Chapter 4 4

Scene 1: Blackfang haunting forest

The moon is hanging so close to the treetops, it casts long silver fingers through its dense pines. Hilda is crouching at the edge of the clearing, her nostrils flaring as she brushed her fingertips along a bent patch of grass. Her keen wolf senses had picked up what she had hoped would be there.

Hilda -(She is muttering) "Adolf... and something else."

She pressed her fingers to the ground. It was wolf musk that is familiar, dominant, commanding. His own, but it was braided into something that was colder, thinner and ancient.

Hilda- (She grimaced) "It is a vampire."

(She stood up to follow the trail deeper, her instincts pulsed in her chest like it was a drumbeat. The scent was so recent, maybe it was an hour old.

Hilda- (She growled low) "You did not tell me everything, Adolf."

(There were footsteps behind her. It is Marcus, Adolf's Beta emerging from the thickets, he brushed off leaves from his shoulders.

Marcus- Hilda. You are out this late.

Hilda- (She snaps at him) you are also out so late

Marcus- (glancing at the ground)" am I tracking something?

Hilda- (looking into his eyes) Have you ever smelt a vampire that is this close to our borders?

Marcus- (He stiffens) No. It has not been since... the old treaties. Why?"

Hilda- (She was tight-lipped) I caught something which was faint, but it was fresh, and it was missed by Adolf's scent.

Marcus- (quietly) Do you think that he has been meeting one?

Hilda- "I think that he is hiding something."

Marcus -He is our Alpha.

Hilda - "And I have known him longer than anyone else. There is a shift in him. His eyes now drift like he is looking backward and forward. And that mark that is on his chest-it is not just a burn."

Marcus (He shivers) Do you think that he is-"

Hilda- (firmly) I know that he has been touched by something. And if it is a vampire... I am going to find out what she wants with him."

(The wind shifts to the east, and it carries the scent further east. Hilda's jaw tightens. She started to run. Marcus followed her closely behind. Then the forest began to whisper around them, it was like it had a secret that it was hiding from Hilda.

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Scene 2: Deep in the Blackfang haunting forest

(The clearing is so calm and the moonlight is spilled like liquid silver across the mossy ground. Valeria is sitting on a fallen log, her hair is glinting like it was starlight. Adolf was leaning against a tree which was opposite her, his arms were crossed, his eyes staring at her steadily.

Adolf:Why do you always pick the most haunted spots?

Valeria: (Smiling softly) It is because ghosts make good company. They tell the truth.

Adolf- (He arches his brow) You feed on sorrow. It seem convenient."

Valeria- (She lowered her gaze) But it is not what you think. I don't take it like it is blood, I only. Absorb it. Ease it. It is the only way I can survive without killing for blood.

Adolf- (quietly) So you feed by helping the broken."

Valeria- Or by just listening, Grief lingers in the bones much longer than blood in the veins."

Adolf -(He approaches slowly) That is not called survival. It is penance.

Valeria- (She is startled) Maybe. Or you can call it mercy.

There was a long pause between them. The air was vibrating, but it was not with threat, but with weight. It was like a moment when we were trying to stay together.

Adolf- "So how long have you lived like this?"

Valeria-Much longer enough to enable me to forget the taste of joy.

Adolf- (softly) And now?

Valeria (She looks up at him) "You have made it taste familiar."

(Adolf is only a few feet away from her and she is not moving. Neither is he. The tension has crackled like it was lightning in the pause before a storm.

Adolf:Tell me the reason you said that we met before.

Valeria- (Her voice is barely a whisper) It is because I remember your soul, not your face. In the space that is between lifetimes, you howled for me.

Adolf (He catches his breath) "Then why does it feel like I have been searching for you without knowing why?"

Valeria- (She slowly reaches out to him) It is because your soul has never stopped looking for me.

Their fingers almost touched each other's own, his breath warmed her cold skin, her sorrow was grazing his spirit. The pull between them is magnetic, ancient, hungry.

Adolf- (Spoke softly) "If I start touching you... I might not be able to stop."

Valeria- (Her voice was trembling when she spoke) Then don't you stop

(But he did not touch her. His hand hesitated, it was trembling so close to her, but he pulled back. (He was too afraid of what might break.)

Adolf - (quietly) This is not safe.

Valeria - (Her eyes were shining) yes, it is not safe, but it is real.

(They held the moment like it might slip between their fingers. And then they heard a sharp sound.

It was a rustle in the trees.

(Adolf's head snaps up and looks toward the direction of the sound. Valeria's eyes narrowed-her senses flared. Something is shifting in the shadows, but it is wrong. It was not a beast, nor a man or a ghost)

Valeria- (Tensed) They are watching us.

Adolf- (He growls lowly) "Whoever it is, they have been quiet for a long time."

Then they see it.

Crimson.

((A pair of eyes that were burning with their own sinister fire was looking at them from the trees. It did not blink, and did not move an inch. It had ancient rage which leaked like venom into the air.

Adolf- (He steps forward as a protective shield for her) Show yourself now.

The eyes blinked and then it vanished.

But the scent is still strong in that part, it remains cold blood, dead earth... and something else that seems darker.

Valeria- (Her voice is a hush) That smell is not from me, where is it coming from?

Adolf- I wonder where it is coming from?

A shadow quickly flies past the trees. Its pace is as fast as a light. It was silent like a curse made flesh.*

Valeria- (She is backing up) We need to go now.

Adolf- (A low snarl) Wait, we need to hunt it down.

Valeria- (She grabbed his arm) No, Adolf. That thing is not hunting you. It is waiting.

Adolf- (his eyes hardened) For what?

Valeria did not answer. Her eyes are locked where the crimson ones are situated.

Valeria- (She spoke softly, there was fear in her voice for the first time) "It is for the Blood Eclipse."

Above them, the moon flickered for a second, it was just like a pulse, like there was something ancient which was stirring behind its silver veil. Coming out of the shadows, a voice that sounds like it has no lungs murmurs a single word:*

End of Chapter