We arrived in an open area, the trees surrounded the grounds like walls. Tents laid in every corner, with a bonfire sitting right in the middle of the unpaved dirt floor. Men and women ate and gathered branches of wood, some were chopping logs with an axe and some were sharpening it.
There was a tent with its mouth agape and inside was a woman with curly, dark brown hair and golden hoops as earrings, the woman had purple lipstick on and smooth, ebony skin. Her eyes were a piercing Atlantic blue. Unlike the other people around here who wore shirts and jeans, she had a white off shoulder top and a colorful gypsy skirt.
Her table had innumerable amounts of stakes while she mixed and poured mysterious substances inside her pot. I could hear her humming while she walked away.
I looked back to the crowd, some wore tattered clothing and bandages all over their forearm and legs. I could hear their groans and wince while a few people bandaged them up.
One man stood out from the crowd with his long, ash blue hair that was tied in a bun. He wore a white, long sleeve hoodie and whitewashed, ripped jeans. He watched as two people fought dummies. They both plunged the stake to their targets heart and exclaimed, the blue haired man clapped his hands.
He turned around, meeting his hazel brown, monolid eyes. His face lit up and waved to our direction, I looked at the corner of my eye to see Castriel waving back. "Castriel!" he called and ran towards us.
"Hey Caleb!" Castriel smiled and the man Caleb turned to me, "Ah, you must be (y/n)?" he asked while tilting his head. I put a hand up and waved, "That's me." I chuckled nervously. While on the way here, Castriel told me everything, and how he knew where I was.
He was the one who threw the rock and also someone who had been stalking me. He knew everything about Perseus, so I'm not surprised that the people here knows me already.
Caleb's eyes widen and took my hand, inspecting the sapphire ring. "Woah, so it must be true then!" he gasped in shock, "I told you I wasn't lying!" Castriel nudged Caleb's shoulder.
He looked at me, his hand still touching the ring. "You're lucky, (y/n). You're not a livestock to the vampires." he laughed, I pulled my hand away and touched the ring. Feeling the engraved metal. I looked down on the floor, biting down on my lip.
"You call it lucky to be a bride of a monster? Think again." I look up, glaring at Caleb. To think that being a bride-to-be to a monster was lucky was utterly ridiculous. They don't know the hell I have to put up with and the constant fear of my life, let alone be turned into them once I married one.
"Now that I thought about it, yeah not so lucky." Caleb shrugged his shoulders, "And plus, I don't think I'm off the hook, I'm still food to some." I said, the man from the woods flashing back in my mind.
"Oh, him," Castriel put a hand to his chin, "I don't think he was there to eat you, (y/n). I think he was there to take you." Castriel explained, pointing at my sapphire ring. "Why would they?" I asked with a frown, looking at Castriel with eager.
The cold air brushed through me, making me shiver. "That's because you are of value." I heard a woman's voice say, her words strong and firm like a warrior. I looked at the direction of her voice to see the same Atlantic blue eyes that I've seen from afar.
"What do you mean?" I stepped forward, feeling vexed from unanswered questions. I wanted to know, and it doesn't help when people talk in riddles.
She pulled my hand and I stumbled towards her. The dark brown haired woman observed the ring, twisting and turning my hand as if it weren't attached to my body. Her eyelashes were long and beautifully curved with a yellow scarf wrapped around her head like a headband.
She looked up at me as I blinked, snapping out of my thoughts. "I do not like you and your mere presence, (y/n)," she furrowed her brows, scowling. Her voice was harsh as if she was in loathe.
"You are a danger, why must you come here?" she pressed further and I stepped back with fear in my eyes, feeling flustered as people glanced. "Miranda, stop it." Caleb pulled her by the shoulder, telling her to calm down.
Castriel put a hand on my shoulder and I looked at him, "Sorry, she can be very...unwelcoming." he whispered the last words. "You don't say," I sigh to myself, feeling demoralized of coming here. My hope felt diminished, like there was no way out of this hell hole. "You shouldn't have brought me here, Castriel." I frowned with a taint of despondent.
