Adela Augusta Blood Famine

Chapter Eighteen

Adela

Adela kept her eyes locked on a large bolt on the interior of the stage wagon. It was all she could do to keep herself from passing out. At first, it was simply the rocking that had made her sick. She may have had no memory but she was fairly certain that riding in a coach was something she never enjoyed. After traveling for nearly two days she could now say with no hesitation it was something she would never come to like. This ride in particular was even more difficult with the lack of blood and all making her dizzy. Not to mention the man sitting across from her. Was it really that hot in the carriage?

"Lady Adela are you sure you're feeling all right?" Ethan asked.

Adela forced a "Yes." through her lips but knew she wasn't fooling anyone. She had learned all too well on this little journey how vigilant Ethan walker was. It was perhaps the only thing she didn't like about him. It turned out he was the perfect traveling companion. He spoke when she was bored but he also seemed equally happy to stop talking without her needing to be blunt. Lessus could learn something from him. Ethan was also very generous as if he didn't care enough to argue. He also seemed oddly dedicated to her cause which she hadn't even begun to scratch the surface of telling him. He claimed he had nothing better to do. Which was certainly the way he portrayed himself. However, she figured this couldn't be true. Either way, he had proved indispensable since the night she met him at the inn.

Ethan had gone out into town and traded his horse and no small amount of coin to buy a man's covered stage wagon and adorned it with extra fabrics that he also procured. The idea seemed so genius if not flawed. There remained the reason as to why Ethan didn't just hire the coach driver himself, or why he had to trade his steed for a lesser animal. Of course, she hadn't thought about a covered wagon at all so she couldn't press the topic too much, and she did find the ox that pulled them cute if not a little foul-smelling. When she did ask him, he simply had told her that he'd been hunting for one anyway. As suspicious as it was he could have torn the curtains down and ended her at any moment, so the fact that he didn't probably meant he hadn't simply appeared only to murder her.

No, the only problem she had with Ethan Walker was he seemed to be every bit as careful and watchful as herself in spite of his carefree demeanor. Her plan to secretly sneak over in the dead of night and feed on mules, or whatever livestock they came across was thwarted by his watchful eye. She had gotten to the point where feeding on Ethan sounded like a good idea. She couldn't simply declare her fast over, however, for he'd surely see straight through her lie and begin questioning her. It was for the best that she kept her fangs to herself. There was a fair chance that at this point Ethan alone wouldn't be enough to sate her. Adela wasn't ready to kill a man to save herself, and certainly not one that was helping her get out of her own foolish predicament.

At long last Adela felt the wagon lurch to a stop she braced herself against the side of the coach. The door opened up, and she stepped out of the carriage with shaky legs collapsing almost instantly. Instead of the dirt meeting her face she found Ethan's as he caught her in his embrace. For a second she was captivated by his eyes but then swiftly pushed him away, steadying herself on the side of the wagon once more. Her arms hurt from the exertion of shoving him but she tried her best to hide it.

"I'm fine!" She snapped at him.

"I didn't say anything," Ethan responded.

Adela gave him one more quick glance and then forced herself to walk away. Each step sent the sensation of thousands of needles pricking at her muscles. Slowly she slumped against a nearby wall; letting herself slide to the ground and off her feet. If she wasn't so grumpy she would have felt bad for treating Ethan so poorly.

"Maybe you should-"

"I'm meditating!" Adela yelled back, closing her eyes. Her body was screaming and her mind had grown hazy, she couldn't think anymore. How long exactly had she gone without feeding? The smell of iron reached her nose, and the steady pulse of veins echoed in her ears. She opened her eyes and could tell that the look she was giving Ethan must have been particularly fierce by his expression.

"How much longer till your fast ends?" He asked her.

Adela wanted to yell "Now!" and lunge at him, but she fought the urge.

After a long silence, Ethan spoke again. "So where do we find this witness of yours?"

"I don't know." The words that escaped her mouth suddenly reminded her of how weak she must appear. She shot to her feet the pain coursing through her body transforming into a rage. Adela felt that soon only two outcomes were inevitable. She would either collapse and become dormant, which would be a pitiful sight to see. Her second option was to give into the uncontrollable urge to feed and completely drain the life of Ethan Walker. Any amount of helplessness and weakness was not the way of Aquilo nor her own will. It seemed her choice was clear.

She took a step forward. Each fall of her foot fueling her pain, feeding her madness. "I'm sorry Ethan." Adela said her voice was not as soft nor sweet as it normally was. She mustered all the speed she was capable of and charged, "But this is where we part ways."

Ethan dived and rolled to the side as Adela moved past him. The speed at which she traversed made it clear just how little blood was in her system, human or vampire. She continued running leaving her new friend and the coach behind. It pained her to think that he likely thought she meant to attack him. She only needed to ask, he had offered himself multiple times, but keeping up her farce was more important. At least to her father. She hated him and his rules.

Soon she found herself on a small farm instead of the company of a charming man. A man who she would have found all the more charming if it were not for his keen sense. Lying was absolutely exhausting. Not being able to tell him anything, for lack of political stature or letting her amnesiac secret out made much of her time with him daunting. Still, she would have to thank him later for all his help and fine company... and the way she left him.

Adela pointlessly lifted the edge of her dress that was already caked with mud as she trudged through the field. At last, she found what she was looking for. She barely glanced to make sure no one was watching before leaping at the cow. She bit down hard on its neck wrestling to keep it steady. She felt pathetic and hated to admit it proved a challenge. Adela could tell that it wasn't just human blood that was missing from her system, her own was gone too. For some reason, her body was lacking the vampiric blood that was the basis of her existence.

Reluctantly she pulled her fangs from the cow and plunged them into another nearby victim. She continued this way sparing each animal till at last she was sated. Her mind began to clear and her muscles pain eased. She was safe for now. With so little vampire blood in her system, she needed to start the process of converting human blood. Her last meal wouldn't get her far. She took a clumsy step forward, stumbling as if her legs were new. Where had her blood gone?

Adela sat down on a nearby rock and pulled off her white glove now muddied and speckled red. She ran her hand over her forearm feeling the previously hidden puncture marks. Why had her blood gone?

**Author's Note**

Dun dun dun! Adela is missing blood and not just human sustenance. But her own? Please, won't somebody explain that! Thoughts theories. (Is there a creature that feeds on vampires?) We will keep this ramble short, I think we know what we are discussing here. Well, that and maybe Ethan. Have we decided where he stands yet?