“I’ll take care of things here. But you must be careful. Vampires are difficult to deal with. In addition to their cunning wit, they also have their special powers. The people we caught aren’t noblemen, just disposable minions. The purer the bloodline is, the stronger the vampire is-such as Hobson,” Leonard warned us seriously. He looked worried.
“I guess that means we really have no choice but to play it by ear.” I sighed resignedly.
“By the way, how’d you reach me before?” Leonard suddenly asked. “The vampires would never let you use a phone. It’d have taken a few days for me to have gotten a letter, too.”
I told him about the strange woman I met in the castle and about Ashley.
“That woman used her special power to send messages for me, and in return, she wanted me to find Ashley for her.”
After figuring out what was going on, Leonard suggested that Ashley go back with the captured vampires.
“I’m afraid we can’t just send Ashley back like this. She was a slave to the werewolves for years, and I’m sure Hobson’s children had something to do with it. She’ll only suffer more if she goes back to them. Most importantly, I think Hobson knows that Ashley is still alive and being slaved,” I said firmly.
Ellis and others would never let Ashley come back so easily.
Hearing this, Leonard couldn’t help but curse. “That old bastard is really ruthless!”
“In that case, we shouldn’t give Ashley back. Maybe she can help us during the exchange. Let’s wait and see how Ashley will act after everything is done,” Rufus suggested.
“Okay, but we have to ask her what she wants first,” I added.
“Sounds good.”
After everything was settled, Rufus, Warren, and I headed to the basement of the casino.
Flora had complained about this casino countless times. Every time she mentioned it, her eyes were filled with disgust. It was clear that this place had traumatized her immensely.
The casino was nearly torn down by now. It wasn’t as dark as I thought it’d be. Bright lights flooded the whole space.
“There used to be a huge cage there, but now it was torn down already,” Rufus said in a low voice, pointing at the center of the stage.
I looked to where he was pointing and nodded. “Geoffrey put a lot of energy into setting up a cage so big.”
“He didn’t need to use energy. Money was more than enough,” Warren said with a wink.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re right.”
Ever since Warren started dating Flora, he had changed a lot. He was no longer the broody, serious teen he once was. And he even threw in a few witty jabs here and there.
“The monster was released at the swamp,” Rufus added.
“The monster with teeth all over its face?” Truth be told, I was a little curious to see how disgusting this creature was because Flora always gagged at the mention of it.
“Yes, that’s the one.”
As Warren spoke, he led us past a huge screen in the hall and came to a small lounge.
All the original furnishings in the lounge had been taken out and it was transformed into a temporary interrogation room.
All the vampire captives sat hunched over in the hall, waiting for their impending punishment. There were about twenty vampires in total.
They all looked very haggard and weak, perhaps because they hadn’t eaten in a long time.
I looked around and saw Ashley curled up in a corner. She looked like she was in bad shape and was staring blankly ahead.
To my surprise, Flora was also there!
She was standing in front of the dazed Ashley, looking the vampire slave up and down and talking nonstop. I didn’t know what she was talking about.
Sylvia’s POV
I walked over and tapped Flora’s shoulder from behind.
Flora was so startled that she nearly jumped. Patting her chest to calm herself down, she asked, “Sylvia, what’re you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” I put my arm around her shoulder and said with a smile.
Flora snorted and relayed everything to me.
It turned out that Ashley was temporarily sent here with the other vampires after she was rescued from Geoffrey’s clutches.
But none of these vampires seemed to like Ashley so they bullied her a lot.
Flora was in the middle of a mission and happened to pass by. Seeing that Ashley was in trouble, she rescued her.
“Now, she has retreated to the corner and hasn’t moved a muscle. She has been in a daze this whole time.” Flora pouted and threw her hands up helplessly. “I just told her a joke, but she didn’t laugh. It’s like she can’t hear me!”
“I see.”
I sighed and slowly approached Ashley. Squatting down next to her, I gently called her name.
But she didn’t respond. She seemed to be completely immersed in her own world.
Rufus had once told me that Geoffrey had forced Ashley to drink poison so she couldn’t speak.
I took out the antidote I found in Geoffrey’s secret room yesterday and handed it to her. “Take it. This is the cure for your throat.”
Even then, Ashley remained indifferent. It was as though she was a lifeless hull.
I had no choice but to put the antidote into her mouth myself. Then, I raised her chin to help her swallow it.
This whole time, Ashley didn’t bat an eyelash. She behaved obediently and didn’t resist at all.
“How are you feeling? Can you speak now?” I asked softly.
She stayed silent. I couldn’t tell whether the antidote had worked or not.
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