NIGHTS OF HALLOW

Donovan’s question brought a minute of silence in the room, especially on the part of Mr. Humphrey.

He stayed quiet still trying to understand what Donovan said. Vampires? Abduction? Mr. Persin? Why were these words sounding foreign in his ears? He questioned himself in doubt.

Ever since he was appointed as the head warden of the local constabulary in the village of Woodbridge, he had not experienced the havoc of the vampires nor had there been any report of humans being abducted and killed by vampires. And who was the abducted Mr. Persin he haven’t heard of?

Mr. Humphrey shifted uncomfortably on both legs. The discomfort he had in his heart by having these church members in his office grew more as seconds ticked into minutes. He knew this case was not going to be an easy one that would be dropped in a short time. Anything concerning vampires killing humans was highly not welcomed by the church.

He internally sighed and whispered to himself, ’This is going to be a long cold day in the company of the church members.’ But why did the name Mr. Persin sound familiar to his ears? He had a faint memory of dealing with a case that concerned a man with the same name. Or were they two different persons and he was wrong?

Donovan and the other church members kept mute and gave Mr. Humphrey all the time he needed to get his brain working again. Perhaps the snow and cold had blocked his head with emptiness. Or was it the good feeling of staying in a warm office that made his brain lag and lazy?

Whatever it was, Donovan did not want to know as he broke the silence when Mr. Humphrey chose not to speak. He said,

”Head warden Humphrey, should I take your silence as a yes that you know about the abduction of Mr. Persin by the vampires?” Donovan’s question was enough to jolt Mr. Humphrey back to reality.

Mr. Humphrey’s dilated black eyes widened in disbelief at what Donovan said because he failed to answer the head church’s question. He vigorously shook his head and waved his hand refuting the accusations.

”Of course not, Headchurch Donovan. I was thinking about what you asked me. And no, I don’t know any Mr. Persin. There is no record of him being abducted by vampires.” Mr. Humphrey hastily spoke to convince and prove his innocence to the church members who were adamant in saying he knew about the report.

Mr. Welsh who had been quietly listening to Donovan and Mr. Humphrey engage in the question-and-answer ordeal interjected, ”How can you not know that someone from this village is missing? Don’t you know your job? Or have you been slacking in your work?”

”Of course not, churchman Welsh. I’ve been diligent and careful when it comes to my work. As I said earlier, there was no report filed in this office that a man by the name of Mr. Persin was abducted by a vampire. In fact, there had been no sighting of vampires in this village.” Mr. Humphrey explained in one breath already tired of answering the same question over and over again.

Cold sweat had started to form on Mr. Humphrey’s forehead and his back. Forget the woods in the fireplace that has been keeping the office room warm in the cold weather that was caused by the snow that had continued to fall since two days back, he felt the questions and eyes of these church members were enough to keep him warm for the rest of the week.

In exasperation, Mr. Humphrey removed his hat and wiped his sweaty forehead, and exhaled at the next words of Donovan that flew and pierced into his body.

Donovan said in a hard tone, his eyes now dauntingly peering down at Mr. Humphrey, ”You said that there is no report filed and that no man is answering the name Mr. Persin who was reported missing. But then this report got to us?” Donovan raised his hand holding the parchment containing the report.

He continued in the same hard tone he was using to question Mr. Humphrey. ”Can you explain what all this means, Head warden Humphrey?”

Mr. Humphrey exhaled deeply again and tightly clutched onto the book he was holding. His eyes dilated once more as they swept past the church members. He opened his mouth with great difficulty and made to reply to Donovan when Martha caught him off before he could start speaking.

Martha too added to the questions that kept piling and flying at Humphrey one after the other.

Martha said in her authoritative voice, ”With how you have been dodging every question and have been keeping quiet, I can’t help but say that perhaps you might have conspired with the vampires who are abducting humans. No?”

Mr. Humphrey’s eyes hardened at Martha who seemed too much of herself. He turned to her and wanted to retort but was interrupted by her again.

Martha continued, ”How much did they pay you? A hundred bronze coins? Fifty silver coins? You seem quite well off, Mr. Humphrey. And not to add, your office also speaks volumes of it.”

”What?!” Mr. Humphrey exclaimed in shock. He revoked Martha’s words immediately, ”You are deviating from the topic and those are huge accusations, church woman Martha.”

Martha scoffed, puffing her shoulders as she fired back, ”Huge accusations you say? Why are you not answering the questions you’ve been asked if you are diligent with your work as you claim? Are you not to be suspected, Mr. Humphrey?”

Mr. Humphrey gritted his teeth at the nerve of this woman to accuse him of conspiring with vampires. And how his office was, does it matter to her how he got the money to furnish it? If his office were in ruins, he knew she wouldn’t have said something like that or even thought he conspired with a vampire.

Mr. Humphrey took a deep breath to calm himself lest he blurted something that might implicate him. These church members were all putting words in his mouth so they would find something to pin his head on the scaffold. Especially church woman Martha who was acting all high and mighty looking for who to exchange words with and also implicate. But he would never allow that. He valued his life more than wanting to get in trouble with the church.

With another intake of breath, Mr. Humphrey questioned back with the same vigor as Martha. He quizzed, ”Are you accusing me of abducting a man I know nothing of? And also, does the maintenance of my office have anything to do with this case at hand?” He paused and stared at the woman straight in the eyes as he stood his ground. He continued with his questions,

”My stating that there was no report filed to my office doesn’t mean I conspired with any vampire. So please, church woman Martha, could you elaborate more on what conspiring with the vampires means?”

Martha walked forward and crossed her arms over her chest still looking demeaningly at Mr. Humphrey. She questioned in mock filled tone, ”I don’t care about what you say, Mr. Humphrey. You are suspicious, and I’ll ask you now. Are you guilty or not?”

Meanwhile, as the two, Martha and Mr. Humphrey continued to exchange heated words with each other as others silently let them vent their frustrations at each other, Theodore sat behind the desk wearing the same bored look on his face. But no one knew what he had been doing behind the desk.

While others spoke and asked Mr. Humphrey multiple repeated questions, Theodore was busy finding his own evidence behind the desk.

Quietly and discreetly opening each drawer of the desk, his lazy red eyes trolled the insides. His eyes carefully searched every drawer he pulled open until he got to the last one under the others and immediately his eyes landed on the small white sheet on top of other items in the drawer.

Theodore quickly and quietly reached for the white sheet and he opened it to find a written text inside which he read. He stared at the white sheet containing the text in his hand and then at the owner of the office who was still exchanging heated gazes with churchwoman Martha.

Theodore stared at the man for not less than a second before he slipped the white sheet inside his trouser pocket and continued to search the desk and its drawers for more evidence.

Donovan noticed the small movement of Theodore but kept quiet. He didn’t know what the man found nor what he was looking for, but he was sure he found important evidence. This was one of the ways he knew Theodore worked. Subtly and gently collecting pieces of evidence one might not know of till he used them to pin your words to your throat.

Whatever it was Theodore found, he will ask and know what it is. Not everyone was to be trusted. You might not know who the corrupt and rotten one might be, who might also be leaking information from the church.

Donovan looked away from Theodore and his attention went back to Martha and Mr. Humphrey who looked as if they would tear each other apart with words.