Forbidden Blood

Chapter 15: Clara

"Clara! Clara, can you hear me?" I open my eyes and see Adriana leaning over me. My vision clears enough to where I can look around. Vincent is nowhere to be found.

"Where's Vincent?" I mumble, trying to sit up.

"Vincent had to go. The spell you put on him was going to wear off soon. He's waiting right outside the village. I told one of the elders to wait with him to make sure he's alright."

"Thank goodness he's safe..."

"Well..."

"What?" Did something happen to Vincent?

"He's lost his memory..."

"What!?" I exclaim, "How did he lose his memory!?"

"I think it was Tarynn... she escaped with the book. I didn't even know she had it! I was so careless." she puts her hand to her head and sighs. "I should have never accused you of being the one to put the spell on the vampires."

"What do you mean? What about the book?"

"I... I was teaching her how to do Black Magic. She wanted to increase her potential. I never knew she would take it this far."

"Why did she want to learn Black Magic?"

"She wanted to increase her power range. Teaching it to her was wrong of me. She was learning it from that book. I didn't realize she stole it from me until after I learned what she had done. I checked my bookshelf and it was gone. I guess I just didn't want to believe it was her..."

"I want to go see Vincent..." Adriana stands up and then helps me onto my feet. She leads me outside where there is a small crowd gathered.

"Clara!" Someone shouts my name, and I turn around to see Agatha racing towards me.

"Agatha!" A smile takes over my face as I embrace my friend for the first time in what feels like forever.

"Clara, I've missed you so much! I'm so sorry for what I said before you left."

"It's okay. I've missed you, too."

"Clara, I really am sorry. I should have never said the things I said and accused you like that. I didn't even give you time to explain."

"It's okay, it was Tarynn anyway..."

"Tarynn did this?" a look of pure shock crosses her face. "I would have never expected that from her."

"I know. Adriana..." I look over at her. She nods, indicating that I can tell Agatha what has happened. "Adriana... was teaching her Black Magic, and she took advantage of it by casting the spell on the vampires."

"Why would she do that?" I look at Adriana again, and she hesitates before she nods.

"Please don't tell anyone else this..." Adriana directs towards Agatha. "I want the chance to explain to everyone about what has happened."

"What do you mean?" Adriana sighs.

"I was teaching Tarynn Black Magic because she wanted to increase her potential. She put the spell on the vampires to get back at me. I lied to her. Not only did I lie to her, but I lied to everyone else, too."

"What do you mean?"

"I lied about why we have to stay away from vampires. It isn't because we hate each other so much, but it's because if you... well..."

"Say it." Agatha frowns.

"If you sleep with a vampire you'll fall in love with them. You'll be in an uncontrollable romance - there's no way to stop it. And the worst thing is... the vampire usually kills you after. They hate it when the witch follows them around all the time."