They hit me so many times that I lost count of them. All I could do was shield my face as I zoned in and out of consciousness.
There was a flash of light and all of a sudden the blows stopped. I cracked open my eyes to see all four of them lying on the ground. I didn’t have to see the person to know that Hera had saved me. She was the only one who could kill four vampires with a single blow.
She held out her hand and pulled me to my feet. For the first time, I felt happy to see her. She clasped my hands closer and the familiar warmth coursed through me. Her face remained expressionless as she healed all my wounds and bruises.
“Thank you,” I mouthed, feeling too drained to speak.
Her face lit up with a fleeting expression, I couldn’t grasp, “Do you think I healed you for free? I need my payment.”
“W..What payment?”
Her lips lifted in a smirk and she thrust her hand straight into my pocket. I squirmed uncomfortably but she didn’t relent. Moments later, she pulled out the éclair. It had become squished and battered after all the blows.
She waved it in front of me, “I will take this as my payment.”
“You can’t have that!” I blurted out; when I realized what I had said, I smacked myself mentally.
She twirled the crushed sweet between her fingers, “Why can’t I eat this again?”
“Look at its condition; it is all crushed and powdered. How can you possibly eat that?”
“Oh, I don’t think that makes any difference.” With those words, she opened the wrapper and carefully tipped its contents into her mouth.
Now that she had eaten it, I didn’t know how to feel. My eyes darted over the men lying on the ground. She had just saved me from them. She had even healed me and here I was; poisoning her. At that moment, I felt there was no difference between me and her. If she was a monster; I was nothing less.
Her lips lifted in a smile and she staggered. I rushed to grasp her, a sense of dread gripping my heart. I didn’t even get a chance to lament my actions.
The woods rustled, followed by the crunching and thudding of footsteps. My breath got caught in my throat as I looked around. There were more vampires than the trees surrounding us. Their killing intent was so strong that I could sense it in the aura surrounding them.
I had never thought that I would try to save Hera. Yet, here I was, pulling her behind me in a futile attempt to shield her from the hundreds of vampires who were waiting to pounce on us. I have never felt terror so powerful. It made every cell in my body shudder.
Time seemed to slow down and my breath turned labored. They were talking, no they were mocking us but their words didn’t reach my ears. Their voices were replaced by shrill ringing in my ears.
All of a sudden, there was a flash, a glint of something I can’t recall and then everything went dark. I got this funny feeling like someone had covered us with a lid or something.
I was still holding Hera at this point. My heart calmed down after a while only to start fluttering erratically again; this time it wasn’t due to fear. Hera had her arms wrapped around me and she was rubbing her nose on my chest, sending waves of tingles along my body. I wanted to push her away but the darkness enveloping us made even that impossible.
With a frustrated sigh, I grunted, “Why is it so dark in here?”
“You don’t like darkness, Wolf Pup… I didn’t know that…” she slurred before waving her hand. Soon, the place lit up with a blue light. We were enclosed in some sort of a dome. I pulled away quickly and staggered back. I had taken only a few meters when my back got pressed against a hard surface.
The dome was barely enough to accommodate us. I held my head as I looked around in frustration, “How in the world did we end up here, now?”
A soft giggle left Hera’s lips, “T…They would have killed us, if we didn’t come to my secret abode.”
“Secret abode? Where is that?”
She pressed her finger against her lips and shook her head, “It is a secret.”
I looked at her carefully. Her face was flushed and her eyes lidded, her movements clumsy and her voice was slurred. Had the sweet made her drunk?
She started taking off her clothes, confirming my fears. She undid the buttons on her shirt one by one; drawing closer just by an inch every time. There was no place for me to run. I wanted to close my eyes but I found it impossible to take them off her. She had an amazing body, sculpted to perfection. Soon, she had taken off her shirt fully, revealing her lacy bra.
Sweat beaded on my forehead and I staggered. She laced her finger through the strap of her bra. This action brought me back to my senses and I closed my eyes with my hand. “Hera! What do you think you are doing?”
“What I am doing?” She slurred, there was a thud as if she had slammed into the walls but I kept my eyes closed. “I am taking off my clothes. It is so hot in here.”
“I…I don’t think that is such a great idea, Hera…. You really shouldn’t take off your clothes….”
“Why?” I want to lie on the floor naked. That is the best way to feel cold.”
I gulped and tried again, “Hera, why don’t you think of another way to feel better? You are a wereheretic right? You can do anything…. Why don’t you use magic to make this place colder?”
“Hmm….magic…. I don’t know how to use magic.” She slurred moving closer to me. I grabbed her jacket from the ground and placed it across her shoulders.
“How can you not know magic? You probably know all the spells in the world. You just need to think about it.”
