Damien was away from his home where he had been called for an early inspection of the burnt bodies which had taken place last night. With his assistant Kreme who was inquiring about the humans who were involved in the event, he looked down at the burnt body of a woman.
The woman's hand had twisted around along with her wrist and fingers. Her entire body had turned black while leaving the scarce clothing that couldn't be burnt by the humans. Burning witches after being caught, the humans had the habit of tying the witches up and burning them in the middle of the village. It was a common practice that had been taking place for many years now. The issue was that with the Edict of Witches, the section for the white witches was that the witches were not to be killed by the humans. If a human found a white witch or a black witch they were supposed to inform the officials like the guards of the village or towns who would then pass it to the magistrate before it reached the councilmen.
The reason was to avoid any unwanted mishap taking place. Historically picking up the facts, people often mistook the others to be witches, in the name of witches many women had been sacrificed but the edict had been passed keeping the white witches in mind. Though the rule had been implemented years ago, it was strengthened only after his aunt had passed.
But humans were impulsive creatures. They took the matter into their own hands while passively going against the council. Passive little creatures thought Damien to himself.
If the bodies burnt were of black witches, it didn't cause many problems but it was when the humans and white witches were involved in such state.
After all, black witches weren't much of concern to anyone around.
"What do you think about her, Mr. Quinn?" asked the woman in a black low pony who was the magistrate for this village. Women weren't often given the opportunity but opportunities were dug and found by some of the humans, especially when they turned to a half-vampires, their ambitions rocketing further than the rest of the crowd.
"She looks all nice and toasty. Where were you again when this took place?" he questioned the lady. Standing up, he dusted his legs. His eyes catching hold of the humans who stood not far away in shackles around their hands and legs to prevent them from running or escaping as they were the convicted humans.
"I was supposed to go to the next village to speak about the men who often come near the lake to harass the women when they go to wash clothes or bath. The magistrate will give you the information."
"That won't be necessary," he replied back, "This one is not a white witch as others claimed," on his conclusive answer the woman looked as if relieved by the information, "But she wasn't a black witch either. The men of this village set an innocent girl on fire. We will need to set up a trial of why if they cannot give an apt answer here."
The woman frowned, her eyebrows drawing close. She looked at the burnt body, her eyes not moving away for a long time before she asked, "How can you tell she isn't a witch?"
"Every creature has its own characteristics which make them what they are, Ms. Ringwell. It is the details we look into. The popular question that arises is what caused the spark in the men and women of the village to go and pick on the girl."
Kreme who was done talking to some of the people of the village, he walked towards Damien to interrupt, "Master Damien."
"Excuse us," said Damien to go to the side and hear what his associate had found out, "What did you find about the girl?"
"One of the women said here that she came a few years ago and she has been living among them without any family. She didn't speak much except for a few who went out of their way to talk to her," on Kreme's information, Damien looked back at the burnt girl, "They said they found her picking plants near the hills. Also that they saw her walking out towards the river in the middle of the night."
"How much middle in the night are we speaking here?"
"Later than the bell of the church. It must be after midnight. They said the last time she went in the night was two days ago. Another woman said she found the girl brewing something in her pot," Kreme filled Damien in.
"Where did the girl live?"
"There, in that corner of the alley," both Damien and Kreme went to the house, visiting it to see what the girl was brewing.
Damien leaned his body forward, taking in the smell which felt grassy and rotten now as it appeared it had been days since she had last used it, "This is no potion of the witch. Clearly the girl was a human who shows no symptoms of the white or black witch. At the same time, it doesn't look like she was trying to work any voodoo magic. Bring me the magistrate of the next village."
"Why, master Damien?"
"I find the lady's words to hold lack of truth. Something seems off about it and not only-" at the same time, Damien felt fear creep in, emotions trying to get through him from the other person he had bonded with. It was Penny, "Kreme I have another place to go to. Question the magistrate and take the ones in question to the council."
"Right now?" asked Kreme confused as to why Damien was rushing suddenly out of the house. But Damien didn't stop and instead, he walked out of the room quickly.
By the time Kreme could understand what had happened and tried to follow Damien, the pureblooded vampire was nowhere in sight.