Married To The Mad Vampire Lord
Chapter 240: The Councilman

Chapter 240: The Councilman

"Are you certain of what you are telling me now, Mr. Rufford?" Councilman Everett questioned the man who sat opposite him with a desk between them in the council office.

Ben slammed his clenched fist against the desk as he leaned forward and said through gritted teeth, "I am dead serious, Sire. You can prove this if you take your men to investigate them all. Those people are not humans, just like I told you the last time I was here. You didn’t find any wild animal in the forest, did you?" he asked, looking at the lawman across from him, who sighed and used his thumb and index finger to massage his temple like he was having a headache.

"There was no wild animal, but we can’t just go into people’s houses without proper evidence on your claims that you suspect they are responsible for Miss Dayna Foster’s death. I have kept men in disguise around the house for days now and there was no unusual behavior from them that indicated they are not humans," Councilman Everett said.

He had also known that the body found in the woods was not something done by an animal, but for days now he had carried out many investigations and questioned people—Ben Rufford being one of them, who had claimed he could help them prove their case and catch the monster responsible for the girl’s death.

The councilman had decided to indulge in this, as any lead was better than none. Ben had promised to come to him with evidence that would help them close the case soon, and today he had rushed in here, literally running to report that he had seen with both his eyes the butler of the manor pulling a servant away into a room, and when she had come out, she had a mark on her wrist—a mark he had drawn on paper to show him the first day he came to make the report.

But Ben Rufford could also be lying, as the man seemed not only eager to help them but also eager to have the opportunity to meet the king and get a reward for helping the authorities in catching unwanted creatures in their land. If Ben had not seemed that eager, Councilman Everett would have carried men into the house by now and torn it down to catch this creature.

Hence, now he tried to listen to what other solid proof the man claimed he had that would make the authorities believe him.

"What is the next evidence?" Councilman Everett asked with the patience of a man waiting for his turn to eat after starving for days. He had many things to get on doing. His men were still working on finding out the claw marks on the dead body and what animal had such claws, and he was supposed to be there by now, as he had been asked for.

Ben relaxed his back on the chair as he sighed, already anticipating this moment—knowing that after he gave this evidence, it would be the end of those imposters living in their land who had killed his Dayna.

"Come in, Katie," Ben called out to the maid waiting outside the door of the office, who had come here with him, but he had told her to wait for his signal.

The maid, Katie, walked into the office timidly, still wearing her blue and white maid uniform with a basket of groceries in her hand and a bonnet. She moved closer to the desk to stand in front of the councilman, who was looking at her in question as if not knowing what the girl had to do with the evidence.

"Sire, you remember the drawing I showed you the last time I was here about the bite marks?" he questioned as he leaned on the desk, and the councilman looked from the young woman to him and then nodded.

"What about it?"

"It’s the proof that made me know the people are using the servants for their meals. Have you ever seen any noble house allow their workers to eat meals meant for the rich? They are rearing the workers like one would cows, feeding them healthily so they won’t lack blood, and they can feed on them like humans do on cow milk. I studied them carefully—I even got to sneak into the house and noticed disturbing scenes. I told you about the butler, whatever he was in that house. Those folks—"

"Mr. Rufford, if you would please get to the point of this, it will very much save us time. I have a place to be at. Get to the point of why you brought this girl," the councilman said with a look of impatience as he glanced down at his gold pocket watch and then at Ben.

Ben sighed and nodded his head. "I apologize for keeping you up, but I am just trying to make you understand what made me take this step I am about to tell you. After I noticed all that, I decided to go into town and use all my monthly life savings to get the Nullshade pill."

That made the councilman’s brows knit together and he narrowed his eyes. "You got the Nullshade pill?" he asked, knowing how expensive the pill was and what it was used for.

It had been invented many years ago, along with the tools and weapons used to kill the night creatures. Though it was not sold outside of Bimmerville, it had been in use among the upper-class people of the land to save themselves from ever falling under the spell of any vampire.

Nullshade was a pill—when taken, a vampire’s compelling would not work on the person. And even if it worked, it faded away and gave one back the memories blocked away by the vampire. It had not been known to the people outside their lands, not even the vampires themselves knew that they had managed to invent this pill—a pill that could kill the night creatures themselves if they took it.

Now, hearing that this common man had used all of his life savings to get this pill, the councilman could not decide if he was mad or simply too confident that he would get a reward if he helped them catch this monster who had committed a crime.

Knowing he had used his life savings, the councilman decided to believe he was certain of his claims, or he wouldn’t have taken this step.

"What did you use the Nullshade for?" asked the councilman.