“Hmmm…. Let me think,” she stumbled and bumped straight into me as she spoke these words. Placing her head on my bare chest, she muttered, “This feels good too….”
I looked at her helplessly for a moment before pulling us both to a sitting position. The effect of the poison was bound to wear off in some time. I just had to put up with her for a while. With a defeated sigh, I pressed her head against my chest and patted her head gently, “Just sleep for a while. You will feel better when you wake up.”
She grunted in response and snuggled closer. It was good to see her agree to me for a change. I continued to pat her head as I examined the surroundings. There was nothing at all. It was like we were inside a shell. I rapped my fingers against the wall to find that it was made of metal. There was nothing I could do other than wait for Hera to regain her composure. She might know where we were.
At some point, I must have drifted off. I was jolted awake by a strong current of electricity. A scream left my lips as my eyes snapped open. Hera stood towering over me; her face flushed, her eyes livid with rage.
“What did you do to me?” she spoke each word slowly, enunciating them through her gritted teeth.
My heart sank and I clenched the fabric of my trousers. The next moment I was hit by another wave of electricity; this time stronger and more powerful. It sucked all the air from my lungs and I fell to the ground, convulsing in sheer agony.
“Every second you keep quiet, you will be hit with an increasingly strong wave of shock.” Her voice grew dangerously low, “I have never tried this before but I would like to find out how much voltage a werewolf can handle before they are completely turned into ashes.”
Scrambling to my feet, I stuttered, “I don’t know what happened, Hera. We were on the ground and then those vampires surrounded us….” I looked around frantically, “Then, we were here. I know this sounds ridiculous but we were just here. I didn’t do anything at all.”
Her expression hardened. She grabbed my collar and pulled me to my feet, “I am not talking about that! I am asking what happened after we got trapped here.”
“Ummm… that…. You didn’t seem like yourself.” My face flushed and I lowered my gaze, “You took off umm… your jacket saying it is hot…. I suggested that you should use magic to make the place colder but…umm… You couldn’t remember any spells.” My lips pressed in a thin line and I looked into her eyes, “You just kind of bumped into me and slept off against me….” I gulped. “I…umm… kind of didn’t know how to get us off here. So, I let you sleep….” Drawing in a deep breath, I continued, “I swear I didn’t mean any harm.”
She raised the jacket on her shoulders, “You just let me sleep like this?”
“I did try to make you wear your jacket again but you were kind of stubborn. You can’t blame me if you caught a cold because of that.”
Then, something weird happened. She burst into a peal of laughter. No, this wasn’t her usual evil and proud laughter. It was a peal of open, carefree laugh that could turn anyone into mush.
She put the jacket on and buttoned it up; still trying to control her laughter. I don’t know if this was an illusion or something but I saw a bead of tear gleaming at the corner of her eye.
“Do you want to get out of here? Or are you having too much fun?”
“Of course, I want to get out as soon as possible.” I replied a bit too quickly. Her deflated expression made me wonder if she wished to stay here longer. An inadvertent sigh escaped my lips as I massaged the back of my neck. If she wanted to stay longer, she could just stay longer, why ask me? It wasn’t like I could force her to leave or something. If it is difficult to understand a woman; it is impossible to understand a wereheretic.
One wave of her hand and the shell surrounding us disappeared. I found myself next to the exact same tree where we had been surrounded. So much so, my shirt was still on the branch. Buttoning my shirt, I couldn’t resist the urge to ask, “What exactly happened? How did we reach that dome sort of place? And… How are we back here again?”
In response, she twirled the metallic ring around her finger. It looked exquisite with a tiny dragon embossed on the metallic structure. It was weird that such a unique ring had escaped my notice.
“Let us go,” she stated and started walking in the direction of the brook. I stood still for a moment before running to catch up with her, “What about Dreki?”
Her fingers twitched slightly and her expression turned a bit pale, “I am afraid he won’t be joining us.”
My heart skipped a beat. What did that exactly mean? The image where Dreki was hurrying toward us flashed in my mind. We just disappeared from the site but he…. There was no way a young boy could have escaped those vampires. Did that mean he was gone…. I shook my head; my heart aching at the thought of that sweet boy dying. No, he couldn’t have died. With his swift, agile movements, he should have escaped.
“Are you okay?” Hera questioned stopping to look at me.
“Yes… Yeah, I am totally fine,” I replied mindlessly, startled by the fact that she asked about my well-being. I drew in deep breaths to compose myself and tried to focus on my task again. Getting to know the Wereheretic.
“Where are we going?”
“I am taking you to see an exquisite show,” her eyes lit up with that familiar sign of vengeance as she spoke those words. She had probably turned on her killing mode again and was going to slaughter someone.