CHAPTER 124: THE CURFEW
The only thing bad about the night was how it ended. Every other thing was a success and I wished that a vampire attack would not be top on Kieran’s mind.
“I’ve never seen one up close before. They’re… worse than the stories.”
I looked down at my shaking hands and then at Kieran.
“They are,” he spat, his voice low and dangerous. “But vampires don’t just attack for sport. They need something.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?” I asked.
He looked at me, his expression grim. “I don’t know yet. Not quite sure,” he said. “This attack… it was just the beginning. They’ll come back, and they’ll bring more.”
I certainly didn’t like the sound of that. For once, I thought that everything was finally back to normal. But now we get an attack from a vampire and Kieran is so sure that there would be more. We have fought werewolves, and humans with weapons but not creatures that have lived for thousands of years after our lives it didn’t seem right. The ride back home was quiet. I knew that Kieran could be thinking about what next to do. And I just sat there hoping that the vampire’s needs might not be what I was thinking because this time, Kieran might actually want to give me up. He might be strong to hold back one of them but what if they came in dozens, thousands, and millions? Kieran’s men haven’t still recovered from Ryan’s attacks and now whatever this is. My mind drifted far and wide and whenever it got back to the car, I would see Kieran looking blankly into the road until we got back to the palace.
Kieran reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone as we got to his chambers.
“What are you going to do about the attack? Are you going to tell the people about it?” I asked.
“I thought about it but it’s not going to be a good idea. I’d only the scaring the people. You know they just recovered from food shortage.”
“Well, I’m glad we defeated that,” I forced a smile, “who do you want to call?”
“There’s no time to explain everything now,” he said, dialing a number. “Alex,” he spoke into the phone. “Set up a kingdom-wide curfew immediately. And get the Royal Guard on high alert. We have a vampire problem.”
He ended the call and turned back to me, his gaze holding a warmth. “Don’t worry, Clara,” he said. “We’ll get through this.”
His words offered little comfort, but that did not take away the way that already felt. Sometimes even when I tried to blink, I would see the face of the vampire in the dark. Like it was right there waiting for me. It didn’t quite surprise me much because we were facing a threat unlike any I had ever encountered. But we weren’t alone at least we had each other.
Kieran and I had not said anything about the incident after that night. However, I knew that he made sure that Alex with the palace guards put strict measures about the curfew. For a while, we felt safe again although I missed going g around town with Kieran but Kieran delta that he needed to do something not just wait and hope for the vampire attack to be a coincidence. So, he thought of writing to the vampire King. An idea I wasn’t really sure about. I felt like he would be reminding him about something but it was the only shot we had.
Kieran sat hunched over the aged parchment, his brow furrowed in concentration as the pen scratched rhythmically against the surface. I perched on the edge of the armchair, biting on my lower lip. Apart from the rhythmic scratching of the pen on the paper, the entire space was quiet.
“Do you think he’ll understand?” I finally blurted out, unable to contain my worry any longer.
Kieran’s head snapped up; his eyes boring into mine. For a heart-stopping moment, I thought I saw a flicker of something akin to anger in them. But then it was gone, replaced by something else.
“I don’t know, Clara,” he said, “But it’s the only chance we have.”This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.
He faced the paper and continued writing. I wanted to reach out and comfort him, to whisper in his ears that everything would be fine. And then, he would turn to me with desires in his eyes just the same way that he had looked at me when we went on that date. But then, he felt far at the moment. Everything was not in place. For him or me and so I just curled up in bed and forced my eyes to sleep.
Sleep, when it finally came, was fitful and filled with nightmares. I dreamt of fangs and shadows, of the red eyes glowing in the darkness. I woke with a gasp as my heart pounded and Kieran was lying next to me.
I didn’t quite know it was morning yet until I felt the reflection of the sun on my face and then I opened my eyes. Kieran was already gone, but on the bedside table lay a single sheet of an envelope, the crimson seal of the Vampire King on the back.
Looking at it alone made my stomach grumble. It could have been the custard I had last night but the thought of what to see in inside the envelope was still an important factor. I couldn’t tell why Kieran had left it on the bed but if he didn’t want me to see it, there were many places to hide it away from my reach. Maybe it was good news. I reached for the letter, I watched as my fingers trembled slightly but it didn’t stop me. I opened the envelope as fast as I could before thoughts began to cloud my mind. Just then, I saw the perfectly written script. With each passing word that I looked at; my fingers trembled even more.
“We will not rest,” the letter concluded, “until we have her here with us. Consider this your final warning. War is imminent.”
The letter slipped from my grasp to the floor and I stared blankly into the walls.
So much for misunderstandings. So, it was because of me after all.
The King was strong-willed about getting what he wanted, and he was willing to drag both our kingdoms into war to achieve it.
Tears welled up in my eyes, blurring my vision. I slumped back against the pillows feeling the frustration owing down on me.
Not again. Not with the vampires or anyone else. For once, I deserved to be happy.
There was no escape. I was the key to peace, but also the spark that could start up a war.