8. Have You Ever Flown

Triana

Locking her gaze on the furious vampire, Triana's heart pounded hard as she could sense the dark aura surrounding Vlador, though she was unable to see it directly with her eyes.

"Wh-what's the truth? What is happening to us?" Triana asked.

"That hag used her potion to curse us. I'll die if you die, and vice versa," Vlador explained.

Triana's jaw dropped. She covered her mouth with her hand and concluded, "The witch has tied our lives together."

"Not just our lives, Gosling. There's another curse that will torment me greatly. To stay alive, you must drink my blood at least every five days. And I will always crave yours," Vlador said, brushing aside the long hair framing Triana's face.

Dropping her gaze to the floor, Triana tried to process the nonsensical situation. She had to drink a vampire's blood to stay alive? And the vampire whose blood she had to drink, craved her blood in return. Meanwhile, their lives were linked, so if she died, the vampire would also die. That meant the vampire couldn't kill her, and she couldn't kill the vampire either.

"Can your little brain comprehend that?" Vlador teased.

Triana lifted her gaze as her tears welled up again. "Stop treating me like a fool! I'm a respected noble who received education from the best teacher!"

"You seem very proud of it. Was it your beauty that allowed you to have all of that? Now I understand why you are so desperate." Vlador retorted, rising to his feet.

"My parents won't let this happen any longer. They'll save me no matter what," Triana said with a hint of hissing in her voice.

"With your current condition? Didn't you just say your future is ruined?" Vlador's grin sent shivers down Triana's spine. Her lips trembled, and she felt like screaming and crying because, in reality, he was right.

With her current condition, would people even help her? What if she was treated like an outcast? She would be shunned, and so would her family.

Then Triana blinked hard and shook her head briefly to gather herself. She raised her head and stood up. "What about you? Are you just going to accept your current condition, Mr. Dracount? Yes, you're that skeleton, aren’t you?"

"After being freed from confinement and eternal damnation, I'm stuck with a human girl like you and this stupid curse. Do you think I can accept it?" Vlador replied, sitting in the large window with his back facing the moonlight.

Swallowing hard, Triana nodded and tried to put on a stern face, though her shoulders quivered slightly. "Then why don't we try to break this curse?"

"That's something I've already thought about," Vlador said, returning to his feet.

The tall vampire blocked the moonlight with his broad shoulders. Triana couldn't help but step back as he approached.

"What—" Triana's sentence halted when a large, pale hand reached out towards her face.

"There is no point in wasting time," Vlador said, smiling broadly and revealing his sharp fangs. "Let's pay a visit to that hag’s nest."

With hesitation, Triana placed her hand on top of his palm, realizing it was much larger than it seemed. However, strangely, the hand wasn't as cold as she imagined.

Weren't vampires supposed to be half-dead creatures? Rumors said their bodies were as cold as corpses.

Lost in her thoughts, Triana unknowingly followed Vlador's hand toward the large window facing the full moon.

The early autumn night breeze tousled Triana's blonde hair and tickled her skin. Carefully, she leaned out of the large window, by instinct gripping Vlador's fingers.

"Wow..." a mutter slipped through Triana's cherry lips.

She only just realized that she was in the abandoned castle she had entered earlier. Now she was at its top, offering a view of the Dark Forest beneath the bright moonlit sky. It was a rare sight in the autumn.

"Spooky yet beautiful," Triana muttered again.

Vlador glanced at Triana from the side. "That's a statement I never thought would come out of your mouth."

Snapping out of her daze, Triana turned to Vlador, who was standing beside her. "Um... why did you bring me here?"

"You'll soon find out," Vlador said, reaching for Triana's other hand and holding both of hers.

In one simple leap, Vlador positioned Triana in the middle of the large window frame.

Triana felt like her heart was being squeezed. She clutched Vlador's hands tightly, as the ledge she stood on was too narrow. When she looked down, the once-beautiful view was now trembling her knees. The tower was even taller than the trees in the forest.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Triana cried out, attempting to jump back into the room, but Vlador held her hands firmly.

"Didn't you want to find the witch who cursed us?" Vlador asked.

With her eyes trembling, Triana couldn't focus on Vlador's face. "Please let me down. I will die if I fall down there."

"Didn't you say it's better to die than to live with an ugly face?" Vlador's lips curled upward.

Triana shook her head. "No. Please… I was just talking nonsense."

"First lying, now talking nonsense. It seems like your tongue doesn't match your nobility, does it?" Vlador remarked.

"I beg you, Mr. Dracount. Didn't you say if I die, you'll die? Please let me down!"

"Don't humans consider vampires descendants of demons? Do you trust the words of demons?" Vlador quipped, looking at Triana humorously.

Heart pounding harder, coldness creeping up Triana’s spine. Once again, she was on the brink of death. But this time, she wouldn't stay silent. She didn't see any signs of Vlador lunging at her like before. Maybe this time she could fight back, or at least try.

Without further hesitation, Triana leaped from the ledge to land on the dark floor of the room, but she only made Vlador grip her hand tighter and pull her trembling body closer.

Triana's cheekbone collided with a hard, bumping surface. She turned her head to find that it was Vlador’s large body that had collided with her face and body. Before she could even think to move away from him, two large and long objects enveloped her body.

Wide-eyed, Triana realized they were Vlador's arms. Then she raised her hands in front of her chest as a barrier. "What are you—"

Triana's protest was cut off as the arms tightened around her body even more.

"Have you ever flown?"