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nHeidi sat next to the group of women who sat near the fire, taking its warmth. She raised her hands, feeling her palm catch the heat of the fire which was in front of her. It had been some time since she took a seat wondering when her sister would want to go back home as they had spent quite some time at the bonfire celebration.

nNora who had caught Noah’s attention or rather Nora had stopped Noah who was passing in front of her now stood at one side talking to each other. She saw her sister laugh over something Noah said, her hand in front of her mouth to hide her growing smile. She looked at them for a while before casting her eyes away from them. She knew her sister well. Nora had never shown a hint of interest in the local boys of their town as her eyes always sought for things that of higher value. Men with money belonging to higher classed society with other materialistic assets were what attracted her. Heidi knew the only reason Nora was talking to him was that her sister had found him talking to her.

nEven the little amount of attraction or fondness she had grown in her heart towards the young local man had been stubbed since she found out about her marriage to a vampire belonging to Bonelake empire of the East. That didn’t mean she had agreed to it completely. Since her uncle had visited she hadn’t slept well, day and night she kept repeating their words with the turmoil which increased with every passing minute in her mind.

nShe had sought freedom since the beginning, a word which was entitled to everyone but instead she had received something else. Worse. But maybe, maybe this was for the best, she thought to herself. She was given the opportunity to live a better life but what if the man didn’t accept her? It was the fear of acceptance, the fear of rejection and the fear of being thrown back to the place she had come from that ate her alive. The sudden chill of air that passed through startled her out of her thoughts and she brought up her hands to rub them over her arms. She regretted not bring her shawl to keep herself warm after all winter had fallen over their lands.

nTurning around she realized that the clock tower couldn’t be seen from here as it faced in the other direction. Having nothing to do, she decided to go look at the time on the highest tower in their town which wasn’t far. She walked away from the crowd and noise, voices drowning in the night as she drifted away and closer to the tower. When she looked up she registered that it had been only an hour since she had arrived at the bank side of the river.

nAs she stared at the tall tower she realized that her situation could be changed. All this time she had been saving the money so that one day she could leave the Curtis’ family. Instead of delaying any more time she could use her saved money to leave before she was forced to something she didn’t want to. Even without her, the marriage would go on. After all, it was Nora’s painting that their Lord had seen and decided; she knew her sister was more than happy to agree to the marriage.

nIt was obvious that the Duke, her Uncle Raymond had associated himself with didn’t have any good intentions. And there was no guarantee that the people the Duke was up against weren’t as worse as the Duke himself. Heidi didn’t want any part in it and she wanted to stay as far as possible from the dirty politics of the empire. But she didn’t know when to leave, where to go. She needed to think things through before she would run away from here. The more the time she spent here, the more difficult it would be to run away.

nHeading back to the bonfire celebration, Heidi walked through the tall, lean trees which needed to be passed before reaching the river bank. She walked through the trees, listening to the sound of the crickets on the ground and the rustling of the grass as she made her way through them. She brought the back of her hand towards her mouth to cover the wide yawn she let out. At the same time, she heard a woman cry out in pain. Surprised by the sudden cry, Heidi looked around trying to find the source of it and found a young woman sitting against a tree.

n“Agh,” the woman had her hand placed over her neck while her face contorted with pain.

n“Are you alright Ms...?” Heidi asked stepping closer to the woman with concern.

nShe could see something wet and dark staining the woman’s neckline and hand. It seemed like she was bleeding! Had a vampire bit her? Heidi thought to herself worried. Was it the man whom she had spoken to previously? Not wasting any time, she took the handkerchief and brought it in front of the woman, “Please take this. I’ll go get help!” she said.

nHeidi took a few steps forward but when she turned back she stopped instantly in her tracks. The woman’s body had begun to convulse uncontrollably, her body shaking and the look on her face continued to distort. The clouds had only begun to move to let light on the land and that is when Heidi saw that the woman’s blood wasn’t red and instead it was a hue of black. She noticed that her skin had turned to broken scales like the dried fields during drought and realized she wasn’t a human. She couldn’t be a vampire either which would only mean one thing. She was in front of a witch.

nThe witch had gone to its original form, the wound still visible on the neck as the woman stood up to look at her. Heidi was too shocked to move even a finger and she stood still. Goosebumps formed all over the skin and this time it wasn’t due to the cold. She could hear distant screams coming from where the bonfire was taking place. Soon she could see the townsfolk who had been camping near the river, running from there as two more witches swooped in mid-air while sitting on a broom. Suddenly the witch began running towards her and Heidi then began moving her legs running towards the center of the town.

nShe ran with all her might, putting all her strength to run away from the witch. Fortunately or unfortunately the witch who had been chasing her caught sight of two other women who had been running close by and caught up with them to pull back one of them. The woman tripped and fell down, her leg tightly held by the witch who was dragging her back before mounting on the broom and disappearing deeper into the forest. Heidi had halted her steps seeing the woman being dragged and she knew it wasn’t time to think about others but it was someone she knew who had been taken by the witch. She didn’t know what the witches intentions were but seeing many more brooms sweep past them in the air, she gave one last look in the direction where the witch had disappeared and she continued to run towards home.

nEveryone who had been out in the town where running and screaming at the sudden visit of the witches in the town. On the way back she caught up with Nora whose face had turned ashen with shock. She had brought her sister home safe and once they were in safe, all the windows and doors were shut and locked. When their father heard about the intrusion of the witches, he had lost color on his face but to only replace it with anger which was directed to her sister, Nora.

n“Do you understand the situation you had presented yourselves with?” their father scolded Nora who was standing in front of him along with Heidi next to her, “Stop being an irresponsible child and start acting of your age. A little bit of worse luck and you women wouldn’t be here now. What if something had happened to you or Heidi?!”

n“We are alright and there were all the townsfolk,” Nora replied to him in a small voice.

n“I only sent you because you wanted to go. Meddling and mingling with those lower class people. Is that what you want? To be married to a man with no status?”

n“No father but I do not mind marrying the man who Lord Woville has chosen which has-”

n“Enough!” Heidi flinched along with Nora with the loud voice of their father that reached the roof, “From now, you shall help your sister with the work and you won’t be associating yourself with Ms Carmine. Be an obedient child, Nora,” her father gave her the final verdict.

n“But father...” their father raised his hand, giving her a sharp glare before returning to his room for the day.

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