Chương 79: Chapter Seventy Five: A Storm’s Brewing…It Smells Like You

That scent. I stopped in my tracks and sniffed. Up. That way. Towards the other side of the valley was not only my precious house with all my belongings… but him. I'll give him more bacon. I'll give him all my money… But I need more. The burn scalded the last bit of sanity I had left. Freezing pellets of rain batter me, and I try to hug my arms around myself. My throat constricts, and the chain rattles as I shiver. Misha yelps and hides behind my back as I take the brunt of the rain falling on us.

My entire body shakes as the cold penetrates my bones. Soundlessly, I try to scream for help. It's foolish, and my eyes burn from the sheer dread. I feel like I'm dying. Maybe I am. How did I get here? What was I doing... Cold. I'm so cold. Hot tears stream down my face in tandem with the mucus running down from my nose past my lips. The sky held its breath for all of five seconds. One. The air around me froze and was filled with pressure. Tension. Something—Someone yells at me underwater.

American mouth stuck in a staccato. Come back... come back. Two. The rain let up, and faint rays of light actually pierced the fog around the small bright red house. Three. Misha poked his snout out and panted desperately as his entire furry body shook out rain. Droplets of water filled with pet dander, fur, mud, and who knows what else landed on my back. Copper. Cooper? Mutt. Misha. The endless possibilities swirl around as time downslopes. Four. The entire sky blackened.

Blackened as it got ready to release its warning drums of– Thunder cracked across the sky and left flashes of white light in its wake. Rolling clouds of smoky gray covered the ceiling of the world again. Flashes of white light made me blink through the fan of rain as I struggled to breathe. Mucus filled my lungs, and the tingling that had spread from my extremities upwards started to fade. Fade into something numb as my head lolled to the side.

A bright circular light blinded me completely, and I whimpered before fading away. Thunder cracked again, and I limped harder... his way... harder, and ignored the crowd moving to the mess hall. The impending storm meant that everyone would continue their training inside. Away from the natural elements that clashed outside. A gust of wind swirled and almost pushed me onto my back. However, it also carried the scent of familiar things. People. Food. Something else too.

Something strong that smelled like spices, burning grass, and fire. My fangs extended, and my eyes glowed beneath my veil. Hungry. I'm starving. I want it back. I want to go home. I want Freesia back. She knows. She would know. Make the burning stop. It hurts. It hurts so much. I limped towards the last stairs and pulled myself up. A bunch of tents were set up, and I removed my hood. Where? I sniffed him out and followed his smell. Lying outside in his wolf form was Lucian. Peacefully sleeping by a bonfire.

I limped past the others, and they looked behind them, only to jump when they saw me. Wooden pipes that wafted intoxicating green and blue smoke dyed their faces ghoulishly.

"Ria?" I ignored them and pounced on Lucian. He startled and snapped reflexively at me, but I just sank my teeth into his back. Thirsty. It hurts so bad. Need more. He barked and shook out his coat a little, but stopped trying to shake me off him. I sucked and dark blood spilled out of my lips. More.

"Ria, stop." I ignored that voice and kept sucking. My eyes glazed over, and I relaxed into the furry pillow underneath me. So good. So much killjuice... all mine. It's all mine. Gentle hands pried my teeth and hands off of Lucian, who immediately transformed back into his human form once I was unlatched. I swiped at the person holding me and tried to get it back. Mine. I'm so hungry. A flask of something rotten hovered below my nose. I hissed and retched at the strong smell.

He continued making me smell the hot garbage until I was somewhat sane again.

"..." Hyperventilating and simultaneously trying not to breathe is hard. Yet it made me feel a little clearer. A small pink tongue swiped over blood-stained lips and panted heavily. Exploded pupils slowly dilated back to its normal size as I was rocked in a soothing hammock of flesh and patted softly on the back. Wheat and flowers swirled underneath my nostrils.

"Five deep breaths in and five out."

"..." Patiently and soothingly, he worked me back down from the most embarrassing thing I've ever done. Clarity flashed before my eyes, and I remembered…Can I just pretend to pass out right now? Erichean holds me close to his chest and pats my back knowingly.

"Well…First of all. What a successful hunt! I barely felt you creeping up on us, and the way you surprised him.

"Spectacular. Next time, however, go for softer muscles and vital areas. You can break your teeth on bones or really tough muscles." I cried embarrassed tears into his neck, and he made soothing circles on my spine.

"Please stop. Lucian, I'm so sorry." From behind me, I can hear him rummaging through something and putting on clothes. He grunts and massages his poor back before stretching out.

