White Devil (completed)

Murder Number 1

Jaimee

Days went by so fast and it's weekend. Lana and Matt took me with them to check the new bazaar in the next town. Farah was with us too.

We are now walking around the bazaar as Lana and Matt are going crazy checking out every stall.

"How are you doing at Matt's place?" I asked Farah.

"It's great. The Baron is a kind master. And the twin Baroness are kind despite of their very unusual quirky attitude. They are very nice to me, that they never made me feel like I'm a servant. Far different from Vera and her father." Farah said.

"Were there other human slaves in their manor?" I asked.

"Yes. There are about twenty. Half of that twenty are children that is about my age or younger." Farah explained.

I balled my fist in anger. They took children as human slaves?

"Master Valentine, Vera's father love young girls as blood slave. H-He r-rapes them too." Farah whispered and a lone tear rolled down her cheek.

He rapes young girls? That's unforgivable! He's a monster.

"How about Vera?" I asked.

"Vera likes beating her blood servant before feeding from them." Farah answered.

I grabbed Farah's hand and squeezed it.

"I'm sorry for asking. One day, those evil vampires will pay for their sins." I told her, which made Farah smile.

"Thanks to you. If you didn't stand up for me that day in the cafeteria, I would've died already." Farah said.

I smiled at her and patted her back.

"Glad I could help." I told her.

"I just hope I can do something to free those kids from that hell." Farah mumbled.

Then Matt and Lana dragged us towards other stalls that sells cloaks and shawls. Those two just love shopping, so while they are busy might as well look around too.

I was looking through some black hooded cloaks when there was a commotion in a stall three blocks from us. There were five armed men destroying the stalls, and the owner of the stalls were crying and begging the armed men to stop, but they wouldn't listen.

I was about to approach them when Matt held me back.

"Those are the council's tax collectors." He said.

"Then why the hell are they destroying the stalls?" I asked.

"Looks like the stall owner cannot pay their tax. Apparently, the tax increased again." Lana said.

"What? Again?" I asked.

"The tax here in Aragon increases every other week, that small merchants, and others cannot keep up. And if you can't pay, those men will destroy your business or even houses." Lana explained.

"Why would they do that?! Just because they can't pay they will destroy their means of living?" I exclaimed.

Our attention drifted back to the commotion when we heard agonizing cries of the merchants. My eyes widened when the armed men are beating the merchants.

Ignoring my friend's protests, I ran towards them and stopped the armed men from hurting the merchant. I pushed them off the old man and stood protectively.

"Enough!" I sneered.

"What do we have here? A puny human defending a low life vampire.|" The leader of the tax collectors said.

"Isn't enough that you destroyed their stall, you beat them too?!" I exclaimed.

The tax collectors laughed. Then their leader bend down to reach my height then he grabbed my face.

"I don't need a little human like you mingle with the council business." He sneered, and let go of my face.

He turned around, but turned back to give me one strong slap on the face. I ignored the sharp pain and the blood coming from my busted lip, and continued to glare at him.

"That's what you get for having such a smart mouth." He sneered.

Then he and his group of men laughed, and left the area. The vampire merchant helped me up.

"You shouldn't have done that child."

The vampire merchant was an old man, and he spoke to me like he is speaking to his grandchild.

"It's fine. They have no right to hurt you after destroying your stall. Are you alright?" I asked him, and he nodded.

Then Lana, Matt and Farah came rushing towards me.

"You i***t! You really want to get hurt!" Lana screeched then she inspect my busted lip.

Lana looked like she was going to cry, and Farah looked horrified.

"I'm fine." I told them.

"Fine? That ugly troll slapped you!" Matt exclaimed.

"I'm so sorry. It's my fault." The merchant apologized.

"It's not your fault, but the stupid council." I said.

"My friend is right there. It's the council's fault for being too greedy." Lana paused and looked at the merchant's destroyed stall.

Lana sighed and pulled a few gold coins from her purse, and gave them to the merchant.

"They shouldn't have destroyed your stall, especially when you sell wonderful shawls and cloaks." Lana said.

The merchant's eyes brimmed with tears.

"Oh my lady. This is too much. Please, take anything you like from my stall." The merchant said.

Lana grinned and immediately grabbed two shawls. One colored like blood and the other one was the color of the sky.

"You have wonderful products." Lana said admiring the shawls in her hands.

Matt also looked at the scattered items from the destroyed stall. His eyes focused on the rolls of fabric. He crouched down and inspect them.

"Is this silk?" Matt asked the merchant.

"Silk with cotton my lord." he answered.

"Cotton?" Matt sounded surprised.

"I never seen such thing." He added.

"My daughters weaved them my lord." The merchant said.

