"Are you seriously going to tell me?"
I asked, not able to believe my own ears. He was finally going to give me answers. Maybe it wasn't a waste of time coming here.
"You should know it one day or the other."
He's right. If I were his mate, something that I am coming to terms with, I should know everything about him and this world. Oh, I am so excited.
"But you have to come with me."
His voice sounded so serious all of a sudden, and he began moving towards the door.
"Where?"
I inquired, already following him out of the room. I didn't even think about whether it was safe to go with him, and that too in the middle of the night. All I had was a feeling of security. I feel safe when he is near me. Possibly, that is the impact of being mates.
"I asked, 'Where are we going?'"
I whisper yelled at him while climbing down the stairs quietly. I had to be very careful when taking the next step, but he seemed to be doing perfectly fine without making a single sound. How is that even possible?
"Somewhere we are forbidden."
Ryan wasn't whispering like me, but his voice was low.
"What do you mean by forbidden?"
I insisted, irritated that he was not giving me the full details. I knew he liked to be a male chauvinist, but can't he at least tell me where we are heading?
"A place where we are not permitted to visit."
I sighed weakly. Am I talking to a living thing or Google?
"I know what the definition of 'forbidden' is. I mean, where is this place? And why are we going there?"
Was he pulling a prank on me? He better not, for the safety of his manhood.
"If you want answers, stay silent and follow me. Else, you may return to your room."
Ryan spat in irritation. I saw him examining the hall like a cat, and I realized that he was trying to keep a low profile. He didn't want anyone to see us. I instantly sealed my mouth. Of course, I want to know what his secrets are, and I am going to take any risk for that. We exited the main entrance without alerting anyone and walked past the large fountain in the front. There were two paths ahead of us. One led to the back of the mansion, where the garden was, and the other was a mystery to me. We took the latter one, and I found pine trees on either side of the road. Instead of going through the clear route, he turned to the woods, and I accompanied him.
"This way, no one will see us."
Ryan explained, sensing my confusion. Of course, if we took the road, anyone who might be looking from the mansion could spot us, but not anymore.
"This is not your first time sneaking out, is it?"
I asked, but he did not give me an answer. I thought we were already out of the mansion but was surprised to see enormous stone dividers that nearly touched the sky. There was a big single wooden door in the centre, like that of an ancient castle. I hadn't seen this part of the mansion yet, as I had been sleeping for the last few hours while being kidnapped, so I looked around eagerly.
Two gatekeepers were set on the two sides of the door. There was no lock or handle, so I couldn't help thinking about how they opened it. It was so huge that it may have needed hundreds of vampires. Ryan called one of the guards and requested that he open the door. The young guard hollered "OPEN" and ten guards came out of nowhere. They released a thick rope that was attached to the highest point of the door and began to let it go gradually. The massive thing began separating from the wall and soon tumbled to the ground with a crash.
I strolled behind Ryan, who was currently pacing over the fallen wooden door. The view outside was something I will never forget. The entire manor was encircled by a deep canal loaded with dark water. The gigantic entryway was currently acting like a crossover between the manor and the thick woods. I carefully walked over to the edge of the bridge and discovered something moving in the water. I looked a little closer, and what I saw in there made me gasp. The whole canal was filled with thousands and thousands of snakes. That's why it looked like black water. Not just ordinary snakes, but the Black Mamba, if my knowledge of reptiles is accurate. What are these vampires terrified of to construct such exceptional security? I thought they were the most powerful creatures on Earth.
"Enjoying the view, are we?"
Ryan's voice sounded slightly annoyed, but I wasn't interested in it.
"What are these things doing here?"
I asked, pointing at the mambas. He was silent for a second before giving me an answer.
"They are here to protect us from other inhuman creatures."
"Other inhuman creatures mean witches and werewolves?"
I knew that Ryan was trying not to shout at me, but I was too intrigued.
"No, they don't cause a threat to us, though werewolves are our enemies because of certain circumstances. I meant something evil that lives in these forests. These snakes are not ordinary. They have a special venom that burns these creatures."
Again, he was not saying the name.
"What are these creatures?"
A long pause spread between us, and I turned to find him glancing at the slimy things. Then he looked straight into my eyes.
"The dark shapeshifters."
The dark shapeshifters? What a long name!
"What are these dark shapeshifters?"
By now, Ryan had walked away from me, and I realized that he was done with the conversation.
"You'll know."
