Forbidden Blood

Chapter 16: Clara

"So what exactly are we going to do?" Vincent asks as we trudge along in the woods. Agatha and Adriana are walking in front of us, talking softly.

"Well, first thing's first, we need to find Tarynn."

"How do we find her? We don't exactly know where she is..."

"Oh, don't worry. Adriana used a location spell to track Tarynn. It showed her where she's been heading, but her tracks got cut off after a while. Adriana thinks she's using a spell to go under the radar."

"So she could be miles away from where we think she is?"

"No, that's highly unlikely... And besides, once we find where she was, she can't have traveled far. The counteracting spell costs a lot of energy, and she won't have as much strength as us."

"Oh..." he looks to the side.

We continue to walk, Adriana leading us throughout the path. The leaves crunch underneath our feet and the wind nips at our skin. The light from the moon is revealing the path in front of us. I listen to the night creatures call to each other and roam around the woods. It's kind of peaceful out here, except for the crisis at hand.

I still can't believe that Tarynn would do this. More importantly, I can't believe that Adriana agreed to teach her Black Magic. It doesn't make sense. Adriana has always been a rule follower, and she would never teach any of us Black Magic... All of a sudden, Agatha stops.

"Wait a minute... I thought you said that Tarynn's path was cut off near the town? We're near the caves..."

"Did I say that? I meant the caves." Adriana brushes her comment off and continues to walk.

"No, I'm pretty sure you said that she was near the town..."

"I didn't say that... You're mistaken." Adriana mutters without turning around. Agatha looks at me cautiously before she continues to follow her.

"Something's not right..." she whispers to me, "I'm positive she said Tarynn's tracks ended at the town..."

"Let's just follow her for now and wait a little bit before we do anything. I'm sure it's nothing. Like she said, you're probably just mistaken." she furrows her brow and shakes her head.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

I notice that Agatha grows more and more tense as we walk. She begins to bite her lip and fiddle with her hands. She does that when she gets nervous. Suddenly she pulls me to the side.

"Clara, something's wrong... I can feel it."

"Relax, it's just the nerves talking. We're nearing the vampire cave and that's why you're nervous. Just remember they won't hurt you."

"That's the thing. Tarynn wouldn't go to the vampire caves! She has nothing for her there."

"Well, it's worth checking out anyway. Now come on, we need to follow the others."

She nods and continues to walk. We finally stop right outside the entrance to the vampire caves. Tarynn is standing at the entrance, waiting.

"Tarynn? What are you doing here?" I ask, puzzled.

"I asked her to come." Adriana says, walking towards her.

"What? That doesn't make sense! I thought we were trying to find her!"

"Oh don't worry, it will all make sense soon." Adriana steps into the cave, and Tarynn follows.

"Wait!" Vincent shouts, "The vampires don't know who you are. They will want to know what you're doing here."