Clean, black shoes clicked against the white marbled floor of one of the long corridors in the Council's building. The person's shoes stopped in front of one of the double doors. Vincent pushed the door.
When he entered the chamber that belonged to the Head of the Inner Circle and the head of the Council, he noticed four men sitting in front of Clayton's desk.
The four men belonged to the Inner Circle, where one of them was Mr. Hart. One of the men, with a moustache, said to Vincent,
"We are in the middle of the meeting. You can come back later."
Vincent smiled at the man's words, while Clayton informed others, "I am the one who told him to join us, Sylvester."
"You seem to like to bend the rules when it comes to Vincent, Head Clayton," stated another man, who wore glasses and the eyes behind it were downturned. "Allowing a non Inner Circle member to join the meeting that is supposed to be confidential."
Vincent's lips curled, and he asked, "It seems like you gentlemen haven't heard about the latest news. Also, there's no reason to feel jealous of who is being given more value, Mr. Stoker. Clayton loves all of you as much as he loves me, but secretly me more," he whispered, taking a seat on the right side.
Mr. Stoker stared at Vincent from the corner of his eyes. No one in the room was unaware of Clayton's partiality when it came to the pureblooded vampire. Everyone knew Clayton had taken a keen interest in Vincent since the pureblooded vampire was a young boy. He had grown around the Head of the Council, but as calm and sane Clayton was, they didn't know how Vincent had turned the way he was.
Clayton rolled his eyes at the instigator and said, "I have told Vincent to accompany me during the meetings and he knows not to discuss things that take place in here. He's shown remarkable growth in what he does."
The man with the moustache held a calm expression and stated, "Without a doubt. But it seems like you have overlooked the number of deaths that he has caused. The most recent one being the massacre that took place in Raven's Dungeon."
"While I kill unworthy people in the eyes of the public, there are some who brush things under the carpet and not speak about it," said Vincent with a faint smile.
"It would be good to know who you are talking about, surely we would like to know whom to hold accountable to such actions," Sylvester waited for Vincent to reply. "Unless those are just words to aggravate and cause doubt among us."
"The ones who are accountable already know," Vincent stared at Sylvester, who stared back at him. "It was only recently that one of the women went missing and no one knows until now where she is. Did she run away? Did someone hurt her? Kill her? And the town comes right under your administration."
"Who is it?" Mr. Hart questioned.
"Lady Camille Wright from Skellington. Marquee Hooke's sister," Vincent revealed.
Clayton frowned and then said, "We shall discuss this later. Speaking about the candidates to fill the vacant spot at the Inner Circle. I need the names by tomorrow so that I can go through them. Also, there isn't just an increase in the number of rogue werewolves but also vampires. Why hasn't it come under control yet?"
Mr. Stoker explained, "My men have killed the rogue vampires, but someone is turning the humans very quickly. It's as if there's a competition on who turns which kind more."
"Maybe if you caught the rogues first and killed them later, it would help," said Vincent, picking up a glass ball from the table and bringing it close to his eyes to look at it.
Mr. Stoker stared at Vincent and said, "It looks like Mr. Moriarty is unaware of what the rogue means. Vampires or werewolves, who have lost the ability to think and only walk on the path of destruction. They are nothing but living corpses." He then turned to Clayton and said, "We have many men with better experience than him to accompany you."
"Would you rather have a man of your own to fill my current position, Mr. Stoker? So that it can bring in benefits," Vincent smiled at the man with amusement.
Hearing his words, Mr. Stoker glared at Vincent, "If I were you, I would watch my words for the false allegation you are putting against me. I don't know what Clayton sees in you, apart from your bloodline."
"Frankly, I wonder about it myself and would like an answer to it," Vincent turned to look at Clayton, who quietly glared at him. He then turned to Mr. Stoker and said, "I must be his secret child."
The Head of the council questioned Vincent, "Is there a way to get the rogue vampires to speak?"
Everyone looked at Vincent, who looked at them for a moment before saying, "It is a pity that the people who work at the higher position are unaware about the rogue's structure. Given the rogues don't see reason, you, actually your men have failed to catch on something important."
