Katera

Chapter 7: Vampire Penitence

They continued on with their journey. After several minutes of silence passed, Maria finally decided to break it.

"Adari, this may seem like a strange question, but what would you say is the best part about being a vampire?" Maria asked

"Hmm, that's a tough one. I guess I really don't know, since I've been a vampire my entire life."

"It's alright if you don't have an actual answer. I'd answer the same way if you asked me about being human."

"I would say one drawback of being a vampire is humans hating you just because you are a vampire. But that kind of works both ways, depending on who you ask."

"I understand that. Even though I didn't hate you when found out you were a vampire. I was scared at first thought, but I brushed off my fear and tried not to show it. I guess our first judgement of the other depends on how they are painted in our mind."

"I suppose that's true."

"In a human setting, vampires are normally painted in a negative light. I guess with vampires the situation is vise versa."

"Very true. Unlike most vampire cities, the city of Katera doesn't hold a grudge against humanity."

"The book described as pretty much the opposite."

"You can't expect that everything that you read is true. It's called a myths and legends book for a reason."

"I know, you're just not what I expected."

As they continued on, they proceeded in conversation. After a few more minutes passed, Maria accidentally tripped over a fallen tree limb. Adari quickly went and stood in front of her to see if she was alright.

"Maria are you.." Adari stopped talking mid sentence and then started staring downward.

"Don't worry I'm fine Adari." Maria said as she looked up at Adari and noticed that he wasn't looking at get. "Adari? Are you alright?"

Only a few more seconds passed, then Adari's eyes began to glow red, and fangs emerged. Maria failed to this until Adari thrusted his head up with a hiss, reveal his glowing eyes and menacing fangs.

Upon seeing his appearance, Maria let out a scream. Her body trembled as she was overwhelmed with fear.

As he tried to attack her, Maria grabbed her bow to block his attack. She held her bow up horizontally to try to block him. Unfortunately he was much stronger than her, so she couldn't hold her guard for long. She shifted the bow causing Adari to fall off to the side. She hastily moved to her right so she was able to grab her bag of arrows and slung over herself as she stood up. She then quickly grabbed and shot an arrow at to slow him down so she could get away.

As Adari removed the arrow from himself, Maria quickly ran off and climbed up a nearby tree.

"Why is he acting like this all of a sudden?" She then looked down and noticed large cut on her leg. "I guess this is why, he must be able to sense my blood. I don't why I didn't expect this, he hasn't fed for awhile now."

It wasn't long before Adari relocated the scent of Maria's blood up in the tree.

Despite the pain she was now feeling, she jumped from tree to tree so she wouldn't get caught. "I can't keep this up forever. I'm gonna need to divert his attention. But how?" Maria asked herself as she continued going from tree to tree.

Maria was running out of energy, and was in need of some rest. Much to her surprise, she saw a stag nearby. So, she quickly grabbed an arrow and shot it dead, in hopes of it being enough to redirect Adari's attention off of her. Fortunately, for her it did.

While Adari was distracted, Maria subtly climbed down from the tree she was in and quietly walked further away from him. It wasn't long before she came to a stream, where she was able to wash the blood off her leg. After that her leg stopped bleeding. "Now that my leg has stopped bleeding, I really need to get out of these woods, but first I need some rest. After the sun rises I'll try to find my way out of here." Just to be safe Maria decided to rest up in a tree to avoid the risk of being caught by Adari.

After finishing off the deer, Adari's desire for blood subsided. He then retracted his fangs and his eyes lost their glow. He started talking to himself as he began pacing through the woods.

"I can't believe I did that. If I hadn't let myself get so distracted and asked Maria to come with me, I'd already be back in Katera and I wouldn't have ignored having to feed for so long. I really need to stop letting my feelings get the best of me." he said as he continued to walk through the woods. "The sun is rising, I should really get back to Katera. If hadn't lied to her about being lost, I wouldn't be here right now." he continued "Why, couldn't I just tell her how I feel. That was my main goal. I do suppose instead of telling her, I could just use my powers to make her fall in love with me. But that wouldn't be right."

Maria saw that it was dawn, and decided she start on her way back home to Tessera. So she climbed down from the tree and started back tracking.

As Adari was walking in silence, he saw Maria walking in the woods. He tried ignoring her because he thought he was hallucinating. "Oh great, now I'm seeing things." It only took a few seconds before he realised that he wasn't. He then attempted to get her attention. "Maria." he shouted

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Maria hastily grabbed an arrow and drew her bow and aimed at Adari.

"Don't shoot. I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to talk." said Adari

Maria withdrew her arrow and let him speak.

"Maria, I want to apologise for what happened earlier. I very sorry for attacking you, I never ment for that to happen. I lost control of myself. I suppose I should've warned that something like that could happen. I'm not gonna blame you for it. It's my own fault for letting myself get distracted and not feeding for such a long time."

"You didn't just attack me, you almost killed me."

"I know, and I apologise for that too. Vampires will usually only act like that when they ignore the urge to feed and then the smell of blood triggers us. They will also act that way if they're blood driven. I don't expect you to forgive me, and I'd understand if you hate me for the rest of your life."

Maria could tell that Adari was experiencing deep regret for what had happened "Like I said earlier, I don't hate. I understand you couldn't control yourself and appreciate your apology. Which I've chosen to forgive you."

"Thank you Maria. Also I'm sorry for lying to you."

"When did you lie to me?"

"When I told I was lost in the woods after you saved me. I was never lost, how could I be? I know these woods like the back of my hand. I said that because I didn't want to be alone and because I just wanted to be around you."

"Huh?" Maria responded in confusion

"I know it sounds kinda unrealistic for a vampire like myself to say. But it's true. Also, after what happened earlier, I should go alone the rest of the way. I don't want to end up hurting you."

"No. I said I would come with you and shall do such. I can tell you really need someone by your side right now. Besides, I have no idea how to get home from here, but I can navigate my way home from Katera."

"I really don't think you should.."

Maria interrupted him "My mind is made up. I'm coming with you."