blue. Also known as the Cinderella blue. Her dress was made of taffeta and it sparkled in a certain light as it was lightly bedazzled with silver gems here and there. Her witch’s boots had a louis heel on them and they were a light blue silk with white shoe laces. Underneath her dress, she had dark blue stockings on with blue and black stripe socks that still exposed the stockings. The lights swung back and forth around every turn they made around every corner. They emerged in a dark tunnel now and there was no natural light anymore. The station would be right up ahead.

  The car came to a screeching stop as they pulled up to the station and there was more natural light exposed now. Ellie folded up her reading glasses and put them into her Chanel backpack which was blue and black plaid. Caleb had already moved up his goggles back to the top of his hat. Ellie, Scarlet and Caleb were putting on their thin, kid leather gloves now. All of them were black except for Ellie’s which were tan. The doors slid open and the three of them wiggled their way amongst several other people, including one older woman who wore a black witch’s hat and a long green velvet and fur lined cloak that also happened to be hooded. She had a large carpet bag. They stepped amongst the layers of carpet that were on this subway car that were of dark red, black and purple paisley. They now stepped out into the frigid cold air and it bit their faces as the wind whipped aggressively at their faces. Scar pulled her scarf closer to her face as they walked across the platform. It was bright and sunny now and so Scar had put on her round black and red sunglasses that were on the smaller side. A tall man with a large briefcase that was made of alligator leather whirled past them, brushing slightly against Scarlet. He had a strong jawline and a big chin. He was wearing a pinstripe suit of black and white and was wearing a black bowler hat. The platform had no railings and it was covered with a large roof that was black and flat. There were stained glass skylight windows every so often. The platform itself had wood paneling and there were matching stained glass pavement lights on the wood as well. Again, it was every so often. Another gust of wind blew snowflakes into Scar’s face and she had to wipe some snowflakes off of her glasses. She took them off and then put them back on again. She had her backpack shouldered now on both shoulders. Ellie walked with her backpack on one shoulder. Caleb had his dark brown satchel on both of his shoulders.

  “It’s freaking freezing out here.” said Caleb.

  “No kidding.” said Scar.

  Caleb wrapped his arms around himself and ducked his head down. On both sides of the platform, there was a massive drop to far down below onto Earthland Central Park. There were skyscrapers on the left side and huge apartment buildings with their wrought iron railings on their balconies. A lot of the apartments had heat lamps and hot tubs on the balconies or inside of their apartments. They also had heated and padded lounge chairs with pink and dark brown brocade and there was a woman lying on one of them with her big cat eye sunglasses on and she wore a big, puffy dress that was fur-lined at the collar. A big, fluffy white cat laid on her lap and she had a pleasant look on her face. There was a bright pink collar on the cat with jewels on it that flickered in the sunlight. There was also a ton of trees that wrapped alongside the apartment, their branches and even parts of the trunk. There were so many trees that one could hardly see the sky on this side of the platform. A lot of the trees had wrought iron Art Nouveau decorated elevators that went up and down between Skyworld and Earthland. They either had glass or were hollow through the wrought iron having the cold air exposed to whoever was riding up and down the elevators. A lot of the Art Nouveau designs were swirling patterns. Some of the trees were apartment buildings or skyscrapers themselves that were hollowed out to hold residents or business men.

  On the right side of the platform, there was more light exposed, but there was still a ton of trees as this was Central Park and there was hardly an area in this spot where there weren’t several trees of varying heights bunched up together with small spaces only for bike paths or roads or some sort. There was, however, a large emptier space in the middle of the park, but that was still full of tall structures and buildings as well including an airship dock, several actually, and lots of shops including bakeries, blacksmith shops and nail and beauty salons. There was also a special big hat boutique where Scarlet got one of her big black and white striped hats with purple and black feathers pluming out of it. Ellie was with her and she had a magnificent time shopping with her there.

  Snowflakes fell onto the hat of Scarlet as they approached the entrance to the library which was a big, white building with tall, stained glass windows and they all had mums of varying colors. Two big copper lions mounted each side of the entrance door which was also of stained glass and of black wood. They were now on the part of the platform that was not covered by a roof but was partly covered by a giant oak tree. It was in fact, one of the biggest oak trees in Manhattan, Scarlet had read once in a nature magazine. Caleb opened the door, and in went Scarlet, Ellie and then Caleb. The inside of the building smelled of firewood and of books, old and new. It was also warmer in here, so the three of them took off their gloves and hats, Caleb and Scarlet collapsing their hats and putting them in their backpacks. They all unraveled their scarves. There were a lot of people here today and more than usual for a morning like this. Scarlet would have thought they all would have wanted to stay at home, all cozy in their pajamas and drinking hot chocolate, instead of bracing the outer cold of today’s weather. No matter what their species. Because this after all was just one part of the universe, and there were a lot of different species of people and animals (and plants for that matter) that lived on this planet. But not all were natives, a lot of them came from other planets, and in some cases other galaxies and even other universes. But visitors from heaven were far and few between, like on our normal planet of Earth. As that kind of magic was rare and of bad consequences. As always, for every ghost that was brought back to the Earth, or any other planet, came at least one terrible consequence for someone that was close to you per every ghost that was raised. But of course there were also worlds within worlds otherwise known as voids, that really weren’t part of any universe or galaxy at all, they were just bubble worlds. Because after all aren’t we all just a dream within a dream? I think that Poe said it best.

