NIGHTS OF HALLOW

The village bell ringing in the distance echoed across the village of Woodbridge as it announced the breaking of the day together with the crowing of the cocks.

Snow had fallen in small drops last night which made the night cold. But the sun that was slowly showing its face in the sky melted the snow and made the village warm again as the villagers started getting ready for work.

Last night after Perdita helped in the release of Mrs. Perkin through Daemon, she had slept with a calm heart and today she rose with a smile on her face feeling half the burden on her shoulder was laid off.

”Good morning, Marco!” She greeted her brother with a cheerful voice. Her eyes twinkled in happiness.

”Morning, sis” Marco responded with a smile on his face. ”You look happy” He noted while he prepared their morning meal.

”Yes, I am” Perdita replied with a laugh. She stood up and went to the corner where they kept their jar of water. Taking a cup, she scooped a cupful and went outside to wash her face and mouth using the chewsticks she collected from their room.

Done cleaning her face, she went back inside and at the same time, the sweet aroma wafting in the air from the food Marco was cooking filled her nostrils making her mouth water. Her brother has always been a wonderful cook and he prepared most of the food they ate.

She rushed to the fireplace Marco was cooking. She sniffed the air and asked, ”What are you cooking? Let me have a taste” She quickly brought her spoon to have a taste of the delicious food her eyes were ogling at.

”Hold on you glutton” Marco smacked her hand away from the pot. ”Wait till it’s well cooked first” 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

”What’s the difference? I’m famished” Perdita rubbed her stomach showing Marco her puppy eyes.

Marco laughed at her reaction ”Those eyes won’t work on me anymore. It’s either you wait for it to be well cooked or you have none at all”

Perdita dropped her spoon with a sullen look ”What’s the difference if it’s well cooked or not? We are vampires and eating it won’t cause us any harm”

Marco’s shoulders slumped and he sighed ”Still, it’s best if we continue eating well-cooked food. We shouldn’t do it because we are now vampires and it’s what others do”

”Fine,” Perdita raised her hand in defeat. ”Be fast, young man. I’m starving” Perdita yawned and said to lighten the heavy mood her statement brought between them.

”Right away, madam” Marco dramatically bowed at Perdita.

Perdita laughed at this ”That’s more like it, boy”

”What’s making you so happy today?” Marco inquired as he stirred the meat inside the pot. He added more ingredients to make it spicy as per Perdita’s taste. She loved eating spicy and sweet foods.

”Nothing much” Perdita shrugged her shoulders like it was no big deal.

”Nothing much won’t make you smile this way since morning, sis. Let me guess,” Marco turned his head to the side enough to look at Perdita who sat on the chair at the corner of the room.

”You made a big sale yesterday?” Marco asked and saw Perdita shake her head negatively.

”You met the love of your life?” Perdita rolled her eyes at this question and Marco laughed. Both of them knew that Perdita didn’t like anyone or didn’t want to like anyone.

Sometimes it worried Marco that his sister will end up being a spinster. She had reached the age to marry but Perdita had refused to give in to his pleas to be a in relationship with someone and check if it would work out between them.

So many young men in their village liked his sister enough to consider her as their potential future wife but the problem was they were humans. Somehow, he understood his sister since those men were humans and it would be a disaster if she married any one of them as a human and they later find out she is a vampire. She could end up getting killed.

But then, no vampires had come or rightly put, they didn’t want to come because of their social status. He remembered one of the rich vampire families that wanted Perdita to be their future daughter-in-law when she had gone to deliver something in their neighboring town.

Perdita at that time was seeing their young son, and he believed Perdita liked him back. But everything changed when they discovered they were from a poor background with no relatives. According to the family then, they said they had stooped low enough to consider Perdita as their future daughter-in-law considering she was a human, but to accept someone with no background was impossible for their high status.

And that was it, the possible marriage ended like it was never discussed before. But if things had ended peacefully, then it would have been great. But things went downhill the following day after they announced the breaking of the marriage. Maybe that was the reason his sister refused to associate with any man especially someone from high society. She feared that what happened might repeat itself and she would fall into trouble because of what transpired that day.

”Well...” Perdita started to say breaking Marco’s line of thought ”...it’s the usual helping a fellow villager out”

Marco narrowed his eyes at Perdita. He brought down the pot from the fire before dishing out the hot food into their plates.

He said, ”Don’t tell me you helped Mrs. Perkin to get out”

”Uhm...I did.” Perdita answered with a small voice. She and Marco had a discussion that night when Mr. Perkin was taken away by Sthena. They had agreed that they would continue living in the village while minding their business. And now she helped Mrs. Perkin, she knew Marco would be furious. It was not like she didn’t understand him, she knew he cared about her and also about their safety, but this was also related to them.

”Oh, Perdita!” Marco rubbed his creased forehead with a frown settling in his brows that rose in slight anger. ”I thought we spoke about this?”

Perdita stood up from her chair and walked towards Marco. She placed her hands on his shoulders and started massaging them to soothe his temper that would blow up any minute.

”Calm down, brother. I did help her get out but that was with the help of someone”

”Someone? Who?” Marco questioned Perdita who was still massaging his shoulders.

”Ehm...he is...” Perdita started and realized she didn’t even know the name of her helper. Oh my God!

Marco sharply turned around to face her. He spoke with his voice raised, ”You see? You don’t even know the name of the person who helped you. What if...”

”Calm down Marco! You don’t have to raise your voice at me. It was that man that was with Sthena that helped me. Besides, if I didn’t release Mrs. Perkin. Don’t you think that they will start investigating that pill and trace it to us? Do you think we both would be safe here? I just wanted to help. Must everyone be selfish and not help each other? I know it is Mr. Perkin’s fault. But what about his wife? She’s innocent.”

”I...I” Marco wanted to speak but words failed him. His sister was absolutely right but he couldn’t sit here and let her do everything. She should be taking care of herself and not running around trying to protect both of them. He was the man in the house, and he vowed to protect her since the death of their parents. He felt useless!

Perdita took Marco’s hands in her hers. She looked up and gazed into the eyes of her younger brother that was filled with so many emotions that swirled in his eyes and among them were pain and guilt. It broke her heart to see him this vulnerable.

”Look, Marco” Perdita’s voice became gentle as she rubbed his cheeks. ”I didn’t mean to make you worried. I didn’t mean to make you feel worthless or incapable. I know you want the very best for both of us and you’re doing perfectly great brother. But allow me to do things for my baby brother too.

I want to see you see grow up as a strong and vibrant Marco who is not scared of anything. We can’t have everything in this world but I wish to see you smile without any pain hidden in your eyes. We are in this together, Marco. We will survive and we will protect each other. Okay?”

Marco nodded his head in understanding. He loved his sister too much to hurt her.

”From now on sister, promise me we will do everything together. We will share the burden, the joy, and everything that comes our way together and not keep anything from each other. Promise?”

”Promise,” Perdita assured with a smile. She hooked her little finger with that of Marco as a seal to their promise.

Marco smiled as a tear slid down his cheek ”Come here, you silly woman. You made your baby brother cry, you shameless woman” Marco whispered and pulled Perdita in for a hug.

Perdita chuckled with tears also running down her cheeks ”I love you, brother”

”I love you more, big sister”