Ascent from the Shadows

Four

Leaves crunched under their feet as they walked through the dense woods, continuing to follow the compass. A cool wind blew through Thalia's hair, sending the smell of cinnamon at Nolan.

"You've always smelled like that," he said, following just behind. "Like cinnamon. I don't get it."

She tried to ignore him. She wanted to stay focused on the task at hand. Her spell book was her most valued possession. It was a family heirloom. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she lost it for good.

"Thals," Nolan said, speeding up to stand beside her. "Hey, it'll be alright. We'll find it."

She exhaled a deep breath. She wasn't sure he how always seemed to know what she was thinking. Maybe it was a werewolf thing, but she doubted it. Probably just a Nolan thing.

She glanced up at him. He had his hands in his pockets, and his head hung. She nudged him with her shoulder. "So what'd you do while I was away?"

He groaned, rolling his eyes. "It was absolutely awful. Simon just hid in his room the whole time doing who-the-hell-knows, and when he came out, he insisted I cook him soup. I mean, soup? My specialty is cooking, and all he wants is plain old soup." He threw up his arms in disgust.

Thalia laughed. "At least he gave you something to do."

She looked back down at the compass, but something was wrong. The arrow was twitching. It spun and changed direction every second, as if it couldn't make up its mind where to go.

"This doesn't make sense," she muttered.

"What's wrong?"

She held up the compass for him to see. His eyebrows knit together. "That's not supposed to happen."

She looked up. They stood on a dirt road, and just ahead to the right was a small log cabin. The place looked abandoned, but that didn't mean anything. Looks could be deceiving.

"I'm guessing this is magic," Thalia said. "Someone must have put up a ward to veer any unwanted visitors. That's why my compass is acting up."

Nolan looked impressed. "And you think it's whoever lives in that house?"

She shrugged. "Only one way to find out."

She moved forward in quick strides, and Nolan stalked just behind. They didn't approach the front door, but instead sneaked around to the side of the house where they peered into a window.

The place definitely looked abandoned. There was a cobweb covering almost the entirety of the window, so they had to squint to see through it. Few pieces of furniture with sheets covering them were scattered around a small living room. There was no light inside, and nothing seemed unusual about the place. If there really was someone living here, it was obvious they didn't do a whole lot of milling about the house.

"Um, hi?"

Both jumped at the sound of the voice. They spun to find a boy standing about ten feet away watching them, hands in his pockets and an eyebrow raised skeptically. His skin was abnormally pale, and a mess of black hair covered his head. She met his rusty brown eyes, and it was obvious to her that this was a vampire.

Realization dawned on her then. They were in the sunlight, and so was the boy. That shouldn't have been possible if he really was a vampire, but there wasn't an ounce of doubt in her mind of what he was. Something weird was going on here.

"What are you two doing snooping around?" the boy continued.

Thalia's brain was moving too sluggishly to think up a quick reply, but thankfully Nolan came to the rescue.

"We were just lost is all," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. It was a nervous habit of his. "We were coming to see if anyone was home so we could ask for directions."

"So why not try knocking on the front door?"

Finally, Thalia found her voice. "The place looks abandoned, don't you agree? We weren't sure anyone would answer, so we thought we'd just take a peek inside. Sorry if we disturbed you."

He seemed to look Nolan up and down for a moment. Disgust crossed his face for hardly a split second before he turned back to Thalia. "It's alright. Where are you trying to go?"

"Well, we're looking for someone. An old man who we think has something of mine."

He nodded. "You can try asking Gregory if he has what you're looking for. He's just a little farther up the road. You won't miss his place. It's kind of an eyesore."

She bowed her head. "Thank you."

She and Nolan started off again, but Nolan had a funny look on his face. He kept glancing behind them, but the boy was already gone.

"I know what you're thinking," Thalia said, sure she was right. "He was a vampire."

"How was he able to be in the sunlight though?" Nolan asked, baffled.

"The same way you can control yourself on a full moon," she said as she finally realized the truth. "He's a Companion."

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A/N
Hiiii guys. Like? I hope so! Give it a vote if you did please, and comment if you have any suggestions or anything. Thanks for the read!
- Stevie