Music Recommendation: Data Mining- Choi Jung In
The townsfolk who hadn't directly participated in punishing and humiliating Eve earlier waited for the vampire to dismiss them from the place, so they could scurry away. But they didn't have plans to go home, as they were interested to see what was going to happen.
The people involved in dragging Eve up here, didn't step forward in fear of being beaten. Hoping the vampire was bluffing about knowing who had touched Eve.
The magistrate looked back and forth between the pureblooded vampire and the people of Meadow. Responsible for the matters in the town, he wanted to settle down things and made his way to where the vampire stood.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Moriarty," the magistrate offered his deepest bow to Vincent. "If you will allow me, I would be more than happy to take over the situation—"
"What's your name?" Vincent demanded, turning to the human.
"Terrance Salmon, Sire," the magistrate quickly introduced himself.
At his name, Vincent licked his lips and ran his tongue over his fangs, and this lone action was enough for the magistrate to sweat. He questioned, "Considering Ms. Barlow has the coin of protection in her hand, I believe you noticed it?"
The magistrate replied nervously, "I tried to help her, but these people didn't allow me and pushed me to the back," and it was the truth! The man knew the coin's importance, which was why he had gone to fetch the guards hoping to reduce the damage.
Vincent's eyes narrowed before he said, "This might be an opportune time for you to quit, Salmon. What do you say?"
The man's eyes went wide, and he fumbled, "I—I did the best I could to help her. This woman here," he pointed at Mrs. Humphrey and continued, "Is the one who provoked people when I warned her."
"It seems like Mrs. Humphrey likes to orchestrate plans, doesn't she?" Vincent turned his cold eyes at the woman, who turned pale as if she had lost all courage. He said to the magistrate in a low voice, "Resign from work before I hold you guilty with the rest of them. Or… you can stay quiet and follow me. What do you choose?"
The magistrate didn't want to lose his job or the position. Knowing the pickle he was in, he took a few steps backwards and stood behind the vampire.
"Wise choice," hummed Vincent.
Eve's eyes followed Vincent, watching him walk towards one of the men before grasping the man's neck.
"P—please! I didn't mean to do it!" The man stuttered, while Vincent squeezed the human's neck, digging his nails and suffocating the man.
"Poor you. Your hand must have acted on its own. Such a rueful hand, perhaps we should throw it, hm?" Vincent glared at the man with murderous intentions while the man tried to pry the vampire's fingers off his neck.
To honour Eve's feelings and not hurt her, Vincent drew the line by not drinking her blood even though all he wanted was to sink his fangs. And here this low life had decided not just to hurt her but also waste his blood.
"Please don't kill me!" The man looked frightened, and his eyes moved to where Eve stood and desperately begged her, "Forgive me, Ms. Barlow! I was swayed by Humphrey's words. They said some maid came to the town and complained that you were sleeping with her mistress's husband. Please let me go!" He pleaded.
Vincent looked around the place before his eyes fell on a nearby metal pole. He dragged the man there, harshly banging the human's head against the pole.
"My God! You are right, hands to act on their own!" Vincent behaved surprised, "Let me hold it better." He smacked the human's head against the metal rod until blood started to drip from the man's head.
Watching more blood spill in their town, the people of Meadow looked at the vampire with horror in their eyes. Mrs. Edwards, who had been hiding behind others, made her way to where Eve stood and whispered,
"Genevieve! I am so sorry for doubting your character," the older woman's eyebrows furrowed in worry, but Eve didn't turn to look at her. Mrs. Edwards called her again, "Genevieve, please listen to me! I beg you to ask the vampire to stop hurting people, these people are part of Meadow. You have known them for so long and—"
"Where were those people when I was being shamed?" Eve's voice held pain.
Mrs. Edwards tried to salvage her situation, and she shook her head and placed her hand on Eve's arm, "You know how hard the world is. A woman needs to keep her legs closed unless it is the man she marries. Sleeping with other men is shameful and we didn't want you walking in the wrong path."
A sad smile appeared on Eve's lips, which didn't reach her eyes. She turned to her neighbour, meeting the older woman's anxious eyes, who was scared of being punished next.
