It was a relief to be out in the warm sun again after believing I may not see it in a while from the moment I boarded that dreaded bus on route to the auction. So far, Aiden had driven us down directly into the The Centre and he seemed to be leading us towards a specific shop he said he had some business at. I was sceptical as to why he had to bring me along. Last night he had seemed less than pleased that he had ever chosen me as his slave.
Maybe he'd ship me off to be somebody else's problem.
I wasn't entirely sure if I minded that or not.
Before we had left he had insisted I take another trip to see Marie, the nurse. She told me that my ankle was healing nicely but that it would have to be kept wrapped up for another week or so to ensure that it is supported whilst it heals. Aiden's mixed emotions were confusing me. One minute he was listening to his family insult me and not able to even look at me, and the next he is ensuring that I kept regular check-ups with the nurse, as if he cared.
Which I knew he didn't.
Suddenly, Aiden stoped walking down the crowded streets and turned to make his way into a small shop with odd knick-knacks showing in the display windows. I followed him silently, the reasons he had brought me here were still unknown, and this terrified me.
''Well, would you look at that. It's been a long time my friend, a long time.'' A croaky voice echoed around the enclosed space within the store and I scanned the room, attempting to find the source of the voice.
''I wouldn't go as far as saying that we are friends, Gertrude.'' Aiden's tone was bitter as I followed his gaze to the counter at the back of the store.
Behind it stood an old woman. Her clothes were dull coloured and frayed at the edges, as if she didn't get much business to her store and was running low on funds. Her face was covered in wrinkles, more than I had ever seen, and yet her eyes held a sense of youth and hidden knowledge. She had long grey hair, tied up in a low ponytail that fell to her waist. Her most surprising feature was her eyes, they were a shocking purple which made me uncomfortable and gave me the sense that not everything was as it seemed in this shop. Her sly smile confirmed this.
''Then why, my dear, do I have the pleasure of your presence on this wonderful morning?'' She fiddled around with the clutter on her desk as I took a look around and noticed how strange everything she was selling looked.
''I need you to do that tracking spell for me.'' Aiden moved towards her and she looked up at him, her eyebrow raised. ''You know, the spell I know you've been casting for my parents.'' Aiden placed his hands on her counter behind which she stood, and bent his head down to her level, leaning towards her menacingly.
My eyes widened at the realisation of what this old woman must be, a witch. I never thought I'd ever see one in person because they were few and far between these days. But, it made sense that there would at least be one living in The Centre.
Despite not being the target of Aiden's threat, my arms still broke out in goose bumps, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. A simple human reaction I assumed, and it was horrible. I'd always thought that I'd been stronger than that.
''Impossible.'' She did not seem fazed by his threatening stance. The woman must have serious nerve to stand up to the vampire before her, I would have cheered her on but that may have been inappropriate so I kept my mouth firmly sealed.
''Now Gertrude, you shouldn't say 'no' to the prince, should you? You never know when he might snap.'' He slapped his hand on her counter, emphasising his point. I let out a surprised yelp as the countertop dented under his hand.
Aiden seemed to be expecting her refusal as he smirked down at her tiny frame, daring her to say no to his request. I was also very glad he didn't turn and pay any attention to me, I was acting like an absolute wimp.
''I have been ordered by the King and Queen to only allow them to partake in this spell. I cannot help you.'' She moved away from him, seemingly undeterred by his threats. Thought I did notice her frown at the newly formed dent in her polished countertop. Poor woman.
Aiden sighed and turned himself around to follow the witch's movements with his eyes. I thought I saw a glimpse of red flash through them before they returned to their normal shade of blue, and I found myself wanting to protect this frail, old woman. I thought she must be stupid to deny a request from him.
Suddenly, Aiden disappeared from his perch by her counter to then reappear instantly in front of the woman, causing her to take a step back. She didn't show any other signs of fear at his sudden movements. ''What if I told you that I had brought a gift for you?'' His eyes shifted to me for a moment before they returned to her impassive features.
I didn't know what that look meant, but it definitely couldn't have been good.
''It depends.'' She seemed curious, a greedy expression crossing her face for a moment at his words. ''What gift do you speak of?''
