NIGHTS OF HALLOW

Later that day, the church members left the village of Woodbridge after discussing with the head warden, Mr. Humphrey, saying they would come back if any problem arose or needed their attention.

Right now, the church members agreed to carry out the exorcism after the king approved of it in the following week and then calmly investigate the matter of the missing Mr. Perkin and Mrs. Perkin.

The day quickly went by and soon it was dusk. Perdita with the other villagers retired to their homes after the day’s work at the market and their various places of work.

The snow had stopped falling but the cold the chilly wind blew was still there reminding the people of Vamlone kingdom that snow just fell some hours ago.

Perdita had the most stressful day of all days she had been baking and selling buns in the market after she left the church members. And there were the annoying villagers who wanted to hear and know everything she discussed with the church members. But Perdita being annoyed with so many thoughts running in her head dismissed them, saying the matter was confidential. Which in truth, it was.

With the thoughts of where to keep Mrs. Perkin, the exorcism, and now the church members who were now into the case, made Perdita make little sales as she almost damaged all the buns she baked.

Perdita dragged herself back to her house which had another problem hiding in the corner waiting for her to come home.

Reaching her house, she unlocked the door and walked in, closing it behind her with a bang. She dropped her bag on the chair and poured herself a cup of water and drank everything in one gulp to cool her aching head.

What was she going to do? She questioned herself and slowly sat down on the floor in confusion. How was she going to get out of this mess with the church? She was sure that churchman Theodore was somehow suspicious of her because of the way he was questioning her.

Argh! Perdita let out a muffled scream and scratched her head in frustration. She turned sharply in the direction of Mrs. Perkin where she sat on the chair with her hands and legs tied. Even her mouth was shut with a piece of cloth tied around her mouth.

Perdita stood up and approached Mrs. Perkin with shaky steps. Her eyes and head were blurry with the images to tear the older woman to pieces for what she and her husband subjected her and Marco to. She walked around Mrs. Perkin’s seat and held the sides with both hands and began to violently shake it together with Mrs. Perkin on it.

”This is all you and your husband’s fault!” She spoke with gritted teeth not caring what her shaking will do to the older woman. She wanted something to vent her anger on and Mrs. Perkin seemed to be the ideal choice available.

”My brother and I are in this mess today because of two!” Perdita spat in anger. ”We are in this mess that could get us killed because of you! If your husband had stayed out of our business and focused on your childlessness, we all wouldn’t be in this suffering you two subjected us to!”

Perdita stopped pushing the chair of Mrs. Perkin and huffed loudly and took a deep breath to calm herself. She walked around the chair and stood in front of Mrs. Perkin and smiled with an evil glint appearing in her eyes. She said calmly as if she was talking about the weather.

”Are you scared of me?” Perdita asked staring demeaningly at Mrs. Perkin. ”Are you scared of what I would do to you?”

”Of course, you are scared with the way you have suddenly turned quiet, and your eyes are clouded with fear.” Perdita’s head fell backward as she let out a hysterical laugh that echoed in the small house. She stopped laughing and continued with her taunts and threats.

”Mrs. Perkin,” She gently called as if she hadn’t said any harsh word to Mrs. Perkin some minutes ago. She said, ”You shouldn’t be scared because you are only receiving what you searched for. I’m meting out the same trouble my brother and I are passing through, so you don’t have to be scared.”

”Don’t worry, we are only going to keep you in the alley from now on and you won’t be lonely again because you will be meeting new friends there. What do you say? Aren’t we considerate enough to only keep you there? You would feel very comfortable staying there. Just wait till my brother gets home, I’ll make sure you suffer the most!” Perdita spat with so much anger bubbling inside her.

Mrs. Perkin who was still shaking from the impact of Perdita’s pushes felt as if her head had left her neck. She tried to catch her heavy breathing as she gasped for breath while looking fearfully at Perdita. She never knew that the kind and quiet Perdita was this way until now. She was like a tigress who was provoked and she could feel the heat of her anger slip and turn her body cold.

Mrs. Perkin regretted with every passing second for coming to the house of the siblings that day to confront them. Now she was stuck in here and was being subjected to different shades of punishment by them. And now Perdita said they will keep her in the alley. There was no doubt they wanted her dead!

Mrs. Perkin glared at Perdita with so much hatred she could conjure within her. She wished she could kill the vampire siblings once and for all and find her husband quickly.

Perdita saw the hateful look on Mrs. Perkin’s face and her face scrunched into a deep frown wanting to consume Mrs. Perkin with the raging anger that could barely stay intact in her body. With a sinister smile plastered on her face, Perdita’s green eyes slowly changed into red.

When next Perdita stared directly into the human black eyes of Mrs. Perkin, Mrs. Perkin knew there was no going back. She was stuck in this vampire’s den of a house.

Mrs. Perkin’s eyes were wide in fear and horror when she gazed into the angry ones of Perdita, where her green orbs were now bloodred with wickedness and bloodthirst clearly seen in them.

Anytime Perdita was angry, her eyes tend to change from green to red. This was the reason why she always tried to stay calm in any situation she found herself in. But this time around, she couldn’t hold it in. Her blood was rapidly boiling in anger directed toward everyone that were making it hard for her and Marco.

This was her life and that of her brother she was talking about. Their life was hanging on the edge of an icy axe that can shred them into a thousand pieces if care was not taken.

If the church found out what they had done, that they were the vampires they were looking for who were abducting humans, she knew that not only would they be punished, their heads will be placed on the scaffold waiting to be slaughtered like animals.

Mrs. Perkin tried to say something but the cloth tied on her mouth made her words come out gibberish like that of a toddler saying incoherent words.

Her babbling made Perdita more annoyed as she stared angrily at Mrs. Perkin with hands balled into fists by her side so she wouldn’t do the mistake of hitting the older woman and accidentally killing her, though all she wanted to do was to strangle her to death.

”You are such a beast, Perdita. A bloodsucking beast. You and your brother are animals and you would soon die as one when a stake runs through your hearts. Damn vampires! You two will pay for keeping in this state, scoundrels!” Mrs. Perkin could only sneer in her head without saying the words out.

With gritted teeth, Perdita marched towards Mrs. Perkin when she didn’t want to stop babbling her incoherent words which she knew were curses. She grabbed Mrs. Perkin by her jaw and tightened her hands around her mouth, repeatedly shaking her face, ”I told you to shut up. Shut up you woman if you don’t want to die. Shut the hell up!”

A knock on the door interrupted Perdita from wanting to squeeze the life out of Mrs. Perkin’s jaw. Perdita stood straight and shot the older woman a death glare to keep quiet when she went to see who was knocking.

Before that, Perdita changed her red eye color to the original green color of her eyes. She took the mirror to see and make sure there were no specks of redness in her eyes that would give her away to whomever it was that was knocking outside. She knew it was not her brother because whenever he came back from work, he would directly open their door with the spare key he was with and walk in.

The knock came again, and she carefully opened the door so that the visitor wouldn’t be able to peek inside the house. And there standing outside their house was a man with a hood over his head.

”Who are you?”