Bleeding Tears, Crying Blood

“I have found a sword.” White said in a muffled tone from where he was pressed firmly against my chest.

Several days passed lazily and uneventfully. Wolfram continued to be angry with me and quite stern. Leroy had become his usual self with me, which I was thankful for, and even taking a wider interest in the Old World, asking more and more questions and appearing less angry and defensive when he spoke about it. I was saddened that White remained away. Not once had he appeared over the last four days. Often I would watch the small tatty rabbit, hoping he would come to life only to be disappointed. Until now anyway.

I sat outside in the gardens with Leroy, watching quietly as he continued to bring life back into the morbid grounds. I did want to be with Cian again. I was finding him interesting and liked speaking with him. He pushed away the boredom I often felt as a whiled away the time by reading or sitting outside on my own. Often I would stay out late in the crypt, much to Wolfram’s annoyance. I was on the wall, far above Leroy, when I felt White twitch. Before he could say anything, he was in my arms and being crushed hard. It took some time before I realised he was saying something and let my hold loosen a little. Hearing what he had to say just made my once bored mood dissipate completely.

“You have?”

Leroy had stopped working and was watching us from below, listening to our conversation intently.

“It took some time but yes.”

“Who does it belong to?”

“An elderly witch of the Norwegian Strand Family. She said that as she had many daughters and nieces with her she felt safe letting me borrow it.” White explained as he stood carefully on my knees. “She is a trusting woman. She believes I will return it, just as I promised I would.”

“When will it get here?”

“Couple of days at the most. She sends it with one of her daughters who will remain here until we are finished with it. She also sends an owl. It will watch us and make sure we don’t abuse the sword while her daughter stays behind.”

I nodded in understanding. This blade will be very important to the Witch, whether or not she could still wield it effectively in her age. The weapons of a Witch remain by their side, even after death, she would want to ensure her blade remains safe and is returned to her. It took a lot of trust to be able to hand over a blade to a strange and even let him run off with it without her daughter watching him like a hawk. The owl, while watchful, was a far less daunting and unsettling presence. I was happy with that. I didn’t want a strange Witch anywhere near Cian.

“Did you find anything else about Cian and what he is?” Leroy asked from below.

White turned and with an faint aura of disdain, answered him. “I tried to. I scoured the library in the Domain but found nothing. There are huge gaps of history in the Dark Ages for us as well it seems. History nobody wanted remembered.”

“Did you ask the Elders?” I asked softly.

White shifted his weight a little in thought. “I wanted to. The Elders are old and Nuan is as old as Cian, possibly older. Whether or not she knew him I don’t know but she could at least tell us what was happening at the time and what the dhampir were.”

“But you didn’t though.” I guessed.

He shook his head. “I skimmed over their minds as I approached the subject. They knew where I was steering the conversation and they either grew angry or nervous. They were becoming defensive before I have even spoken of the dhampir. It was unlike them.”

I pressed my lips together and my eyes darkened in thought. I agreed with him. The Elders were not ones to get angry or defensive unless it was a sensitive subject. Put that together with the fact the dhampir are practically erased from our documents and history, I could only assume something dreadful had happened. Whether the dhampirs were the cause of their annihilation or victims was something I still couldn’t work out. Only Cian could tell us and even that would be biased information.

“Cian is an enigma.” White grumbled to himself.

I focused my gaze on the gloomy looking rabbit. “And I could be too.”

His face tilted up and his strange eyes stared at me. “We shall see.”

I didn’t let the sad, worried frown take over my mouth but only just. The response he gave me meant he faintly believed in Cian’s claim that I was his kin, a dhampir. I didn’t like that. I needed White’s faith in me, faith that I was a vampire just like my parents. I didn’t want to be something that was long dead and forgotten.

“Everything will be okay, Alma.” Leroy said. “We’ll let Cian out and he shall give you answers.” I nodded numbly. He smiled up at me. “Not that it really changes who you are if you are a dhampir.”

I shifted my weight a little while White growled softly on my lap. Leroy had a point. I would not change if I did turn out of be a dhampir. I would just have the knowledge of what I was. Just like Leroy. Now he had forgiven me for my betrayal, he was back to his normal self. It gave me some comfort.

I was about to hop down, to see the flowers a little closer now the conversation had ended, when a sudden pain took hold. It filled my head, clouding it like a thick plague. My vision became blurry as my ears rang and my head throbbed. White called out to me, wrapping my body in invisible arms of comfort as he sensed my pain.

Then it vanished.

I blinked blearily and breathed heavily as confusion filled me. The pain wasn’t there anymore. It had just gone.

“What happened?” White demanded, echoing Leroy’s concerned question below.

“I am not certain.”

White stared up at me, oozing rage as he observed my worried gaze. He then nodded and shook his thicken aura away.

“Maybe you should go rest a while.”

My heart thudded painfully at that. “No. You have only just come back.” I blurted out.

White gave me a long look, one of surprise. “And I’ll be here still. I can’t find anything out about the dhmapir easily and I need to be here when the Witch arrives, which could anytime between this evening and the day after next.”

“You promise?”

He nodded. “I will be here when you wake up.”

I very hesitantly gave in. “Then I shall go sleep for a few hours.”

White patted my hand. “While you do that, I am going to go visit Cian.”

“Take Leroy with you. Cian seems to like him.” I said and continued to press my point when I sensed he was going to reject the idea with venom. “Cian may be kind but he is still very closed off. He won’t be that open with just you, White.”

He remained quiet for a moment, stewing in annoyance. “Fine, I’ll take the boy.”

I smiled softly. “Thank you.”

“Now go rest. I’ll come and wake you once I return.”

I frowned suddenly as I glanced up at the sky. “It is daytime though. Cian will be asleep.”

White shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I’ll feel around in his mind a little while his defences are down.”

I didn’t quite like that idea. It felt intrusive on Cian’s privacy and going against the trust we had gained from him. White patted my hand gently.

“I just sense things. His intent. His power. Raw emotions. I won’t see any memories or history. Just see what he feels and thinks while he sleeps. That is when everyone speaks the truth. Their subconscious screams while their consciousness is silent.”

I stared at him, holding the intense stared and crumbled. “Just do not do anything that hurts or betrays him.”

White titled his head. “You have become fond already.” He mumbled then turned and jumped off my knees into the flowerbed below. “Go rest Alma. I’ll be with you again later.”

I watched silently as Leroy waved goodbye and carried a slightly irritated White away. I hoped White did as he promised. I didn’t like the idea of making an Ancient of such power angry with me.

With a slight sigh, I stood and gathered my parasol before heading indoors, seeking my bed where I could rest my head until nightfall.