Crimson came to the jewelry room and stared at the shelves, shaking his head at how Kaelyn had no jewelry to keep, only her expensive clothes.
He had never given her any jewelry, because she had never asked.
Placing a piece of fabric from the towel on the shelf, along with the card containing a number and her name, he took a step back at how it just didn't fit in with the rest.
But in the end, he had to keep a record of her, as one of the many girls who had fallen victim to his deception.
She's dead now. It's time to move on.
He also remembered he still had her old and worn out dress wrapped away. He thought back to how repulsed he was by her at the time, and how he came to discover what was underneath all her filth.
Closing the chapter of the time he had spent with her, he decided to leave that night and continue the search for the next one.
By the time Winn and Arya returned from the graveyard, he was already gone.
They couldn't wait to tell him what they had found.
~
After following Alan's voice, along with the scent that accompanied it, Kaelyn reached a house deep in the woods, nodding to herself that she was in the right place. The scent was stronger than ever, along with two others.
As she continued to take in the unfamiliar environment, a man suddenly emerged from the woods, covered her mouth and placed his blade on her throat.
She had already detected his scent a few seconds earlier but just hadn't reacted because she was unaware of what was to come.
But she furrowed her eyebrows at how she could hear his heartbeat.
The man had planned to break into the house and get his hands on whatever he could but while he had been hiding, he couldn't stop himself from lusting over her.
"You might be covered in dirt, but I've never seen someone so gorgeous."
The more he got excited, the more she could hear his fast heartbeat and the blood rushing through his veins. She couldn't explain it, but that excited her as well and before she knew it, her eyes turned red as she exposed her fangs. She was unable to control the changes.
When she couldn't help it, she suddenly turned around and attacked him, hungrily sinking her fangs into his flesh and he screamed at the top of his lungs. The taste of his blood made her moan in satisfaction, firmly holding him by the hair only with one hand. He was no match for her strength.
Once she was satisfied, she dropped the body to the ground, then wiped the blood off her mouth with the palm of her hand and licked it, and cleaned whatever was left on her lips by licking them.
~
Meanwhile, Alan had safely put back the book since his grandfather was asleep in the living room.
When he heard a deafening scream, which woke up his grandfather as well, they decided to check it out together but Alan took the lead to protect his grandfather.
After opening the front door, he stepped out first and his jaw dropped at the sight before him of a vampire drinking a man's blood and she was so aggressive with it.
He had never seen it happen from that close before.
When she seemed to lick off the rest of it while still facing the other side, his heart started racing and he feared he was next.
But when she suddenly turned around and stared right at him with her fangs and red eyes, he couldn't move.
In a blink of an eye, her features were humanlike again and she spoke to him.
"I've come to you because you brought me back," she said, approaching him with her gaze never leaving him.
He couldn't explain it, but she was so seductive that he couldn't look away from her.
The moment she started getting closer, he snapped out of it when his grandfather nudged his shoulder to step back.
Wait, It worked? I'm so proud of myself!
"What have you done?" Grandfather whispered to him, looking at her dirty feet.
"I'll explain it all later, but can you forgive me for stealing the spell book?" Alan asked.
"Did you really do this?" Grandfather asked.
As Alan nodded, he thought Grandfather would scold him. But instead, he was pleasantly surprised.
"You're finally this good at something! I feel so proud!" Grandfather whispered to him.
They chuckled, then turned their attention to her, as she just stared at the two of them. They knew she had no intention of leaving because she was in the right place.
Grandfather assured Alan that she wouldn't harm them if they gave her no reason to do so.
When they both got closer to her so they could talk, she pointed at Alan.
"You brought me back. Who are you?" she asked.
"I'm Alan....." He couldn't say anything else even if he wanted to, not when everything she did had a hint of seduction.
Grandfather had to slap him on the arm to keep him focused.
"And who am I?" she asked.
"Don't you remember anything about yourself?" Grandfather asked, raising his eyebrows.
She shook her head. "The first thing I remember is hearing Alan's voice speaking to me."
Concerned, Grandfather quickly took Alan away in a burst of smoke to a place far away from Old Gravestone so he could speak to him.
"Why did you bring me here?" Alan asked, confusion written all over his face.
"What spell did you use for her to completely lose her memory?" Grandfather asked.
Alan shrugged. "I circled around her grave twenty one times."
"What? twenty one times?!" Grandfather yelled, shaking Alan by holding onto his shoulders.
