When the time of night arrived and the silence fell on the streets and roads of the two villages, in one of the houses sat an elderly woman and man on the chairs while four people stood in front of them.
In the dark with scarce light sat Mr. and Mrs. Artemis who looked at the four people with unhappy expression,
“What do you mean the councilman and councilwoman are walking around the village?” asked Mr. Artemis. He looked extremely displeased with the people right now.
The magistrate lady, bowed her head, without raising it as she started to speak, “They came yesterday searching for files. I thought they wouldn’t return but they came back today asking for the guardsmen of the village.”
“Yes, Sir!” the man named Zenith Croogs with red eyes who looked like a vampire replied, “Today councilman Damien even asked to take the guardsmen to the Delcrov’s mansion to treat them for dinner.”
“And you weren’t called?” asked Mrs. Artemis sarcastically, it made the male magistrate scratch his neck, “If they are onto something it is best to sort them out. Get rid of them,” she said calmly.
“But he’s a pureblooded vampire,” the woman said to hear Mrs. Artemis smiles gently. A harmless smile that came to her face.
“So?” Mr. Artemis stood up from his seat, walking towards the window where the moonlight fell on the land, giving out a blue and white hue in the atmosphere. “It isn’t something we haven’t done before. We have killed witches, pureblooded vampires, humans. None of them matter until we finish the goal,” when the light fell on his eyes as he looked up at the moon, his eyes had turned to snake-like slits which were no more than brown and round to see.
“He’s right,” Mrs. Artemis agreed, “We had the humans anger against the white witch who is no more. This man and the woman are nothing. Who is the woman again? Evelyn is it?”
Zenith shook his head, “No it wasn’t councilwoman Evelyn. It is Vivian Carmichael,” The Artemis couple looked taken aback by this information.
“That cannot be. The Carmichael’s have taken a break.”
“No, Madam. She had blonde hair and green eyes-”
“That is not Vivian. It is Penelope,” Mrs. Artemis was not happy with the turn of events. They had their suspicion on the girl because everyone turned out to be like this and every time they got it fixed without an issue. Yet, she had gone as far as to wander into the village by involving the pureblooded vampire.
“Didn’t you add the potion into the tea?” her husband asked.
“I did. She drank a whole pot of tea which was mixed with the potion to erase her mind,” Mrs. Artemis clutched the sides of her chair. This had never happened, her potions always worked and they had been working on most of the people who needed their memory wiped unless they had to go to the next step.
“Looks like it didn’t affect her at all if she’s still snooping and being persistent on what is going on,” Mr. Artemis commented.
“Sir, it wasn’t the girl who was asking questions but it was the councilman. Councilman Damien,” Zenith let them know, “The girl did nothing.”
“Are you taking the woman’s side?” the lady magistrate snorted unbelievingly, “Wanting to keep her to yourself? It shouldn’t be that bad if the magic will work on her.”
“I need both of them. Also, the ones who are living in Delcrov’s mansion. All of them so that we can finish the matter right here before it starts spreading out,” Mrs. Artemis stood up from the chair, “Let’s get this over with. Once the ritual starts it marks the opening of the gate where the magic has been hidden.”
The people there nodded their heads.
The very same day, Damien had snuck out of the mansion alone in the village.
Walking down the street not so evidently, he had gone to the magistrate’s office who was still present until the time of evening where the man finally packed his things and left for the other village by walk. The sound of crickets was heavy and a crow flew at a distance with the constant hoot of an owl in the nearby forest.
He followed the man until he reached one of the dark houses and the magistrate stepped in.
Damien walked around the house before coming to find a window where he could peek or stand next to so that he could listen and see what was going, which he did. Who knew that there was a prep party going on before the grand lunch in the Artemis’ house.
By the words that were spoken inside, he realized that the humans who had rioted a few years ago had been put under the spell of the Artemis. It must have been something similar to the villagers, after all, why would the humans who were cared for by the lady stand against her and burn her?
Damien stayed there for a while, waiting for everyone to scatter out and go back to where they came from. The first to leave was the Artemis, and then the magistrates along with the guardsmen who accompanied the lady back to the village.
Discreetly, he followed them with a good distance. Being used to the carriage and his ability to transport himself, it had been a long time since he had walked for this long. Seeing the woman get back into the office. The guardsmen started to walk away, parting ways when Damien decided to make his appearance known to the guardsman who had previously tried to speak to him in the morning.
The guardsman stopped walking on the sight of Damien, not moving front not moving back either. Damien could tell that the man was conflicted like earlier. Wanting to speak but unable to do it.
“You don’t mind if I take you from here, do you?” Damien asked the man with a grin on his face.