Castriel opened his mouth but immediately closed it, panic struck down on his face like thunder. The people around us froze, their eyes darting in every direction like a camera. Miranda and Caleb stopped bickering with each other as I heard a myriad of footsteps.
"Miranda, take (y/n)!" Caleb demanded and beckoned Castriel over. The others stood there with weapons in hand while the wounded went inside their tents. Miranda took my hand and pulled me towards her tent, "Quickly, (y/n)! Distribute the stakes!" she pointed at the piles of stakes at the corner.
"And don't stab yourself." she added and I nod. I hastily took the basket of stakes and ran towards the people, giving them each of their own. While some thank me, some also snickered. Very welcoming.
I glanced at Castriel and Caleb who stood at the front with other people as well. Amongst them was the wounded. They held different types of weaponry and armor, Caleb had silver gloves on with claws attached to the fingertips, mimicking the same I saw from Perseus and the man.
Other people had silver tips for their arrows, chains wrapped around their knuckles and even silver chest plates. It all made sense, vampires are weak from silver.
I could hear their footsteps coming closer and ravens gurgling croak from behind. I looked around and people fired arrows at the ravens, one got shot and immediately fell down. The raven turned into a dark foggy, mist until a physique of a woman appeared.
She got up but was immediately shot down by an arrow to her neck. A man lunged forward, choking her as he slit her throat. I felt someone pull me backwards, I looked around and it was Miranda dragging me back to the tent in a hurry.
A bat landed in front of us, the black mist surrounded it and turned into a man with black, spiky hair. "There you are." he hissed and sprung towards Miranda. She pushed me back and elbowed the black haired man.
He squeezed her wrist, pushing Miranda towards him with exposed fangs as she struggled to get off of his grasps. I leaped forward, jabbing the stake on his forearm. He lets go of Miranda and groaned in pain. I took off the stake from his forearm and kicked him to the stomach. "Quickly, (y/n)! Before he regenerates!" Miranda yelled.
I lunged the stake forward close to his heart, the black haired man gripped onto my wrist with the pointy stake inches away from his chest. His other hand wrapped around my neck, trying to choke me. Miranda swung an axe forward, cutting his arm off.
I dropped down on the floor and immediately sprung up and thrust the stake to his heart. I yelped when I stepped on his teared off arm, his eyes gawked out. He made a screeching sound, screaming agony with blood pooling up his body.
I withdraw from the man, not losing my sight off of him. I could hear Miranda puffing beside me, her arm touching my shoulder. The man shrieked and moved in every directions, his hands turning into dust, it trailed on until he disappeared from our sight. "I thought they would only disappear in the day?" I looked at Miranda who clenched my wrist.
"Only if you decapitate them. The poison from the stake makes them disappear faster." she explained, drawing the curtain of the tent close. She went to her station and dipped the tip of the stakes to her cauldron and laid it to rest in parchment paper beside her.
I peeked outside, it was all a massacre. "Don't show yourself outside, (y/n). After all, they are here because of you." Miranda sighed. "I'm sorry," I frowned, looking at her with pure disconsolation. "I...I'll leave when the sun rises! I promise!" I walked towards her with a small smile.
Miranda looked away from me and darted her eyes at the bottles of different types of liquid at the small table at the corner with the other stakes. "It's better if you stay here, (y/n). I changed my mind." she replied back softly.
"Really?" a grin appeared on my face, feeling pure ecstasy. "Yes, now-" Miranda was cut off by a woman coming inside her tent. I turned around and gasped, lots of slashes were all over her body and face. Dried blood stained her face, her left hand bandaged up horribly.
"Miranda! They want the girl! There's too many of them!" she cried, looking at me. Miranda walked towards her and caressed the woman's cheek. "We will not let them have her. Please, hold them on. The sun will rise sooner, Genevieve," Miranda looked at her pocket watch then back to the woman named Genevieve.
Genevieve frowned and sighed, "Of course." she said and went out of the tent. "Get the torches (y/n)." Miranda pointed at the bonfire torches that piled up beneath the station.
Miranda grabbed the basket of stakes and chains and went outside as I followed suit.