Bloody roses

3: Comrade

It was a stormy, cold night. But not as dark as usual. The deserted landscape was not lit up by the moon or stars but by a burning cottage. Dancing to the tune of the flames, Lacrimă began her long journey.  She had not taken a lot of her belongings, only her blood splattered black dress and the hairpin. Though, she had not bothered to wear it. Instead of its bun, her hair flowed freely in the wind.
In her past life, she had never been allowed to leave the cottage, only to longingly gaze upon the trees out of the window. Sometimes, Mihnea had brought her plants to study from outside, but as she did not know how to properly care for them, they had all died within a few weeks. Now, out here, they stood so proudly, withstanding the storm and the pouring rain. In order to shield herself from the rain, the woman entered the forest, hiding under the trees’ leaves. As she did not know in which direction to travel to, she decided to spin the hairpin and go where it stopped.

The rain stopped as suddenly as it came. Lacrimă smiled, despite the protection of the trees she had gotten completely soaked. The silence suddenly made room for a loud, pained shriek. The woman, not knowing what could produce such a sound, quickly moved towards the origin of the noise. There, she spotted a white, feline creature, known to others as cat, attacking a bunch of hanging creatures. They panicked, desperate to escape from the predator. The one currently hanging in the cat’s mouth managed to wriggle free of the grasp of the animal. It quickly flew towards Lacrimă, trying to hide in her hair. She gently picked the injured animal up and held it protectively against her chest. The cat jumped at her, trying to get its escaped prey back, but stopped when the vampiress bared her teeth and hissed, in order to run into the forest.

The bat, which appeared to be very young and small, made no effort to fly away, even when Lacrimă removed her arms, shielding it. Instead, it tried to lay on her shoulder. When she extended her hand, it cuddled itself into it. The woman chuckled at the sight and the ticklish feeling in her palm. Even though the sweet scent of the creature’s blood was all around them, she refused to harm this tiny being that had put its life in her, still bloodstained, hands.

Then she became serious again. “Fly away, please. I don’t want to hurt you.” The bat let out a quiet noise, as if to tell her “You wouldn’t” and gently brushed her thumb with its wing. “You want to stay? I’m not sure if you should, but please let me take care of that wound before we make a decision.”

Lacrimă decided to follow the gentle sound of a stream in the distance. When she arrived, she cleaned the bat’s wound, just like her father had once shown her. Why did he teach her about medical practices but not about the animals roaming the world? Instead of a bandage, she ripped a clean part off her dress, wrapping it carefully around the small body. “Better now?” The bat clicked happily. She then bathed herself, washing off all the blood while the little bat rested on a stone. When she finished and took it in her hand again, he gazed at her, very friendly and cute. That moment, Lacrimă came to a decision. She would not force the bat, but if it, or rather he, wanted to, it could stay by her side. She hoped it would not leave her and they could travel together as companions.

The bat settled on her collarbone as it could not fly due to the bandage. Lacrimă, having lost all sense of direction, spun the hairpin again and wandered into the night, accompanied by the clicking of her new friend.