Chapter 81-The dark forest (5)

Chapter 81: 81-The dark forest (5)

’How was I supposed to know?’

Maisa’s heart sank. She hadn’t realized that the dark forest was the knowledge she was supposed to have. She wondered why the student council hadn’t informed her, and then she remembered.

On the night of her arrival, the zing happened. The strange moment when the student council suddenly realized what she was to them, they ran away without giving her the proper introduction. Everything afterwards had become chaos.

Nobody had given her a proper orientation. Nobody had explained the forbidden territories, the laws, the dangers, or the history of the vampire nation. So she was learning everything step by step when she reached the necessary bridges.

"I never received it," she whispered. Varitreya, Addessa, Lumi, and Zolani hadn’t gotten around to telling him the things she needed to watch out for, the ups and downs of navigating the vampire world.

The boy seemed to understand the situation when he realized that she was entirely clueless about most things. "So you really are new."

Maisa lowered her weapon. "What am I supposed to do?"

He reached into a small pouch at his side and pulled out several green leaves. He stretched his hand out and handed it to Maisa.

"Chew these," He instructed her.

Maisa stared at them suspiciously. After being tricked by Kriza and her friends, she had grown the cautious of strangers or people she wasn’t familiar with.

"What are they?" she inquired, looking at them without accepting them.

"Forest herbs. You’ll find they are the most useful around here," he let out.

"And you’re expecting me to trust you?" she raised an eyebrow at him, her fingers tightening around the rod, any funny business from the boy, and she’d send him to join the panther.

"You don’t have to," he spoke lazily. Whether or not Maisa took it was her choice. He wouldn’t push it. He held them out. "But if you don’t, the beasts will find you eventually, and you’ll be in serious trouble."

Maisa hesitated. She had no reason to trust him, but she had even less reason to ignore the only person she’d encountered who seemed to know how this place worked.

She took the leaves and followed the instructions, placing them into her mouth and chewing slowly. The moment their bitter taste spread across her tongue, her face tightened in distaste.

The herbs were intensely bitter, leaving a sharp, earthy aftertaste that clung stubbornly to her mouth. She chewed with difficulty, resisting the urge to spit them out.

"Don’t swallow them," he warned. "Just keep them between your teeth."

She obeyed, keeping the bitter leaves pressed between her teeth as instructed.

For a moment, suspicion prickled through her. Maybe he was deliberately messing with her, enjoying her discomfort by making her hold the awful-tasting herbs in her mouth instead of letting her get rid of them.

She narrowed her eyes at him, already preparing to demand an explanation.

Before she could say a word, the boy suddenly raised a finger to his lips, motioning for her to remain silent. His expression had changed completely.

Whatever amusement she thought she’d seen in his eyes was gone, replaced by sharp alertness. She froze, the bitter herbs forgotten as she listened carefully to the silence around them.

Something shifted behind them.

Her eyes widened as she slowly turned, her breath catching when she saw the panther she had killed only moments ago standing on all four legs.

The wounds she had inflicted were gone completely, leaving not even a scar to suggest the creature had ever been injured. It stood unnaturally still for a moment, its dark body blending into the shadows.

Then, the panther lifted its head and sniffed the air. Its ears twitched as it searched for a familiar scent, its attention gradually shifting in their direction. A cold realization settled over her as she understood that whatever had brought the creature back had not erased its memory of her.

Maisa’s heart slammed against her ribs as she and the boy remained utterly still, barely daring to breathe.

The sanguine-shadow panther prowled through the clearing, its movements slow and deliberate as it searched for whatever scent had drawn it back. Its gaze swept across their hiding place once, twice, and then a third time.

Yet the creature showed no reaction. It stared directly toward them, but there was no recognition in its eyes, no sign that it could actually see them.

She held her breath, confusion mingling with the fear tightening her chest. Somehow, despite standing in plain sight, it was as though they had become invisible to the beast.

Finally, the beast turned and disappeared into the trees.

Maisa stared after it for a long time. She released the breath she was holding and saw the boy spit out the herbs, and she followed his guide.

"What just happened?" She hurried to ask.

"The leaves mask your scent and your presence," he informed her.

She lowered her gaze to the leaves still clutched in her hand. They looked so ordinary; small, dull, and almost completely unremarkable. Nothing about their appearance suggested that they possessed any extraordinary power, yet she had just witnessed what they could do.

The realization left her quietly stunned. These simple leaves could conceal not only a person’s presence but even their scent from a bloodbound beast capable of tracking them.

She glanced toward the path the panther had disappered to again, watching it leave without the slightest indication that they were nearby. Whatever these herbs were, their power was far greater than she had ever imagined.

"They trick the beasts into thinking you’re not there when you are," he summed.

Maisa’s fingers tightened around the rod. She looked toward the flower border far behind them and then at the dark forest surrounding her.

She had no powers, no escape plan, no healing, and she was trapped with creatures that couldn’t truly be killed.

Her mind returned to Sophia, Jane, and Kriza, to the trust she’d given them and the way they’d smiled while lying about Lumi. Her heart chilled. Her thoughts soon settled on the moment they’d abandoned her.

Her fear slowly turned into anger, "They knew... they knew exactly what this place would do to me," Maisa’s voice trembled. "They knew I was new to being a vampire and didn’t know about this place. They knew I wouldn’t have my powers in this place. They knew I wouldn’t know where I was or be able to call for help."

She looked around the endless trees. "And they still brought me here..." her eyes burned. "I was stupid to believe them."

"You were deceived, Maisa. That says more about them than you... they are the despicable ones."

"They’re going to pay for this!" Her eyes darkened.

Maisa swallowed hard, and then the enormity of her situation finally crashed over her. She sank onto a fallen log, and her shoulders sagged.

"I can’t leave this place..."

The boy didn’t answer. He didn’t know what to say that could change the way she was feeling.

"I can’t use my powers.... and the creatures here... don’t stay dead... come back to life..." she said, and another silence followed. "And nobody knows where I am."

Her voice cracked. "I’m doomed."

The words hung between them. For the first time since becoming a vampire, Maisa wasn’t thinking about mates, bloodlines, the council, her family’s secrets, or the future queen’s decision.

She was thinking about one thing, getting out of the dark forest alive.

Somewhere beyond the forest, the world continued moving without her, completely unaware that Maisa Everheart had vanished into a prison from which vampires were never supposed to escape from.