Dearest Lady | Nadia Petrova

Chapter Seven

 "Lillian!" Nadia opened her door and fell out into the creek. She was soaked when she pulled herself up onto the bank.

 "Lillian!" she cried again.

 She got a soft moan in reply. She jumped down into the water again, and went around to the passenger side. Lillian was awake, but looked like she was in pain.

 "What is it?" Nadia asked, throwing the door open and scooping her up in her arms.

 "My ankle. It hurts. My head hurts, too. Do you suppose I've injured myself badly?"

 "I hope not."

 Lifting her up, Nadia carried Lillian to the bank and laid her down in the grass.

 "It is my head, Nadia," Lillian moaned. "It hurts."

 "You must have hit it when we crashed. It could be serious."

 "How serious?"

 Nadia was panicking inside. Lillian was apparently injured badly. She couldn't seem to move her legs much-she was barely moving at all-and Nadia could see blood on the side of her head. This was very serious, but Nadia suddenly thought of a solution.

 "I have something," she said. Opening her mouth, she bared her fangs and bit down into the skin of her wrist.

 "Nadia!" Lillian stared in horror at her friend's wrist. "What on Earth are you doing?"

 "Hush, no questions now," said Nadia. "Drink." She held out her arm. "This will heal you."

 Lillian stared at her as if she were a lunatic. "No! You're mad! I am not going to drink your blood!"

 "Then I'm sorry to do this." Nadia put one hand on the back of Lillian's head and pressed her wrist against her mouth, forcing her to drink the blood down.

 "There." Nadia pulled her arm away. "Now, how do you feel? Does anything hurt?"

 Lillian sat up slowly, with a mixture of surprise and horror on her face.

 "I feel fine," she said. "Nothing hurts."

 "Good. That means it worked, as I thought it would."

 Nadia jumped down into the creek again and pushed the automobile back up onto the road. 

 "How are you doing that?" Lillian asked, staring at her with a dumbfounded look.

 "It is simply something I can do," Nadia replied, not knowing how else to reply to the question. "I think it's best that we not take the risk of driving the rest of the way. I shall push the car. Would you like to sit inside?"

 Lillian shook her head. "No. I shall walk."

 So, Nadia pushed the car along the road back to Black Manor, hoping all the while that no one would happen to pass them and see them. She didn't know how she was going to explain that she could push a heavy automobile by herself.

 She could feel Lillian's gaze her as she trailed along behind. What was she thinking? What would she think of Cousin her Petrova now?

~~~~~~

 Upon their return to Black Manor, Lillian immediately went to her room to change into something dry. She wanted no one to see her like this, not even her maid; she would do it herself.

 As she began to unbutton herself, she realized she was shaking. She sat down for a minute to wait for the shaking to stop if she was going to do anything right.

 That moment in which she realized they were going to crash into the creek was one of unspeakable terror. The automobile had already made her nervous enough before, but now she didn't think she would ever be able to get into one again.

 She shuddered when she remembered Nadia forcing her blood down her throat. She couldn't even begin to explain the horror of drinking someone's blood after nearly dying in a crash like that.

 But somehow, Nadia's blood had healed her. She couldn't explain how, but somehow it did. How on Earth had it happened? How could someone's blood heal pain and wounds?

 All this time, she had been wondering who Nadia was, who she really was. Now, she wondered if she should be asking a different question: What was Nadia?