Chapter 4: Freedom or Supervision?

“A Blood Oath. It’s an old vampire trick,” Lilith winked. “And that means, Willow of Portland, you are to never tell a single human about what you have learned about the Underground, from here to the end of your life.”

Her voice rang like royalty, a declaration, a command. As she spoke, a word, a ‘need,’ spread throughout Willow’s bones: ‘Silence.’

She opened her mouth to speak, to protest, to complain as she had not done but moments ago. But the words failed to leave her, her throat clamped, as if invisible bindings had roped around each of her vocal cords.

She clamped a hand to her throat and forced herself to speak. “Auugh…”

Willow let out a hollow gasp as her temples slowly but surely became an aching bell. Lilith paused and blinked. “But you can still speak, breathe, eat, and drink! And everything else you can do!”

And like that, the bindings disappeared, and the ache vanished. Willow let out a heavy gasp of air as she let out wet, angry sputters.

“Wh-what? What was that?” Willow asked through broken breath.

“Ah,” Lilith winced. “Blood Oaths are tricky, and damningly exact in their wording. I’m…sorry, but I don’t have a choice.”

“Is…” Willow’s mind raced. Just what had this vampire done? “What—Magic?!”

“I mean, I’m not sure what you were expecting when I said Blood Oath, but y—”

In an instant, Willow was at her feet. She needed to get out of this place. Magic, vampires, a bloody Blood Oath?! This was either a nightmare, or the worst night of her life! She was just robbed, kidnapped, and enslaved. No, no, this was the end of her rope. She didn’t want to be at this vampire’s godd*mn lair anymore.

Her previous numbness was forgotten, her previous fatigue all but a memory as she stormed out of Willow’s old home. Powered by rage and desperation, she made her way upward.

The “veil,” as Lilith called it, wore at the corner of her eyes, but Willow paid it no mind as she thundered down the sidewalk.

In the back of her mind, she was vaguely aware of Lilith calling after her, but Willow paid her no mind. She had given more than enough of her time to this freaky lady.

“Hey, wait!” Lilith continued to cry.

“Leave. Me. Alone!” Willow snapped.

In a blur of blue and black, Lilith darted in front of her. “I know I’ve done you wrong—”

Willow took Lilith by the shoulder and shoved her aside. Whether due to surprise or by willful surrender, Lilith stumbled away. “You can’t go home yet!”

“Watch me!” Willow snapped.

“Not that way!” Lilith once again darted in front of Willow, and quickly grabbed her by the left arm. “Look!” she said. “Just let me—”

Willow’s arm tensed, and she raised her right hand, which was clenched into a fist, teeth snarling. ‘She isn’t human,’ Willow told herself. ‘She is a vampire, an undead creature of the night. Told in stories, bad movies, and common enemies to kill in video games. Lilith is not human, and she never will be.’

But, Lilith’s expression faltered, her head lowering as she grasped Willow’s left arm with both hands.

“…you can’t leave the Underground without this rune,” she said, and shoved a small rock in her hand. On it, was a rune shaped like the Bluetooth symbol. Lilith lowered her arms and stepped to the side. “It’s our entry/exit pass, or bus pass if you want to be cute. Head to a nearby bus station, you can leave the Underground. Without it, you won’t be able to return to the normal world.”

Willow looked at the small rock and shoved it in her pocket. “Fine. Be seeing you, I guess.”

With that, Willow walked forward, and didn’t look back.

##

The very next morning, Willow slumped her head against her desk. Sure enough, she was robbed, but nothing that couldn’t be returned with a simple application. Mostly medical supplies, but nothing major. Mostly blood packets, a few braces, and other such items that wouldn’t be out of place in a first aid kit.

Willow sighed and checked her desk computer. She had plenty of emails coming from the usual sources. Job ads, old friends asking how Portland was, and so on. There was one coming from some guy from the local hospital, named George or something.

She looked over the subject line and put the email inbox away. She had enough to do at the moment, and clients to greet. She had found an inbox full of appointments, the first of which was from a guy named Robert Run.

Well…kinda.

Her clinic wasn’t the best, the biggest, or all that marketed. It was placed near the waterfront, a bit away from the local fishing community and warehouses. But still close enough to downtown that a short hike was all it took to get from one to the other.

The clinic itself was a two story building, or, at least, it had a second story with a single room that doubled as the attic. Willow’s room was that attic, with the majority of the ground floor being the front entrance, the storage, the operating room, and a closet.

It was an odd setup, Willow thought, but it was hers.

She checked the time. 9:00AM, PST. Her work phone hadn’t rung once since she set up shop, but to be fair, it only opened last Friday.

Though, at this rate, Willow noted that she would have to ask her dad for rent money. Ugh, she hated doing that, for a number of reasons.

Then, a gentle thump echoed on the door, and Willow perked. A client?

“Uh, come in!” she said, and the door opened.

And her first client made her blood run cold.

“Ah, hello again sweetie!” a Japanese woman, with a sweet smile, gentle curves, a twinkle in her eyes, and fox whispers on her cheeks, greeted. “I hear that you’re our newest doctor!”

Willow, at that moment, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and smiled thinly. “Of course, how can I help you?”