  They walked about the huge white marble stone archways of the New York Public Library, the main branch. The floor was a black and white marble and Ellie’s heels clacked as they walked across the marble floor. Ellie used to be a fashion model, so she was used to walking on any surface of floor with the highest heels that you could possibly imagine and she could go very long distances in them as well. She always liked to wear them when she was in Manhattan. There were big, tall bookshelves to the right of them, with every book of every shape and size that you could imagine. A lot of them were covered in jewels of all colors of the rainbow or in gemstones. A lot of them were also leather bound. Some of them were so big that they had to have a special shelf just to hold them in an upright position and they were joined with several other books that shared their same gigantic size. A lot of them also had that old, ruffled parchment that was inside of the books. The pages sticking out that happens with that type of paper. There was a giant ring in the middle of the library that was surrounded with patina railings. And this ring and it’s hollow went up several floors below and above this level and separated by floors. There were purple brocade and dark purple velvet couches and purple and black striped chairs that were every once in awhile along the railings on the left side of this part of the library that were also patina. There were also chairs and couches amongst and at the ends of the bookshelves. There were also parlor palms that were lined up along side the couches and chairs on the railings side.

  Scarlet, Caleb and Ellie approached the librarian’s desk that was on this floor, which happened to be the 50th floor. The librarian looked like she was at least ancient. She had very saggy and wrinkly skin all over her body and she smelled of coffee and cigarettes. Her hair was gray and white and wiry and it was pulled back in a high bun with her hair line combed on either side. She had on big, thick glasses with a gold and bejeweled chain coming off of them and dangling underneath her face and chin. The desk was a dark, cherry wood. There was a large pile of leather bound books and rolled up maps that were on top of it and beside of it that all lied on top of the desk. There was also a large stamp and stationery kit that laid on fancy, silver Tiffany tray. But some people like to call them salvers. There was also a large round aquarium on top of the counter that held guppies of all different colors, their tails that was. The males only had those very colorful tales and so Scarlet could tell that they were all males, therefore. There was a fake treasure chest inside of there as well as a stone mermaid statue, a castle statuette and several tall plants. The guppies were swimming amongst the plants and statues as well as a giant rock pile that was inside of there and it was shaped like a skull. There were several different colors of rocks that formed a rainbow hue pattern on the bottom of the tank.

  “Hi there. Those fish are my absolute favorites, by the way.” she said.

  “I would like to say that they are mine also.” said Scar.

  “What can I help you with today?” said the woman.

  Her voice was husky and she sounded like she had been smoking for at least a million years. She didn’t seem too worried about it though.

  “I would like to know if a certain book is at this location.” said Scar.

  “Which one are you talking about?” said the woman.

  “Everything You Need To Know About Ghosts by Tarmian Nates.” said Scar.

  “Oh, yes, in fact, we do have that book. I know exactly where it is too. Let me show you.” said the woman.

  She hobbled from behind the counter, grabbing her jewel topped cane along the way. The jewel was bright blue and there was a mysterious fog inside of it. She led the three of them along a line of bookshelves where the end cap was labeled “E”. She walked all the way to the end of the shelf where the ring of patina railings was. She looked up and pointed to a book on the thirtieth shelf.

  “That looks like the one.” said the librarian.

  Scarlet put on her golden goggles and she pressed a button that was on the side. It zoomed in, popping the lenses out in a telescopic way just like Caleb’s did and it focused in on a leather bound book that read the correct title that she was looking for.

  “It is.” said Scar.

  “Wonderful. Let me know if you need any help.” said the librarian.

  “Thank you.” said Scar.

  Once the old woman was out of view, and out of hearing range, Caleb turned to Scar.

  “I guess she’s not getting it for us, then.” said Caleb.

  He had a smirk on his face.

  “You are so bad today.” said Scar.

  “I honestly do what I can.” said Caleb.

  Ellie looked up and down the aisle.

  “There’s the sliding ladder, over there on that end. I thought I saw it earlier. I’ll go get it.” said Ellie.

  She walked over to the Putnam ladder and slid it all the way over to the end of the shelf. When it was in the right spot, she locked it in place. Scar climbed up the ladder, pausing half way up.

  “I should have brought my hiking boots for this.” said Scar.

  She looked down and shook her head at Ellie.

  “I know you can do it.” said Ellie.

