“This place looks to be haunted with no one around,” commented Penny with the lack of a person apart from them here. How could a place be deserted with no people?
“It was fine the last time I passed this place. The last time being more than a month ago,” his red eyes searched through and finally settled on her, “You alright?” he asked to have her nodding in response.
Damien’s voice was clear and she was sure even if he whispered right now she would be able to hear it, it was that quiet which made the place eerie, “What do you think happened to everyone here?”
“Have you heard about the massacre that’s been going on the four lands? Bonelake and Mytheweald to have the highest death rate due to the mass murders that the black witches are using to achieve something. Some of the council members are working on finding out what the black witches are up to. Unfortunately, even Bathsheba had no intel about it. Let’s go that way,” saying this he started to walk again with Penny following him.
Suddenly a series of arrow started to fly down but that was not all. Something was thrown down on the ground to release smoke around them. The smoke was dark grey in color like the clouds themselves.
Because of the shower of the arrows both Damien and Penny had moved apart, Penny moved her hands back and forth to push the smoke away from her but there was nothing she could do but have the dark gas engulf her. Damien on the other, though he couldn’t make use of his vision well his ears worked perfectly fine by which he caught the arrows and moved away from them.
Catching hold of Penny’s hand he pulled her along with him away from the smoke and to another street before entering a house where the door was open.
Penny coughed, her face contoured due to the smell of the smoke.
“There’s definitely more than one,” Damien looked at Penny to make sure she was alright where she continued to cough. The smoke didn’t appear to be hazardous but the prickly irritation that was caused due to it which made one’s eyes tear up, “Here take this,” he said offering her his handkerchief.
She looked up, her eyes gazing into his as she took hold of it.
Seeing her stop coughing, he looked at the house they had broken into. There was no sight of any villagers. How strange that no one had noticed anything unless people who stepped in here were killed and added to the pile of the body for the black witch’s own use. After all, even the dead were useful.
“What was that?” he heard her ask him.
“I don’t know,” it wasn’t often he had got to spend a lot of time with the bad witches who were trying to kill him. Leaving Penny here was not safe as he didn’t know how many other black witches resided in here as their own home. Taking her along with him meant he had to not only look for his own back but also hers which was additional work. Weighing the consequences, he decided to take her with him. At least that way he wouldn’t have to worry if something happened to her.
“Shouldn’t we go back?” there was worry in her eyes. Damien stared into her own eyes, walking forward he leaned forward towards her to say,
“I have your back, Penny,” he said before straightening his back and opening the door of the house after they spent three more minutes while waiting for the smoke to disperse in the air. They continued to walk, checking the houses where every single door was open with not a single one which was locked as they stepped closer to the heart of this place which appeared to look lesser than a village and more like a town.
With the houses that were empty and deserted, it looked obvious that the place had been vacant for more than one week now. Not a single soul in sight except for them. As their feet carried them through the narrow and empty alleys, he heard Penny’s footsteps pause and he turned around,
“What’s the matter?” he asked her to find her looking at another alley that connected this, her eyes looking unblinkingly. He walked back to where she was, turning his head to look at the direction she was looking at.
“I think I saw someone,” she whispered.
“Finally we have company than play hide and seek here,” the dry wind which breezed through held a stench with it. A stench of the dead that had Damien alerted, the grip on his gun tightening as they headed in that direction, “Don’t fall back and stay near,” he warned her again this time.
When they came upon a building, one could see the fire burning inside through the hazy window. Stepping inside the room, Damien and Penny were greeted with two witches who were heating up themselves with the large empty dustbin where they had placed burning fire.
“Welcome welcome. We didn’t know we were going to have a guest at this hour. Especially a pureblooded vampire,” said one of the witch.
They had taken the forms of humans, the woman who spoke to him her hair red in color and her eyes which were green. As green as Penny’s eyes where he doubted if she was Penny’s mother. After all the color though was common, the specks in them were what set them apart from the rest of the green eyes.
“Apologies for not having informed earlier. If I knew about you and the rest living here I would have made better preparations. A bottle of wine and roses for the lovely ladies,” he smiled, his eyes falling on what was behind them.
There were bodies. Bodies of humans that laid on the ground, piling one after another, also including the lower vampires.
