Alea
I hold my hand out to Elfrea and help her to her feet. She keeps her hurt arm bent close to her; the wound looked to be healing, but she still bled. I turn to Cole, needing to explain everything and that we should head to safety. Before I'm able to get any word out, a loud inhuman roar pierced the night air, followed by three ferals bounding fast around from the back of the manor.
I prepare, readying my blades and putting myself between them and Elfrea, then a flash of darkness flashed in front of my eyes, heading to the pack of ferals. It seemed to wrap around them, and in an instant, two feral's heads fell from their bodies. The third, however, managed to get away and rushed towards me.
I quickly speak the words to bring fire to one hand and throw it towards the oncoming feral. The ball of flame smacks into its face, causing it to shriek in pain. The creature stops the attack, focused on trying to pat away the burning flame. Taking advantage, I bring up my blade and strike into its heart. Falling to the ground lifeless, I prepare myself for any more attacks.
I look over to Cole, and that's when I see his eyes, which glowed a bright red. I took a step back, distancing myself from him. The only way his eyes could glow like that is if he were a vampire himself. Then I remembered what he had started to tell me about the next mission. We were not being placed under a random vampire; it was him.
Elfrea is then placing herself between Cole and me. I heard a low growl, at first thinking it was another feral about to attack, but it was different. It was low, almost like a wolf protecting its young, and it was originating from Elfrea. Elfrea kept her eyes on Cole as if he were more of a threat than the ferals. Cole holds his hands up as a sign that he wasn't going to attack. Elfrea growling stops, but she stays in place, keeping her eyes on him.
"I'm on the witch's side, I mean no one any harm," Cole reassures Elfrea, but her stance continues the same.
I step close to Elfrea and place a hand, gently rubbing the top of her back, letting her know that we are safe. This relaxed her a bit, and she turned to me, wrapping an arm around my waist, pulling me close. I look up at her face, seeing her narrowed eyes remain on Cole, her jaw clenched tight.
"I didn't think you would have a vampire partner already. Hendrik had warned me you hated vampires and might attack me once I showed you who I was." Cole said.
What Cole had said was true; if I had never met Elfrea, I would have attacked him once I knew. I was still on guard, but Cole, a member of Hexerai, had helped me during the mission. Hendrik knew he was a vampire, and to me, that was all I needed to know. I put a lot of faith into Hendrik; it just surprised me that he would even work with one.
"Let's talk more in the cabin. There could be more ferals running about. Each night, more seem to show up." I suggest. Elfrea keeps her arm wrapped tight around my waist as we head in the direction of the cabin.
Cole tips his head in confusion but follows close behind. The entire walk was quiet as we listened in for any signs of attack. Cole also seemed to be keeping a safe distance, giving glances over to Elfrea and me. Elfrea's face stayed serious; she kept her arm around me the whole way to the cabin.
"What a lucky find, the family that used to live here must have been rich." Cole whistles as we come up to the cabin.
We headed inside, Elfrea releasing me so I could get through the door. She, however, made sure I was the first to enter, keeping Cole at a distance from me. She was weirdly overprotective, and I wasn't sure how I felt about it.
I grabbed Elfrea's hand and led her to the small kitchen table, motioning her to sit down in the chair. I knew she would be fully healed by now, but I didn't like seeing her arm covered in blood. I went to the kitchen sink, wetting a rag, and I moved back to Elfrea. She allows me to move her arm and clean the dried blood away. Elfrea's eyes never leave Cole; she continues to watch him as he walks around the room.
"Those things you called ferals were something we named Ghouls back when the vampire era began. They were created the same as all of us who took some variant of the drug Sangria. Although all Ghouls were human with no magical power." Cole said as he took a seat on the small couch. He then began to remove his hair, a wig that helped cover up a short, shaggy mop of silver hair.
"How are they still around?" I ask.
"Unlike vampires, Ghouls can reproduce with one another. I suspect that those who were driven far from the wall had managed to keep their population up. That would also be the reason the Ghouls are pushing in closer. I haven't heard of any being seen this close until your report." Cole explains.
I sat down in the other kitchen chair. It was something else I had to worry about.
These Ghouls were also a problem for vampires. They only wanted blood, and it didn't matter where the Ghouls drank it from. I thought
"So, Alea, how did you get so lucky to find all of this?" Cole gestures around the room.
"Elfrea found the cabin, well, it's her family's cabin. I found the manor first, and Elfrea was locked in a magic-sealed coffin in the basement." I tell him. All of this was out in the open anyway.
