NIGHTS OF HALLOW

The following day in the kingdom of Vamlone, so many people woke up with uneasy hearts. Some didn’t sleep a wink as their hearts were in turmoil with different thoughts on how to solve their problems clouded their minds.

Among the many were Perdita and Marco whose hearts continued to beat frantically in their chests.

The night before when Marco later arrived home, Perdita had narrated all that happened in the village market and also with the church members. She also told him about the visit of a man called Samuel.

Marco after listening to what Perdita said suggested that they should wait and see what will happen next before they make their next move.

Their plan to move Mrs. Perkin from their house that night also came to halt. They didn’t want to be caught since they didn’t know if the church sent anyone to monitor the activities that went on in the village since the report of the recent adoption of Mrs. Perkin and Mr. Perkin was filed to them.

The morning started as usual as people began to prepare for the day’s work. Perdita and Marco as usual killed two cats and poured the blood into a cup.

Marco went ahead to bring out the pill to add to the blood in the cup and was stopped by Perdita who suddenly held his hand and shouted,

”Stop, Marco!”

Marco was startled by the sudden scream of Perdita. He turned to face her, ”Anything wrong, sis?”

”Yes,” Perdita nodded and pointed at the pill in Marco’s hand and said, ”Do not add that again,”

”Why? We’ve always been taking them. Did anything happen for you to ask me to stop adding it?” Marco asked one after the other still confused why Perdita suddenly stopped him.

Perdita brought her hand down and sighed. She leaned on the table for support before saying, ”Marco, I think we should stop taking this pill. It doesn’t work.”

”Is it because of what happened with Mr. Malphus and the red-haired man?” Marco asked again, fully turning his attention to Perdita.

”Yes, it is because of what happened with Mr. Malphus and Sthena. I think the pills are fake and I also have a feeling the pills are for something else.” Perdita answered and saw Marco look at her for a while before he replied.

”What makes you think so? I mean the pills have somehow been curbing our thirst for blood. Isn’t that right?” The uncertainty in Marco’s voice confirmed to Perdita that he too was beginning to doubt the work of the pills.

Perdita reached out and took Marco’s hand in hers and said in a gentle voice as she told him all she thought and noticed. She explained,

”Marco, the first reason why we should stop taking these pills is one, being the question of, why did Mr. Malphus continuously ask us if there was any change in our body? It is true we wanted and maybe still want to turn back to humans again, but what happened since a decade of us taking the pills? There was nothing. There was no change nor was our thirst for blood curbed.”

”The second reason is this, Mr. Malphus should be suspected of how he mysteriously started selling those pills to us. Who was this producer we don’t know of? Why did the man called Clayton that came to his house to deliver the pills threaten to report him to their master if he tried to run? Who was this their master?”

”Thirdly, why was Sthena interested in pills? According to what he had been subtly saying, the pills are dangerous. Don’t forget he’s working for the king, maybe the king ordered him to investigate the pills.”

Perdita paused and patted Marco’s hand she was holding. She looked at him and continued to say in her gentle voice, ”Do you understand and know the reasons why I asked us to stop taking them? It might be dangerous to us.”

”But nothing has happened to us since we’ve been taking them.” Marco voiced out his thoughts.

”Yes, you are right. Nothing has happened to us since we have been taking them. Who knows if the effect of the pills will take control later in the future or not? Therefore, I’ll advise us to stop taking them. I don’t see the result of why we have been taking them anyway.”

Marco stayed silent for a while still thinking about all the things his sister had listed out for him. He couldn’t agree more that all she had said were true.

The pills were not working and there was no use and reason for them to take them any longer. Sometimes, he had thought about this and also knew that there was no way they could turn back to humans again. He had never of such. What happened has happened, and there was no going back.

They had wasted their time, effort, and money just to hang onto the hope Mr. Malphus had falsely made them believe when they were younger and had first bought and used his pill.

