More than two weeks pa.s.sed since the many deaths in the council. The murmur and chatters regarding what took place in the council and the woman, Vivian Carmichael who turned out to be one of the well-known councilwomen in there. But like many other things that came to pa.s.s, the death of the fellow councilmen got buried with new cases that needed work.
But there was one who had taken the young woman who had turned to a vampire as a threat. Councilman Creed might have not been pointed as the culprit but there was telling when the girl would come to accuse him of what he had done these past years. And the deeds that he had done were buried deep along with the people whom he had put into the coffins.
He had his doubts on the girl like before, the switcher who diligently had been following his orders had gone missing. He could point it out but councilman Lionel had said on how the man had stopped to work for them as he needed time after the case they had worked on. Right now he couldn"t do much but wait for the opportune time but time never came with opportunity unless one went in search of it.
Vivian Carmichael, the girl reminded him of the white witch who had almost disrupted his plans on having the half-blooded vampires kill humans one by one from the corner borders of the Bonelake. He had aimed to be the head council, to take control and charge of the matters but the woman had pushed Rueben who was her friend to the post through the help of her husband.
Creed tapped on his cigar while he stood at the railings looking outside at the forest which had begun to look dark due to the time of evening that had pa.s.sed to night. From where he stood, he caught the vampire doctor from the corner of his eyes walking down the stairs while heading to the cell building where his laboratory was. Seeing that most of them had left to head back to their house, the man pushed himself. Following the trail of the doctor quietly.
"Doctor Murk," Creed called the doctor when he reached the entrance of the building which stopped the vampire from walking further.
"Councilman Creed, good evening. What brings you here?" asked the vampire, waiting for Creed to catch up.
"It has been a while since we last drank together. What do you think about having a drink before I head home?" suggested the elder man with a polite and deceiving smile. Before the man could refuse, Creed said, "You can accompany me if you want. I know how difficult it has been for you since Mr Gibbs pa.s.sed away."
Hearing to the boy who he had almost raised, Murkh nodded his head, "Let me get the gla.s.ses."
"Excellent," Creed kept his voice to be even, following the vampire into his room which was attached to the lab. When the gla.s.ses and the alcohol was pulled out with the liquid being poured into the gla.s.s, Creed made idle chatter to ease the vampire doctor. The elder councilman knew the men who worked around him well. He knew how fond the man who now sat in front of him was of Maximillian Gibbs. He was almost like an adoptive son where he often was found talking about him.
"It is sad what happened to him," Creed consoled the man who emptied the gla.s.s of alcohol quickly before he poured another one for himself.
"I wanted Abel to rot and die!" Murkh gritted his teeth in anger, "He killed the man whom I raised and taught," he shook his head in disbelief as if he still couldn"t believe that Maximilian had pa.s.sed away in such gruesome manner.
"The council did what best they could do."
"NO! They didn"t. Men like him need to be tortured, not killed mercifully," Murkh gritted his teeth as he spoke, the rim of his eyes that had turned due to the controlled tears, "No matter how odd he was, Maxi was a good man. He didn"t deserve the death that was put upon him. This is why you need to fix the errors that happen in the beginning. If you don"t it leads to a series of events."
"Series of events?" Creed feigned ignorance like he didn"t know about it.
"Yes. It started from him letting off the black witch, if he never did would this have ever happened. The black witch is behind all this. She must be killed," Murkh expressed his anger against what happened. The man grieved for the loss of Maximillian and Creed behaved as if he felt sorry but in truth, he hadn"t come to provide comfort but to take information from the man.
"It is good that Lady Vivian solved the case. It would have been unfair if she hadn"t joined the council, isn"t it?"
"Hmm. We are lucky to have her. G.o.d bless her."
"Yes, bless her soul," Creed took a sip from the gla.s.s to keep it back down, "To crack a case that was delicate and in such short time-"
"She"s a gifted child," Murkh took a swig from his gla.s.s. For Creed it was the moment of window where he decided to press on the matter.
"Gifted?"
"A woman has a great intuition much better than a man," answered Murkh who had started to sway in his seat due to the amount of alcohol that he had consumed in such short time, "The council should hire more women!" declared Murkh.
