“We need to find out who set you up to the voodoo magic. The maid was only helping but it is the black witch who is trying to harm you which means…” he turned his face completely towards Penny to ask her, “Did you piss off someone in the past?”
“I am not that kind of person,” she smiled nervously to receive a narrower look from him. Sighing herself, she said, “I met so many people when I was in the village and traveled back and forth from the theatre. How would I remember?” she answered frankly.
Knowing his mouse, she would have used her pretty mouth to talk back and it was a very possible thing that it would have happened.
“Anyone from the theatre?” she shook her head.
“I was a junior performer who didn’t get enough stage there. I even did my job and leave without standing there to chat unlike others,” she huffed, her cheeks puffing before they were released.
Damien bit the side of his thumbnail. Looked like his mouse was as popular as him. Not enough but somewhere there. There were plenty of men and women who wanted him dead and he enjoyed the reputation. A small smirk coming to form when he looked away and towards the side of his window. It was getting darker.
Penny noticed that they were back at the church they had visited earlier this morning. The grey walls looked darker now with the lack of light in here. Hearing some of the crow’s caw in the nearby trees as the sky turned darker with every five minutes that went by.
The villagers and the other scarce visitors who used to visit the church had gone back home with the time and the color of the sky that was offered to them, leaving the church quiet and deserted.
A question rose in Penny’s mind once they started to walk inside, the doors of the church which was wide open for the people who needed a haven but it also made the smart ones wonder if it was only to showcase the openness when in truth there was much more to the church. The building was built a few decades after the first generation of pureblooded vampires had come to form.
“Doesn’t the church affect you?” she asked him. Looking at the dark walls as they made past through the double doors. Their footsteps entering inside the church. She looked at Damien who did appear to be fine.
The churches that were built in her hometown and the villages, they were made so so that no vampires would ever step foot inside it. If one ever went berserk, the churches would provide the necessary protection which was required to keep the humans safe.
“It does but it is bearable,” she looked at him closer where Damien appeared to look calm and composed. Every stride of his being the same as when he walked in his mansion or outside, “All the churches have crosses that is used to dispel the vampires from there. When the first pureblooded vampires and vampires came into the picture, the humans built the churches not knowing that they were actually being deceived.”
Penny asked in wonderment, “How is that?”
“It is only in their thought to think that anything they believe to be holy will kill us. Harm yes, but killing pureblooded vampires with mere holy objects isn’t enough. You need to mix it up with other ingredients. Like the ones where this church produces. Vampires have it tough as they are the ones who are affected. Entering the church and staying in here continuously as a captive for more than a week can kill them without needing to touch the person.”
Penny could tell by his words that there were pureblooded vampires who needed to be kept in check too and it wasn’t just the humans or the witches.
Walking towards the chapel, they found an apprentice who was in the process of becoming a part of the church service. He was reading a book in his hand, his back leaned forward and his hand in the front when Damien asked,
“Is Father Antonio in?” hearing the sudden voice, where the boy had immersed himself into the book, he almost stumbled out of his seat to stand up immediately to look at who had arrived at this hour of the night.
The church didn’t have many visitors here and if they did it was only the ones who came looking for either work or to cause trouble. The boy looked up at Damien, his short height making him crane his neck to realize it was the councilman.
“He is in the bottom chamber. Would you like me to fetch him for you?” asked the boy in a polite tone.
“I will find him,” Damien started to head to the door which they had used. Penny bowed her head. The man was going to be a priest of the sacred place and she was supposed to respect it. The boy bowed back and she quickly followed Damien. It was ironic how her mother had taught her the ways of a human’s life while she was a black witch. Did coexistence exist?
They went down the narrow passage of stairs, lanterns burning bright enough for them to step down and walk past the large pillars that looked like giants were the fire in the bowl burned.
Crossing one door after another, she could hear the loud clink and clank of the metals. Whispered voices increasing as they stepped closer to find themselves in front of at least fifty to sixty people. Some who were standing in front of the glass tubes which had different liquids in it, some working on the swords in front of the burning coals and many other tasks which raised Penny’s brows.
“You are here, early,” they heard Father Antonio speak as he walked towards them.
Damien didn’t bother to give in the details and went straight to the topic, “I need you to remove an implemented voodoo,” hearing this, Father Antonio’s eyes fell on Penny.
