Penny took the time again to apologize. She bowed her head this time earning a curious expression from Damien, "I am sorry for the gla.s.s tube. I will be mindful next time and not touch anything here."

"I am glad to hear it. If you ended up breaking things especially that belongs to the council. You and I both will be questioned on it before the council decides to punish you in a way you don't want to imagine," he responded back to her calmly. 

Penny had only heard about the council being the law that had enforced on the public but had never got to hear things in depth which made her curious. 

Unable to hold in her curiosity that bubbled in her mind, she asked, "What are the punishments pa.s.sed on to one? Are the councilmen punished too?" 

"They vary from one mistake to another. Some can be minimal where a person is starved before being let out. The medium punishments fall from being beaten to starvation while the worst can either be dead or it can turn to torture where one will be left screaming to the point where the person will have no energy to let out the screams he or she feels."

"Worse than the slave establishment?" asked Penny. 

"Worse than that. But maybe a little less if I think about it," said Damien to her, "You were covered in bruises on your head when the day I bought you. Did something else happen in the slave establishment when you were in there?" he inquired her.

Penny shook her head. 

"How did you come to have a bruise right up here," Damien raised his hand to point it to his forehead. Penny's mouth opened as if in realization. 

"It was the warden."

"Seems like you made quite an impression on him," he murmured as if in thought and then continued to speak, "Frankly, the council and the slave establishment isn't that too different when compared to each other. A lot of unlawful things happen in there but no one speaks about it. Or it is left ignorant to the others in general. A person can be tortured in the council but in the same way, people in the slave establishment are beaten, starved, marked with the hot iron rod while also many who go through to be defiled," Penny already knew that part, "I am still impressed that you weren't checked for the slave mark. Be careful not to roam too far away from this place, Penny."

Penny didn't know if it were a warning coming from him or to be careful from being caught by the others.  

"I am not going to run away," said Penny, at least not right now. 

"I know. You wouldn't go that far if you tried though I would love to see you try," Damien smiled at her as if seeing right through her. 

"In two days we have my mother's birthday celebration where a lot of people will be coming in. Vampires and humans, some whom you have made an impression with so stick close to me," the tone in his voice suddenly turned serious as if he was warning her something bad would happen if she strayed too far away. 

"Yes, Master Damien," Penny was not going to go look for trouble. It was the last thing she wanted to do by putting the focus of the cold-blooded creatures on her. 

"Good. Anyways, how long has it been since you last went to visit your mother?" 

"Almost a month."

"Hmm. I will be going to visit my mother. Do you want to go visit your mother's grave?" Penny eagerly nodded her head. Standing up, Damien started to walk towards the door before he said grab the coat. Penny did as she was told and went to grab the coat before following him outside the room. 

Once Damien had paid his respects to his deceased mother, he took her to the old village which was once a home or at least a home until her mother pa.s.sed away which then turned to h.e.l.l in a few hours. Stopping the carriage, Penny stepped down.

"Go on," said Damien, stepping down from the carriage but not planning to walk along with her in there. Compared to the graveyard where Damien's mother was placed, this place was the opposite where the graves were placed in a cramped position. Trying to place as many bodies as possible in there. There was dirt filled up on the sides where Damien pondered over the lack of cleanliness one had in here which was the magistrate's job to do.

Damien saw Penny walk through the many other tombstones before she came to stand in front of one of them which he took note of. 

It had been long since Penny had last visited her mother. She hadn't meant to delay her visit from her mother but things had been busy. Every time she came to see her mother who laid under this headstone, she was overwhelmed with pain. She had spent a good time with her mother. She was her only family who was there with her as they only had each other. 

After spending some more time, where Damien stood outside waiting for her to come back. She bid her mother bye hoping to visit her soon. She wished she could have bought flowers for her but she wasn't in the position to buy one right now. 

She was not only penniless but also a slave. It also made her wonder if her mother could see her, would she be proud of still having her head held high? Or would she be ashamed that her daughter had turned to a slave to one of the pureblooded vampires? Penny didn't know and with that thought, she went back to where Damien stood. 

"Done?" he asked her to which she nodded her head. Her eyes were slightly wet due to the tears which had threatened to come out of her eyes.

"Let's take a walk in here. The weather is all nice and cold today."

Penny didn't know what Damien had in his mind right now. As they continued to walk, stepping in to the village she once used to live in, she could see the villagers watching them like a hawk, "People here are very welcoming," said Damien sarcastically as he looked at the people directly in their eyes. The people automatically had to lower their eyes. Not because he was a high social standing man but his mere clothes and eyes were enough to tell that this man was not someone to be looked down or pa.s.s comments at. 

Damien had a presence that demanded people bow down at him. His eyes instead looked down at the humans where some held the expression of hate which was not let out verbally. 

"Which was your house?" asked Damien ignoring the people around until he caught one of the women looking at Penny and twisting her face away in annoyance. 

"It is on the other side of this street."

"Take me there," he ordered. Penny didn't comment and lead the way to her house. 

Now that she was finally here, it made her wonder how she had lived amongst these people for all these years. Their eyes had always been unfriendly but it was only now did she come to realize after months that how vile they were. She didn't have to know that the villagers not only didn't like Damien's presence in here but also hers. With the rumors of her father that had floated for years, her mother and she were the ones to take the backlash of that one act of her father's disappearance. 

Coming to stand in front of the house which she once used to live she said looking at the dull walls which had been years since it had been last painted, some parts of it broken, "This is the one," she said looking at Damien.