Black Blood

I try to restrain myself from going back to the man and calling him names. We drive through the rest of the streets. The event from earlier lingers in my mind like a parasite that will not go away. The sound of moving carts, people talking and iron being forged is the only thing that can move my mind. I saw myself in that boy, I saw Elien in his eyes.

We go round several bends, see houses of different sizes and are stared at here and there. We don't talk to each other and, frankly, I like that. I don't know where we are going. I do know that it feels strange to be here. I was once in a human village as a child with my mother, but otherwise this is all new to me. The sounds remind me of the castle, the sound of activity.

As soon as we round another bend, a large building appears in my view. The building is similar to the main vampire building. It is at least three times as big as most houses here, made entirely of stone and with more windows. The doors are large and made of dark wood. In front of the building stand two of the same warriors as at the beginning of the village, dressed in the same suit.

Novak stops his horse a few metres in front of me and jumps off his back, I follow his example. I follow his example. I grab my horse by the reins and pull him towards the door. A warrior takes a step in our direction.

Before the warrior can open his mouth, the huge door flies open. A warrior has to jump to the side to avoid being hit by the hard wood. A young man with ice-white hair walks in our direction. His eyes are clear blue, his hair is neat but tousled and he has a scar on his left cheek that runs to his jaw. He is wearing blue and white checked trousers, a blue blouse and a black denim jacket. There is a smile on his face and his eyes are shining.

'Novak! It's about time.' The boy walks in our direction and pulls Novak into a hug before he can react. The boy pats Novak on the back in a friendly manner and then lets go of him. The boy's eyes slide in my direction.

'Hi Alex,' Novak says as he straightens his clothes.

'Who's lady, have you finally found a real partner who will put up with you?' says the boy who is apparently called Alex. Alex turns to me.

'How do you put up with this weirdo?' I am staring at the boy with my mouth full of teeth. Something about his behaviour reminds me of Timon, his cheerfulness and freedom of speech.

'I-I uuhm,' I stammer unknowingly.

'Alex, this is Maria, my travelling companion,' Novak explains to me. I look at Novak gratefully as I had no idea how to react. Alex starts laughing.

'Excuse me Maria. I've never seen Novak travel with anyone so it was the first thing that came to mind. I'm Alex, the Beta of this pack.' I smile small at Alex and nod my head. To be honest, I have no idea what a Beta is. I know from the books that an Alpha is the leader of a wolf pack and a Luna the wife or partner of the Alpha.

'Beta? Since when is Asa the Alpha?' asks Novak. Alex begins to smile at Novak's confusion. Alex puts an arm around Novak.

'You couldn't have chosen a better time to come along my friend. In an hour Asa will be at his inauguration'. Novak's eyes get big. I don't know who Asa is, but apparently he's the next Alpha. I stand and watch, literally. I am stunned and I don't know if and what I should contribute to this conversation. Novak wants to respond to Alex's story but again he doesn't get the chance.

'Come on, let's go inside.' Alex pulls Novak into the large building. A warrior walks in my direction and holds out a hand to me. I look at the hand outstretched in bewilderment and wonder what the man means.

'Your horse, ma'am,' the man says in a stately tone. I quickly give the man what he asks. The man takes the reins from me and walks away with the horse. I sigh deeply, smooth down my clothes and then walk through the same door as Novak and Alex went in.

Music, loud talking and rattling sounds enter my hearing. I walk into the large building and look around the room. We walk into a reception hall. The hall has a square shape.

Everywhere you look, you see wood or large windows. The floor, the ceiling, the walls and even the furniture are made of wood. In the hall, there are perhaps dozens of benches to sit on, covered with cushions. The benches repeatedly form a square, in the middle of which is a table with a built-in fire. On the floor are animal skins that are used as rugs. The room is crowded with all kinds of visitors or workers.

I notice the bench in the middle of the room, which is also the largest bench. On the bench sits a middle-aged man, a woman the same age as the man, a boy my age and a lady my age. Novak and Alex seem to be walking in the direction of that bench.

The black-haired boy gets up from the bench as soon as he catches sight of Novak, he too gives Novak a hug. I stand a few feet away watching what is happening before my eyes. As soon as Novak turns around and holds out a hand to me, I take that as a sign to walk in their direction. I take Novak's hand and stand next to him, a few metres from the group in front of me.

'I'd like to introduce you to Maria, my travelling companion. Maria these are Alpha Troy, Luna Mercie, future Alpha Asa and future Luna Sira.' I make a small bow to the group in front of me. The black-haired boy, whose name I think is Asa, stands before me. The eyes of the group pass over me.

'Good day Maria and welcome to the half-moon pack,' says the current Luna kindly. I feel the eyes of the current Alpha burning on my body. His eyes pass over me like someone who seems to be reading a book. I slowly lift my head from the floor and look at the Alpha. I look into his eyes and know what he is thinking. He knows, he knows who I really am.