He called out, and I ran after him. Again, we avoided the normal road and entered the forest. Unlike before, this one was really creepy, and it was not maintained by humans.
Do I have night blindness? Because I cannot see a single thing on my way. And the most annoying part was that I was continuously hit by tree limbs, which gave me minor scratches like safety pins. But he.... that blockhead doesn't get hit by a single leaf. I can't see him, but he was definitely not making 'Ah', or 'Uff' sounds like me.
"Will you please take a path where there are no stupid branches?"
I exclaimed when I almost greeted the floor with a hug. Stupid creepers.
"Then it won't hurt you, will it?"
IDIOT IDIOT IDIOT.
I remained quiet for the rest of the trip. It was smarter to stay silent than waste my energy on him.
..................
1 HOUR LATER (or ten minutes.)
I eased back my speed, depleted, and was gasping for air like hell.
"Will we arrive today?"
My words came out raspy, and I thought the trees were barely giving out any oxygen.
"Perhaps, perhaps not."
If I had a bat, I would have hit him by now.
"But I can't walk..."
I pleaded, but he didn't allow me to finish the sentence as usual.
"Stop talking."
He breathed out, and I rolled my eyes. Who the heck is he to command me?
"I won't."
After saying that, I started walking again, only to collide with a wall. Suddenly, that wall engulfed me with two hands.
"I said stop talking."
Oh, it was him. I was somewhat taken aback by Ryan's abrupt closeness, yet I recovered soon.
"What if I..."
He covered my mouth with his big palm.
"Now, don't move until I say."
He whispered. I attempted to be liberated from his grasp but halted when I heard something moving. I am in my position, and so is he. So what was that? We remained there for like two minutes or something when the entire spot got loaded up with dim green smoke. The moon shone so brightly right then that every single thing in the forest was visible. I felt Ryan's body tensing behind me.
"They are here."
He muttered. I was going to ask him who, but I forgot the question when the dark green smoke began forming a shape. If I open my eyes a little more, I am sure it's going to pop out of my eye socket. The moon was covered by thick clouds for a few seconds, and when it came back, I was struck by the sight in front of me. Hundreds of creatures, which have a human figure with extra fittings like a tail and all, stood ahead of us. They were gray with black stripes. Each of them had a tattoo on their shoulder. Their hair was so long that it touched their knees. When I saw their eyes, they were dark green in color, just like smoke, and they were filled with wickedness.
"Be near me."
It was a warning, and Ryan didn't have to say that twice. I stayed there like a statue until one of the creatures ambled towards me. He lifted his hand to my face. I waited for Ryan to do something, but he made no response. The thin, bony finger met my face, and he began moving it down to my neck. I caught a glimpse of his fangs slowly coming out. Terrified, I pushed him hard, but to my surprise, he vanished into that green smoke. I immediately turned to find Ryan, but was stupefied to see him missing from the spot. Did he just abandon me here, and that too with them? Was he trying to kill me? Was this all his plan?
Anger and disappointment washed through my mind. Without waiting for a single moment, I ran in a random direction like a normal human, but my mind ran like a vampire. I was starting to develop feelings for him. But he... he betrayed me. Tears fell out of my eyes like raindrops. My life will never be perfect.
I was running like a mad person until my legs went weak and I collapsed on the ground. I have survived before, but not now. They are going to kill me for sure. My vision blurred because of the sudden entry of green smoke all around me. I closely looked at one of its formations. First, the smoke formed a pair of eyes, then the rest of the body. It was scary to see that sight. Can't they just form all together? Why does it have to be part by part? All of them moved towards me and started forming a circle. The life of Atarah Davidson is going to end here.
My self-sympathy thoughts were roughly filled with angry roars. I spun around to find the source of that sound. Infinite numbers of werewolves pushed past the dark creatures and formed a protective cover around me. I immediately identified one of them as my so-called 'grandfather'. He was in the lead, accompanied by a very young yet handsome-looking wolf. Wait, how can I call a wolf handsome? I am definitely going crazy.
After a few minutes, an actual war broke out in front of me. Though everyone was hurting, they made it a clear mission to protect me. There was no end to this fight as the dark creatures vanished into smoke and then came back again. Is there no death for them? I didn't know what to do. If I interfere, it's only going to be a burden for them. I didn't notice one of the beasts crawling towards me until it was so close. He held my hand tightly, and his fangs were so close to my neck, but he was roughly pulled back by someone.
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