9 What happened?

It was a tense situation. The silence had a certain vibe to it that told you not to break it. Astraea was exploring the parts of the cabin she hadn't seen before. Astraea was walking down a corridor when she noticed the wall to her left. What was there was a portrait of a certain blonde seated in a royal-like chair, with a handsome, red-haired man standing nearby with his arm rested on the chair. Both of them were beaming at the camera. The portrait was painted in 1764. This surprised Astraea more than it should have.

"What are you up to?" Astraea jumped in fear at the only sound in the corridor and quickly turned to look at Ophelia, who looked exactly like she did over two hundred and fifty years ago. Ophelia glanced at the picture behind Astraea before returning her gaze to the girl. "What are you up to?" She asked the same question again.

As she spoke, Astraea moved her gaze away from the image. "I was looking around the cabin in areas I hadn't seen before." Ophelia nodded to Astraea's response and turned to leave.

"Avoid this hallway and the rooms in it." Despite the fact that Astraea and Ophelia had finally spoken in the 5 hours since Astraea had awoken, the tense atmosphere persisted, and Astraea wondered if it was because of what was going to happen at midnight. Something which hasn't been done in over a couple of hundred years, and the last time the changing ceremony was held was when Ophelia changed. But Ophelia is the only person alive who knows how to do it.

Astraea did as Ophelia instructed and exited the hallway, not in the mood to look at the ones she was permitted to look at because the mystery of the abandoned hallway was far more appealing. The abandoned hallway's secrecy was a name that Astraea came up with for the hallway because, due to the dust that was everywhere, she assumed it had been abandoned, and that name was 'fitting and cool.'

Astraea decided to go outside instead of looking around the cabin. She was sitting on the porch, enjoying the cool breeze when she became aware of the presence of someone sitting beside her. She looked to her right, expecting to see David, but instead saw Ophelia's side profile. "You are free to leave."

Astraea furrowed her brows at Ophelia, not understanding what she meant. Ophelia detected Astraea's perplexity and decided to clarify, "Your heart is weeping. Whoever you met the day before is close by. Before you decide to approach that person, find out who they are." Ophelia stood up and returned inside.

Astraea shook her head, deciding she won't go looking for someone she doesn't know, and she doesn't care who he is or that her soul cries for him. She doesn't want anything to do with him because she values her country more than discovering who some insignificant person is.

Astraea rose from her seat on the floor and entered the cabin, looking around for David. She was bored and restless because she had nothing to do. Ophelia stated that she would handle the preparations for the ritual, which would take place outside, and that she did not want Astraea or David to interfere.

Astraea walked down the familiar hallway, thinking he might be in his room, and as she passed her room, she knocked on the door to the room directly beside it. Astraea smiled as she heard the creaking sound of an old door opening and saw who was peering out from the inside. "Can we have a conversation?" Astraea inquired.

David nodded and moved aside, allowing Astraea to enter through the open door. David motioned to the bed, and Astraea thanked him before walking over and taking a seat. David walked up behind her and sat beside her.

"So, what were you hoping to discuss?" David inquired, his gaze drawn to the door a few feet away.

"Your mind has been somewhere else lately," Astraea stated flatly as if she were stating the obvious. She looked at David and followed his gaze until her gaze was drawn to the door. "What's the matter?"

Astraea returned her gaze to David and paused for a moment to take in his rugged expression. His eyes had dark circles and an eye bag, indicating that he had gotten very little sleep. His lips were discolored and chapped, and his hair was a mess. Astraea averted her gaze from him and mumbled low enough that David couldn't hear her. "What happened to you?"

David sighed, as if he was exhausted, both physically and mentally, which bothered Astraea. He chose to stay with her when he could have sided with Astrophel and lived a quiet life. "Lay back." Astraea glared at David when he refused to lie down. "It's a command." David immediately put his head on the pillow and stretched his legs out.

David was taken aback when Astraea kicked off her shoe and crawled up to lie down next to him. She wrapped her arm around him protectively and whispered in a gentle, soothing tone. "Sleep," she said as she petted his hair in a motherly manner. Astraea's mother always said that a princess or queen must love their subjects as much as mothers love their children.