Eve's eyes held sorrow, "So easily you decided that I was in the wrong. I wasn't allowed to clear the misunderstandings. I told you…" her eyes moistened. She felt a lump in her throat before continuing, "All of you have known me for the longest, seen me grow along with your children. You marked my character as disgraceful. I belong to Meadow, this has been the home I knew, and instead of believing me, you believed what you wanted to see, heard things without verifying it even once."
Eve had believed that this town was hers like any others and that the people here cared for each other. She was aware that if they found out about her being a mermaid, an outcast of society, she would be handed to the authorities, but she hadn't expected them to drag her through the streets.
This was how society worked. No one ever bothered to know the truth about someone whose name was slandered. Instead, they joined the wagon to judge and point fingers at the person.
It wasn't the wounds on her body that hurt her, but the loss of trust that made her sad. If Vincent hadn't come, the people would have broken her spirit.
"That's true," Mrs. Edwards nodded, ready to agree to anything Eve said, "It was completely wrong of us to do it, forgive—"
Eve placed her hand on the older woman's hand that was on her arm, pushing it away from her. She said, "I am sorry, Mrs. Edwards, but I cannot forgive you or the others."
Another woman, who stood nearby, softly gasped and accused Eve, "How can you be stone hearted when everyone is begging you? You want to see them dead?"
"You have some nerve to speak to her like that after what you did," came Vincent's voice, and the woman quickly moved away from Eve.
Vincent dropped the man who fell next to the metal pole unconscious. He made his way to where Eve was, standing next to her, before turning to look at Mrs. Edwards, who gulped as she was in his line of sight.
"Actually you are right," Vincent stated, and Mrs. Edwards and the other woman cautiously looked at him. The pureblooded vampire exclaimed, "How rude of this young woman to not forgive you! How can you do that, Eve?" Then came his sarcastic words, "After all, they only called you names, threw stones at you and dragged you through the streets. There's no need to be so stuck up about forgiving them, mistakes like these always happen. It happens with them too, like now?"
Vincent raised his hand to his mouth and licked the blood off his fingers and the townsfolk around swallowed their anxiety.
One of the men responsible for tearing Eve's sleeve quickly came forward and bowed, "Please spare us! We promise to never do anything like this!"
When the man didn't receive a response, he raised his head in time to get a punch from Vincent, and the man fell to the ground. The man groaned and spat blood on the ground and. He stuttered, "Y-you said you wouldn't punish us if we came forward!"
Vincent clicked his tongue, one side of his lips turning into a sneer, "I said I would reduce your punishment, never said anything about not punishing you." He sat on his heel and caught hold of the man's pinky finger between his two fingers and the human started to sweat. "Would you have stayed quiet if someone ripped your woman's clothes? If the men touched her inappropriately?"
"Salmon," Vincent called the magistrate, "What does the law of your town say if a man tears a woman's clothes that she's wearing in public?"
The magistrate was clever enough to save his own life, than try to save the ones who didn't deserve it. The last thing he needed was to face the wrath of this pureblooded vampire. He said, "Punish them the same way as their mistakes, Sire."
"Tsk tsk," the corner of Vincent's lips curled, "Let me show what your thoughtless action did," he crushed the little finger's bone with one press between his fingers.
"ARGHHH! UGH!" The human whimpered while hurling in agony.
Vincent tore the man's shirt and stood up. He then asked, "So who is next?"
The magistrate wearily moved closer to Vincent and requested, "Sire, if you want, I can put them in the dungeon!"
"Don't be scared, Salmon, no one here will complain about your lack of skills as a magistrate," Vincent looked at the people.
One of the townspeople asked, "Do you… Do you want to drink our blood?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Vincent rolled his eyes, "Ripping your head off your neck and letting the blood flow into a glass, that is the last thing on my mind, apart from washing my hands and bathing in it."
Vincent had an intimidating aura around him that made the humans tremble. Especially after seeing what he had done to others.
