91 Interrogation
“E-Everything that I am hiding?” Carl felt a drop of sweat running down his spine. He quickly tapped his back to stop it from reaching his bottom.
And he was quick enough to feign ignorance, “I don’t... I don’t think I know what you’re talking about, Milord. If this is about what you saw this morning, then I have already made myself clear that I was simply looking at her wounds. I was sta-”
“Yes!” Vincent clapped his hands and said with an evil smile on his face, “Let’s talk about that wound of hers.”
“Her wounds?” Carl was starting to get more and more restless. He didn’t know if this conversation was heading where he suspected. But he already wanted to escape from this interrogation.
Vincent gave a nod. “Yes, her wounds. Was she hurt somewhere?” The sly smirk never left his face because no matter if Carl lied or told the truth, he was going to enjoy this show.
“Er...” Carl skeptically answered, “Yes, she had a wound in her stomach, Milord.” He now looked frightened. He was almost sure now that these vampires had found something.
Zenon also dragged a chair and set it beside Vincent. He took the seat and then questioned Carl, “Tell me, doctor, what did that wound look like?”
“I don’t understand why you both are interested in her wounds. I hope she didn’t irritate the lords in any way,” Carl gave a nervous laugh and wiped the sweat beads that had started to form on his forehead.
He quickly turned to glance at the patient who was still inside. That old man already had breathing problems. And now that he was in the same room as two of the most dangerous vampires of the Kingdom, he was looking as though he would pass out at any moment now.
.....
Carl reached out for his drawer while speaking to the Vampire Lords, “I better give him some medicines and send him home first. I hope you two won’t mind waiting for a few minutes... that is if you are still interested to-”
“I’m not done with you yet!” Zenon shouted in so scary voice that the old doctor felt goosebumps running down his skin, and the old patient was visibly having difficulty in breathing.
He glared at the doctor even harder and shouted again, “We don’t have time to play with you, Carl. I know you already know why we are here.”
Even Vincent looked surprised by that sudden outburst of his friend. He put his palm on Zenon’s knee and then took charge of talking. “We just want to know more about that woman. Like where she came from, and where we can find her now.”
Doctor Carl, however, was still adamant about pretending not to know anything. “I might have treated her a few times, but I don’t really know much about her, Milord. I have a lot of patients, and I’m already old. So, I don’t really keep everyone’s details in mind.”
Zenon suddenly sprung up from his chair. And in the next second, he was grabbing that doctor by his collar. His canines had already turned into fangs, and his eyes were full of bloodlust.
And he snarled at the doctor, “Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. It’s your choice. But if you don’t answer me this instant, then I will snap your fingers and feed them to you.”
Zenon wanted to capture that woman as soon as he could. If he was to lose that werewolf, then he didn’t know what damages she would cause in the Kingdom of vampires. And the dilly-dallying from Carl was only making him lose his patience.
Vincent saw the doctor choking and gasping for breath. Zenon was holding his collar a bit too tightly. So, he rushed to their side and tried to pull Zenon’s hand away from Carl’s neck.
But Zenon kept on grabbing the doctor by his neck and asked in an enraged voice, “Answer me already! Where can we find this woman called Ruby? If she harms even one vampire during the time you made us waste, then I will kill each and every member of your bloodline.”
“Zen!” Vincent smacked Zenon on his forehead really hard and scolded his friend, “Snap out of it, will you? Can’t you see? You’re choking him! How is he going to speak?”
Zenon finally let go of his hold and closed his eyes.
The doctor held his neck and coughed until tears rolled down his eyes.
Vincent looked around to find anything that could ease the doctor. He saw a pitcher on a table by the patient’s side. So he went to grab it.
“No, don’t kill me!” The old patient closed his eyes and begged for mercy when Vincent held out his hand to grab the pitcher.
Vincent furrowed and said in a monotone, “Why the hell would I kill you? You are just bones and skin. I bet you don’t even have half a glass of blood in your body.”
Vincent was trying to say to that old man that no vampire would want to feed on him. But he ended up scaring that old man even more.
The old man fell down on his knees and began to plead again. “I have a family to return to. Please spare me...”
For a split second, Vincent felt like slamming his fist on that old man’s head to make him unconscious. That man was being a nuisance when they were already having a hard time in making Carl speak.
But he controlled his irritation and said, “Why don’t you go home, old man? And come back later to do whatever you were here for.”
The old man touched the floor with his head and bowed to express his gratitude towards the Vampire Lord for not eating him, “Thank you, Milord.”
Vincent rolled his eyes and grabbed the pitcher. And he went and gave it to Carl.
Zenon was standing in the other corner of the room by now. He didn’t want to let his rage get the better of him and accidentally kill the one person who had information on the werewolf they were looking for.
Carl looked a bit relieved after gulping down the cold water. He wanted to ask the vampires to get the hell out of his place. But he was the weak one here. And he had no choice but to lower his head in front of those vampires.
Zenon turned his glare at the doctor. He took a deep breath in and asked in a little softer voice than earlier, “Answer me, Carl. Where can we find your little werewolf friend?”
“Were... werewolf?” The doctor’s eyes widened. The doctor himself looked surprised when he heard that word. “I’ve never met a werewolf in my life before.”
“Ahhhhh!” Vincent grabbed his dark hair and screamed out loud in frustration. He stood in front of Carl so as to keep himself in between Carl and Zenon.
And he tried his best to ask politely, “Doctor, I know that you might be trying to save your friend. But if you do that, then you might put yourself and your family in danger. Not to mention, who knows what that werewolf might do to you once you aren’t useful to her anymore.”
Carl’s knees became wobbly all of a sudden. He took support by leaning his back on the wall. And he stood like a statue for a few seconds.
“Carl?” Vincent looked at him and waited for a useful answer this time. He could see that the doctor was having a conflict between his heart and his head. He hoped that the doctor’s head would win.
And after a while, the doctor heaved a sigh. And he did speak with great difficulty, “I have known her since she was a child. And I am her family’s doctor. There was nothing wrong with her, not that I knew of. She was just a normal kid. But...”
“But?” Vincent’s eyes sparkled with excitement and anticipation.
Carl’s eyes dilated when he further spoke, “I think something changed ever since she came to me with that huge wound on her stomach, scratches, and bruises all over her body.”