Chapter 26-No future

Chapter 26: 26-No future

Maisa kept running, but no matter how fast she moved, she couldn’t outrun her feelings and the haunting truths of her life.

The forest gradually opened. The towering trees gave way to rolling hills blanketed beneath the moonlight.

Just then, she came to a fast stop because before her stretched an endless sea of flowers. Thousands upon thousands of blossoms swayed gently beneath the silver moon.

White lilies, bluebells, pink roses growing wild, crimson poppies, and tiny golden flowers she couldn’t name were among the many flowers in the field before her.

The breeze rolled across them like waves upon an ocean. The scent surrounded her instantly. It was sweet, fresh, and alive.

Maisa slowly walked forward. Every flower seemed brighter beneath vampire eyes. She could see individual droplets of dew clinging to petals, tiny insects drifting lazily between blossoms, and the faint shimmer of pollen dancing through the air.

Everything possessed impossible clarity. It was beautiful, painfully beautiful, and then she realised something crazy. She had run for almost five minutes and had already crossed miles of woodland, yet she wasn’t breathing hard.

Her heartbeat remained perfectly steady. She didn’t have any burning lungs, aching legs, or exhaustion from the run. A human would have collapsed long ago and wouldn’t have been able to cover that much distance in a short time.

She simply stopped in amazement. "Amazing," the word slipped out softly.

Being a vampire had its perks. Maisa understood that she’d never be late for anything ever again. With the wind in her hair and cool breeze on her skin, she could run to any corner of the world to clear her head.

She lowered herself among the flowers. The cool earth welcomed her as moonlight bathed her pale skin until she almost blended into the silver landscape.

For several minutes, she simply breathed in the fresh, free air. The fragrance of wildflowers filled every breath she took. It calmed her at least a little.

Her gaze drifted upward toward the moon. "So..." she murmured. "What happens now?"

The question lingered unanswered. Queen Velanora, as she had learned, was the name of Varitreya’s mother, and the sovereign of the vampire nation held her fate in her cold, eternal hands.

Everything depended upon her decision about the scandal about her. Maisa worried about the negative influence of her presence and how it might affect the ruling.

Would the Queen order her execution? Would she be exiled forever? Would she spend eternity imprisoned?

Maisa couldn’t imagine another possibility. Surely, no ruler would allow a troublesome redblood to remain after causing so much chaos.

She smiled sadly. "I don’t think... there’s a future for me where I stay alive and in the academy."

The words hurt because for the first time since she became a vampire, she had actually wanted one. She thought about Veris Academy, about Sapphire’s kindness, that she felt like friendship, something she never had before as they were constantly moving around. Never stay in one place long enough for her to make a friend.

Her mind drifted to Zolani’s warmth, Lumi’s quiet care, and even to Varitreya and Addessa, somewhere beneath all the anger they had for her, the bond insisted there was something more between them. She wished she had had enough time to discover what that was.

Maisa’s thoughts returned to the woman who had saved her before any of this had begun, her aunt. A gentle smile touched Maisa’s face.

"Auntie... you tried so hard to protect me," she said. Shee remembered the car ride, the comforting hugs, the forged documents, and the late-night conversations.

Every string her aunt had pulled to give her another chance. "Thank you. You’ve done for me what no one ever could," her voice fell weak. "I’m sorry. I’m sorry I might not live long enough... to make all your sacrifices worth it."

A single tear slipped down her cheek, and she didn’t wipe it away. She couldn’t muster the strength to. The night carried it into the flowers below.

And far beyond the peaceful meadow, hidden deep within the forest, a nearly invisible silver wire was still quivering. It was barely noticeable as it was no thicker than a strand of spider silk.

Maisa’s incredible speed had brushed against it moments earlier without her ever noticing. The enchanted thread vibrated once and twice and kept shaking.

Miles away in the nearby town, inside a weathered stone building concealed beneath overgrown vines, a brass bell rang sharply.

Once, twice and three times. Several figures looked up simultaneously at the bell. Maps were rolled aside, weapons were lifted from workbenches, and the people inside became alert.

One older man stepped toward a glowing crystal mounted inside a metal frame, and the crystal pulsed crimson for a really long time.

He frowned. "The western flower fields alarm."

Another hunter approached him closely. "What triggered it?"

The older man’s expression darkened. "The ward only reacts to vampires... there must be one in our territory," he said and reached for a silver-coated crossbow resting against the wall.

"Fresh scent, and from the colour of the glow, the vampire must bd recently turned."

One of the younger hunters grinned. "An easy hunt?" He asked happily.

The older hunter slowly shook his head. "No vampire is an easy hunt," he said. That was common knowledge. Even turned vampires weren’t to be unestimated.

They were faster, stronger and and if you find the ones addicted to blood, they were cruel. He fastened a blessed blade to his belt.

"Move!" He ordered.

Within moments of his order, boots thundered across the stone floor. Holy water was packed, blessed stakes were counted and packed, and the crossbows loaded into their vehicles.

They extinguished their torches and evert hunted vanished into the forest.

Unaware of any of it, Maisa remained seated among the flowers. She closed her eyes as the cool breeze brushed gently across her face.

For the first time in so long, she allowed herself a single moment of peace. A moment where the vampire nation wasn’t turning against her and the human society wouldn’t shun, maim, and kill her for being a freak of nature.

She didn’t know that the quiet meadow she had chosen to escape her thoughts was about to become the hunting ground of people who had spent their entire lives learning how to kill vampires just like she had.

Including frightened, newly turned ones just like her. "I just need to survive this scandal and maybe... just maybe... I’ll be okay."