Aiden walked towards me and grabbed my wrist, tugging me towards the woman. ''I heard you were running low on pure blood, am I right?'' I protested, trying to rip my wrist from his grasp, but he didn't budge.
Pure blood, I had heard, was blood from a human that had not been tainted by a trace from a vampire, in other words, a human who hadn't been bitten yet. And that was me.
A sly expression crossed her face as she approached us and I felt my legs begin to shake at the uncertainty of the situation. She grabbed my wrist and pushed Aiden away, turning my hand over so that my palm faced the ceiling. She ran her cold, aged fingers over my wrist, over my veins, and I felt warmth where her hands met my skin.
''She is unbitten? This is unusual for you, Aiden.'' I glanced at him; worry etched into my features, and saw a knowing smile tug at the corners of his lips as he chuckled.
''Now, do we have a deal that if you do this tracking spell for me, then you can take some of the girl's blood?'' He inquired, tilting his head to the side and avoiding my eyes as they blazed his way.
Coward.
She seemed to mull it over, lost in thought for a few seconds before she ran her fingers over my veins again and the warmth returned where it had previously dissipated. ''I can feel that she is indeed pure. But I'm not sure this is enough to persuade me to disobey the King and Queen.'' She looked up from my wrist, her eyes narrowed, ''are there any other gifts you bring me?''
Aiden sighed in frustration, his hand running through his dark hair, ''I will not offer you any more, witch. This is enough and if you do not accept then I am forced to 'persuade' you using less conventional methods.'' The red I had seen flash through his eyes earlier began to swirl in a much more noticeable show of his rage.
''Don't threaten me, boy.'' Gertrude muttered some incoherent, choice words under her breath and walked away from us, gathering some supplies and laying them out on a small, wooden table she had set up in the corner. ''I will do this spell for you, and I will accept your gift.''
I was surprised that she had agreed to help Aiden, what with acting as if she had not been fearful of him earlier, and it made me wonder if she was putting up a front. I couldn't imagine anybody being so stupid as to disobey the prince, and I guessed Gertrude didn't want Aiden to follow through with his threats.
''That's great.'' Aiden spoke in a cheerful tone, as if he hadn't just hinted at taking this poor woman's life.
I began hating him in that instant. Surprisingly, this hadn't been the case before as he'd never truly threatened or hurt me. But now his true, selfish nature had revealed itself and it made him a truly ugly creature.
Gertrude began laying out some equipment for her spell on the table. She had three candles that she lit with a set of matches and placed around a small, white bowl filled with water that was stationed in the middle of the space. I watched her pick up a knife that I had not noticed was beside the bowl and she motioned for Aiden to stand beside her.
''I am guessing you are here to be made aware of the location of the rebel army?'' Gertrude asked him as she lit a stick of incense and a calming floral aroma filled the room.
Aiden nodded his head and gave me a sharp look as if to warn me not to speak. I was curious as to why they would be tracking a rebel army when they weren't supposed to be a problem anymore. They surrendered to end the war and now it seemed another group was forming and hunting vampires as they had done before. It was daunting to think that another war could break out, and this was especially possible with the High Royals making regular trips to this witch to track them, which I assumed they were.
Even with my fear for another war, I couldn't help a feeling of hope from rising up as I wondered of the possibility of humans succeeding and us no longer having to live as slaves. And then I remembered that the vampires had won before, and they were even stronger now. My hope disappeared, replaced with a feeling of emptiness as the certainty of humans always living as slaves for the vampires became clear.
''I will use the blood of one of the rebels then.'' Gertrude retrieved a large vial of rich, red liquid that had been on a shelf above the table. She unscrewed the top and allowed a few drops of the liquid to fall into the bowl and dissolve into the water, swirling in intricate designs for a few seconds before turning it a pale pink.
She then began reciting a spell in a foreign language and I watched as she took Aiden's hand and both pairs of eyes began to glass over as if they were no longer in the room and were far away, watching the rebels. I stood awkwardly, feeling more and more uncomfortable as the time passed and the only sound to fill the room was the witch's chanting.