"I know, damn you have a big appetite for such a tiny thing." The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. I bury my tomato face into Eric's neck and refuse to look up.

"Everyone gets hungry. It's ok. We all know the feeling. You'll get used to it soon enough and you'll be able to pace yourself." I whimper and whine.

"This isn't fair! Why can't I be normal like a human or a fairy?" Eric mutters.

"A fairy? You think they're normal? Yes, they may have easily obtainable diets, but…they're all wrong up here." He points to his head, and I sniffle while trying not to smile.

"I already am wrong up there!" I cry harder, and he just pats my back while walking around. Their camp smells so good. Why can they just sit and relax while I'm being put through hell? What is that? Are they smoking?

"Ria. I know this is hard…but you have to go back." He holds his breath while he waits for my response. I tense up and reject that idea on the spot.

"No! They tortured me! They made me run, Eric. While lifting a rock over my head! The mean lady screamed at me for hours. I can't. I can't." He pauses and grits his teeth before catching my eyes.

"I'm sorry, but it's for your own good. There is no easy way to do this. I would just give you what you needed if I could. But I can't. Control is a necessity if you want to come home with us. You want that right?" Control. I want that… but I also don't want to run! He brushes my hair and rakes across my scalp with blunt nails while I cry harder. He curses and rocks me up and down.

He whispers little encouragements like I'll get you a sack full of gold or I'll get your favorite pastries from home once it's all over. Nothing works, and the tears keep coming. Flooding down my face as I'm lifted away. Carried. Blue and red lights dye him in their colors. It's warm again.

"What's your name... vitals..." Confused, I blinked away the weird overlapping vision and shook my head. Why do I keep doing that?

"Eira." A youthful but cold voice calls out for me from the steps. She waits there without saying another word, and I hiccup. How is she so fast? Erichean steps back towards the fire, and the others make a circle around us. She tilts her head.

"You can't stay here. You have another lesson soon. You already missed lunch, so you'll have to do it on an empty stomach. Don't ever make me look for you again." Erichean tightens his grip on me, and I shiver. I was wrong. Niathe's creepy, but she's next level. Like a mix between Mother, Penguin, and Melinoë. It's so scary. She feels like nothing, and I mean nothing. The only time I ever feel from her is when she's runecasting or angry.

"She's complaining of pain, and she came all this way because of bloodlust." She takes in the mess I made and the evidence on my lips." So she had lunch? Good. Hand her over." Erichean says something in protest, and he jerks. His entire body jerks, and he gasps. Lowell stares at him with wide eyes and catches us as we fall. He shudders and seizes while on his knees. His arms were still wrapped around me. Oh... you fucking asshole. My eyes burn and glow. I turn around and shoot forth with my tendrils.

She waves a hand and disperses them. Instead of vanishing into bits like magic. It wraps around her hands and squeezes. A startled noise comes from her throat, and she laughs breathily. Then she turns her head towards me, and I'm overwhelmed with pain. Blinding hot pain assaults my senses. Stabbing at my nerves with a knife that was held over a fire too long. It sears at me and I refuse to let go. What did I do to those birds? I look her in the eyes and recall that feeling.

Blood spurts out of my mouth, and I lock eyes with her. Her heart. Where is it? Thumping like a rabbit's foot against the ground. No, her chest. How dare she… How dare she? I want her dea—"Stop!" Someone tackles Cage to the muddy floor, and that intoxicating feeling vanishes. Everything aches, enough that I'm still in a biblically shitty mood. You asshole.

"That's enough. Stop it. You're going to kill her!" Hypatia shakes me awake, and I lock eyes with her.

"That's kind of the plan." She pales and yells at me.

"How treacherous.. You are insolent!"

"Hypatia! What are you doing?!! Release her!" Niathe comes to my rescue and rips me out of Hypatia's bruising grip. They argue back and forth while my mind buzzes. I cough up more blood and look for him... Where's Eric?

"Where's Eric?" Niathe holds me close to her.

"He's not important–""Fuck you!" I scramble out of her arms and use the tendrils to push them away. Crowded around my brother was the entirety of the makeshift camp. Plus someone else. A woman with a ghoulish mask, long horns, and long fingernails. She waved her hand over Erichean, and a warm green light emanated from her palm. Small symbols bunched together into a single circle and flashed continuously. His eyebrows furrowed and then relaxed. I breathed a sigh of relief. Now. That asshole from earlier.

