13 Alon

Astraea returned to the cabin, where she noticed Ophelia peering out one of the house windows, but she didn't give her another thought and proceeded to her bedroom. Ophelia stood there still, watching as the young girl moved by her and down the rear hallway.

"She's matured," Ophelia stated her opinion. Astraea's change was good in Ophelia's opinion. Her emotions were gone and she couldn't get them back, but her old habits remained, and the old vampire could see that Astraea was still thinking like her naive prior self. However, the sight in her eyes was gradually shifting, becoming colder, and her humanity was about to crack. The woman's thin lips stretched into a faint smile devoid of kindness in response to this thinking.

It was sunset, and night was approaching, but Astraea didn't typically go to bed at this hour. She was, however, mentally exhausted after the events of the day and collapsed on the bed. She couldn't fall asleep for a few minutes after that. She got out of bed, frustrated, and headed back to the dining room, the room with the window Ophelia was looking out of.

Astraea took a seat in one of the chairs and turned to face Ophelia, who stood on the opposite side of the room. "Did you know?" Astraea's voice was hardly audible, but they both knew Ophelia heard her and understood what she was asking.

"I'm not sure I understand your question." Ophelia's voice was emotionless, and her expression was serious. Astraea couldn't tell if the woman was lying or not because there was no heartbeat coming from her chest as she was practically dead.

"Why aren't you asking as to why David isn't present?" Instead of informing Ophelia what she was talking about, Astraea asked a question in an attempt to get her to expose herself.

However, Astraea's scheme backfired since Ophelia reacted with another question, understanding what Astraea was up to. "Why should I care in the slightest about him? He was only here because he was your travel partner. I wouldn't care even if he went out for a year"

"Did you know that he died?"

"I did," Astraea was taken aback by Ophelia's response, and she questioned why she had waited so long to ask when Ophelia responded without hesitation. "You're probably asking why I didn't tell you upfront. This is to demonstrate that you lack the mental capacity to compel me to say what you want to know and that this is a skill you will need in the future."

Astraea frowned, but Ophelia was correct. The sole benefit she earned from becoming a vampire was increased strength and speed, as well as improved senses. For the other stuff, she'd have to train and work hard.

Ophelia walked out of the dining room without saying anything further, and Astraea sat for a long time before deciding to force herself to sleep, no matter how long it took.

Astraea had gone without sleep that night because she couldn't shake the feeling that something horrible would happen the next day. She entered the dining room, and the two of them ate in silence. "Can you tell me what's wrong with you?" When the look of dread on Astraea's face became too much for Ophelia to bear, she questioned.

"I have a feeling something horrible is going to happen," Astraea muttered.

Ophelia laughed out loud. "Trust your instincts. You must constantly trust your instincts; even a minor doubt could result in your death. For example, you may sense murderous intent directed at you, but you dismiss it as a figment of your imagination. So, what do you think is going to happen?"

Astraea nodded and thought about it, but she didn't get what Ophelia was saying about trusting her feelings. If she has a bad feeling about anything bad happening, all she can do is wait for it to happen, because her instincts aren't going to inform her when or where it will happen.

"Whatever the case may be, today is your last day of leisure. When you get to town, pay a visit to the two you met today or do anything you choose. Allow me to issue a forewarning. You won't be able to leave until you've mastered both vampire and witchcraft techniques." Ophelia then exited the dining room.

Astraea was watching her departing figure when she had a thought. "What does she do all day?" Astraea immediately realized that she had never seen Ophelia go outdoors much, that she always returns to her room, and that it is just not in anyone's nature to sit in one room for too long, so what does she do? Is it possible to spend an entire day staring into space? Astraea's thoughts were plagued by all of these questions.

The girl stood up and looked in the direction Ophelia was going before shaking her head and concluding it wasn't her concern. Astraea stepped out of the hut and into the woods. She attempted to return to town by following the path she had seen the day before.

Even though she despised the cold that comes with winter, the air had become chillier, yet it didn't disturb her. Astraea looked at the leafless trees that signaled the arrival of winter and paused for a moment, frowning at it. She didn't sense the rage she used to feel when she saw leafless trees any longer. She had a blazing attraction to something or someone, and she had no idea what it meant she also had anger towards her brother and both feelings were balanced out.

Astraea walked along the pathway, turning away from the tree and avoiding eye contact with the other leafless ones. She felt eyes on her for a time during her walk. Her head swung around so quickly that a human would have suffered whiplash. Astraea had a look around but couldn't find anything. She smelled something in the air, but it came from all directions, so she concluded it was a hunter. Ophelia's words slipped past her mind, but she dismissed them and kept walking.

______________________________

The throne was occupied by Astrophel. The throneroom had become his favorite spot in the palace, as it reminded him that he had acquired the throne. The man he had intimidated and expelled had returned early to inform him of his discoveries. With a sneer on his face, Astrophel motioned for him to start talking.

"I discovered her in the kingdom of Zlork." Astrophel sprang up from his chair, he let out a wicked chuckle. He approached the frightened assassin and stepped on his hand, which he had placed on the ground and pressed down.

"How come this report sounds so much like the one you presented last week?" Before yelling, Astrophel sighed and pinched his brow. "Because it's the same one!" He felt compelled to destroy something, but he clenched his teeth and stared down on the man, "Have you dispatched someone to capture her?" he inquired.

"Yes, your Majesty." Astrophel drew his blade and nodded. Before looking at the man groveling in front of him, he ran his palm along the blade.

"If I don't get her here today, I'm going to be upset. I'm going to kill you!"

____________________

When Astraea arrived in town, she decided to pay Jane and the boy a visit. She felt more at ease in their company and wanted to meet with them for a few more days. That won't be possible while she's under house arrest, and who knows how long it'll take her to perfect being both a vampire and a witch.

She stepped up to the two-story building and pulled the door open, but what she found inside was not what she had expected. There were dismembered bodies and bodies with slash marks all over the place, but just one corpse drew Astraea's attention.

The owner of the bar-like structure was on the floor in the middle of it all, but only her back was visible, and she appeared to be covering something. Astraea approached the body and heard whimpers from beneath it. She yanked on the arm, and with the help of some of her vampire strength, she pulled the figure out from under the woman.

"You?" The person she recognized was the boy from the day before; his blond hair was disheveled with blood, and his bangs were still covering his eyes, but Astraea could tell he was crying from the sounds he was making.

"Where is she?" A voice from the street inquired. Because they were so far apart, the discussion was muffled, and Astraea didn't know how to control her vampire hearing. However, Astraea deduced that they were seeking her based on the word princess.

"We need to get out of here as soon as possible."

The boy gave Jane a long look before nodding and rising. Astraea peered out the window and waited for the two Valen soldiers to go search for her elsewhere before grabbing the boy and running into the woods.

They came to a halt, and the boy panted, trying to collect his breath. "Come live with me." Astraea offered, but the child shook his head swiftly.

"I don't want to be a burden."

"Of course you won't be staying with me for free," Astraea scoffed, "I just haven't figured out what I want from you yet."

"I don't have any money," Astraea ignored him.

"Well, I'm not going to call you boy anymore." "Did Jane give you a name?" she wondered, tapping her chin. Astraea frowned and considered it for a moment after the boy shook his head, but she was no expert at naming people.

"Fine, you're Alon from now on."

*For those who don't remember, Alon was Astraea's father's name.

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