[sylvanSpider]

Emily's eyes widened and she dropped to her knees, face frozen in that terrible expression of realization. Her beloved had indeed gone missing, and he was likely in the hands of the vampire. “Ms. Ward...has him? She has William?” she croaked, looking up at Simon already knowing the answer. He hadn't skirted around other facts of his investigation that she knew of, and she saw no reason for him to be lying about this.

Simon made eye contact and nodded once, “I have reason to believe she does, though she is no longer in the form of the enfeebled elderly woman he told you he was conducting business with. Of course, I did take my investigations straight to where I believe the source is. Ms. Ward's home. There, I found further reasons to believe that she is indeed a vampire. The enfeebled form of Ms. Ward, naturally, upon feeding upon Mrs. Thomas would be rejuvenated to a form of a much younger person, though of course, I use the word 'person' here lightly. The younger person is claiming to be the granddaughter of Ms. Ward, and not coincidentally, the elder “Ms. Ward” is claimed to be dead. A typical story.”

Emily couldn't cry or scream though she wanted to do both. First Rosamund, and now William. She wished this Mr. Wegg had been around before, had been able to stop this. She simply sat frozen on her knees. At the very least, Mr. and Mrs. Turnbuckle were situated safely in their estate in London—far from the troubles of Flint. But here, Emily lost everything and everyone she loved. They were less than two weeks from the day they were to be wed, and William was missing—likely dead.

Simon kept his position, making no motion to comfort the distraught woman and he inhaled deeply through his nose, “Emily. In order to further my investigation, and in hopes of finding your dear William alive, I have to get more information from you.”

Emily did not answer verbally, instead turning her eyes up at him, steeling herself for a barrage of questions. “You and Rosamund went out on the town today, correct?”

Emily gave an assenting nod.

“While out, did you see anything, or anyone strange? Perhaps that you hadn't seen before, or a person that seemed to be watching you? This could be anyone. I need to know, as the suspected would have had to lay eyes on you in order to target you—which would give clear motivation to kill Rosamund in an effort to isolate you,” Simon's voice was calm, assertive. He'd done this sort of thing before, and with the attitude he carried it would be easily believed that he'd done this more times than he'd care to count. Of everything he'd seen, none of it was new anymore. None of it could be. He'd seen everything.

Emily swallowed, placing her hand on the coffee table to prop herself up. She remained on her feet only long enough to shift her position to the seat, being more light-headed than she'd originally thought. His question reminded her of that woman...that gorgeous woman she saw in the market. At the time, she wasn't able to place it, to put words to the feeling she had when they made eye contact. Finally, she nodded, pressing her lips together and fought back tears, “Y-yes. There...there was a woman, her hair was yellow but pale—almost white—her eyes, they...they seemed to peer into my innermost being. I was overwhelmed for a while with this, this, prevailing feeling of guilt and...desire.”

“Desire?” Simon asked, “Guilt? Was it just a feeling, or did you have some sort of vision to accompany it?”

As she thought about it, the feelings were becoming more real to her once again, and she could see it clearly in her minds eye, “I...I was no longer myself, for that moment at least, I was a woman named Isabella. The guilt...it came from abandoning her. I left her alone, drowning myself in a sea of crimson and regret. I...I don't mean to sound melodramatic, Mr. Wegg, these are simply my feelings.”

“I believe every word, Miss Barker. All is as I thought, then, you are her target. Though, I am unsure of this vision you had--”

“It was like a memory. Isabella was me, and I was Isabella--”

“Interesting. This cements my initial thoughts, though I am unsure if this was a trick from the vampire...or if this is something else entirely.”