Quill wrote in the air with golden symbols, and I concentrated on her hand.

"Stop." She froze, and I walked over to Cage. I ripped off her hood, and her bloody nose became clear to see. She's no vampire, that's for sure. She doesn't smell like Freesia or anyone else I've ever met, either. She gave me one of her empty smiles with equally vacant eyes, and I stared down. She could be some kind of demon? Emotionless, talented monsters adept at deception and gifted with magic. Similar in appearance to vampires and humans.

"This is gonna hurt." Breaking her hand with the magic in my palms requires a bit of imagination, and she widens her eyes to look at me. It creaks and hangs limply in the air. While my right hand closes around seemingly empty space and bends it awkwardly. Niathe yells at me to stop." Ria!" One by one, I break bones in her body while Quill watches in horror. No matter what, Cage never lost her smile, cried, or had the slightest hint of fear in her eyes.

She even smiled at me tauntingly despite her inherently chilly nature. Just a psycho, then. I've met my fair share. It's a spectrum that I'm familiar with. Assuming she's a textbook example, she can't feel fear, pain, guilt, remorse, empathy, or sadness. So what can I take from her? Wait. That skill… Penguin? [Now we're talking?] I want to use that skill Penny has… the hypnosis one. How do I use it? [Just release venom via your fangs into their bloodstream, and I'll do the rest.] My fangs extended past my lips again, and I took her hand. Curious, she watched as I bit down and tried to release the venom. Black and purple liquid seeped out of hollow points in my teeth and entered her bloodstream. [Stare into her eyes and think of a scenario you want her to experience.] Sure. I want her things. Her stamps. Her food. Prized possessions were to be stolen by the people around her. I want her to feel weak. Alone. Insignificant. Vulnerable. She rips her hand away from my mouth, and I let her.

A purple glaze washes over her eyes, and she seizes. Her face changes to one of indignation and fury. Although she can't feel a lot of things. I'm willing to bet pride and arrogance are something she feels strongly about. Her entire face turns into a tomato, and she swipes at me. I stop the attack just by looking at the offending hand and lift her entire body off the ground. She struggles and lashes out at imaginary foes.

"What did you do to her?" Quill watches in fascination at her friend's strange behavior. I blink. Aren't you going to help?

"A nightmare. Aren't you worried?" She falls, and I remind myself to keep watching her. Don't fall just yet. She struggles against an unseen force as lightning dyes everything in white and thunder shakes the ground beneath us. She removed her veil slightly and pushed her hair back so she could see without it blocking her face."No. Doesn't seem lethal, but it is useful. Is physical contact a requirement to use it? Or was that just for intimidation?" Why is she so cool about this? Is this like a distraction?

"Not sure. This is the first time I've done it."

"What are you doing?" Hypatia walks up to us, and we both respond without looking away from the demon.

"We're discussing how it works."

"Getting even." Hypatia remains silent for a brief moment as she stares at Cage's seizing body and the way her features contort with fury."The pit. Let her down and you're all going to spend a night or two in the pit."

"Where's that?" Quill responds without taking her eyes off Cage.

"It's a really dark and deep cave by the cliffs. We're usually sent there when we're being punished. Usually I'd be pretty upset…but this is kinda funny. I've never seen her act like that. Is she scared?" I shake my head.

"More like pissed and wronged." She laughs and shakes her head.

"You're a little menace. Good. Can you take her with us?" I look up at Cage, who's stopped struggling and instead has angry tears running down her face. She stares into the distance like she's watching something leave.

"Yeah." Hypatia asks wearily."How long is that gonna last?" Penguin? You dispensed about three hours' worth of venom. Depending on her metabolism, she could wake up earlier or later. It depends.

"Maybe a few hours? I don't know." Hypatia drags Cage down by her foot and stares into her eyes. She struggles harder, and Hypatia seems flustered.

"This isn't magic. It's more like an affliction or poison." Quill corrects softly.

"Venom. I thought female vampires don't have venom?"

"What? We don't have what?"I screamed over the storm above us. We have venom?

"Enough!" Cage, Quill, and I are brought to a cave past the valley and close to the beach by my least favorite teacher. She and some of our wonderful classmates shoved us inside the bottomless hole. We tumbled down one after the other and ended up in a pile on top of each other. Me at the top, and Cage at the very bottom. Cage crawled away from us, grumbled something unintelligible, and slunk away to go sit somewhere in the dark.

Quill massages her head and takes off her hood, seeing that it doesn't seem entirely necessary anymore.