What more was left for them to do? Was it to accept that they were vampires and crave and drink blood for the rest of their lives? As if their life depended on human blood and nothing else?

Perdita saw the look in Marco’s eyes and knew exactly what he was thinking about. She rubbed his hand reassuringly.

With a small smile on her face, Perdita said to Marco, ”Do not worry, Marco. There was no wasted effort or time or even money. Just know we tried our best to survive and keep going.”

”Perhaps, had we accepted what we had become, we wouldn’t have faced so many problems as we have now. But there are no regrets, we will still survive no matter what the world throws at us.”

Marco exhaled deeply and nodded his head in understanding to Perdita’s words. He asked, ”What do you suggest we do now? Are we going to make our identity known that we are vampires?”

Perdita negatively shook her head at Marco’s question. She replied, ”No, we won’t make our identity known. We would still be the humans everyone knows unless our eye color decides to someday change and remain red, which I doubt will happen, only then will we make our identity known that we are vampires.”

Perdita took a deep breath and paused before she went on, ”Though I don’t know why our eyes remained this way, either because we did not fully undergo the transformation or because it has something to do with our body. But don’t worry brother, we will try as much as possible to drink only cat blood.”

”I understand, sis. You have been so strong and thoughtful for both of us these past weeks and since I could remember. I’m truly grateful to have an elder sister like you.”

”Oh, come on, little brother. I’m your big sis after all and I should take care of you. Now drink that quickly and go to work or you would be late.”

”Hmm,” Marco hummed. He dropped the pills he was about to put inside the cup containing the cat’s blood back inside the small black bag he brought it out from and drank the cat’s blood without the pills in it.

Some more minutes passed before Marco left for the construction site after bidding Perdita goodbye. Perdita on the other hand headed off to the market to make the day’s sales.

In the castle,

In the dining room of the castle sat Sthena the king, Lady Rosamonda, Prince Regan, and Princess Sarah who were all silently having their breakfast with different thoughts running through each other’s minds.

The room was undeniably thick with the icy and hostile feelings that were all channeled to one person who was seated at the head table, who was none other than the king. But Sthena had little to no care concerning the grumpy faces of the three persons in the room as he nonchalantly ate his meal.

Sthena was the first to leave the dining room without finishing his food when Daemon walked in and announced the arrival of the church members in the castle.

Reaching the courtroom where the church members were seated, Daemon announced the arrival of the king and the church members who were the ones that came to the castle last time all rose to their feet with their heads bowed to acknowledge the arrival of the king.

Sthena walked in with his shoulders high and his chin up in confidence he exuded without putting any effort in. He slowly eased himself unto his rightful chair made with the softest cushion and most costly gold. He waved his hand in the air gesturing for the church members to sit and begin with what they came to the castle for.

Donovan the Headchurch member quietly cleared his throat. He tilted his head slightly to the side in a bow and began to say,

”Your Majesty the King, we came here because of the unfinished agenda of performing the exorcism in Woodbridge village. According to your order from our last meeting, we have gone and clarified the report filed to us by someone in the village of Woodbridge.”

”Go on,” Sthena urged the man. His dark red eyes unwaveringly stared at each of the church members. His fingers silently tapped on the armrest where his hand was placed, showing the lack of patience he had in him that morning.

Donovan reached inside his coat pocket and brought out a parchment he handed to Daemon who stood near the king. Daemon took the parchment and gave it to Sthena who took it and rolled it open.

Donovan spoke as Sthena read the report. He said, ”We have gone to Woodbridge village, and there in your hand is the report from our clarification. From our findings, we confirmed that we indeed made a mistake in the name of the missing man. The abducted man in question is not Mr. Persin but is Mr. Perkin.”

Donovan paused in his report and peeked at the king who was still reading the parchment. He continued to say, ”There is another thing we also discovered. We found out that not only Mr. Perkin is missing in the village, but also his wife, Mrs. Perkin. And undoubtedly, these missing persons were the work of a vampire who is abducting humans.”