Scarlet Lore

Chapter 9

As soon as I woke up I wished I hadn't. Without even opening my eyes I knew where and when I was. There was the overwhelming smell of tea-our human companions had been obsessed with the new exotic drink, Leif and I were notably less impressed by the shocking new trend. The scent was mixed in with freshly cut flowers and I could instantly remember the exact day I'd picked them.

Letting go of comprehension, I opened my eyes. Everything was as pristine as I remembered. My shock at that made no sense but I felt it nonetheless. Somehow the burnt out wreck had managed to etch out the very image of what had once been a perfectly lovely, happy place.

Atop the mahogany table was a decorative vase filled with an assortment of colourful blooms. My jaw clenched automatically at the sight of them and at thought of what was to come.

"What the hell was that today?" The sudden noise made me jump and by the time I had comprehended his presence Leif was sitting across from me, eyes narrowed. I snapped my mouth shut and raised my eyebrows. It felt like I was fully coming into the odd consciousness these dreams has and as I did my blood boiled.

"What do you mean? You asked me to help! I'm trying to help." I pushed my chair back away from the table with a snarl. Even after all this time Leif was so hard to read, so constantly indecisive and impulsive. There were times I could pick it but other times I was left in a state of complete confusion. He reacted on emotions and refused to back down, it was just one of the few awful personality traits we shared.

"I want you to help but I want you to be safe." His words were spoken precisely and slow. It almost felt condescending but Leif was awful at articulating what he meant so it was more likely that. "I just...Oskar is awful anyway but I feel like he has something bad planned."

His words were finished by a huff of what I could only presume to be frustration. He stood up and began to pace around the table. Whatever his irritation was I couldn't really be bothered to enquire. Leif was being too fickle to have a proper conversation and I was mad enough myself without having to deal with his crap as well.

"If you're so concerned about me then why would you bring me here?" His head snapped up at me words with a look of offense.

"You think I chose this? You really think I'm that awful to purposefully pull you here?" His harsh tone slowly softened and he flopped back in his seat. Leif knew fully well that I couldn't handle upsetting people I cared about and as real as it may have been there was no denying he knew it would get me.

"Well, is that all you wanted to say?" Despite the fact I desperately wanted to snap to satisfy my own anger I tried to remain calm.

One moment after and I was awake. I squinted at the light shining through the window. It was a normally welcomed occurrence in the cloudy city though I couldn't quite appreciate it in my confused state. Torn between anger and wanting to feel sorry for Leif-after all it must have been awful to be an onlooker to people you cared about constantly witnessing everything and not be able to intervene-I could quite calm myself.

Once I wiped the crud from my eyes I caught sight of the figure standing in the doorway. "What in god's name do you want? Seriously Kare it's extremely suspicious to be just appearing at a young lady's chamber door as she tries to sleep."

"You aren't young. You aren't a lady. You aren't asleep." He crossed his arms across his chest and shook his head so waves of chestnut hair bounced around his face. Kare walked slowly to the bed, sitting down with a heavy sigh. "You had a dream right? Did Leif have anything to say to me?"

"Ah no, not that I remember." Ignoring the hurt crossing his face I stood and walked to my cupboard.

The hall was filled completely. Personally, I wrote it down to Kare's appearance and the likelihood of his siblings arriving in the city soon. Older vampires held resentment. Younger vampires were curious. Witches were either disgusted or fascinated. The wolves and shifters enjoyed the show and the Others who kept up with town politics were just there for fun.