CHAPTER 48: RARE BLOOD TYPE

(Amaia)

Yanna’s frantic shaking wakes me up. My head seems to have been filled with lead–it feels so heavy when I try to open my eyes and lift it.

"What happened to your head?" Yanna asks in a slightly panicked voice. Her hand gently touches the back of my head.

"I think I banged it on the wall while trying to lie down after turning off the lantern," I lie because I don’t even know what happened last night.

Everything is so hazy, my eyes won’t even open properly.

"Come I will take you to the infirmary. I think you will need stitches. You have lost so much blood." Panic has now spread to her face as she helps me up and balances me on my feet.

Lightheaded, I almost fall down again. My hand goes to the back of my head and I feel my hair has matted there due to blood.

And then Rigel’s thoughts emerge in my brain and I break away from Yanna. Staggering on my feet I leave the cell.

"Where are you going? You are hurt, you will fall down again." Yanna rushes behind me but I keep dragging myself towards Rigel’s cell. A raw desperation to see him and the condition he is in, clings to me.

What happened to him last night?

The thought has my heart in shackles, squeezing as if trying to turn it into mush.

With every step, the sweat trickles down my back. The heartbeat grows so fast that it pounds in my ears.

’Don’t be hurt,’ I plead but his screams from last night echo in my brain, making my very being shake with anger and regret.

I feel so useless, so weak. I couldn’t cross a barrier to get to him. The powerful magic had propelled me backwards. The magic was so much stronger and superior to mine.

Reaching his cell, my hands coil around the iron bar. My eyes focus and I blink, again and again, focusing on the spot I had seen him last time. Slowly, I slink down, and tears cloud my vision.

The cell is empty...

I can’t see him anymore or did someone take him away?

What did they do to him?

Why was he screaming?

Did they torture him?

So many questions makes my head even more dizzy.

His cell no longer appears clean; the smell of something rotten and festering clings to every dust-settled corner.

My magic painfully swells inside me, making me have this feeling that he is there, I just can’t see him.

What condition is he in?

Can he see me?

Desperation clings to me like a second skin. My knuckles whiten from the way I hold the cold iron bars. A scream just rests on the tip of my tongue. But no matter how hard I stare all I see is the darkness and the opposite wall to which he was chained.

"This cell is not used. It has been cordoned off. I should have informed you earlier as well. Why do you keep coming here? There’s nothing here," Yanna grabs my arm and tries to pry me away from the cell.

Tears fall from my eyes and slip down my cheeks as I mouth to the empty cell.

’I will return for you.’ I know if he is there he can hear me. Vampires have heightened senses.

Yanna drags me away, my thoughts are so consumed by him that my tears don’t stop falling.

I don’t even know how she drags me all the way up. My eyes dip and stare at the black flower he has created and tied to my wrist, the only piece of evidence that he exists that I didn’t conjure him through my imagination. He is real. Right?

I don’t know how to make flowers from the torn pieces of clothes. My uniform is intact. Yanna has wrapped the outer coat around my dropped shoulders.

I flick my wrist and two distinctive marks from his fangs are still there—like tiny dots. They give me hope.

"Amaia!" Kacir’s soft voice has me lifting my head to stare in his direction. Tears cling to my eyelids and I just want to break down while hugging him.

Concerns run deep on his serious face as he steps closer and takes me from Yanna.

"I have got her."

"She banged her head on the wall. She needs to go to the infirmary," Yanna informs him before letting me go. I lean onto Kacir for support, closing my eyes and he holds me.

"I will take her."

Yanna leaves after a nod and Kacir quietly asks.

"Are you alright?" Slowly, we begin to walk. "I was worried for you."

"I am not. I just want to lie down," I brokenly whisper to him. He believes my condition is because of staying in the dungeon for three days but it’s Rigel’s situation that has me broken and so vulnerable.

"Come!" I am not sure how Kacir takes me to the infirmary and sits me down. He offers me water and I drink the cool liquid with trembling hands. My body won’t stop shaking and my head has a splitting headache. I am not even sure how much blood I have lost.

TJ hurriedly enters, worries so apparent on his wise face. Kacir lays me down on my side. His gentle hands remain on my head but all I feel is numb. Numb from the pain as Rigel’s screams keep echoing all around me.

"Now what did they do to the poor girl?" TJ asks with a shake of his head and I hear Kacir grind his teeth.

"They locked her in the bloody dungeon for three days. She hurt her head. It’s always so dark down there," he explains.

"They are going to get someone killed one of these days," TJ says bitterly and I feel his hands on my head. I know he is examining the wound.

"She needs stitches, the cut is deep. Kacir I will need your help in holding her."

"I am here." Kacir then bends down, and I feel his warm hand on my face.

"Amaia! You will have to be a little brave. We just need some stitches." He gently takes both my hands and I nod at him with a snivel.

I am already numb with emotional pain, what’s a little physical one going to do with me?

Kacir makes small talk. Telling me how they beat Antrodias. Zille is better and now flies away and returns whenever he feels like. He has brought him a small wooden house so he can rest in it.

I listen quietly while TJ stitches up my head. After the stitches, he draws a small sample from my arm before walking away.

"Thank you! Kacir. You are a friend everyone deserves," I utter and a rare smile creeps on Kacir’s lips as we continue to talk.

TJ returns and urgently calls Kacir. "She needs a blood transfusion. She has lost too much blood. But her blood type is very rare. I will have to check the database and see who has her blood type," he says in a hushed voice but I hear him.