6 The ritual

"Are you a witch?"

Ophelia looked at Astraea in deep. Ophelia didn't answer for a while. "Mmmh...I guess you could say that, though it's more precise to say that I'm a vampire-witch."

Astraea's mouth fell open in shock, and David stared wide-eyed, trying desperately to make sense of what the woman said. Ophelia walked over to him and flashed him her pearly-whites "Nice to meet you. I'm Ophelia."

David shook her hand, and Ophelia frowned. "You should leave her while you still can, she will be the death of you, and it won't be long before that day comes."

David looked over at Astraea, who has momentarily gotten over the shock as her attention was on the crystals hanging from trees. "Tell me," Ophelia whispered in his ear, both of them looking at Astraea, "Will you die for her? will you die for the sake of her goals?"

David has asked himself that question many times but never found his answer, and he was beginning to think he will never find out how deep his affection for her went. David looked at Ophelia and said, "I'm not leaving her yet" Ophelia looked at him with a warning once more, but he looked away as he didn't want to get swayed by her eyes and end up leaving the princess.

Upon seeing that Ophelia and David's private conversation has ended, Astraea excitedly ran over to them and looked at Ophelia, her facial expression turning nervous in a second. Astraea fiddled with her fingers and looked around at the grass, the crystals, everything except Ophelia.

Ophelia looked at her with annoyance. "What do you want?" Ophelia asked, not bothering to hide her irritation. Astraea stopped fidgeting and looked at Ophelia, nibbling on her lips as she tried to get the words out of her mouth.

"Uhmm... I would like you to" She stopped mid-sentence and looked away once more before she reminded herself of her goal and what she wanted to do. She turned and looked at Ophelia. The nervousness Astraea felt vanished as she uttered her sentence. "I want to become a vampire-sorceress."

Ophelia looked at Astraea, uninterested in where the conversation was going. "So? why are you telling me this?" Ophelia asked as she looked towards the front door of the cabin. She didn't want to be outside any longer.

Astraea was rethinking her decision, but she told herself that she had to be strong. She needs to be strong. "Can you train me?" she asked. She clenched her hand and squeezed her eye shut in an attempt to prepare herself for the incoming rejection.

"Sure," Ophelia said, walking towards the cabin door. Astraea stood tensely staring at nothing, Ophelia's answer finally sunk in, and a broad smile along with a look of surprise took over her beautiful features.

Many people aspiring to become a vampire-sorceress or sorcerer had asked Ophelia to train them, but Ophelia had turned all of them down, saying there is only one person she will teach. Astraea wondered if she had trained this person already, then the reason Ophelia chose to train Astraea would be because she had free time on her hand.

Realizing she was standing outside for a while, Astraea released a shiver. Astraea turned to go inside, but she saw David sitting on the porch of the cabin shivering. It looked as if he was waiting on Astraea. She smiled at him and walked over. "Let's go inside," Astraea said, helping him up.

They walked inside and closed the door behind them. Astraea sighed in content at the heat. David rubbed his arm to warm up faster. Ophelia walked over to them, "I have prepared two bedrooms. Tomorrow you two will follow me out to grab a few supplied.

Before I could ask what she meant, Ophelia -who probably knew what I wanted to ask- ushered us through the cabin. The floorboards creaked with every step we took. The sound somehow gave off a satisfying feeling. I never got over the size of the interior of the cabin that was abnormally huge compared to the outside.

Ophelia led the two to a passageway that strangely had two rooms beside each other. Ophelia looked at David with a strange look. It took a while before she tore her eyes away from him. Astraea noticed and wondered what that was about, but before she could ask, Ophelia hurriedly told them where they could find what they need in the room before walking away.

"What just happened?" David asked, looking in the direction that Ophelia had gone.

Astraea looked dazed as she thought about it but couldn't think of anything David had done. She looked at him and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "You don't think she likes you, do you?"

David held his hands up and shook his head, "No way." He said, chuckling in disbelief. They stopped laughing for a while, and it looked like they were considering the possibility before they both started laughing again. "Goodnight," David said. Astraea replied with a smile, and they both went to their respective rooms.

The room was small and had a single bed pushed up to the corner. There was a wooden table beside it that had a large old lamp on it. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a wardrobe. Astraea approached the closet and placed her hand on the double-doored container. She pulled it open and saw a few pretty dresses that weirdly were her size. David's room was a replica of Astraea's, Except David's closet only had one suit of clothes.

As soon as Astraea's head hit the pillow, the physical fatigue from all the walking, along with her confused mental state from the day events, had shown itself, and she was out like a light. David, however, was troubled by the fact that Nox and Ophelia had said the same thing. 'Astraea will be the death of you' So he could barely get a wink of sleep.

The morning Ophelia had harshly woken them up with a dunk of cold water. Astraea didn't sleep properly, as nightmares haunted her that night.

They were all seated in the dining room having breakfast. Ophelia discussed that they were all going into town to get supplies, Astraea and David had no idea what she was talking about, and they didn't ask. They ate breakfast in silence. After breakfast, Ophelia had sent them to get dressed.

Ophelia and David had a bit of trouble making their way through the house, but they made it to the porch before it was too late as they didn't know Ophelia well and were worried about her reaction to them being late.

They were walking through the forest, but this time they were walking on a clear path and not the thorny bushes Astraea had run through to get to the cabin. The walk was a comfortable silence. They were able to see the town from where they were. Happy that her feet could finally get some relief, Astraea hurried over to the area. They had entered from the forest, so there was no need for them to go through.

They went from shop to shop, but Ophelia couldn't find what she wanted. As the seconds passed by, Astraea's curiosity intensified before she finally broke. "What supplies are we looking for?"

Ophelia looked at Astraea for a second before she started laughing uncontrollably. She paused and looked at Astraea once more before she started laughing again. Astraea had never seen a smile on Ophelia, so the laugh had come as a surprise. Ophelia had a pretty laugh. "You followed me around, and you don't even know why we are here?"

Astraea blushed as she thought about how much of a stupid move it was. She should have asked before they left the cabin. Astraea didn't want to bother Ophelia, so she had decided to tag along and watch as Ophelia bought the things she needed. Thinking everything over, Astraea wondered why she was ever there, why Ophelia wanted them to go with her.

"We're here to get some supplies for you."

Astraea frowned in confusion at the revelation. "For me? What for?"

"The ritual."