The townsfolk of Meadow were taken aback by the vampire's words, especially Mrs. Humphrey, her son Patrick and Mrs. Edwards, whose mouths had turned dry. They stared at Vincent with a gobsmacked expression.
On the other hand, Eve slightly frowned at Vincent's false claim on her to be his woman. Her lips pursed because he had already made it clear that he wouldn't return her feelings. Even though what he said now was a lie, to protect her from the people who watched them keenly, her heart didn't miss to skip a beat at his words.
Patrick overcame his shock and gritted his teeth in anger. For years, he had pined for Eve's affection, and this vampire had swooped right under his nose and stolen her! Common sense soon jumped out of his brain to be replaced by ego and idiocy. He blurted,
"So you agree that you both have been sleeping together. The truth is finally out of your mouth!" He then turned to look at the people and said, Did you hear that? This shameless whore--"
Vincent grabbed Patrick by his collar.
Patrick fumbled for words and warned Vincent, "If you hurt me, do you think the guards here and the Council will let you off the hook, just because you are a wealthy man?" He tried to free himself, but the vampire held him tightly.
"I adore people like you. Thanks to you, I get to stretch my fingers," Vincent's eyes held a sinister look that scared Patrick.
Raising his other hand, Vincent repeatedly punched Patrick's face, and within a few seconds, the human started to bleed from his broken nose and three teeth fell out of his mouth. Mrs. Humphrey looked at them in horror and shouted, "Release my son this instant, you obnoxious vampire!"
Vincent glared at Mrs. Humphrey, who gulped even though she continued to stare back at him. He paused from punching Patrick, but didn't let go of the human's collar.
Blood dripped down from Vincent's hand that belonged to Patrick.
Vincent then stated, "I don't think I caught your name, not that I need it." He then spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, "If we are talking about the bad things people are doing, it is only right to tell what you did," he turned back to look at Patrick, and the corner of his lips curled as his fangs came into view.
Patrick was in pain and trying to stop the bleeding from his nose to pay attention to what the vampire had just said.
Vincent continued to say, "This man here, who was talking about morals, was recently thrown out from his job of managing one of the timber mills owned by Henry Quintin. Because he stole money from his employer, and we all know stealing isn't a good habit. He now works as a servant in Quintin's mansion. If I didn't hear it wrong, he begged and cried for the job."
Murmurs started to erupt among the people who stood there, whispering with each other, while they looked at Patrick Humphrey.
Mrs. Humphrey scoffed and defended her son, "You are lying! My son doesn't work as a servant, but as a manager!"
Vincent let go of the human's collar and soon placed his hand on Patrick's head as if he was an animal being stroked, "Tell them I am wrong," his eyes glowered before he gripped the pathetic human's hair, similar to how Patrick had earlier pulled Eve's hair.
"Ah! AH!!" Patrick shouted, wincing in pain.
"You are threatening him, wanting him to oblige to your claim!" Said another townsfolk, before he took a step backwards when Vincent's glare was transferred to him.
"Now why would I ever do that? I was doing exactly what you and the others did," Vincent's eyes darkened, and he mocked them, "Only that I am stating the truth, while you decided to collude Ms. Barlow's name without any actual proof."
When Vincent gripped Patrick's hair tighter, the man quickly accepted, "Yes, yes. I stole Mr. Quintin's money! You are telling the truth, please let me go!"
More whispers started going around the people, and Mrs. Humphrey stared at her son with shock. Her lips moved, but no sound came before she finally questioned, "That isn't true, is it, Patrick?! This vampire is forcing you to tell things!"
Vincent dropped his hand from the human's head, but he wasn't done. He twisted the man's arm. Patrick was quick to panic, and he grovelled, "Please forgive me! I take back everything I said to Ms. Barlow! I only said those things because a maid came here yesterday to help her mistress! Plea-ahh!"
Even though Mrs. Humphrey was in shock about what she learned about her son, he was still her son and unable to see him in pain, she went to release him from the clutches of the vampire.
"Whatever it is! You are only forcing him to say it," the woman stubbornly tried to pull Vincent's hand away from her son. "It doesn't erase the fact that this woman has spread her--"
SLAP!
Mrs. Humphrey's hand covered her cheek, her eyes wide in horror as she was slapped in public. The woman coughed and tasted blood in her mouth.
People suddenly turned quiet with not even a whisper of the wind. As Patrick continued to wince with his hand twisted, Vincent unapologetically said to the woman, "Sorry for not saying this sooner, but I am not biassed when it comes to a man or a woman. So if you thought I would not break your bones, you are sorely mistaken."
No one dared to utter a word, frightened that the vampire would deal with them similar to the other three people of the town. Some had started to harbour guilt over what they had done to Eve, now in doubt if what they heard was true or if it had been made up.
While everyone stared at the Humphrey's, Vincent's gaze shifted to look at Eve, who stared at him. He kicked the back of Patrick's knee, and the human fell to his knees and his hands on the ground. But Vincent continued to look at her, before he took a step forward for the human to scream. He had stepped on the human's hand, putting enough weight for the bones underneath his shoes to crack and crush.
"AHHHH! MY HAND! MY HAND!" Patrick yelled, clutching his bloody hand close to his chest, when Vincent stepped away from him.
In shock, the townsfolk of Meadow watched the scene in front of them with their mouths hanging open. This vampire... was utterly insane. He was pulling and breaking people's limbs, not to mention he had slapped an older woman! Out of fear, they bowed, and one of them said,
"Please forgive us for blindly believing the rumours, Sire!"
"We are sorry, Genevieve!"
"We didn't know any better! It was their fault!" One of the men pointed at Mrs. Humphrey and Mrs. Edwards, immediately transferring the blame to them.
The others agreed while Mrs. Humphrey held her burning cheek in her hand. Mrs. Edwards, who now stood away from her friend, tried to hide, not wanting to be harmed by this vampire, who looked like he was looking for blood.
An empty chuckle that sounded sinister escaped from Vincent's lips, and he said,
"If only forgiveness could fix things. But you scarred Ms. Barlow by humiliating her, hitting her and tearing her clothes." He cracked his knuckles and drawled, "So... Everyone responsible for Ms. Barlow's current appearance, step forward. If you don't, I will find you and make it much worse."
One of the women cleared her throat and said in a low voice, "Some of us didn't do anything. I even told them what they were doing was too harsh," when the vampire turned his gaze at her, she quickly bowed.
At this time, the magistrate, who had earlier left the scene, returned with four guards following him. Seeing Vincent, his eyes widened at what the pureblooded vampire was doing here. When his eyes noticed the wealthy vampire's coat on the woman, who was earlier being humiliated, he turned nervous.
Vincent stared at the crowd before his eyes fell on the magistrate and a crooked smile appeared on his lips. Just because they didn't participate didn't mean they weren't guilty, and he would deal with them in his own way.