  Scar finally made it to the top shelf. This was the main level of the library and it was therefore the tallest and it had vaulted ceilings as well. Scarlet grabbed the book. It was a dark blue and it was bejeweled with moonstone and lime green gemstones all along the edges and the middle, enveloping the title on the front page. They were also along parts of the spine as well. They returned back to the same counter and the woman was smiling with yellow teeth. Scar placed the book on top of the counter and slid it towards the woman. The librarian pulled the book even closer to her. She then reached out to the giant stamp that was on the silver tray and she flipped open the ink pad and dabbed the stamp onto the pad. She pressed it hard. She then opened the book’s front cover and took out the card that was in the pocket. She slid it towards the center of the book and she stamped it hard. She placed the stamp back onto its stand on the tray and she closed the book back up.

  “Would you like a bag today? The weather we’re having today.” said the woman with a smile.

  “No thank you. I have my bag.” said Scar.

  Scar put her backpack onto the counter, she unzipped it and she placed the book inside of it and zipped it back up again. Scar smiled at the woman.

  “Have a nice day. And stay warm.” said the woman.

  “You too. Thank you very much for your help.” said Scar.

  “Oh, it’s no problem.” she said.

  Scar took one more glance at the guppies and turned to follow the rest out of the library.

  They had taken the subway back to their station and they were walking up the stairs of the public carriage parking house. They had taken the glass elevator with wrought iron swirls all over it down from the station and back to ground level. They had also walked to the carriage garage which was only a short distance away from the elevator. The steps were stone and so were their railings and they went up in an L-shape several stories, but they were only going to the fifth floor, so they decided to walk instead of taking the elevator this time. They arrived to their correct level and went out to the house part and walked across the stone, passing along several stables along the way full of all different colors of horses. There were tan horses, and tan horses with white mane, and then there were dark brown horses. There were palominos eating hay out of their troughs in one paddock. Some carriage houses had anywhere from 1 to 7 horses. Except for in one carriage, Scar saw eight. But to be fair, it was a bigger paddock to hold them all. They reached a paddock that had two black Clydesdales. They also had black manes. Scar opened up the paddock door and they entered into the stable. One of them whinnied and Scar grabbed the reins of that one.

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  “Woah, Midnight.” said Scar and the horse calmed down.

  She nuzzled the horse.

  Caleb grabbed the reigns of the other horse, Shadow, and they both led their horses out of the stable. They then led the horses to the back of the garage where there were lots and lots of parking spaces that were divided by small lanterns that were on the ground that were all aflame on all of the parking spots. They went down an aisle that was numbered fifteen in cursive letters on one of the gray stone columns that was a Medusa woman in the front, but flat on the back. They walked amongst carriages of all shapes and sizes. This parking garage was only meant for carriages and if you were caught parking here for any other reason other than parking your carriage, you were charged a heavy fine, unless the patrolling officer was feeling more merciful that day. There were buggies, landaus, and even stagecoaches of black, white and gray. There was even a bright blue landau that looked just like one that Scar had back home. She smirked at it as they passed by. Finally, they arrived to a black landau in one of the parking spaces. It was parked forwards, so all they had to do was reharness their horses back onto the yoke and then drive off. They did so and then they all stepped into the carriage. Caleb and Ellie got inside and wrapped themselves with red and black buffalo plaid blankets. Caleb closed the door on his side and on the door was the Carriage Family Crest which consisted of a leopard and their logo “Never Give Up.” inscribed below it. And above the leopard was the family name “Carriage”. This was Scar’s personal carriage from her home and the crest signified that she was part of the royal Carraige family. They were one of many American royal families in New York City alone. The Swirly designs that mounted each side of the crest were gold and the leopard was gold and black. “Carriage” was also in gold curly letters. The leopard had it’s mouth closed and it’s eyes were lowered in an intense stare towards whoever was viewing it. It was one of the most intimidating things to a lot of people. Scar was very proud of her family logo. Scarlet hopped onto the driver seat above and put a blanket around herself also. It was again the black and red buffalo plaid. Scar had put her hat back on, as did Ellie and Caleb, as well as their gloves and scarves and Scarlet had tossed her backpack in the inner compartment with Ellie and Caleb. She grabbed hold of the reigns. The large horses started to move forwards. They turned a corner and they were off down the lane. They trotted all the way down the main lane when suddenly they were caught in unexpected traffic. There was a row of carriages that were lined up for a little ways towards the exit which consisted of a large spiraling stone ramp that went up and down the parking garage for the smallest or biggest carriage. This one was about fifteen feet wide. Scar pulled the reigns and the horses came to a stop and so did the carriage. Scar could smell exhaust and she looked up ahead and there she could see a black Rolls Royce car amongst the line up of traffic.

  “Tut-tut.” said Scar.

  After a few minutes, the traffic finally started going again. They creeped closer and closer towards the exit, in which there was a painted wooden sign that said “Exit”. It was also written in another language in which Scarlet had no idea to this day which one it was, but she assumed it said Exit. She chuckled to herself.