He continued, "Though it's harder to achieve it with the vampires as the corruption of their minds is quick, for the werewolves, one will need to kill them very very slowly. There's a window where the colour of their eyes changes before turning completely dead. It gives you a minute's time."
"That's impossible!" Mr. Hart shook his head. "All these years, we have—"
Vincent interrupted him, "We have shot them dead. Every kind mutates and improves or declines. It doesn't have to be true for everyone, but there are cases that no one ever realised it."
"You are asking us to capture the rogue and kill slowly? Where it could be a hit or miss?" Sylvester questioned, his eyes not looking away from the younger vampire in the room.
"Yes."
"Then maybe you can help Mr. Stroke's men with it," stated Sylvester.
"If I do all the work and take credit, it would be unfair for the others. It is necessary that everyone gets an opportunity to shine, and I am not going to take it away from them," Vincent smiled at the man before adding, "Not to mention, my hands are full."
"How far are we with Mr. Fowler's case?" Asked another man named Malcolm in the room.
"Consider it that I have caught the lazy person, and will bring the person to you in three days," Vincent smiled, and the men in the room stared at him with curiosity.
"Lazy?" questioned one of them.
"What's with the surprise?" Questioned Malcolm, which made Vincent smile.
"Is that anxiousness or eagerness that I hear, Malcolm?" Vincent teased the man, who glared at him.
"I don't see a point of hiding the murderer, unless Mr. Moriarty hasn't found out the answer and is only buying time because he had found nothing," Sylvester's eyes narrowed slightly. "It would be better to assign the case to another team."
Vincent turned to Clayton and remarked, "You seem to be working with impatient men."
Clayton, who was used to Vincent's remarks, ignored the lot and ordered, "Pass the information to your men and see what comes up."
"How do we know that Vincent isn't yanking our chain? Such a thing has never happened before," spoke Mr. Stoker.
Vincent clicked his tongue and said, "Mr. Stoker, you aren't my pet for me to yank your chain."
Mr. Stoker stood up from his seat, glaring at Vincent, "Now as you are working for the Head, it also means I am your senior at this Council."
"Funny that you bring it up yourself and get offended by it when I am just speaking in your favour," Vincent's eyes shone in mirth.
Mr. Stoker wanted to say something but decided not to fuel this childish conversation. He turned to Clayton and said, "If that is all you wanted to say, I would like to take my leave."
Clayton nodded, "I will discuss the rest later." All the members of the Inner Circle stepped out of his chamber. He then turned to Vincent, who was sitting in the same seat.
"Do you always have to aggravate people?" And after a second, he said, "Don't even bother answering it. What's with the missing woman?"
"She's missing, why?" Vincent asked nonchalantly.
"You don't take interest in cases for no reason. Is there something you know?" Clayton's eyes narrowed at Vincent.
Vincent tilted his head, "She was planning to marry off her niece to me. I was just concerned." Seeing the small-looking vampire's eyes not leave him, he asked, "What? I didn't do anything."
Clayton commented, "I hope you didn't vanish the woman for that reason."
Vincent chuckled, "I am not so petty as to kill a person for such simple reasons."
"Let us hope it is true," Clayton grimly looked at Vincent.
When Vincent stepped out of Clayton's chamber and headed toward his office, on his way he noticed Mr. Hart standing, doing nothing.
"Mr. Moriarty, I am so glad that you are able to join the meetings with us from now," said Mr. Hart, and Vincent subtly narrowed his eyes. "I would like a favour from you if you don't mind."
"If you are asking me this politely it seems like I will mind. But do ask," Vincent asked the man.
Mr. Hart looked left and right in the corridor before asking in a low voice, "I was wondering if I could borrow that yellow-eyed beauty from you."
"I know we spoke about yanking chains and pet, but if you want to talk to Mr. Stoker, you don't need my permission," Vincent commented, which had Mr. Hart cough.
"What? No!" Mr. Hart quickly denied it and corrected, "I was talking about the lady who came with you. You came with a lady to Marshal's mansion, right?"
Vincent stared at the human and replied lowly, "You might be asking the wrong person, Dave. My woman was blue-eyed."
So Eve's eyes had changed to yellow while talking to this one, Vincent thought.
"Oh! My apologies then!" Mr. Hart sounded disappointed.
