Eve stood next to Vincent, watching the roofs of the houses that had been covered in the hay before, had disappeared into the air after burning in the fire. The reflection of the flames could be seen in both hers and the pureblooded vampire's eyes, but it was Vincent who enjoyed the sight of it.
She knew Vincent was different than most, a person of unusual behaviour but she hadn't expected him actually to burn down Meadow. The man was greyer than she had believed him to be. Even though it was done with respect to love, it didn't justify his actions in her eyes, and she said,
"You went extreme on this one, Vincent."
"Hm, I didn't?" Vincent questioned, making Eve wonder if he was asking her in doubt or telling her that he hadn't done enough.
Eve looked outside the window, watching the townsfolk panic and said, "These houses were of people who worked very hard to make a living. They don't have money like the wealthy families of Skellington to be able to afford it. You are burning their hard work."
Though her own house's roof was burning, but not as much as other houses, the couple didn't step out of the house yet, as Eve was left in shock over what Vincent had initiated. She heard him say,
"Their actions brought this upon themselves. You know why people do bad things? Because they believe no one will know."
"Like you did now?" Eve asked him with a look of bewilderment in her eyes.
Eve didn't know if she had to be worried about Vincent's nature. Because when it came to her, it had softened with him showering her with affection. One would believe that her company would affect him in toning down his craziness, but instead, it seemed like it had only spurred him even more, and there was a look of happiness mixed with madness in his eyes.
She noticed the wide smile on his lips, and he said, "But you know about it and I will own my actions, but you see... if there's no one to regulate the other's deeds, they will not take responsibility for their actions and continue doing the same. Silly girl, did you really think that I was done dealing with them? I dealt with the people who physically and directly hurt you, but what about the rest of the people? The ones who stood and quietly watched it, without stopping the ill treatment or murmuring a protest."
"So you decided to burn their houses," Eve sighed because it didn't feel right.
But to Vincent, what the townsfolk had done to Eve wasn't right, and he had sworn to punish them. He said, "Today's bonfire would have taken place sooner, if you didn't go to Berkshire, but well, everything fell into place. Do you know what will happen now?" His coppery-red eyes looked like gemstones, because the place caught fire.
"They will be homeless?" Eve asked, worried with a deep frown and she heard him chuckle. It was a dark chuckle, and the smile slowly started to burn down and the look in his eyes turned serious.
Vincent responded, "People are going to wonder why only their town was targeted by the rogues. And though some will come to believe that it is because they are weak, soon they will reflect that it happened because of you."
"This feels like a double-edged sword," Eve whispered.
"Anything but that. My actions are always fireproof, my beloved girl," Vincent said nonchalantly. He came back to the point, "The townsfolk will think that they are being punished for hurting an innocent woman. Life gets back at them for the injustice they caused, but then they aren't very bright and they will just continue to panic, with fear in their minds."
Noticing the look of worry and disturbance in Eve's eyes, Vincent raised his hand and caressed her face, "We should step out of the house. Want to take a walk on the streets?"
Earlier that day, when Vincent had told her to keep her room's window open for him, the last thing she had expected was for her to wake up to houses burning. The pureblooded vampire slipped his hand into hers and pulled her out of the room.
Eugene and Timotei appeared in Eve's room to alert her, "Miss Eve!" Eugene shouted in worry, and then noticed Vincent and Eve standing at the window without attempting to move to shelter themselves.
Timotei exclaimed, "Fire! Fi--Oh, it is the vampire."
All of them walked down the stairs and stepped out of the house. The four stood in front of the house, before Eugene went to fetch a bucket of water to put out the fire. Eve turned her head, noticing some houses didn't burn as brightly as the others. At least not as much as the Edwards or other houses who had tortured Eve with their thoughtlessness.
"The heck! I was sleeping and dreaming that I was back in the warm bathtub only to see that the place was burning and I would burn in it too!" Timotei complained before he hissed and he stared at the house. "Looks like we will be moving to Skellington sooner than the decided date?" His tail swayed back and forth, while he followed Eugene.
Eugene turned to look at the black cat, who had decided to stick to him. He said, "Don't you have a home of your own?" Surely if this cat vampire belonged to the high society in the past, he would have a mansion of his own.
"Of course, I do," Timotei coughed because of the smoke, and he picked up his tail before brushing the end of it as it had caught dust. He said, "But when all of you are having such a difficult time, it would be rude to leave your side. I will offer the emotional support you need."
"You mean you want to freeload on us," Eugene deadpanned.
The black cat gasped in shock, "The rudeness of this lowly human has no bounds especially after peeping on me when I was taking my bath."
Mrs. Edwards, who saw Eve standing out of her house, turned to where she stood and said, "Look at what the rogues have done, Genevieve! They seem to have not spared our town. Lit and torched every house as if we humans don't go through enough!"
Eve silently stared at Mrs. Edwards, not knowing how to respond to the woman's statement.
As minutes passed and after the shock reduced on their minds, they finally started to splash water on the fire, trying to extinguish the fire, which took more than an hour. Light smoke moved up to the sky, where the woods had burned, and the damage wasn't too much, but the people couldn't ignore it as it had created holes in their roofs, or some houses' windows had broken.
There was a heaviness in Eve's heart that she couldn't explain on seeing the sight in front of her. But at the same time, somewhere deep down, she wasn't sure if the siren's characteristics brought peace to her.
Eve turned to look at Vincent, where the pureblooded vampire stared at their surroundings with a peaceful expression. The pureblooded vampire had burned the entire town to avenge the humiliation brought to her.
Not too far from where they stood, Eve caught sight of Mrs. Humphrey and her family holding glum expressions on their faces. Compared to other houses, their house was burnt more than the rest, and one of the townsfolk, who noticed this, remarked,
"Mrs. Humphrey, looks like your house took most of the burn. This is why you shouldn't cause trouble to anyone. God must be punishing you for the harm you did to Genevieve."
"My family has already suffered enough for you to badmouth me, Sarah! If you aren't going to help fix my house, then stay quiet!" Mrs. Humphrey snapped at the woman, while she appeared to be distressed. It was one thing when her son Patrick was working with a good wage, but it was another when his current wage could barely even restore the house.
Though the thought about what the woman just said didn't pass her mind, it continued to linger in her mind and made her question if God was furious at her. Her eyes fell on Eve, who held a slight hint of smudges of soot on her face and clothes.
For a moment, Mrs. Humphrey couldn't keep her frustration inside her, and she loudly accused Eve, "You burned my house down!"
The accusation was true because Vincent had done it out of his spitefulness. Eve stared back at the older woman, slightly anxious. Patrick appeared beside his mother with fear in his eyes after seeing the pureblooded vampire next to Eve, and he pulled his mother to the side.
Patrick whispered to his mother, "What do you think you are doing, mother?! Haven't we already meddled enough with Genevieve and that vampire that you go now looking for trouble??"
Mrs. Humphrey half glared at Eve and then ducked her head when her eyes met the red eyes of the vampire. She whispered, "Look at her strolling to look at our ruined house."
Patrick quickly said, "Genevieve's house has also undergone damages and burns because of the fire, mother! Can you stay quiet than speak without knowing the facts at first?" And he dragged his mother away from there.
Eve watched the townsfolk and the town before she heard Vincent remark, "Now that the bonfire is over, it is time to go home. To the Moriarty mansion."