  Eventually they made it to the mouth of the exit and they rode onto the ramp. Traffic was going faster now and they trotted down the spiraling ramp. One the second level down, they saw a man with a large top hat on that was black and white striped and he was wearing a coverall that matched it exactly and he was carrying a cage of a small white bunny who jumped at the cage bars and sprouted long vampire teeth as Scar’s carriage past by. Scarlet put her eyes back on the road.

  “Someone has an attitude.” said Scar.

  “I think we found the reason for the traffic.” said Ellie to Caleb. Caleb nodded.

  They now trotted to the main exit of the parking garage which was a large archway as the first level was the one with highest ceiling. They rode out through the archway and stopped at the road, where there was a bronze stop sign. Scar looked both ways. There were some carriages coming down from the left side and also a quadruple decker bus with a spiral staircase in the back. As soon as they past, Scarlet pulled the carriage out, and they drove to the right. This was 42nd street. They rode down that street in the light pile of snow for about 10 minutes, due to traffic. By the time they pulled onto East 20th Street, it was just about 10:30 am. They were now in Gramercy Park Mini Earthworld which was a smaller neighborhood that was a part of the bigger Gramercy Park neighborhood. This was another luxurious and posh neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan. Only the very rich could live here. However, there was a group of vagrant rat catchers that lived below this part of the neighborhood that was a part of the Underworld Gramercy Park neighborhood. That was, the larger Gramercy Park neighborhood. Because directly below the smaller Gramercy Park neighborhood was a giant underground lake where anyone could enjoy and visit. But this was Jewel Avenue to the locals also known as East 20th Street and Redstone Row, as a lot of brownstones on this street were made of a dark, red brick. This was where Scar, Ellie and Caleb lived as roommates.

  This neighborhood was a quieter one and wasn’t as busy as it’s neighboring neighborhood above it, as it lied all cozy amongst the oak and willow trees of this area. The brownstones varied in widths and heights. Some being very narrow, whilst others were very wide. But all of the brownstones were legitimate brownstones, with their basement entrances and raised entrances to the front door and led to by steps, usually stone. Some of the stone houses had carriage houses even underneath the brownstone part that held horses for the owner’s carriages. The carriage houses had big arched barn doors, mostly made of wood. Although, some of the doors had either cut glass, or stained glass windows of spiral, floral, or foliage design. Most of the brownstones on this street, at least the larger ones had, turret windows going all the way up to the roof and making them look like castle houses, especially with their stone railing terraces that lied on top of each brownstone. The roofs of the brownstones here, at least in this neighborhood, served as another level to the house, although outdoors, the owners would often decorate this level of the house with all sorts of things such as heated lounge chairs, heating lamps, hot tubs and even swimming pools. One house even had an entire game board that took up the entire area of the roof and the humans themselves were the players, or the game pieces. Scarlet’s neighbors, in fact, and Scar enjoyed going over to their house often.

  Some of the roofs had glass atriums on top of their roofs, on top of everything else they had up there. Some of them just had flat skylights. If some had a half turret, that was it didn’t go all the way up to the roof, then there was usually an atrium on top of that. But other times it was just a cone roof.

  The brownstones had chimney stacks of varying heights that jutted out of the roofs, pouring out dense smoke. One of the puffs looked like a skull. This contributed to the already very heavy smog, which made the street look like a giant ghost was haunting it. Other brownstones had garages underneath their first stories, instead of a carriage house. The wooden garage doors varied in size and height, depending on the largest vehicle they had, or vehicles, or wanted to have, in there. Some of the garage doors had windows, which matched the design of the barn doors usually.

  Scar led the carriage along the street that was usually cobblestone but now it too was covered in a light snow coverage. Lots of actual foliage and florals lined this avenue, both near the street, and by the houses themselves and buildings, too. The bushes were large, and dramatic, and a lot of them were full of roses. Some of them were cut into topiary shapes such as spirals, and others were layered to look like cakes. A triple decker horse and carriage with a driver and his top hat came trotting down the street on the opposite side of Scarlet’s and he tipped his hat towards Scarlet, which was a very appropriate action for seeing a princess. It was customary to be casual with her American royal family.

  Snowflakes swirled down onto the roof of Carriage Brownstone, a five-story brownstone house that was actually seven if you included the basement and rooftop terrace. Eight, if you included the parking garage that was below the basement. The carriage house which had big round arched wooden doors. The carriage house was on the first story of the house. For this particular brownstone, the brick was a dark red, just like most of the others, however, the feature that made this brownstone stand out was a shell entrance, resembling a bandstand, which was of dark honeycombed metal, on the left side of the house which served to the entrance to the underground garage which held all sorts of vehicles. The reason it stood out, was, this neighborhood mostly had carriage houses because it was mostly old school, but Scar, she was new school. And she needed all sorts of vehicles for all of her different adventures. Many of her neighbors gave her dirty looks every time she rode down the street in one of her “more advanced vehicles” and she would give them dirty looks back. Because they would often tell her, straight to her face, that a car like that wasn’t fit for a pretty royal like her. And that would always piss her off, because a pretty royal like her needed to drive her corvette. She just had to. But it was all in good fun, hopefully.

