Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Chapter 21

"Are we there yet?" I ask annoyed.

The stairs that we have started climbing what seems hours ago seem to have no end, and not even vampire speed is helping. Besides, we are trying not to go too fast so as not to run into any potential traps.

So far, we have been doing pretty well, but I don't want to relax too soon, that's how mistakes are made. Besides, these infinite stairs we've come across the moment we stepped through the opening, make no sense. How could Healers, without supernatural strength or speed, climb them?

That, however, raises even more questions. Don't they have supernatural strength or speed? How else would they manage to survive, especially being the favorite snack of such vicious predators such as vampires?

"Almost there, I think," Seymour says from up ahead.

"Can you sense anything out of the ordinary?" I ask Seymour since it all looks too easy.

"Nothing unusual. Alarcos, you are the puzzle man, what do you think about this? Does it make sense that this is so easy? Shouldn't there be any traps or anything like that?" Seymour asks without turning.

Alarcos seems to think about it carefully before answering. He seems pleased that Seymour would acknowledge his skills which seems to be the reason for his hesitation. I am pretty sure he is as clueless as we are but would never admit that in front of Seymour.

"I'm not sure. There wouldn't be any traps per se because they wouldn't want to hurt anyone, but I am not sure about tests. There should be something but probably at the entrance of the library." He says.

"Didn't we already go through the entrance?" I ask.

"No, that was more like a hallway," I hear Cecilia say behind me.

She sounds more certain than anyone should be in an unfamiliar place, but I guess her Healer blood is speaking through her. What does that say about Healer blood that it's able to survive even through the transformation that Cecilia went through?

I can help but wonder if Healer blood is stronger than vampire blood? How do they mix, and what does that make Cecilia and Tobias?

"I guess it makes sense that we would have to walk for a long time. The clue did say: 'to get where you must go you must take a long stroll. To the top let it guide you to where no one would think to find you.' I just didn't expect that we would have to walk for so long. Besides, the hill doesn't seem to be high enough for all these stairs to be still leading up." I say.

"Haven't you noticed?" Tobias asks.

"We've been going mostly in circles, not a lot of upward climbing," he says.

When I think about it, he is right. Besides, the riddle didn't say that we would have to climb high, just that it would lead us to the top and that no one would think to find us there. Having in mind that we are inside a hill, it all makes sense.

"Why?" I ask annoyed.

Climbing stairs to go upwards made sense, but just twisting around in circles made no sense to me. Were they trying to bore us to death? Was that the plan? If it was, it was working.

"I think that is a test," Alarcos says more confidently than I've heard him sound since we entered this strange passage.

"What kind of test?" Seymour asks.

"Perseverance," Tobias says before Alarcos has the chance to answer.

The way he says it, the utmost certainty in his answer, makes me believe that he was right and that we are close to reaching our destination. However, what I hear in his voice is not the certainty of Tobias, the vampire, the one who saved Cecilia more than once, the one who decided to go on the run instead of facing the Vampire Council and letting Cecilia and I answer for our respective transgressions. The person talking to us now is Tobias, the Healer, possibly still a vampire but so much more than just a vampire.

Still, I decide not to say anything. After all, what am I supposed to say: 'You sound like too much of a Healer'. I am sure that wouldn't go over so well.

Honestly, I think I would rather face the whole Vampire Council than this terrible anticipation of this strange place. The fact that I have no idea what we might find makes it even worse.

What if, after all this effort, we find nothing? Or even worse, what if we find something that changes Tobias and Cecilia to their very core?

I don't want to lose Tobias, even Cecilia has started growing on me since we went on the run. Losing them would be excruciating. Yet, there is a part of me that thinks that they have never truly been my friends.

I don't mean that they didn't want to be. They did. What I imply is that I never allowed them to be my true friends. I have never revealed my true nature to them. Without knowing who I truly am, how could they be my friends even if they wanted to?

Yet, to tell them the truth, to reveal all my monstrosity would surely drive them away, and for some reason that I can't even begin to comprehend, I need them.

Perhaps, it's true that humans are social beings, and maybe that trait is transferred even in the afterlife. Maybe only our violent nature stops us, vampires, from being close friends. After all, many vampires form clans for a reason. Perhaps being alone is not the answer.

Yet, right now, tangled up in the web of my lies, I wish that I could be alone. Maybe it would make my life easier, my existence more peaceful.

"We are here," Tobias' words break my train of thought.

As he says that, I can see a small landing that ends in a regular-looking wooden door.

"What do we do now?" I ask.

"Well, we open the door," Seymour says confidently.

As he says that, he sidesteps Tobias and tries to open the door.

The next thing I know, a deafening scream pierces the air. A scream that tears my dead heart, although I know it shouldn't, and although I often wonder if I even have a heart.

Alarcos and I are the first ones to reach Seymour, who is sprawled on the ground, smoke coming off his skin. I guess we are the first ones to understand what has happened, that he is in pain.

It's pathetic how much we care, but I think it's ingrained in us by once having loved him. It's not something we can control.

"Are you okay?" I ask worry coloring my voice.

I am pretty sure that the fact that his body is smoking isn't a good sign, yet that idiot manages to smile at me with innocence that should have been impossible for a vampire.

"Oops," he says, barely opening his eyes.

"Oops, indeed," Alarcos says, examining Seymour's injuries.

He is exasperated by Seymour's idiocy in doing the very thing we were trying to stop from happening that much is clear. However, he is also worried that the ancient vampire has suffered some permanent damage. We don't know what Healers can do.

"I thought you said it would be trap-free?" Seymour says slowly.

"Well, you are alive aren't you," Alarcos says, grinning widely at his ex.

What others can't see is guilt that burns in his beautiful eyes. To say that he is suffering would be an understatement, so I look away to avoid the emotional turmoil in his eyes.

"It's probably a vampire trap. They would want to protect themselves from us." I say as Tobias and Cecilia start checking Seymour's injuries.

"He'll live," they finally say.