Her voice alone was soothing, making him drowsy, and he hoped he wouldn't have another nightmare like the one he had the night before. David's eyes fluttered shut, and he quickly fell asleep alongside Astraea.

"Wake up!" Ophelia's voice rang out. Astraea and David awoke at the same time and looked at each other before turning to see the door closed and no sign of Ophelia, implying she must have used one of her witchy powers.

Astraea looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was 11:30 p.m., which meant she had thirty minutes before she became a vampire. Astraea jumped out of bed and looked in the mirror, realizing she was a complete disaster. She rushed over to her room after apologizing to David. She pushed the door open, and the first thing she noticed was a white nightgown draped over her mattress. Astraea approached it and took the note that was on it.

'Put this on.'

Astraea scanned the nightgown she was wearing. There was nothing special about it, but Astraea changed into it, thinking it might be a tradition of some sort. She knew where the ritual was taking place, and the route to the location was already memorized. She found her way to the spot outside, at the back of the cabin, with ease.

What she saw was a hole in the ground, probably six feet deep, with the various stones, which she had helped purchase at the shop, laid out above ground on the edge. Astraea approached Ophelia and inquired. "What's the deal with the stones?"

Ophelia's expression was the same as it is every time Astraea asks her a question. Nonetheless, she responded. "Vampires can be found all over the world." Ophelia ignored Astraea's surprised expression and continued. "However, those vampires have fatal flaws and cannot learn magic because once they lose their humanity, the mana given to humans to protect themselves vanishes."

Ophelia motioned to the stones. "This is something I'll tell you once you've mastered magic, but I can tell you right now that these stones grant you immunity to all of a vampire's weaknesses."

Astraea frowned at the new information when a thought occurred to her, "My mother used to tell me, 'There is always a price for tampering with nature,' does this not count as tampering with it?"

Ophelia smiled to herself, but the smile vanished as quickly as it appeared. "Yes, there is a cost," Astraea looked at Ophelia, her eyes wide with curiosity. "You will lose more of your humanity than normal vampires."

"And what do I get in return for my humanity?"

"You develop faster, stronger, and more acute senses such as hearing, seeing, and smelling. Those are the normal vampires' rewards. But with this ritual, you will gain the ability to transform people into regular vampires who will serve as your army and never disobey your commands. You will be stronger, faster, and more sensitive than normal vampires. And you won't have any of the weaknesses that come with being a vampire, giving you the ability to use magic, and you'll be able to use powerful magic thanks to your bloodline."

The more Astraea considered it, the better the offer became. There was one thing, however, that bothered her. "You stated that I would lose my humanity. Does this imply that I'll lose touch with my emotions?" Her feelings meant everything to her. She wouldn't be human if she didn't have any emotions. She'd turn into a monster.

"You wouldn't exactly lose control of your emotions. You will lose dormant emotions, but the dominant ones will become more powerful."

"Would you mind telling me what my dominant emotions are?" Astraea inquired, her eyes pleading.

Ophelia appeared to be debating whether or not to tell her, but after a moment, she decided there was no harm in telling her. "You have only one dominant emotion." Astraea was even more intrigued because this emotion would be the only one she kept if she decided to become a vampire "Attraction."

'Attraction?' Astraea was puzzled. 'Do I have feelings for David?' She didn't have time to answer her mind's questions because the clock Ophelia had brought with her showed 11:59, giving her one minute to make a decision. She nodded her head at Ophelia, deciding that protecting her country was more important than being human, just as the clock struck midnight.

Astraea felt something pierce through the flesh on the back of her neck a split second after seeing a blur, she could feel her blood leaving her body, and the world before her darkened completely.

Astraea awoke and dragged herself to a sitting position, exhausted. She looked around and saw the hole she saw before passing out filled with dirt. 'What purpose would that serve?' She looked around again and noticed Ophelia staring at her with a blank expression. Astraea, on the other hand, could smell something different, which was pity.

"What happened?"