  There was a stairwell into the ground on this house as well, or the classical basement entrance of the brownstone. It first led to a door and then into the basement of the house. Who knew what was lying in there?

  There were two winding staircases opposite of each other, resembling crescent moons, and with a landing half way up, and they both led to the main entrance porch, and then to the front door. The stairwells were made of dark stone, and there were stone leopard statuettes that were mounted on opposite pediments that lined both sides of the stairs on both sides. But these leopards had their mouths and eyes opened wide and in a menacing way.

  A balustrade of twisted stone lined the stairwells, and then to the patio up top. This brownstone mansion had turreted windows on both sides of the house and going all the way up to the roof, giving it that castle or manor look. There was one turret, however, on the right side, that had a half-turret, and it ended after the third story. This turret had a stained glass atrium roof of red roses and their twisty green leaves and brown stems. The roof of this brownstone had a big, stained glass atrium on the rooftop terrace, and this one had patterns of roses and spirals of foliage around it. This was Scarlet’s ancestral home that she inherited from her mother and father, the King and Queen of an American royal family in Manhattan.

  Scarlet was exiled from a lot of things in her family, but this brownstone wasn’t one of them. The house was over one thousand years old and had been in their family for centuries and it was built by one of their ancestors a very long time ago. She was disinherited from a lot of things, too, because she refused to give into the belief that their species of vampire were simply better than others. Words that had come directly out of her parents mouths as well as other members of her family and friends for that matter. But they had not disbanded her entirely from the family but it had created tension at times amongst them at certain dinner events and holidays. She was worried that there would be war over this disillusioned beliefs. And she was scared and she told them that, and they had simply waved her away, completely dismissed her and had told her that this was merely just her opinion instead of being the exact truth as she had directly told them. But they never listened, and she feared that they never would. They could hear her, but they couldn’t really listen. Scar often lost sleep over worrying about this. And there was nothing that she could hardly ever do about it. It frustrated her immensely at times.

  Scar pulled the carriage to the side of the street at her address, fifteen Gramercy Park South, New York, New York. She jumped off the carriage, which was a very rude thing to do as a princess, at least according to some people, and she opened the large doors to her private carriage house. The doors creaked as they opened as if it were a haunted house. Scarlet hopped back onto the carriage and drove the carriage inside where it smelled of hay and the lanterns had already been lit by one of her stable boys. And for that, she was grateful for.

  Caleb and Ellie got out of the carriage and this time Ellie and Scarlet unharnessed the horses and led them to their stables. They each had their own private one.

  Scarlet, Caleb and Ellie walked out of the carriage house and up the stone steps of the brownstone and to the front door which was two big wooden round-arched doors. And hanging over the door, was a stone statue of a beautiful woman with one and a half inch fangs and they were hanging over her mouth. The fangs were where normal human canines would normally be. This was the type of species that Scar and her family were. She, too, had her mouth and eyes open in a wide and intimidating way. Scar inserted the key and turned the door knob.

  A cluster of snowflakes hit and then smashed into the bay window on the left side of the house. Inside of the parlor, Scarlet sat on her bright red couch and intently read her book. She had hot pink socks on and they were propped up on the matching red ottoman that was rectangle and it was just as long as the couch. She wore small, round silver rimmed bejeweled reading glasses and her hair was now in a half-pony tail bouffant. Scar also wore diamond jeweled tear drop earrings and her outfit consisted of a bejeweled red and pink-striped lounging dress with long puffy sleeves. Her big fluffy light gray and white Siberian cat, Marbles, a female adult kitty, sat by her feet on the ottoman as she read her newly checked out library book. The cat was wearing a matching pink and red-striped and bejeweled collar while she played with a ball of electric blue yarn. Light snow continued to fall outside of the turret window. The window curtains were a dark purple brocade, tied with a dark gray rope. She flipped the page. The double dark wooden doors of the parlor opened, Scarlet looked up and in came Ellie wearing a tweed jumper with a shirtwaist and a bowtie underneath that. Her hair was in a low messy bun. She wore leggings below. Her feet were covered with platform, pointed oxford lace up witch’s boots with wing-shaped feathers jutting out of the upper sides of each shoe. They also had a Louis heel. Both her and Scar were skinny and muscular, but Ellie had a smaller frame than Scar did. And Scar was more voluptuous while Ellie was more nymph like.

  “We’re ready whenever you are.” said Ellie.

  She still held onto the door knob.

  “Ellie, come over here and look at this.” said Scarlet.

  Ellie walked over and sat on the couch next to Scarlet.

