NIGHTS OF HALLOW

Headchurch Donovan was the first to leave the meeting room followed by Churchwoman Aurora and then Mr. Welsh and then Martha. Theodore seemed to enjoy his chair so much he still sat back in it with a nonchalant smile he flashed Martha who walked past him.

Churchwoman Martha sent a subtle glare in the direction of Theodore before stepping out of the room.

Outside the room and in the corridor was Mr. Welsh. The man who spoke little to people and Martha who seemed to chase after him. She called after the churchman,

”Churchman Welsh,”

Mr. Welsh stopped in his tracks having heard his name and recognized the familiar voice which belonged to Martha.

He turned on his heels and answered the woman, ”Yes, Churchwoman Martha. Is there something I can be of help with?”

”Not exactly,” Churchwoman Martha responded. She came to a halt in front of the man and reduced her voice so no one could hear what she was about to say.

She began with a question, ”Have you considered my earlier proposal, Churchman Welsh?”

Mr. Welsh on the other hand scrunched his face in confusion. He questioned back, ”What proposal?”

Martha in turn narrowed her eyes on the man before her. Sometimes she wondered if Mr. Welsh deliberately appeared to be dumb or if he was truly dumb. She said, ”The proposal of working together to expose our common enemy.”

Churchman Welsh negatively shook his head. He replied, ”My apologies, Churchwoman Martha, I do not know what you are talking about.”

”Are you trying to tell me you don’t remember the conversation we had in the carriage or do you particularly have a short memory?” Martha frowned at the man as she threw the insult at him without batting an eyelid.

Mr. Welsh obviously annoyed at the way Martha spoke to him threatened, ”If I were you, Churchwoman Martha, I would mind the way I talk to people. Knowing how your tongue gets slippery each time, you wouldn’t know when it would reach the ears of the King. Having him as an enemy isn’t a peculiar thing to do. And also, we do not in any way have a common enemy. Your goal and mine aren’t the same.”

Martha’s face scowled in distaste. She snapped, ”Are you threatening me, Churchman Welsh?”

”Yes, I am, Churchwoman Martha, and you should be careful of the way you tread around me.”

”Very well then, do not forget I can also get you implicated.” Martha threatened back, not losing her ground.

Mr. Welsh regarded the woman with an amused smile on his face, he countered back, ”Get me implicated? I don’t know who should be told that line. You? Or myself? Lest it slips your rotten brain, I am only helping someone solve a case that is legal in this Church. But you? I doubt you can call it anything close to what I do.” Churchman Welsh clicked his tongue and shook his head as if in pity.

Churchwoman Martha gritted her teeth in anger at being insulted by the man whom she thought she was trying to help out.

She had thought that Mr. Welsh would immediately give in to her proposal as she had termed the man to be a man who didn’t seem fit to make his own decisions, forgetting that the man was one of the head church members for a reason and not a man to be pushed around. He was a quiet man, yes, but that didn’t mean he was stupid. And Martha had failed to see this, leading her into yet another trap hole.

Had the man agreed to her idea of them working together, the task given to her by Vetis her Master would have been easy to accomplish. Her Master would have seen something to praise her with, but now? It doesn’t seem to be the case.

As the realization hit her, it made the anger slowly burn up in her making her want to set the man on fire, but she couldn’t, she was a mere human with no ability. The only thing she had as an ability was her mouth and she made to reply to Mr. Welsh when suddenly she heard someone cough at her back.

Martha sharply turned around as the fear of being heard by a third person crept into her black eyes. Lo and behold it was the annoying vampire Churchman. Theodore.

”Have you been there for a long time?” Martha skeptically asked. How did she fail to hear the man walk towards them? It was because of this Mr. Welsh. Martha gritted her teeth in pure hatred toward Mr. Welsh and now Theodore who never seized to get under her skin.

”Being here for long depends on the time frame you speak of, Churchwoman Martha. It could be a second, a minute, or who knows an hour?”

This man! Martha wished to wipe that smug look on his face.

She exhaled and calmly asked this time, ”Did you hear anything?”

”Heard?” Theodore held a questioning look on his face. He said, ”Except for the chirping of the birds in the sky, I heard nothing else. Was there something you two were saying that needed my attention?”

Martha skeptically stared back at Theodore gauging his reaction to check if he was lying or speaking the truth. The man had been in the meeting room and he couldn’t have possibly heard what she had discussed with Mr. Welsh. Could he?

She pursed her lips in displeasure and replied with a nod, ”Okay. There is nothing worth your attention Churchman Theodore.”

”Oh okay,” Theodore shrugged his shoulders. ”Though I wonder what you two were whispering about in the corridor. The church isn’t a place for whispers, dear fellow church members.”

Having had enough of Martha’s headache, Mr. Welsh excused himself saying, ”Continue digging your death graves everywhere, Churchwoman Martha. Who knows, you might be lucky to fall in one of them.” With that Churchman Welsh left the corridor and continued on his way.

Theodore placed his hand on his chest and exclaimed in fake shock, ”My, my, that was quite harsh coming from a gentleman as Mr. Welsh to such a lovely Lady as you are.”

”I’ll have to also excuse myself, Churchwoman Martha,” Theodore remarked seeing the glare sent his way by Martha. ”I don’t want to be the next in line to dig graves. I’m still too young, you know. Not to add, to be around someone always wandering around the forests of the kingdom and always acting suspicious.”

”Wait!” Theodore’s widened his red eyes in horror. He exclaimed again, ”Don’t tell me you’ve been digging graves in the forest. Oh my!”

What in the world?! How did this man come up with things like this? Martha felt a coming headache from listening to the nonsense Theodore was spouting. But behind the nonsense, she felt he was referring to something.

”Is there something you are trying to say, Churchman Theodore?” Martha couldn’t help but inquire from the Vampire.

”Me?” Theodore feigned ignorant. Meanwhile, he had heard the whisperings between Martha and Mr. Welsh. ”You know whisperings are hard to resist when heard. So there is nothing to say until what to say happens. That is when I would help air the dirty linings of those involved outside the church building.”

”Have a great day ahead, Churchwoman Martha.” Theodore wished. He added in a whisper when crossing Martha, ”And please stop the grave digging. It’s not good for the nails of a Lady as you are.”

★ Author’s Note ★

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