Howls of the Night.

"Speak!"

Sthena bellowed as his jaw tightened in anger so did his hold on Malphus's neck making his nails dig deeper into his neck.

Malphus's eyes rolled back as he felt his life slowly leave his old being. His lungs felt tight because of the lack of air and he could only weakly move his hands.

"I...I d…don't k…know h…him" He managed to voice out with great difficulty. Come what may, his life now depended on the hands of this vampire whose enormous strength could tear him apart in seconds.

He was no longer afraid of his master's wrath as much as he did of this man his neck was at its mercy. It was more likely he would die in his hands before he could say anything to his master.

Sthena took a deep breath before releasing Malphus making him fall wobbly to the floor.

Malphus held and rubbed his soar neck where blood was slowly dripping out from. He took a large deep breath with his nose and mouth as his old weak heart throbbed with fear he hadn't experienced before. He knew this vampire was no ordinary man, his voice and demeanor held an utmost power that will make anyone bow to every word he said.

Sthena stepped close to Malphus. He bent on his knees and raised Malphus's head. His glacial red eyes bore deep into Malphus's black eyes as if looking deep into his soul.

"If you don't know him, how did you get these pills then? What is the work of these pills? I know its work is not what you told the people buying them"

"I…I" Malphus stuttered trying to get the words out of his mouth. He felt like he had aged more in the last few hours he encountered these vampires in his house.

"T...the pills are delivered to me here. I don't know anything more about them"

"You don't know the person producing them? But you know what they are for. Hmm?" Sthena's questions shot at Malphus one after the other.

Seeing he was about to deny it and spew another lie, Sthena added, "Of course you know, if not you wouldn't have asked her if she noticed any change in her body"

Her? Malphus was confused before his eyes bulged out from their sockets. He stared in disbelief at Sthena as his brain clicked. So it was truly Perdita that told this vampire about him and the pills. If not, how could he have known about their conversation earlier?

Sthena's lips twisted in annoyance "So you do know what it is." He paused and nodded his head knowingly and continued, "Stop looking like you saw a ghost because you will soon turn into one if I don't get any valuable answer from your rotten mouth."

"Start speaking while my patience is at bay" Sthena's cold and loud voice knocked Malphus out of his lost self.

Still on the floor where it seemed his bone broke somewhere around his hip, he glanced at Sthena's annoyed face and hastily spoke, "Please believe me when I say I don't know anything about those pills. I know nothing about my master. I'm just doing what I was asked to do by his workers"

This time, Malphus answered truthfully. Either way, he will still die at their hands.

Sthena shook his head not liking how he had wasted time here more than he thought he would. But since this pill existed till now in his empire, which he didn't know of till today, he wanted to get to the root of it and find its producer. Something told him this was more than what it was at the surface.

His sharp red eyes looked outside where it had turned darker with the hours he and Daemon had spent in the cramped old house. He heard a loud growl coming from the nearby forest.

Sthena's eyes widened and he turned to look at Daemon. Daemon's attention was also on the growl. He understood the message in Sthena's eyes and rushed off to the forest where the sound was coming from.

Sthena's impatient eyes went back to Malphus who was silent and oblivious to his surrounding where he tended to his squeezed neck.

"I need one direct answer from you. When are you getting the next delivery of the pills?"

Malphus appeared to be calculating and counting the days the pills were last sent to him.

"The day after tomorrow," Malphus answered.

Sthena crouched down to Malphus's level and spoke in a low threat "Breath a word about what happened here to them or anybody, and you and your family won't see the day again"

"Am I understood?"

Malphus vigorously nodded his head in approval. He didn't want to think about what could happen to his family if he dared spoke a word about it. His master will surely kill him and his family if he got to know that someone knows about the pills, and also this vampire will kill him if he told his master about his visit. His life and that of his family were now on a thin sharp double-edged sword that will be the end of them if he made any wrong move.

Sthena did not spare Malphus another glance and rushed out of the small house. He chased after Daemon who was already in the forest in Woodbridge.

Though he wanted to know everything about the pill, there was a pressing matter that needed his attention. This had been their reason for coming to Woodbridge village. But who would have known that there were more deadly games played in a quiet village like this one?

Daemon heard the scrunching sound of the leaves on the forest floor where everywhere had become quiet with the owls howling in the distance. He turned around and saw it was Sthena who approached him with quick strides.

"Did you see him?" Sthena questioned Daemon when he got closer.

Daemon shook his head to a no answer "There was nobody here when I got here, he already made his kill and disappeared." Daemon stated while pointing to the dead man on the other side of the forest.

Sthena's red eyes hardened and turned into slits. He let out a sigh controlling the rage bubbling inside him. He walked towards the man lying dead on the ground.

Blood splattered on his face making him unrecognizable. Sthena crouched down on one knee while inspecting the man's body without touching it.

The neck of the dead man had deep scratches on it. Looking like a wild animal killed him, but Sthena knew that it was no wild animal. It was the work of a pureblooded vampire who did this. The man that had gone into hiding since the last massacre of humans.

He and Daemon had been searching everywhere to get hold of him, but it had proved futile. The man knew how to play the game of hide and seek. But he should that no one does it better than he, Sthena did.

Sthena stood up dusting his trousers "He's going to be here for a long time because of this village that's a good hideout for evil. Bury the dead body somewhere, I don't want the church to come snooping around here and spoil my plans."

Daemon gave a small bow before dragging the dead body away into the deep forest where he will bury it.

Sthena clicked his tongue in anger and distaste. Not only was there a pureblooded who was going to cause havoc again which he had already started, but there was also a pill in the market, which he didn't know what its effect will be on a vampire.

What were they trying to do with the pills? He questioned himself. Funny how he was the one covering his enemy's tracks. Who kills and leaves the body on display if he was not planning to cause trouble?

He knew the man was trying to instill fear and anger in the hearts of humans again which he had succeeded in doing because, in no time, the family of the deceased will look for their family member.

If he left the body here, the church would likely be here in the next hour and what happened a decade ago will ensue again, which he would never allow.

This was his empire to rule and rule alone. Any being trying to take him down will only be digging their early grave.