5. Hide! Hide!

~Helen~

Fear crippled me, despite the pain in my leg, I managed to quicken my pace, following Daisy as she led the way for us to hide.

How stupid of me to not know that my life was in danger; the nobles and the guards will stop at nothing to catch me, so as to hand me over to the Vampire lords. Every favor they did for the vampires benefited them, and for years they had worked alongside the vampires, betraying their own kind.

My heart beat increased; it doesn't matter if they have to climb mountains, as long as they catch me.

"You can do something with your magic," I urged Daisy as we ran, pushing through the grasses along the way. The night owl's hooting at that exact moment intensified my fear. "You can stop them with your powers."

'Heavens, if only you could use it,' I thought, 'I will let go of the artifact.' Once she regained her magic, I could use it against the nobles, and heaven help me, the vampires wouldn't be spared either.

"I can't," she breathed shakily, tightening her grip on my hand even more. "I've only just been freed from the curse. It takes more than incantations for my powers to return."

We stumbled upon a massive tree, its branches tangled with weeds and moss, providing a decent hideout from our pursuers. "What does it take?" I asked, my voice laced with eagerness and impatience.

As I leaned against the tree, the pain from my wound coursed through my head, making it spin. My breath caught, and I began to pant, clutching the tree branch to steady myself. If the guards caught up to us, fighting back would be futile. I needed Daisy's magic, no matter how much I hated to admit it.

"It takes rituals," Daisy said, guiding me to the back of the tree, where we could hide from the road. "And time."

Heavens!

Daisy helped me down to the ground. She tore a strip from her dress, and my eyes widened in surprise. How could she damage her beautiful dress like that?

She caught my expression and smiled, then shrugged. "I can't cure your wound with magic, so this is the least I can do."

I stared at her, taking in her own wounds, and then the realization hit me: "Is that what you were trying to do?"

She nodded. "I wanted to cure it." She moved closer, her eyes fixed on my blood-soaked wound. The cloth tied around it did little to stem the bleeding. "This might hurt, but I need to press down on the wound."

I nodded, looking away, bracing myself for the pain. She stepped closer, wrapping the torn dress around my leg. I let out a faint cry as she tied it around my wound, the pain surging.

Tears rolled down my cheeks, not from the pain of the wound, but from the realization that a stranger cared for me. I'd had no one but my mother after my father left us, and after she fell ill, I'd rarely experienced kindness from others. It had been so long since I'd had a true friend.

"All done," Daisy said, beaming as she stepped back after tending to my wound. Her eyes softened as she looked at me. "Did I hurt you? I thought this would make the wound better," she asked, confusion etched on her face.

"I hurt you," I whispered, wiping away my tears as I stared at the wound on her shoulder. It had begun to fade, the wonders on what magic could do. "But you don't hate me for it. Why?"

Daisy settled in beside me, her eyes glazing over as if she'd been transported to another place. "Your intentions weren't to hurt me," she said softly, "so I know you meant no harm."

I shook my head, unable to understand why she didn't see me as an enemy, despite us fighting for the same thing. "I could have killed you," I whispered. "I would have done it without caring, just to get the gold."

The gold artifact lay on the floor in front of her. Right now, I couldn't even bear to claim it.

"But you didn't," she said, looking at me. And oh!, I shrank under her gaze.

Her eyes were incredibly kind, filled with love and devoid of hate. It was as if she was pouring love into me, trying to reach my heart. Since the vampires took my father, my sole aim had been to take them down.

To achieve this, I'd suppressed my emotions. I'd forgotten what it felt like to receive love, to have my heart accept it. When my mother fell ill because of my father, I could no longer feel her love. She wouldn't speak to me, and I had ended up not speaking to anyone either.

Could this girl I met tonight be bringing back the love? Could I actually make friends with her? Was it even safe to try? Did I even deserve it? I'd tried to kill her, after all, just to get what I wanted.

A low laugh escaped my lips. I must be mad! Where were these thoughts coming from?

"You're a good person," she said, trying to penetrate my tough exterior. I snort.

"You don't know what it means to be a good person," I said, my voice laced with scorn. "Good people don't carry blades around." She should be afraid of me; it was only right.

"I lost all my friends when the vampires attacked our home," she began, her voice trembling.

"The vampires?" My eyes widened in shock. They didn't just hurt humans; they'd also harmed her people.

Damn those creatures.

"What happened?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

Her shoulders slumped, and she looked down, as if the weight of the world rested on her shoulders. "I try not to think about it, but the memory is still so vivid, like it happened yesterday," she said, her voice cracking. "The way they slaughtered my people, and...oh, all my friends..." She paused, biting back tears, but they proved too strong to hold back, and soon they streamed down her cheeks.

My body stiffened, and I could only stare at her, unsure of how to console her. So I sat there, frozen, as she cried. When she finally composed herself, she wiped her tears with the back of her hand and gazed into the distance.

"My mother turned me into a rabbit to protect me when the vampires attacked," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I watched in my rabbit form as they barged into our home and dragged her out, slaughtering her right in front of me."

I caught my breath, realizing the depth of her trauma. The vampires had left an indelible mark on all beings they deemed inferior.

Why? I wanted to ask, but I knew that even Daisy wouldn't have an answer to that question.

"My Lord, I assure you that you felt nothing," a voice pierced the silence, alerting us.

Daisy and I exchanged a nervous glance before peering through the opening at the two figures that had just emerged.

I inched back when I saw that it wasn't the guards, but two men that don't look ordinary. One had his back turned to us. He was tall, with a black robe billowing around him. His shoulders were broad, and his white hair fell to his shoulders. The other man was slightly shorter, with dark hair, but his piercing gaze hinted at the dangers lurking within him.

He spoke, addressing the tall man as lord. "We should go back, my lord. Maybe we were mistaken."

"There is no mistake," the tall man replied, his voice low and icy, yet soft and hypnotic. "I know what I felt. And the energy is stronger around here."

Daisy clutched the artifact tightly and stared at me, her voice barely audible in a whisper, "The vampires..." Her hands trembled around the object, and her eyes widened with fear. "They're here."

Something felt off. Daisy's eyes were rounded with terror, and her body vibrated with fear. "Daisy," I whispered back, trying not to alert them.

"They are the vampires, the ones you must be wary of," she spoke again, her voice clearer now.

Hate and fear swirled inside me. While my instinct was to lunge at them, I knew deep down that it would take more than just a dagger to defeat them. I had never met a vampire before, and neither had most humans. Their existence was shrouded in mystery, but the mere mention of their name sent shivers down our spines.

And I hated it. Hated being intimidated by them.

As Daisy tugged at my dress, likely warning me for us to find an escape route, my hazel eyes, blazing with hatred, snapped back to the vampires.

But the moment I did, I realized it was a huge mistake. The tall vampire's gaze swiveled towards me, and our eyes locked.

A jolt of shock electrified my body. Fear rippled across my skin, and I began to tremble, just like Daisy. The intensity of his stare drained all my bravery, leaving me frozen.