  “Read this.” said Scarlet.

  She pointed to a sentence that was on the page.

  “Ghosts cannot roam the Earth without any bad consequence. There is always at least one bad consequence that comes to anyone, no matter who they are, who successfully raises a ghost from the dead. At least one terrible consequence to each ghost that is raised from any after life. Interesting fact.” said Ellie.

  “It is interesting, and I had forgotten about that. This book is so interesting, in fact, and I’m thinking of buying a copy for myself. I feel like I’m never going to put it down, ever.” said Scarlet.

  Ellie had gotten up and left the room and Scarlet was left on her own again, but of course, still with Marbles. Lots of bookshelves and paintings lined this room, as well as a lit fireplace that was on the right side of the room, and at an angle.

  The cat stopped playing with its yard, and it started to meow. Scar put her book down in her lap and reached over to pet the kitty.

  “Oh, Marbles, you’re always looking for attention, aren’t you?” said Scar.

  Scar was a younger-looking woman who looked like she was thirty-five, but wasn’t. In fact, she was an immortal vampire that was over one hundred years old. In fact, so was Ellie, but she was a witch. And so was Caleb, but he was a werewolf. And they all looked like they were thirty-five, but weren’t.

  Dr. Carriage was a private detective of her own agency called Dr. Carriage Enterprises. As a Doctor Of Alchemy, she received her Doctorate in Alchemy Sciences, and not actually a medical doctor. Although her great aunt never failed to mention Doctor in front of her name often during family dinners. Doctor Scarlet, she would say.

  Scarlet was also a heir of her mother’s fashion company that she created years ago, called “Veronica Carriage,” and her current line was called “Carriage Emporium”. She inherited the money when she was eighteen, and there was a lot of it. And yes she did turn eighteen as a vampire. All vampires of her species aged on the outside only to thirty-five, they would still turn each age number from there on out, but it would be completely meaningless, as she would never age past thirty-five on the outside. However, she could still die, but she couldn’t age, ever. That was, at least, not with the use of an external magic object.

  Scar had become a billionaire instantly, and then she not only had her own money, but her family money as well. Not to mention, being around for such a long time, being immortal and all, she was able to acquire a lot of money over the years for herself, including being a Doctor of Alchemy, and by adding professional research to the subject. She, at 18, however, was no longer a senior royal, that was, she was no longer an active member of her royal family, due to their differences in beliefs, and she was no longer required to do her active duties as a royal family member, although she did complete her required duty as an active member as a princess before that, and she was somewhat proud of that. And she also completed her required royal duty of being an active military officer for at least three years. That, she was mostly proud of.

  Also, Scar was an avid scholar of about everything, and ghosts wasn’t necessarily her vocation, but a hobby.

  Scarlet took a deep breath and closed her book and placed it on the dark wooden side table that was Rococo designed with the gold filigree a perfect contrast to the contrast of the wood. Scar slipped on her black pillow slipper heels and got up from the couch and walked towards the parlor door. She opened the doors and left one of them cracked open so Marbles could get out later if she wanted to.

  Once she was out in the hallway, which also served as a foyer to the house, she walked over a long Persian rug, and then onto a wooden, L-shaped staircase in which had a carpet runner going all the way up to the middle platform. Scarlet reached that landing, and then went up another set of stairs that also had a carpet runner running up it.

  When Scarlet reached the top landing, she turned left, and walked down the hallway along the railings, which overlooked a large, crystal chandelier that sparkled in the morning sunlight. The sunlight was coming through a big, stained glass window that was above the wooden double doors that served as the main entrance to the brownstone. She came to a door at the end of the hall. She opened the door, and entered into her master chambers suite. The bedroom had a large, canopy bed against the wall and in the middle of the room which had dark red brocade curtains that matched the turret window curtains. The bedspread matched these as well. Whilst, the sheets were a bright red. There was also a vanity table, a wardrobe, and a chair and pouf that was in the corner that was also a deep red. The room also contained many bookshelves, full of all sorts of books of all shapes and sizes and of various subject, it was like private, mini version of the New York Public Library itself. That, she was very proud of. There was her favorite book which was lined with bright red rubies that was titled The Beauty Of The Science Of Alchemy. She walked over to the nightstand, took off her glasses, and put them inside of a black case that was on top of the nightstand. Then, she picked up a black locket that belonged to her great grandfather, Jasper. She flicked it open and inside, there was a picture of Jasper from 1801, and he looked very young, but he was an adult. He had high cheek bones and messy dark brown hair and dark brown eyes that smiled with a mysterious look to it. It was a piece of mourning jewelry, as her Grandpa Jasper had passed away a long time ago. On the side opposite the picture was inscribed the words “Life is a mystery, and I hope that it never changes.”

  She had inherited the piece when he died when she was eighteen. Along with everything else.