"Of course!" Creed gave him a pressed smile. He doubted he would get any information from here and he was only wasting his time. The black witch had already escaped somewhere far and hidden where none would be able to find her, not even him until she would decide to come out and contact him by herself. The two switchers he had were no more and there wasn"t much he could do but wait for now. He had waited for twelve years, he could wait some more time before he would catch the trail of the black witch.
But there was the Carmichael lady whom he didn"t trust. He had noticed the way her eyes evaded his in the court. Something told him that she knew and she was on to him. He drank a couple more gla.s.ses, the couple more being on Murkh"s side while he was still having the first one in his hand which wasn"t finished yet.
When the vampire doctor fell unconscious, Creed made sure that the vampire was out before getting up and starting to go through the medical files. He went to the table, and then to the drawers. Rummaging through many files until he came to find the name "Vivian Carmichael" on it.
Creed had seen the Duke take his wife to the doctor every noon which had raised his suspicion on her. Her eyes weren"t the normal colour of the turned vampire. It was as dark as the pureblooded vampire which she shouldn"t have acquired in the first place. A pureblooded vampire couldn"t turn humans to their own kind but one step below to the inferior level of half-vampire.
Which meant only one thing. Either something wrong with the husband or it was the wife which he would soon find out. Reading the reports that were filed by the doctor, Creed flipped through the pages to have nothing but blood levels which came out to be normal. It was stated in the report as to her being a vampire but it was clear by the mere sight that she was no regular vampire. Taking the reports along with him while leaving Murkh alone who slept in his chair crookedly.
Going back inside the building, the councilman walked straight to the highest person whom he despised. Knocking on the door, he let himself in.
"Creed," Rueben greeted him, his eyes falling on the papers that he carried, "Have you come to file in the case?" the half-vampire tilted his head in question.
"I have come here to talk about something very important. There is a witch who resides in our council," said Creed placing the papers on the table and pus.h.i.+ng it forward for the head council to take a look at.
"That can"t be possible," murmured Rueben and when his eyes fell on the name, his brows furrowed.
"But it is. We didn"t know there were switchers here but they were here. Not one but two of them. Don"t you remember the case of the second Lord of Bonelake? He had used the witches help to gain recognization to be a Lord," and as Creed iterated it, the head councilman went through the file to see what Creed was pointing to.
"Her reports seem fine, Creed. Murkh has tested her himself. What do you want me to look at?"
"Have you not noticed her eyes. Duke Leonard told that he turned her but how many vampires have we seen who have turned to possess eyes like hers. They are blood red and dark which only a pureblooded vampire possess. We need to have her checked," the man with the eye-patch spoke firmly not ready to let go of the matter until it would be settled, "There are other men whom we can have look at. If she"s clear then it is well and good if not, we are only brewing another threat."
"She has saved the council by finding out-"
"You mean to say you want to overlook the matter?" Creed cut him off, his eyes staring into Rueben"s.
"I was stating that she doesn"t appear to be a threat, councilman Creed but if it makes you feel better. I will have the young lady tested to make sure that you feel settled down," a.s.sured Rueben.
In the same room in the far end of the shadows, a shadowed creature lingered in the dark, listening to their conversations which disappeared once the man had left. The creature went back to its master, moving through the shadows without anyone"s notice.
"What do you have with you, Narcissus?" Lord Nicholas who was taking his s.h.i.+rt off his body didn"t bother to turn to hear the ghoul speak something to him. After listening to half of what it had to say to him, he stopped it, "Hmm? What did he come for?"
The ghoul continued to garble which made the Lord stop what he was doing.
"That"s not good news," he murmured under his breath, "If he digs into the matter too much, it would put her in danger. Narcissus...make sure you don"t lose his sight. For a man who hasn"t been caught for all these years, he won"t leave single trail fo rus to be able to catch up with him. If he finds the link that"s going on, then I shall be in his list too," Nicholas chuckled to hear a garbled voice coming from the ghoul, "Is Everest rubbing off on you?" he smiled before giving it another order, "Stay with the man. I will be fine. I am not the five-year-old boy, Narcissus."