Forbidden Blood

Chapter 20: Clara

We near the entrance to the village and the hairs on my arm begin to stand up. I'm nervous about confronting Tarynn and Adriana. What will they say? Heck, what will I say? What will I do? I hope it will be one of those times where the brave part of me does all the talking. Maybe we could really get something done, then.

I can tell that Agatha is just as nervous as I am. I'm sure that being surrounded by vampires doesn't help that. She is still so anxious around them. I've tried and tried to tell her that they won't hurt her, but years and years of conditioning seem to have taken over her brain. I think the only reason I feel safe around them is because I'm in love with Vincent. And also, because I stayed with them for a while. I'm used to their lifestyle. I guess it takes time, and she just hasn't had enough time yet.

"We're here." I say. "We'll go inside and see if they are there. Hopefully we'll find them and there won't be any trouble." Agatha and I enter the village, leaving the others behind. A few witches are outside tending to a large fire; others are sitting around it, trying to feel the heat. It immediately warms us as we take steps towards Adriana's hut. Agatha knocks on the wooden door, and steps back, waiting for a response. No one comes to the door, and Agatha knocks again.

"Adriana? Tarynn? Are you in there? We really need to talk to you!" Still no response.

"Are you two looking for Adriana?" We turn around to one of the elders standing behind us.

"Yes. Do you know where she is?" I ask.

"Haven't you heard? Adriana was a liar, a cheat, really. She used a spell to lie to all of us about the vampires. Karenina has taken over as the leader of the village for now. I'd say it's a good thing Adriana's out of our lives." Agatha and I look at each other.

"So you all know about... the true reason we are supposed to stay away from the vampires?"

"Yes, unfortunately. There's no way to undo that spell, at least, not any way that we've found.

Karenina's working on it, but it's unlikely she'll find anything."

"So... witches and vampires really can't..."

"No, I'm afraid not." My head drops. I guess there's no way Vincent and I could ever really be together. The witch walks away and goes to sit by the fire.

"It's okay, Clara. You heard her, they might find something!" Agatha says with hopeful eyes.

"I don't think that will happen... Let's just focus on what we came for." I turn back to the door.

"Should we go inside?"

"It wouldn't hurt, as long as we don't disturb anything." Agatha nods and turns the doorknob. We step inside to find the place very neat. But sure enough, Adriana and Tarynn aren't here. I walk over to her desk, where papers are skewed about. The only messy area inside her hut.

"I guess we'll just have to look somewhere else." Agatha says, still standing by the door. A book on her desk catches my eye. It looks a lot like the book that Tarynn had. I open it up to find a series of maps. "What is it?"

"It's a book of maps..." I say, rifling through the papers. These maps are of the area all around the village. They go far far away. To places I've never seen or heard about before.

"What kind of maps?" she walks towards me to take a look.

"Of our area... and other areas." We look at the first few pages. "These maps start big at the beginning of the book, and then narrow in on specific places at the end of the book."

"Look at the first map." I turn the page to the very first map, and it is of a huge area. I can even see the ocean.

"It says... Authern... Is that the name of the place we live on?" I ask. No one has ever taught us about the history of our land, or how witches came to be on this land. It is a part of our lessons that was always left out.

"It must be... turn the next few pages." As I turn to the next page, the land has been zoomed in to the northern part of Authern. It has land areas that I don't recognize. The next page shows the east, and then the west. There is a small silver dot glowing on this page. I turn to the next page and it shows the south.

"Wait, what did that dot mean?"

"I don't know... Maybe a specific landmark?"

"Wait a minute..." I turn to the last few pages. There are more and more gold glowing dots on these pages. Only this time, some of them are moving. The very last page shows two dots. One is silver and one is gold. They are moving throughout marsh area, and as they move, the map moves with them.

"Oh my gosh, I know what this is!" Agatha bursts out. "It's one of those enchanted map books! They're very rare. They track a person's movement wherever they go, and other people's movements, too."

"Do you think this silver dot is Adriana, since she's the one who owns it? And maybe the gold one is for Tarynn?"

"Yes, and the other gold ones must be for other people that she stuck in the book."

"Could we be in this book?"

"I don't know. Check the map of the village." I look on the village page and sure enough, there are two gold dots that are inside Adriana's hut. Right where we are. Outisde the village I see some other gold dots, two to be specific.

"Those must be dots for the vampires!" I point to the two dots. "One for Zarro, and one for... well... I don't know. Who do you think the other dot is for?"

"I don't know either. I guess we can find out... We should take this book with us to help us find Tarynn and Adriana. This book will show us the true location of anyone already inside the book. Your location can't be tricked like with a location spell."

"So why would Tarynn and Adriana lead us here, if they aren't really here?"

"Probably to get us off of their tracks..." Agatha sighs. "They tricked us. Where are they really?"

"The last page says they're in the western part of Authera... far away from the southern part, where we are."

"C'mon, we have to go and show this to the others."