"Grandfather, stop! What's the matter?" Alan asked.
Before speaking, Grandfather took a deep breath.
"That's a very dangerous spell and you shouldn't have used it! She's not just an ordinary vampire. The spell you used makes her just as strong as the current strongest vampire of them all."
"You mean-"
"It doesn't matter because it's too late! For now, let's try not to upset her or she'll definitely hurt us!"
They both returned to her and she still stood in the same spot, looking around with curiosity.
Alan cleared his throat and stepped forward.
"Are you alright, Miss Vampire?" he asked, his voice gentle.
"Miss Vampire?" she asked.
"We'll just call you that for now since you can't remember anything," Grandfather said.
"Would you like to come inside?" Alan said.
"Alan!" Grandfather said with disbelief.
Kaelyn might've known nothing about herself, but the one thing she was certain of was the desire to be close to Alan and not hurt him.
Once Grandfather got inside, Alan turned around right when he was by the doorstep after realizing she was still covered in dirt.
"Just a moment," he said to her, then flicked his wand around her.
When the dirt that was all over her vanished, he couldn't take his eyes off her, the gorgeous red dress contrasting with her pale skin, and her long hair falling down her exposed shoulders.
"What just happened?" she asked, surprised.
"Magic," he proudly replied as they entered the rustic living room.
He knew he wasn't supposed to look into her eyes so he looked down at her shoulders, but even that on its own filled him with desire.
It was only when Grandfather stepped in and told her they'd soon be back that Alan stopped staring at her shoulders.
In another burst of smoke, the two of them appeared in another town and Grandfather clearly wasn't happy that Alan had invited her inside the house.
"But where was she supposed to go?" Alan said. "She couldn't have gone anywhere else and you know it. She came to me because I brought her back, which means she's here to stay."
"In our house?" Grandfather scoffed, pushing his glasses up.
"Then what should we do now?"
"The best thing we can do is try to bring her memory back. The sooner she remembers everything, the better. Also, you need to be careful with her."
"What do you mean?"
"I've seen the way you look at her and I don't like it. You can't give me grandchildren with someone like her."
"Grandfather!"
"What? I have to warn you in advance so don't even think about it!"
~
Kaelyn was seated on the couch alone and leaned back, staring right at Alan the moment they reappeared.
"You're back," she said.
Before Alan could speak, Grandfather stepped forward and told her they would do everything they could to get her memory back and they would start right away.
After he excused himself to get everything ready, Alan just stood there and watched her.
"Why are you so far away? Come closer," she said, her tone enticing.
Because he was certain she wouldn't hurt him, he got closer and sat beside her.
"Why did you bring me back?" she asked, looking at his handsome features and long blond hair.
"I was actually only trying out a spell and it worked better than I thought," he said, not daring to look into her eyes.
"Is this something you do a lot?"
"No, you're the first and maybe the last. I wouldn't want vampires running around everywhere coming back to me."
"Does it bother you that I came to you?"
"Not at all, quite the contrary. I'm glad you're here."
"Why?"
"You ask too many questions," he said, giving her a charming smile.
Alan and Grandfather tried everything they could to get her memory back, but nothing worked and Grandfather gave up, telling them it needed to happen naturally.
Now alone again in the living room, Alan felt bad for her and even if he couldn't read her thoughts, he was certain that it had to be frustrating for her.
"I'm sorry," he said gently.
She sighed. "I'm trying so hard to remember but nothing happens. However....."
"What is it?"
"I don't know why but I feel this dress holds a lot of meaning," she said, running her hands on it.
Because Alan was certain the dress was expensive, he speculated she might've come from a wealthy family because only they could afford such quality.
~
When Crimson returned a few hours before sunrise, he found Arya and Winn at his doorstep.
Despite the dangerous possibility that Demeena might show up, they had spent the night out there because Arya had refused to leave until she got answers from Crimson.
"Why are you still here? I told you where to find your sister last night, didn't I?"
"She wasn't there," Arya said, her eyes puffy.
"What are you talking about?" Crimson narrowed his eyes.
"My sister really wasn't there."
Because he found that hard to believe and it made no sense to him, he looked over at Winn, hoping for a clearer explanation.
"She's telling you the truth," Winn said. "Kaelyn's not in her grave. What if she came back?"
Without saying a word to them, Crimson headed inside and paced, bothered by the sudden turn of events. Not only did it disturb his plans, but also his usually calm and collected mind.