𝘾𝙧𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘿𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙧𝙚 (𝙔𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙚!𝙑𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙓 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧)

Chapter 23

We arrived in an open area, the trees surrounded the grounds like walls. Tents laid in every corner, with a bonfire sitting right in the middle of the unpaved dirt floor. Men and women ate and gathered branches of wood, some were chopping logs with an axe and some were sharpening it.

There was a tent with its mouth agape and inside was a woman with curly, dark brown hair and golden hoops as earrings, the woman had purple lipstick on and smooth, ebony skin. Her eyes were a piercing Atlantic blue. Unlike the other people around here who wore shirts and jeans, she had a white off shoulder top and a colorful gypsy skirt.

Her table had innumerable amounts of stakes while she mixed and poured mysterious substances inside her pot. I could hear her humming while she walked away.

I looked back to the crowd, some wore tattered clothing and bandages all over their forearm and legs. I could hear their groans and wince while a few people bandaged them up.

One man stood out from the crowd with his long, ash blue hair that was tied in a bun. He wore a white, long sleeve hoodie and whitewashed, ripped jeans. He watched as two people fought dummies. They both plunged the stake to their targets heart and exclaimed, the blue haired man clapped his hands.

He turned around, meeting his hazel brown, monolid eyes. His face lit up and waved to our direction, I looked at the corner of my eye to see Castriel waving back. "Castriel!" he called and ran towards us.

"Hey Caleb!" Castriel smiled and the man Caleb turned to me, "Ah, you must be (y/n)?" he asked while tilting his head. I put a hand up and waved, "That's me." I chuckled nervously. While on the way here, Castriel told me everything, and how he knew where I was.

He was the one who threw the rock and also someone who had been stalking me. He knew everything about Perseus, so I'm not surprised that the people here knows me already.

Caleb's eyes widen and took my hand, inspecting the sapphire ring. "Woah, so it must be true then!" he gasped in shock, "I told you I wasn't lying!" Castriel nudged Caleb's shoulder.

He looked at me, his hand still touching the ring. "You're lucky, (y/n). You're not a livestock to the vampires." he laughed, I pulled my hand away and touched the ring. Feeling the engraved metal. I looked down on the floor, biting down on my lip.

"You call it lucky to be a bride of a monster? Think again." I look up, glaring at Caleb. To think that being a bride-to-be to a monster was lucky was utterly ridiculous. They don't know the hell I have to put up with and the constant fear of my life, let alone be turned into them once I married one.

"Now that I thought about it, yeah not so lucky." Caleb shrugged his shoulders, "And plus, I don't think I'm off the hook, I'm still food to some." I said, the man from the woods flashing back in my mind.

"Oh, him," Castriel put a hand to his chin, "I don't think he was there to eat you, (y/n). I think he was there to take you." Castriel explained, pointing at my sapphire ring. "Why would they?" I asked with a frown, looking at Castriel with eager.

The cold air brushed through me, making me shiver. "That's because you are of value." I heard a woman's voice say, her words strong and firm like a warrior. I looked at the direction of her voice to see the same Atlantic blue eyes that I've seen from afar.

"What do you mean?" I stepped forward, feeling vexed from unanswered questions. I wanted to know, and it doesn't help when people talk in riddles.

She pulled my hand and I stumbled towards her. The dark brown haired woman observed the ring, twisting and turning my hand as if it weren't attached to my body. Her eyelashes were long and beautifully curved with a yellow scarf wrapped around her head like a headband.