Music Recommendation: Drive to Parkersburg- Marcelo Zarvos

Most of the dust that had settled on the ground and the nearby buildings rose, creating a fog. The people of Meadow closed their eyes and coughed, using their hands to shield themselves from the dust. "Where did this wind come from?" Mrs. Humphrey coughed while waving her hand in front of her.

When the dust started to clear, some people noticed something far away from where they stood. For a moment, as if their eyes deceived them, they noticed something big move from both sides before it disappeared and noticed a person's silhouette.

Most of them looked at the silhouette with a frown. After two seconds, the person stepped away from the dust. Someone questioned, "Who is that?"

Like others, Eve had raised her hand in front of her eyes, and when the dust settled, she lowered her hand. But as she knelt on the ground, she couldn't see what the people around her saw. It was because Patrick had let go of her hair. She wondered if the town guards were finally here, hoping they would take her side and not against her.

Patrick Humphrey's face paled as if he saw a ghost, or more rightly to be said as if he was going to turn into a ghost. W-what was this pureblooded vampire doing here?! Though his mother and him, along with a few others, had planned to bring Eve's misdeeds to light, he hadn't expected this arrogant vampire to be here.

Silence filled in the place while every person stared at Vincent. When he started to walk toward them, Patrick quickly lied to the people,

"That is one of the man, she is sleeping with!"

Some people were nothing less than a herd of sheep, ready to jump over the cliff just because one of the sheep said to do it.

On hearing Patrick's words, one of the men started to walk toward Vincent and demanded, "How dare you show up here and encourage such behaviour?"

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Vincent stared at the man as if he didn't exist. When the man raised his hand to hit him, missing the part that the person who had arrived wasn't a human but a vampire, Vincent caught hold of the human's hand with ease and twisted it behind the man's back.

"Ahhh!" The human screamed with pain shooting up his arm. "Let go of my arm, you damn basta--AH!" he yelled, when Vincent twisted it further.

"That isn't very nice," Vincent's cold voice sent chills down the spine of the human, who stopped struggling, while people turned scared and worried. He turned to look at the human and said, "You don't seem like a bright person. Do you know it takes only a second to dislocate your arm?"

"What the fuck is wrong with you?! Let go of my arm right this instant!" The man shouted, and a few other humans, out of stupidity, decided to speak up for him, while they hadn't bothered to stand up for Eve.

"Stay away from the matters of Meadow! You have no right to interfere in our matters," said one of the townsfolk.

"This isn't your town! Stop meddling with Meadow!" Mrs. Humphrey shouted from behind, and when Vincent's hollow eyes shifted to look at the woman, she quickly hid behind her son before glaring at the vampire to think he could intimidate her in public.

Eve, who had been sitting on the ground until now, widened her eyes on hearing the vampire's voice. She pushed herself and stood up, finding Vincent standing not too far away from where she was. Seeing him, her lips trembled while her eyes turned hazy because of the tears that started to fill in her eyes.

Vincent's murderous eyes were quick to look at Eve, and his jaw clenched at the fragile state he had found her in. A wound on her forehead left a trail of blood on the side of her face. Her clothes were torn and her clothes dirty.

These people had hurt Eve. All Vincent saw was the pain in her eyes, as if she was trying to control herself from breaking down. He said coldly, "I don't think you know how it feels, do you?" And he pulled the man's arm hard enough to dislocate it from his shoulder, and the human cried out in agony.

"AHHHH!" The man fell to the ground, clutching his arm and the people around turned stunned.

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"How dare you harm a fellow townsman of ours barbarically?" Mrs. Edwards demanded Vincent, "We will complain to the authorities!"

"Why don't you come out and in the front? Let me see if your face is as dumb as your words," Vincent taunted the woman, who, like Mrs. Humphrey hid behind another person.

Though the humans wanted to fight Vincent, they could tell by his appearance that he was no ordinary person. They were intimidated to go near him after what he had done to one of their townspeople. When the pureblooded vampire started to walk towards the crowd, they quickly moved from where they stood, giving him the way before he reached where Eve stood.

Silence filled the place while everyone watched the vampire staring at Eve.

Without notice, Vincent raised his hand to place his finger below Eve's chin and turned her face to look at her forehead, where the wound was fresh. He noticed relief in her eyes as she asked him,

"What are you doing here?"

"I told you I would protect you, didn't I?" Vincent stared at Eve as if she had asked him something obvious. He then questioned the crowd, "Anybody cares to tell who hurt her. Unless you prefer I start skimming all of you one at a time." He turned his wrath-filled eyes to look at the crowd.

The men and women who had earlier called Eve names and pushed and ripped her sleeves, hurting her, all stiffened in their places. They didn't want their arm dislocated too.

With Vincent, who stepped in front of her, Eve noticed the tear on the back of his overcoat. He removed his coat and turned around before draping it around her shoulders. He said to her,

"Don't shed tears for people who don't value or care for it. And you, my little girl, are worth more than these low lives."

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Mr. Humphrey's jaw clenched as he had wanted to see Eve suffer because even in his mind, he believed that the woman had slept with men, and one of them was this vampire. He commented,

"So much for an employer. I don't think there's any employer who would treat the female employee like this, unless they are sleeping with the person."

Vincent raised one of his eyebrows and tilted his head, "Funny that you mention something that I am not aware of. I must have been sleep walking."

One of the women voiced, "This woman needs to be condemned for her sins. Sleeping with married men and spending night--"

"And whom is she sleeping with?" Vincent interrupted the woman.

"So many men!" replied a man at the back.

"Who?" Vincent questioned the person who spoke. "You don't have names but you're so eager to jump on the wagon of this witch-hunt."

"Mrs. Edwards and Mrs. Humphrey know all about it. Patrick saw a man stepping out of Dawson's residence in the middle of the night," stated another person, looking at the two women who had told them all.

Vincent turned to look in the direction of the two women who had put the false allegation on Eve. He openly threatened them, "I will deal with you once I finish with the ones who hurt her."

Patrick demanded, "You are her employer from high society and she's just a governess, why are you trying to protect a secret that is out?"

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Vincent's eyes narrowed at the human, and a chuckle escaped from his lips, leaving the people confused. In a dead tone, he said to Patrick, "Genevieve Barlow is my woman. I don't think you understand what you did. No worries," he offered a spine-chilling smile, "I will make you understand it thoroughly."