  Scar next walked over to the wardrobe, and opened it. Inside, were outfits of purple, black, pink, and red. The clothes were made of taffeta, velvet, and satin. She pulled out a black, satin outfit of a tunic and long trousers and she closed the wardrobe back up again.

  She was just finishing the last few buttons on the top of her long, black tunic, when she heard an aggressive knock on the door of her bedroom, and then a voice.

  “Are you coming, Scar? We’re ready!” said Ellie.

  “I’ll be down in just a minute!” said Scar.

  She finished buttoning her shirt, walked to the corner, and grabbed her wooden training stick. She headed out the door, and she went back down the stairs. Once in the foyer, she walked down the hallway, amongst stone statues of more vampire women, and also vampire men, with the same fangs hanging out of their mouths, and their mouths were all open in some way. She also walked amongst paintings of her family members and landscapes and parlor palms until she reached the end, where there were large, wooden double doors with dark pink brocade curtains that went over them, but were drawn. The top half of the doors were stained glass and the rest was wood. There, Scarlet opened both of the doors, and she now entered into her other private library. And this one was much bigger.

  Scar walked along tall, wooden bookshelves on either side of her that went all the way up to the fifth floor, along with two sliding Putnam rolling ladders on each side, and two spiral staircases, on each side of the room, that, again, went all the way up to the fifth floor. A large, crystal chandelier that dripped with jewel tear drop diamonds hung from the ceiling in the main, open internal courtyard of the library.

  There were three more chandeliers of equal size going up all the way to the fifth floor. The glass atrium covered most the ceiling in this room, allowing more morning sunshine to pour thru, and the chandelier line up hung from this ceiling.

  There was an open space in the middle of the library where there used to be couches and a coffee table that was ebony, but all of the furniture had been moved out of the way for their martial arts practice and now, there only laid a large, Persian rug.

  Scar walked over to the center of the room to join Caleb who was already dressed in his long, white cotton baggy trousers and matching long, loose tunic. He was just as tall as Ellie and his muscles were well defined. Ellie was already there, too, in the library, and sitting in a dark blue brocade wingback arm chair that was off to the side. Caleb’s eyes sparkled with platonic cousin happiness when Scar walked over to him. Caleb was doing some stretches. His wooden stick laid at an angle against one of the nearby shelves.

  “Well, look who it is.” said Caleb.

  “Yes, it is I, your worst enemy in the entire universe. I want to fight you first, cuz.” said Scar, holding her stick perpendicular to herself, and in front of her in a challenging way.

  “Anything for your highness.” said Caleb.

  “No, anything for yours.” said Scar.

  “Alright, let’s do this.” said Ellie.

  Caleb turned, and did a little skip towards his training stick. Ellie got up and walked over to the phonograph and turned on techno music, turning the volume way up. Caleb picked up his stick and jogged back over to the center to rejoin Scar, who now had her stick in a straight position next to her, military style. Caleb copied her same pose exactly.

  They stared straight at each other, never looking away, and in the most intense way, by both of them.

  “Positions!” said Ellie loudly over the music.

  Caleb got into position, twirling his stick until it was across his body. Scar did the same, in a mocking way.

  “And go!” said Ellie and she put her arm up, pointing her finger to the sky, in a starting salute.

  Caleb came out first, in a forward attack, and he swung the stick right at Scarlet’s head, as hard and as fast as he could. She dodged the stick by bending forwards, her long, dark braid going with it. She avoided the stick entirely. Scarlet immediately countered and swung the stick towards Caleb’s legs, in order to sweep the legs, as hard and as fast as she humanly could. He jumped up into the air and avoided the stick entirely, and then landed back down, on both feet. Scarlet came immediately back at Caleb and took a deep swing at his shoulder. He dodged it perfectly. She swung at his other shoulder now, and he dodged that, but just barely that time, and his shirt sleeve ripped. Caleb, right away, came back with a high kick to Scarlet’s head. She dodged, but barely just the same. He came at her again, and she barely dodged. She dropped her stick and leaped into the air and went flying towards the ladder that was over to the right, and on the rungs that were between the second and third floor, grabbing onto the rungs with her bare hands and feet. She began to climb upwards. Caleb dropped his stick, leaped high into the air and grabbed onto the chandelier with his bare feet and hands. Scarlet was at the third floor platform. She ran to the other ladder that was a short distance away from the railings. She quickly started to climb up. Caleb flipped into the air upwards and grabbed onto the chain that was holding up the first chandelier, and then he did another flip to get past the second chandelier, and then did another flip to get past the third chandelier, and then another flip got him past the fourth one. He now landed on the fifth floor platform meeting Scarlet who just got to the same platform. She faced him head on. Ellie had gotten up from her chair and walked to the opposite side of the library to look up at them from below.

  “Now, this is some real combat!” said Ellie.