"You mean your daughters made this? This is wonderful. The fabric is very pretty but it doesn't feel uncomfortable!" Matt exclaimed then he stood up.

"I will buy each and every roll of this fabric!" Matt exclaimed and he immediately paid the merchant.

"If you can make more of those fabrics, I will gladly buy them. My sisters will be thrilled for this." Matt said.

"Thank you so much, my lord, my lady." The merchant cried.

The he turned to me, and he grabbed my hand. I looked down when I felt him place something. I looked at it and saw a necklace with a rose pendant. The rose was made up of colored glass.

"This is beautiful." I said.

"For someone who has a beautiful soul." The merchant said, and I smiled at him.

Lana and Matt instructed their guards to load all their purchases into the car. We bid the merchant goodbye, and thank him as well before we left the bazaar.

****************

Third Person POV

It was a stormy night in Aragon, but a tavern at the outskirts of town is beaming with laughter and music. Men and women are happily getting drunk.

It was a usual scene in a place like this when the night came. In one table are the armed tax collectors enjoying their night. They are getting drunk and spends the money the council paid them.

As the night went on, bottles of whiskey after another until the said men are either too drunk to walk home or just passed out on the table. But their leader, who is still conscious and able scoffed at his comrades' sleeping figures.

"Weak." he mumbled.

He stood up and went out of the tavern. He was walking aimlessly in the dark streets, with a bottle of whiskey in his hand.

He was whistling a happy tune, without any care at all. Today he managed to collect more taxes from the small merchants in the bazaar. And those who didn't pay got their stalls destroyed. The man takes pleasure from others agony. But what get him really excited was the human girl that tried to stop him earlier.

Such a strong spirit in a frail body. The scent of her blood made him really hungry. Hungry for blood and for her flesh.

He kept on walking, still imagining the things he could do to the girl that he didn't notice something lurking in the shadows. He wanted to be the one to break her.

When he heard a set of boots coming his way, he was pulled from his little day dreaming. He turned around to confront who ever it is, but instead he came face to face with a figure in black hooded cloak. It's face was hidden perfectly.

"Who-"

He was cut off when the hooded assailant grabbed his neck on a choke hold. He tried to remove its hand but it was no use. The assailant hissed and threw him towards a wall.

The tax collector scrambled up and tried to fight off the hooded figure, only to have his arms pulled off his shoulders. His agonizing cries made the hooded assailant smirk in satisfaction.

The man's blood flooded the ground and the assailant walked around him, watching him writhe in pain. Then the assailant grabbed the tax collector's hair with one gloved hand, and the other one grew razor sharp claws. And in swift move, the assailant cut off the tax collector's head off his shoulders using the razor sharped claws.

The headless and armless body shivered until it fell on the ground. The hooded figure threw its head on the ground near the body, before it wrote something on the body. With what looks like white paint, a circle with X in it was written on the body of the tax collector.

The hooded assailant smirked down and then disappeared in the shadows.

*********************

The next morning, as the young duke was done with his breakfast one of the maids gave him today's news paper. On the front page was the news about the discovered mutilated body of the council's tax collector. The photo can make anyone threw up their breakfast. His eyes immediately zeroed on the mark the assailant left on the body.

The young duke stood up and marched towards his father's private office. When he barged inside, he saw his father standing by the windows. The young duke closed the door and locked it.

"Have you seen the news father?" He asked his father.

"No, but I heard of what happened." The Duke Lukas Ramiro said.

He turned to face his son and motioned him to look to his left. The young duke turned to where his father pointed and there he saw a figure wearing a black hooded cloak.

"You did this?" The young duke asked.

"That vermin needed to be taught a lesson." The hooded figure answered.

"You killed someone." The young duke hissed.

"Not the first time."

The young duke hissed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Why are you here then? Don't tell me you're still bored, because I'm pretty sure you had your fun last night." He said.

The hooded figure chuckled darkly.

"I want you to do something."

"What is it?" The old Duke asked.

"Get your private army to get all the human children being held as slaves from all those vampire houses. I don't know how you will do it, but I want it done as soon as possible." The hooded figure said.

"That is next to impossible." The young duke hissed,

"Consider it done." The Duke said, which made his son look at him in disbelief.

"But father-"

The young duke was cut off by his father's glare.

"I've been planning for a while on how to get those children away from the horrors of being a vampire slave. The private army will be ready for extraction in a week's time." The Duke said.

"That's good enough for me." The hooded figure paused and turned to the young duke.

"Your human is causing a stir around Lucca. It'll get her in trouble." The hooded figure warned before disappearing.

The young duke was left infuriated that he stomped and growled like a toddler. His father, the duke cannot help but shook his head.