NIGHTS OF HALLOW

The meeting room was soon filled in as the church members strolled in one after the other to attend the meeting summoned by the Headchurch member, Donovan.

Everyone which included, Churchwoman Martha, Churchman Welsh, and Churchwoman Aurora who were the core Head members of the church settled in on their various seats as they exchanged greetings with each other.

As they sat around the round table, the room appeared to be tense as the cases hanging on each member’s neck were half solved and some not solved as there was no lead to it.

The room was medium in size, with only a window serving as the source of ventilation the room had. Only the table and the chairs were in the room. The walls were painted in a dark grey color and the floor was made with a black marble floormat. Looking at the decor, it gave off the feeling that this was where confidential matters were discussed.

Headchurch Donovan sat upright in his seat and cleared his throat to get the attention of those present before he began to discuss what they came for.

Donovan had his fingers interwined which he placed on top of the table before he began to speak.

”A pleasant day to everyone.” He greeted, and in the minds of the others, they questioned what was pleasant about the day. Donovan went on to speak, ”You all must have anticipated or known in one way or the other the reason why I called this sudden meeting.”

”In as much as we have many cases unsolved concerning the kingdom, I would like us to pay attention to the major issue which is the recent killing and abductions going on in the kingdom. The reports that appear on my table each morning are getting out of hand.”

”I know some of us might be aware of what happened in the town of Blackfang where the body of a woman was found dead with her head missing. I assume it is high time we discussed and solved these cases. Isn’t that right, Church members?” Donovan questioned as his gaze went from one member to the other to see them nod their heads in agreement, indicating that they were all following up on what he was saying.

”It is good we are all on the same page now,” Donovan said and shifted in his sitting position such that he now faced Churchwoman Aurora. He continued, ”We will begin this meeting by hearing from you, Churchwoman Aurora, on the case assigned to you about the village of Woodbridge where the missing members of it were reported.”

”Isn’t that the case we were not able to solve, Headchurch Donovan?” Martha who hadn’t been present in the carriage when the case was handed to Churchwoman Aurora inquired with her face marred in a skeptical expression.

”Yes, it is,” Donovan confirmed. ”And please if you all could be helpful, I would appreciate everyone to keep quiet until being called upon to talk.”

Donovan’s words were enough to shut the Churchwoman’s mouth.

Churchwoman Aurora tilted her head in a small bow to acknowledge Donovan’s call for her to report her case. She proceeded to bring out a small diary from her bag where she jolted important information she had gathered.

She stood up and stared at everyone before she began to speak, ”Good day to everyone. Following the case I was asked to investigate, Headchurch Donovan, there were a few things I was able to cover.”

Headchurch Donovan nodded for the Church woman to continue. Aurora went on, ”These are what I discovered; firstly, the village members who were suspected to be abducted by vampires who unfortunately are a couple didn’t get abducted on the same day which some of us know about.”

”From the information I gathered by questioning a few villagers, it was recorded that Mr. Perkin was the first to be abducted. The villagers had suspected that it was some vampires found roaming the streets of the village that abducted them.”

”Some days later according to the villagers, some red pills were found in a bag which belonged to Mr. Perkin. The villagers said they had called upon the local apothecary who was in their village to tell them what the pills were for. The man according to them, revealed that the pills were birth control pills.”

”The villagers then suspected that this was the reason why Mr. Perkin ran from home and not because of vampires.”

Churchwoman Martha raised her hand to which Aurora gave her a nod to go on with her question. The churchwoman asked, ”Why is this case always having different sides to it? First was that the man who was reported missing in the Head warden’s register as Mr. Persin was not the man’s name but Mr. Perkin. Now, you are saying that the man is suspected to have run from home because they found birth control pills in his bags?”

Churchwoman Aurora smiled at her fellow churchwoman. She calmly replied, ”It would have saved both our time had you allowed me to finish my report, Churchwoman Martha.”

Aurora turned to the other members and continued with her report, ”The reason why the village members suspected that Mr. Perkin ran from home was because they suspected he found out that his wife Mrs. Perkin was taking birth control pills. To hide his shame and disappointment, he ran away.”