All it took was one more glare from Vincent for seven more people to step forward, who had dragged Eve. After ten minutes, each person had a bruise and swelling on their faces. Beating them into a pulp was easy, but it would also gain sympathy in the eyes of the others, something Vincent didn't want.
Vincent picked up Patrick from the ground with the back of his neck, and looked down at the terrified human. Knowing how this worthless being was trying to court Eve until now, and had decided to throw mud at her because he couldn't have her, he wanted to rip his heart out.
But death was too easy, and the pureblooded vampire wanted to watch them all burn. A smile crept up his lips and he threatened, "If I see you anywhere near Eve next time, or even so much as to whisper about her, I will gouge your eyes, stuff it in your mouth and bury you alive."
Patrick quickly nodded, unable to take any more pain than he already received, "I—I promise." He was scared of his head being snapped any second. Right now, he couldn't see with one of his eyes as the area around it was swollen because of Vincent's punches.
"I am not convinced," Vincent deadpanned, and Patrick panicked.
"I won't look at her or talk to her! I swear!" Patrick shook in fear.
Vincent gripped the human by his jaw and twisted his lips in displeasure. He raised his other hand. Bringing it near the human's mouth, Vincent said, "Just to be sure, you know," and he flicked the front tooth out of Patrick's mouth.
"AHHH!" Patrick's voice echoed in pain, and the others held their breath, as more blood dripped on the ground.
The people who had been beaten by Vincent, bowed and apologised to Eve, "We are sorry for everything we did. We are ashamed of our earlier behaviour."
Eve doubted that any amount of apology would make things go back to the way it was. She wanted to leave, far away from here, so for the sake of it, she nodded and said, "Okay."
Vincent noticed how Eve didn't want to be part of this anymore and wanted to leave, picking up the look of discomfort in her eyes. He warned, "I don't want to hear anyone discussing what happened or what you did to Ms. Barlow today."
"Yes, Sire!"
"We won't speak about it!"
"Sorry, Ms. Barlow!" came the collective voices from the crowd, but Eve didn't respond.
The pureblooded vampire looked at the townsfolk before offering them a crooked smile. This was Act I and the next one was Act II. But the final one, he would deliver it with much joy and the thought of it brought excitement to his cold, hollow heart.
Once Vincent and Eve started walking back to Dawson's residence, the magistrate ordered the guards to "Take these trunks back." He then looked at the beaten and broken to say, "The ones who Mr. Moriarty' talked' to, will be kneeling on the ground here with their hands up. This includes you too, Mrs. Edwards."
Mrs. Humphrey's eyes widened, and she said in shock, "We aren't children! The vampire has already punished us, and he wants us to kneel in public?"
"Until the sky turns dark or you will be thrown inside the dungeon for a week," the magistrate added, and the woman grit her teeth.
The humiliation!
A few of them continued groaning in pain. Mrs. Humphrey tried to hide her face, by looking at the ground and so did the others, while they kneeled and raised their hands. She had started the day by showing Genevieve Barlow her place, but instead, the vampire had turned the tables on her. She gritted her teeth in anger.
"Mo-ma…mothaar," Patrick groaned with pain in his mouth as he had lost his teeth and his injured hand needed attention.
"Shut up, Patrick!" Mrs. Humphrey snapped as she still couldn't believe he had lied to her about his job.
"If it weren't for you, Mrs. Humphrey, we would have been in our home without broken bones!" One of the men blamed her.
"You brought us trouble with wrong information!"
"It wasn't me but the maid! You believed it as much as I di—"
"We have heard enough, Mrs. Humphrey!" This time it was Mrs. Edwards who held a look of bewilderment in her eyes along with shame. "I just told Genevieve was having different carriages in front of her house, and you came to the conclusion that she was sleeping with different men for money! You and your son are full of lies!"
"How dare you! You were the one who started it!" Mrs. Humphrey responded with an appalled expression.
"You are the—"
"That's enough!" The magistrate snapped at them, "One more word and you two will be spending another night here in the same place and position!"
Everyone who knelt on the ground quickly closed their mouths while their faces were covered in shame and embarrassment. While other people, who hadn't taken part in the incident, were relieved and watched them from afar, not knowing what was waiting for them.
