Bloodlines: Severed Ties

Chapter 43: Recuperation

Sylvia felt her eyes slowly start to open. They felt heavy and lethargic, as if they had been glued shut together. She felt grass beneath her, and the cool, gentle breeze of the ocean. She could hear the waves crashing against the shore. A constant whooshing noise. In the distance, she could even hear gulls calling.

Then, consciousness rushed back to her like a flood, causing her to snap her eyes wide open and sit up straight, almost head butting Aliyah in the process. They ducked out of the way quickly to avoid it.

"Hey, it is ok. You are safe," they reassured her, but Sylvia was breathing heavily, chest heaving. She looked around rapidly, to see a concerned Darian and Dirella, and a somewhat disinterested Zalla. They were all around a campfire, it's flames starting to extinguish. Looking to her right, Sylvia saw the ocean.

It was a deep blue, however the sun was just starting to rise. Where it's rays hit, it seemed to sparkle like a gem. This early in the morning was one of the only times you could look directly into the sun, and Sylvia was taking full advantage of the fact.

"You slept all night, hun," Dirella said. She knelt down next to Sylvia, offering her a warm mug. Sylvia gingerly took to mug, allowing the warmth from the cup to seep into her hands through the metal. She bent her neck down, sniffing at the liquid.

It was soup.

Until she smelt it, Sylvia had no clue how truly hungry she was. She felt her stomach rumble, and the familiar pang of starvation in her gut. She had only eaten a piece of quiche for dinner, before using all that magic.

"And you'll need this," Dirella added, handing Sylvia a small piece of chocolate. Sylvia eyed it curiously, before Dirella elaborated.

"For the magic hangover."

Indeed, Sylvia had used a lot of magic last night. Maybe a bit too much. However, she had gotten so swept up in the power, the strength she possessed. Not too long ago, she was barely able to lift a drop of blood without feeling faint. And now, she was healing gaping wounds while holding scimitars made of her own blood.

Kind of badass.

Sylvia went to stand up, but soon found her arms had no strength. She couldn't even prop herself up by her elbows without feeling herself buckle.

"Hey take it easy there," Darian said, his face full of concern. He took a pillow out of his own tent, and propped it up between Sylvia and a tree behind her. It was rather comfy, being in a propped up position.

Comparing it to a hangover was pretty darn accurate. Sylvia felt her head throbbing, every sound making her skull feel like it was about to implode. Every joint ached, every muscle strained. In her tummy, she felt slightly seedy. As if she could vomit, but her body was trying it's best to keep everything down.

In summary, she felt like shit.

"Well, I had better move on," Zalla called out. She was currently standing with her back to the group, packing up her rucksack with all of her items on her horse.

"So soon? Surely you can be spared for another day to recover," Dirella argued. Truth is, with the vampires around she wanted another strong hunter to help protect the group. Dirella and Sylvia were down for the count after their magic use, and Darian and Aliyah seemed exhausted also. Keeping Zalla around would be another safety wall to protect Dirella.

"Unfortunately not. I promised Sirius and James to meet them at the evacuation point," Zalla responded, turning to face the group. Sylvia let out a small gasp as she saw the exhaustion on the warriors face. She had never seen Zalla look so tired, even after travelling for many days. But Sylvia could see something else there, pain, but not physical.

"Yeah, don't wanna make your masters wait," Darian spat out. He was barely able to look her in the eyes, instead scuffing the ground with his feet and looking down, as if he were searching for gold. Zalla ignored him.

"Actually, you will not find James-"

"So quickly because he said he had other matters to attend to!" Sylvia cut Aliyah off, before they could say anything too damning. The group looked at her curiously, before shrugging it off.

Zalla too looked slightly confused, before waving to everyone and bidding them a farewell. She mounted her horse, and rode off into the woods.

Sylvia shot Aliyah a look, who was still looking slightly bewildered they had been cut off so promptly.

"Help me up," she said, extending her arm. Aliyah gently grabbed Sylvia by the elbow, lifting her to her feet. The movement sent Sylvia's head swirling, and she would have been sent sprawling on the ground save for Aliyah's steady hand on her elbow.

"Let's walk," Sylvia said. Aliyah nodded stiffly, before escorting Sylvia into the woods. They could tell they had made a mistake of some sorts, but wasn't exactly sure why Sylvia had cut them off. James had been killed by vampires, that much was certain. But why lie?

"Aliyah," Sylvia said as soon as they were out of earshot, "we need to keep everything that happened back there between you and me."

"But why? Are you and Darian not best friends?" Aliyah enquired, but when they looked down at Sylvia they saw not only fatigue, but fear. She was afraid.

"He wouldn't understand, I'm already on thin ice after the Sophie incident..." Sylvia trailed off, remembering the woman in the cabin. How effortlessly she had killed her, how she had let her rage get the better of her.

Sure, Darian had defended her then against Dirella. But would it be different if it were a hunter? Would it be different if he knew she had essentially killed James?

"I think I understand. You need to tell me, what happened?" Aliyah reassured Sylvia. Sylvia hesitated for a moment, before speaking once more.

"You know that conversation you and Darian overheard? Yeah turns out it was Ava and James. It wasn't Sirius who let slip it was my family who killed the blue eyes vampire, it was James," Sylvia spoke so simply, so plainly. She felt numb inside, the shock of the situation not even hitting her anymore. She had been broken down too many times over the last month to even care.

"James... So that is why you attacked him?" Aliyah asked, causing Sylvia to wince. Aliyah did not mean to come off as aggressive or even disappointed, they simply wanted to understand what happened. But still, Sylvia couldn't help but feel ashamed of herself. She had once again let her emotions get the better of her.

Did he deserve it? Absolutely. Would her parents have agreed with her actions? Definately not. But Anthony would have.

They got to die. They got the easy way out, a quick and relatively painless death where it was over and done with. But her and Anthony...

She had lived alone for ten years, wandering Ammertia on her own with no true home. She had no true allies, not until Darian had found her. And as for Anthony.

He was a vampire.

So Sylvia decided she didn't care if her parents wouldn't approve of her actions. No, instead she would do what she felt was best. Because only she had lived in her shoes, only she had felt the pain she had faced.

"All these years," Sylvia said. They were still walking slowly through the woods, the grass soft and dewy in the early morning light. The sun was creeping up further now, starting to illuminate the top of Aliyah's head. The blossoms on their head started to bloom, taking in the light.

"I thought my parents made a mistake when coming home. That they left a trail, lead them to us," Sylvia paused then, stopping suddenly. It caught Aliyah off guard, who had to backtrack slightly to be eye to eye with her.

"But the only mistake they made was trusting another hunter."