I watched his eyebrow tick up in curiosity at what I had just told him. His eyes shift to Elfrea, who had not once moved her stare from Cole. She has not once smiled or shown any other emotion other than quiet anger towards Cole. I thought once I had shown I wasn't afraid or worried about Cole, she would relax more, but I was wrong.
"I don't know what I'm more surprised about. The fact that you made a vampire companion or that you shared your blood with one." Cole said.
"I didn't well, it was more of a small taste, but I haven't been bitten," I explain. I felt my face begin to feel hot. I wasn't sure why I suddenly felt embarrassed.
Elfrea, however, kept her face emotionless, other than the daggers she was throwing with her gaze towards Cole.
"I would never hurt her," Elfrea finally speaks with clenched teeth. It seemed as if she was holding herself back from attacking him.
Cole holds his hands up, showing that he wasn't a threat. I reach over and grab her hand, gently squeezing it to show her everything was alright.
"This will give us issues during your mission. Vampires get overly protective and possessive over those they have drunk from or even just tasted from. When that same vampire has real feelings, that protective possessiveness grows stronger."
"What mission?" Elfrea asks, still keeping her eyes on Cole, but I knew she was asking me. Her voice was back to being soft and kind, at least towards me.
"I don't always steal to keep myself alive. I work with a group that wants Cana back from the vampires. I normally just help steal items or break locks, but Hendrik wants me for an undercover mission." This made her finally break her gaze from Cole to look at me. Her red eyes filled now with worry and sadness.
"So you're going to leave?" Elfrea sounded heartbroken.
"I wasn't planning on leaving for long, but Hendrik needs me for this mission. With all he has done for me, I can't refuse." I quickly say to her. Elfrea squeezes my hand tight.
"Let me come with you," She says.
"First, we need to talk with Hendrik. I will send a letter out letting him know of the new information I have gathered. He thought you were holding something back in your letter." Cole says.
Elfrea quickly stands her focus back onto Cole. "If I want to leave, then that's what I will do." Elfrea lets out a low growl.
"Hendrik might tolerate me because I cause him no issues, but you, however, will be cut down just for speaking. He has no care for vampire kind, those being nice or not." Cole growls back. He was right; if Elfrea acted this way toward him, he would kill Elfrea without a thought. Even if I begged him not to, I was sure it was something my tears wouldn't stop.
I stood up and tugged on Elfrea's arm and hand, giving her the now familiar, reassuring squeeze.
"Why don't we talk about this and figure out what we are going to do in the morning?" I suggest to her. She silently nods her head yes to me.
"There is a small washroom, and you can use the spare room." I turn to Cole, pointing to each of the other doors.
"Why don't you move your things to my room while I start up a new fire, then we can talk," I tell Elfrea, lightly pushing her towards the room to gather her things. She was reluctant, but with speed, she was done before I ever turned around.
I continue to start a new fire to warm the cabin up, and while doing so, my stomach begins to growl. I had gotten so used to having constant food, my body was demanding more. Before I look up from the catching flames, I hear the cold box and the cabinants open.
"Do you want it heated?" Elfrea asks me. She was now in front of the stove, pouring some of the leftover deer into a smaller pot.
I step over and ignite the flame using my fire magic, giving her my answer. I told her thank you, and even with Cole there, I gave her a soft kiss.
"So how does one get trapped in a coffin and still manage to live?' Cole asks Elfrea.
"My brother forced me to take something, the Sangra, before locking me into the coffin. I turned while I lay inside for about two hundred years. I believe he gave me the drug to stop my magic, and I had no way to escape." She tells him a bit of her story and how she knows only what I have told her about what she now is.
"That is an amazing feat, not only did you not wither away with no blood to keep you going, but you have better control than most. Even not knowing that witch blood was in front of you, you stayed away and didn't drain Alea."
"So you are aware I don't want Alea, to me she is a coworker and nothing more. I won't touch her. I do want to keep my head." He says reassuring Elfrea that he wasn't a threat. Elfrea still hadn't relaxed much; her shoulders were still stiff and straight. She was more focused on reheating the meat, but I knew she still watched him.
I sit back down at the kitchen table while Elfrea makes me a plate, setting it in front of me. Elfrea puts the dirty pot into the sink and walks over to sit across from me. I silently ate with Elfrea watching me, and Cole continued to sit on the small couch. He looked away from us into the fire's flames; he had a lost look in his eyes. My mind goes back to Christa, who was out there somewhere, and how Cole was worried about her disappearance.
I ate quickly, and once I put the dishes away, I said goodnight to Cole. Letting him know once more that the room was available for him and the widow was secured for when the sun rose. Elfrea followed close behind me as I went into our now shared room. The night was very eventful, and I had so much to think over. I still had a talk I needed to have with Elfrea.