Forbidden Blood

Chapter 11: Clara

I'm walking through the woods with Vincent and Rina, heading towards my village. It is dark, and the moon is barely in the sky. Rina is walking to my left, and Vincent is leading in front of us.

I told Vincent I wanted to find out more about what he said, and he got permission from Zarro to let me go speak with the witches. It's just that none of it makes sense--what Vincent said doesn't match up with what I've been taught my whole life. Vincent said that vampires won't really harm witches unless they absolutely have to. But the witches always warn us to stay away from vampires. I'm going to ask Adriana for more information.

It doesn't take long to arrive at the village. Unfortunately, the vampires aren't allowed inside; they won't be able to speak to Adriana. Even if they wanted to come in, the spell guarding the entrance protects the village from them. I'm going to have to do this alone.

"You'll have to wait here. Vampires aren't allowed in the village. There's a protection spell preventing it."

"We came all this way for nothing?" Rina frowns.

"Rina, we're just here to back her up if she needs our help." Vincent protests.

"How can we do that if we're stuck outside the whole time?" Rina has a valid point. I wonder if Adriana would consider coming outside to speak with them.

"I can see if my community leader will come outside to speak to you. It's not likely, but it's worth a try."

"Yeah, ask her to come speak with us." Rina crosses her arms and pouts.

"I'll see what I can do." I turn and walk into the village, my heart pounding like crazy. No one is out and about, so I head straight for Adriana's hut. I knock on the door and wait for a response. A few seconds later, Adriana opens the door. Her eyes shoot open wide as she sees me.

"Clara! What on earth are you doing here? You've been exiled!"

"There's something I need your help with; will you come outside?"

"Why should I?"

"Because I need your help! There's something really important that we need to discuss." I frown, crossing my arms. I am in no position to order her around like this, but it's all I can do.

"Why do I need to come outside? Why can't we just talk here?"

"Do you trust me?" Adriana ponders.

"Come to think of it, not really."

"Please, Adriana! It's really important! Can't I just have five minutes of your time?" Adriana stays silent for a while, thinking it over.

"Five minutes. No more."

"Thank you, thank you so much." I walk out and lead her outside the entrance. She stops dead in her tracks when she sees Rina and Vincent. She refuses to step outside the boundary line.

"Adriana, they aren't going to hurt you. I promise."

"We've just come to escort Clara here. We're going to help her with what she needs."

"Since when have you needed to be escorted by the vampires?" Adriana exclaims, frustrated, "And why are they helping you? They are our enemies!"

"That's exactly why I wanted to come and talk to you," I say, "my whole life, I've been taught that the vampires are dangerous beings and that we should stay away from them--"

"You should stay away from them! They will kill you the first second you turn your back."

"They say that isn't true. They say that the vampires have never really want to harm the witches, but the witches are so afraid of them that they can't see that."

"You're wrong."

"No, Adriana. I trust them. I've been living with them ever since I've been exiled and no harm has come to me whatsoever."

"Harm will come to you if you stay any longer, I guarantee it."

"Why? What is so bad that we have to stay away from the vampires? Why are we so afraid of them?" I'm nearly yelling now, I'm so frustated with Adriana.

"Because if you sleep with a vampire..." Adriana hesitates.

"What?" I fume.

"If you sleep with a vampire, you'll be in love with them forever. You have no control over it."

"I don't understand..." My mind flashes back to last night. I slept with Vincent.

"Your body is tainted with vampire essence, causing you to be deeply in love with them. Even if the vampire doesn't love you back, you still love them. Many witches have died from this because their vampire lovers killed them after they lost interest. That's why we hate the vampires so much. If we fall in love with them, we suffer extreme heartbreak. The bad thing is, there are no male witches to reproduce with. We either have to reproduce with the humans or reproduce with the vampires. Any witch who meets a vampire will fall in love with him, just because he's an attractive male they've never seen before. And after the vampire breaks their heart, they kill themselves because they are so depressed."

"You lied to us?!"

"It was the only way to protect you from yourself."

"No, you could have told us the truth in the first place. That would have been just fine." I yell at Adriana, so angry for this lie she has kept from me. Not only did she lie to me, but she lied to all of us.

"If you knew, you would have been blinded by your love for the vampires. There was no other choice."

"So what about the story of the witch and the vampire who fell in love centuries ago? Why did you kill them if the witch would just kill herself anyway? And why did you kill the vampire? He wasn't responsible for her mistakes." Adriana hesitates, stumbling on her thoughts.

"That story isn't true." she hesitates, letting out a sigh.

"What?" My mouth hangs open in awe. Tears come to my eyes and I blink them away.

"I believed it for my whole life, too, until I became the leader of the village. I was enlightened by the previous leader, and I discovered what I know now. I was sworn in to protect the secret. All of this is for the protection of the witches; we would die out and become extinct if we didn't keep the secret."

"So you lied to us about everything?" I take deep breaths, trying not to cry.

"I'm so sorry." Adriana pleads for forgiveness.

"No. I don't think you are." I turn around and walk into the woods. "Let's go." I say. I feel something inside me change as I let the truth sink in. I hear Adriana's voice in the background, begging me to stop.

"Clara, come back! You can't leave knowing what you know! Please, Clara! Please!"

I ignore Adriana, walking one foot in front of the other until we reach the cave. Vincent and Rina try to keep up behind me without using their super speed abilities; I'm walking really fast.

Something inside me changes. A cold, gray shell begins to expand around my heart and shelter it from any more pain. I've been hardened by these lies and betrayals. I can't take any more of it. It's too much.

I want to make a new life for myself. Something completely separate from the witch life I used to have. I don't want anything to do with it. It is now in my past. As I walk through the darkness, the cold wind no longer touches my skin. The light of the moon no longer enters my eyes. I feel different, as if no one could touch me.

When we finally reach the cave, I turn around towards Vincent and Rina.

"Will you turn me into a vampire?"