A Feast For The Vampires

XXXVII

“But it wasn’t,” Jiaozi said, folding her arms over her chest. Her worried gaze was locked on the floorboards. “Their extended family members and in-laws were killed.”

Haruna nodded in confirmation. “And they had the same cause of death and marks: Poisoning through the mouth and stabs around their chest area.”

Aurum inclined his head to the side, reading the names of dead Mikaelans that was written on various files. “And their children? What about them?”

“The first Mikaelan couple who were murdered had just one son and he’s the recent murder case. He’s Richard Mikaelan. Quinn Mikaelan’s elder sister had no spouse or child. His younger sister had a fiancé but he was not killed.”

Aurum threw the file to the side and picked up the one with ‘Mr. and Mrs. Mikaela’ on it. He opened the file and picked out the pictures in it. A tremor shook him as he looked at the female version of Silver, her face torn and pale.

Haruna inhaled a deep, long breath that raised her chest. “Now... their deaths were the most confusing of them all.”

“Why?” he said quietly, spreading he pictures on the table.

She swallowed and shut her eyes. “They had been poisoned through the nostrils. But... But... But...” Her words got stuck in her throat and she blinked rapidly in order to drive away the tears that were gathering around her eyes.

Meraki stared at his wife with an unwavering gaze, his face stoic. But deep down, his chest was twisting because of the ache in his wife’s voice.

Aurum looked at her, narrowing his eyes. “But...? Haruna?”

She fisted her hands and shut her eyes. “They had been poisoned and made weak, but they weren’t killed immediately. They had been beaten when they were weak. And... And violated.”

“Oh my goodness,” Elvira whispered, her face contorting into a frown.

Jiaozi’s mouths flew to her mouth. “The two of them?”

Haruna nodded. “But that wasn’t even enough for them,” she said, her voice rising. She tightened her fists that started shaking. She locked her jaw, her eyes squinting in anger. “They had made their little son watch everything. Those bastards! Even after taking their innards they still weren’t satisfied. They had done it. Again and again. Once wasn’t enough. Twice wasn’t enough. They were already dead for crying—!”

“Haruna,” Meraki said firmly, trying to keep his wife’s emotions in place. His face was still blank but his only show of emotion was the twitches in his jaw. “You need to calm down.”

Haruna nodded and wiped off the tears that had rushed down her face during her outburst.

Aurum looked to the ceiling and shut his eyes. When will this end? Are humans this cruel? Even to themselves?

“The autopsy report had come. We found out the poison was similar to the ones used for the Mikaelans,” Haruna said and sniffled.

Aurum dropped the file and folded his arms over his chest. “Why had they killed all the Mikaelans’ nuclear and extended families?”

Yūgen quirked a brow. “Did they have something in common?”

Anxo scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Obviously it was a heart.”

Aurum turned his head and glared at Anxo. “Anxo that’s not funny.”

Anxo bent his head and looked the other way, a small frown on his face.