  After a few moments of an intense stare down, Scarlet went for Caleb and threw a punch right at Caleb’s face, and he dodged just in time, and the punch only grazed his lip. She feigned another punch with the same hand from the south paw position now, and she went in for a kick with the opposite right leg. She got him right on the mouth, and his lip started to bleed, but it wasn’t quite hard enough, and not at the right angle for a knockout. Scarlet was disappointed. Scarlet went in for the same kick, but this time, Caleb blocked with his arm. He then grabbed her by the ankle and flipped her into the air. She tumbled through the air and landed like a cat onto the ground, in a crouched position. He was coming at her now. She had barely gotten back up when Caleb was throwing a punch at her head from a regular styled position, and she was able to dodge that one fully. But then, Caleb had thrown another one, surprising her, and he hit her right on the nose, and it started to bleed. Scarlet, nonetheless, came at him with a punch, and hit him on the nose, tit for tat, and then another, and then another. Then, mercifully, she switched it up with a kick to the head and landed it, knocking Caleb to the ground, but not fully unconscious.

  “Tut-tut,” said Scar. “That could have been a knockout.”

  Caleb did a flip and got back to his feet. He came right at Scarlet with a flying knee feint and then a front kick for real, and she just barely got out of the way. Scarlet’s face turned into a death stare, directed exactly at Caleb, and nothing else, and she ran at him and jumped into the air. She then double kicked him on the head and landed both times, and with the same foot. He was dazed, so she grabbed him by his tunic, and then launched him over the railing.

  “So feisty.” said Scar, watched him fall down.

  Scarlet watched him fall down. Caleb fell and fell until he was able to grab onto a chain that was above the first chandelier. Scarlet was now leaping through the air, over the railings, and she fell, and fell, until she grabbed onto the chain above the second chandelier. Caleb slid down the chain, flipped over and swung onto the light, and then landed onto the ground, just as Scarlet slid down her chain, flipped over the light herself, slid down the second chain, and then back flipped over the second chandelier, landing on the ground right behind him, and she flipped him down by a Judo throw right away. She now had two sharp canine teeth that had transformed from her regular canines, and she had them right at his neck as he laid down flat on the ground.

  “Blast.” said Caleb, laid out, spread eagle.

  “Blast is right, cuz.” said Scar, and she reached for Caleb’s hand.

  Ellie came over and she was clapping slowly.

  “Great job, Scar.” said Ellie.

  “Yeah,” said Caleb. “Great work.”

  He reached back and she pulled him to his feet. She backed off.

  “Thanks.” said Scar, and she clapped his back before walking away.

  Caleb was glaring at Ellie. Ellie looked at Caleb, and shrugged.

  “Better luck next time, I suppose.” said Caleb.

  “You just haven’t been able to beat her lately.” said Ellie.

  Caleb walked by Ellie, continuing to glare at her.

  “No kidding.” said Caleb, as he walked past.

  A few hours later, it was about midafternoon, and Scarlet was at her desk, post lunch, writing down notes about what she read about in her book earlier. And she was just finishing the words:

  I had found the chapter in which I know helped Victoria in that book, the one that said Vampire Ghosts Are Not What They Seem.

  Her phone began to ring, and she picked up the metal and glass phone.

  “Hello?” she said.

  “Hi, it’s Maribelle.” she said, between sobs.

  Maribelle “Mari” Siren was one of Scarlet’s good friends who lived in the Upper

  West Side in Riverside Park. She also happened to a be a young mermaid.

  “What’s wrong?” said Scarlet.

  “Oh, the most terrible thing has happened.” she said.

  “Do I need to come over? What’s happened?” said Scarlet, leaning forward in her seat.

  Maribelle took a deep breath.

  “You know my neighbors, the Roberts?” said Mari.

  “They live in the house right next to yours, in the Tudor house?” said Scarlet.

  “Yes, that’s right. Well, Shelly died, and it’s just awful.” said Mari.

  “Oh, no.” said Scar, and she wrote down the notes quickly:

  Robert’s sister, murdered.

  Found dead.

  “Yes, the sister that was living with them.” said Mari.

  “Oh, dear. Will they be needing my assistance?” said Scar.

  “Yes, because in fact, I’ve talked to Claude right after it happened, because I was there. He said that he and Sissy have agreed to hire you to investigate this, because it wasn’t an accident.” said Mari.

  Claude and Sissy Roberts were spouses, and owners of the house known as Ambrosia Manor. Mari was good friends with Sissy, as well as Shelly Stackhouse, Sissy’s biological sister, who was currently living with them, for unknown reasons to Scarlet. Mari had told Scar this fact, however, when she was over one night for tea. Also, Mari had told Scar that she had told Sissy and Claude at some party about Scar’s work and they were both very impressed.

  “Morninggale has already arrived, got there shortly after we called, and I told him that she isn’t the most dependable.” Mari continued.

  Morninggale was Scar’s worst enemy, or at least, one of them, rather.

  “Ah, Ms. Morninggale. Alright, we’ll be right over.” said Scarlet.