Cursed

Chapter 8: The city of illusions

The morning passed in a blur: breakfast, a brief visit from Ura before she left again to fix something and the chaos that was Helfarch. Today it would be a trip to the closest human city, Holt. It was the city right below the mountains and the one with the biggest human population on the east side of the Green Lands. No human dared to go more north than this and frankly there was more to do on the water side. A trip across the White River was a lot safer than a trip across the Green Lands forest.

With my eyes fixated on the council house once more, I spend my morning planning. No matter how hard I tried, that vampire didn't seem to leave my head. Even though forgetting that whole encounter was in my best interest, her eyes were burned on my retina and her soft and husky voice kept repeating sentences in my ear. It was distracting and the last thing I needed right now. There was just something about her that made her unforgettable, maybe even familiar. So, I figured the best option to get rid of her was to figure out why that was. It could only be the mystery of her that kept me so captivated, right? There had to be a reason why she felt so intimate, and mostly why I didn't have the need to kill her. Was there a possibility that my curse was cured? Or was she different from other vampires? And why was that so?

The archives weren't easy to enter unnoticed. They were at the heart of the council house, past at least three council members at each given time. Considering Hunters couldn't read, it was highly suspicious for me to be there. Therefore, I needed to find a different way in.

My eyes moved in a slow line from the left to the right. Maybe there were windows that weren't directly linked to an occupied room. Unfortunately, there were none on the lower level; multiple shadows kept moving behind the small windows. Another option was to climb a tree, let myself drop on the rooftop and squeeze my way through a small window on one of the upper levels. Something I did frequently with Ura to visit each other in the middle of the night. In open daylight on the other hand, that wasn't probably the best plan either.

"What are you doing?"

With a yelp and a hop to the side, I turned around to see my best friend watching me curiously. My heart was banging against my chest and I quickly breathed deeply in and out.

"What?" She asked, before motioning her hand. "You're standing in the middle of the square, you think no one notices?"

My eyes scanned the houses surrounding the square, Hunters were at full power. Some were readying the horses, others were sharpening their blades and children were fighting each other with wooden sticks.

"I want to get into the archives," I admitted in a whisper.

A laugh from Ura made me doubt my idea even more. I frowned at her.

"What are you going to do there?" She chuckled.

An uneasy shrug was all I had for an answer.

"Okay, crazy pants, how about we just do our jobs and leave the reading for some more qualified people?"

My eyes traveled back to the white, clay building in front of me. Ura was right, I'd better give in, I didn't want to raise too much suspicion. Mom had asked me specifically, and I had to admit, I was standing rather obviously in the middle of the square - doing nothing which was on its own very suspicious. Thereby, the last thing I wanted - and needed - was to have to explain why I was so interested in a particular vampire.

"Yeah. What was I thinking," I chuckled, but my mind wasn't entirely following my actions.

Ura looked relieved. At least that was something.

With my head still occupied with the mysterious vampire girl, I hadn't realized that we kept walking in the same direction. She too was walking away from the village.