”Now, the village woman, Mrs. Perkin, was detained in the cell by the order of the villagers for causing such disgrace and harm to her husband. It was said that one of the village members whom they called Perdita had helped in the release of Mrs. Perkin from the cell.”

Donovan nodded his head in agreement. He remembered questioning the Lady together with Theodore why she helped to release Mrs. Perkin. She had stated that the woman was innocent and a vampire had helped her to clear her innocence by providing evidence according to what Head Warden Humphrey had told him. The evidence, the Head Warden had failed to provide them with.

”And why would she do that?” Churchman Welsh questioned this time to which Aurora answered,

”Because the villagers said that the Lady, Perdita, said that the older woman was innocent of the accusations. The twisting part of the case is that a few days later, the villagers said that Mrs. Perkin also went missing. So the accusations of vampires truly abducting humans resurfaced again.”

”If this Perdita said that Mrs. Perkin was innocent, does it prove that the reason why Mr. Perkin went missing was not because of the birth control pills?” Donovan questioned aloud as he analyzed the case in his head.

”That is what I just said,” Aurora responded to Donovan’s question.

”How did she know that Mrs. Perkin was innocent of the accusations?” Donovan quizzed and stared at the faces of everyone as if the answer was written on their foreheads.

”Could it be that the pills are not birth control pills and she knew the real purpose of the pills? Did you go to the apothecary to question him?” Donovan directed the question to Aurora.

”Yes,” She replied. ”He answered that he found out that they were birth control pills.”

”And the pills? Did you ask him for it?” Donovan’s questions came one after the other. He suspected that with limited access to equipment and materials, the local apothecary could be wrong with his analysis and had given Mr. Perkin a false answer.

Aurora shook her head to a no, ”He said that Mr. Perkin took everything from him and the ones he had used to conduct the experiment he had disposed of a long time ago.”

Donovan slammed his hand on the table in frustration. ”And no one knows where Mr. Perkin had gotten those pills from. These pills seem to be the reason why he went missing and his wife followed too. They must know what the real purpose of those pills is.”

”Sadly no one knows,” Aurora shook her head dejectedly.

Donovan’s face was marred with a serious look as he appeared deep in thought. He suddenly spoke up, ”Everything goes back to this Perdita. She might know the real purpose of the pills if she had rescued Mrs. Perkin saying she was innocent.”

”Unfortunately, this Perdita is no more in the village as the villagers reported. They said that she and her brother suddenly went missing and they have been scared to make more reports lest the rest of them get abducted.” Aurora paused as she took a deep breath from talking too much. She went on to speak,

”I went to the Head Warden again to inquire about them, but from what I found, it was registered that they were leaving the village to another.”

”Which is the castle,” Donovan said, clearing the confusion in the minds of Aurora, Welsh, and Martha. ”She is the green-eyed Lady whom we saw in the castle the day we went to ask the King some questions.”

”It looks as if she is involved with the King,” Aurora replied from what she had observed that day.

”Makes me wonder what her involvement with the King is,” Donovan said with a frown on his face.

Churchwoman Martha who had gone quiet listened attentively to every detail of the case. Her brows which had scrunched in confusion loosened up as a realization dawned on her.

The red pills they were talking about were the same pills her Master was selling through Mr. Malphus whom the siblings were buying from.

Oh no, her Master had ordered her to keep her eyes on the Lady. If Mr. Perkin had the red pills, she could also have been involved in the abduction of the couple because they found out what the pills were for. Is that why she had gone to hide in the protection of the King? Then that meant that the King now knew what her Master was planning.

Holy crap! Martha exclaimed in her head. She needed to inform her Master, Vetis, as soon as possible.

Some minutes passed since the room went silent and everyone was lost in the thought of how to solve the case.

Donovan declared, ”We will pay the Lady a visit. Who knows, since she is with the King, the report Lady Rosamonda made about witches in the castle might be true and it might also involve her.”

”When are we going to pay the visit, Headchurch Donovan?” Theodore who was acutely aware of all they had been discussing and also knew the truth to their puzzles questioned. Someone needed to know what was coming their way.

”The date remains hidden,” Donovan stated in a grim tone.

Oh well well, Theodore tsked in his head. The King and Lady should prepare for a surprise visit then.

”The meeting is adjourned,” Donovan stood up and left the meeting room and others followed suit.