This could've been my chance to run, but I had no idea where I was in The Centre and I didn't trust myself to find a safe way home with the hub of vampires around.
Instead, I found myself moving around the room, interested in some of the labelled vials she had on the shelves, alongside some other items that I could not identify. I spotted some bottles filled with the body parts of animals and gagged as I read the labels and inspected the contents.
Just as I was glancing over different labelled vials of what looked like blood, the chanting ceased and silence descended in the room. I hurried back to see both Aiden and Gertrude had lost the glassy look and watched as Gertrude rushed around the room, a look of excitement on her face.
''I know where they are! I recognised the scenery and I can draw you a map that you should return to your parents.'' She retrieved a large map from her counter and began marking a location before she rolled it up and handed it to Aiden who had a look of wonder on his face.
''Thank you.'' He muttered as he accepted the map. His eyes came to rest on my face as he strode towards me with purpose, followed by Gertrude.
I felt my heartbeat accelerate as I spotted a knife in her hand and a similar bottle to the ones I had looked through earlier clenched in her fist. ''Now it's time for you to fulfil your end of the bargain, boy.'' The greedy look from earlier crossed her features yet again.
''Fine, take her blood. Do not take more than you need.'' Aiden warned as my wrist was grabbed by the witch and I was dragged towards the counter at the back of the shop.
She placed my hand on the cool surface of the counter with my palm again facing the ceiling, right next to the dent Aiden had made earlier. ''Don't move, dear.'' She warned as I felt my body begin to shake, the knife inching closer to my hand.
Its blade glinted dangerously under the lights as she rested it on one end of my palm. I braced myself as Gertrude began to drag the knife along my skin, creating a deep gash that caused pain to erupt in my hand and I winced. Blood welled quickly from the wound and the witch lifted my hand over the open bottle to allow my blood to drop into the clear jar. I clenched my jaw as the pain continued and I felt my hand being squeezed to allow my blood to flow into the bottle faster and the wound to open further. My knees felt weak as I watched the stream of blood leave my hand to fill up the bottle which was now already half full.
''That's enough.'' Aiden's voices boomed as I felt myself become weaker due to the stress and shock of the situation.
''A little more.'' Gertrude insisted as she continued to squeeze my hand and allow more blood to flow.
''No more, she's going to faint.'' I thought I detected a note of worry in his voice but labelled it down to my mind playing tricks due to the fast blood loss.
''Fine.'' Gertrude lifted my hand away and asked for Aiden to retrieve some bandage she pointed to, which were in a room off to the side that I hadn't noticed before. He obeyed and hurried over, offering the bandage to the witch who proceeded to wrap it around until my hand was covered.
''Thanks.'' I muttered for the first time, my voice tremoring.
I stepped away and tripped backwards to then be supported by Aiden as he inspected the bandage around my hand which was already showing spots of blood leaking through. A distant part of me wondered if the blood bothered him, maybe he had told her to stop because his stomach had started to rumble or something gross.
''You cut too deeply.'' His tone was dangerous and both alarmed and comforted me but I was too weak to reassure him that it was fine.
Gertrude was labelling the bottle and didn't answer. She seemed preoccupied and didn't look up as she placed the bottle on the shelf that held the other types of blood that I had seen earlier.
''You can go now.'' She dismissed us and said nothing more as she returned to her counter and began fiddling amongst the clutter again. Her crooked hand dusted off the surface, a newly appeared wrinkle between her bushy eyebrows as her gaze landed on the dent.
Served her right. Funny how ones perception of someone could change in the stroke of a knife.
I felt Aiden tense, but he made no move to say anything else. Instead, he led us out of the store and towards the car. The fresh air helped to clear my head and I felt instantly better, but still slightly weak as I was not expecting any of those events to happen when we left this morning.
''You look pretty pale, Violet. Are you hungry?'' In that moment I wanted to slap him, the last thing I was thinking about was food. But, what the heck. I nodded quickly, not sure how else to respond to his sudden change of mood and hospitality.
He shifted and placed the map Gertrude had given him on the back seat before he drove away.
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~ Edited 10/01/2016 ~