Chapter 8-
(Catarina)
The next night is the ball. Vampires are literally howling at the beginning then the band plays and everyone dances. Everyone is dressed up like last night. Shan is sitting in the corner so I walk over and bow to him, holding out my hand. "Care to join me on the dance floor Shan?"
He grins. "Sure." He takes my hand and I lead him into the mix of vampires. Literally everyone is dancing. I smile as we wrap our arms around each other and dance slowly to the music.
"Forgive me if my dancing skills are horrible," I laugh.
"They're better than mine," he replies.
After a while of being bumped into because the room is so cramped with nearly 500 vampires in it, we decide to go find Seba. "Are you two having fun?" Gavner asks us.
"Yes," we both say happily, smiling.
"What do you think?" Seba inquires.
"Everyone looks kind of silly," Shan answers honestly.
"You should not say such things out loud. You will hurt our feelings. Most vampires are proud of their dancing, they think they dance with great style."
"Seba, do you have some kind of herbs or something for my scratches?"
"Yes, we can go get it but I have to bring Kurda. He said he wanted to go too."
"I can go get him."
"Oh, and bring Madam Octa. She's such a beautiful spider."
I make a face but go with Shan to fetch them.
It is dark in the tunnels. I hold onto Shan's arm so I don't trip or get lost. It is him and me, Seba, Gavner, and Kurda. Finally we arrive in the room and I am shocked to see it is covered in spiders. They are not poisonous but they will attack if you upset them. I stand still and try to ignore them. "Take off your shirt," Seba tells Shan.
"What? Here? But I-"
"Just do it."
He sprinkles cobwebs over the worst infected areas including his hands. They are healing cobwebs. For a while Seba and Shan play with the spiders. Shan uses the flute. I watch amusedly. "Darren is naturally gifted with spiders. Very few people have the ability to bond with them. You are a fortunate young man Darren," Seba says.
On the way back Shan decided he wanted to see a burial room. I went with Gavner because the thought of that kind of creeped me out. "I saw you dancing with Darren," Arra tells me.
I blush.
She laughs. "You two certainly have gotten close."
"We are simply friends," and then I explain as I had to others.
When Shan returns he is frowning.
"How was it?" I ask.
"Horrible."
The third and last day of the trials ends with relaxation. People share stories and song. Shan cannot stay because he has to go train for his next trial. It is a very difficult one and even Mr. Crepsley is extremely worried. It is a room of flames. He has to stay in for fifteen minutes and avoid the flames popping up on the floor randomly. He doesn't get much time to rest before the actual trial, only an hour. All the time was needed for intense training. His skin is pink from being burned so I rub lotion over him to soothe it. He closes his eyes and sighs contentedly. I'm sure it feels good. "Thanks," he mumbles.
"No problem, just make sure you get out of this one alive too, okay Shan? Don't break your promise."
He nods.
I hug him then I kiss his cheek. It is not just a peck this time. I am worried about him, more than ever.
I wait anxiously the whole fifteen minutes and when they finally open the door all I can do is sob. Mr. Crepsley rushes in and grabs him. They rush him to the hospital area where the medics can take care of him. Kurda tries to comfort me and I cry all over his robe.
No one succeeded in comforting me at all. I cried a lot for a very long time. Some vampires looked at me strange but I could care less.
My heart almost burst out of my chest when I heard that he woke up. I cried happy tears then. It's surprising I had any left. "Don't cry...Catarina," he coughs. "I'm okay."
Mr. Crepsley puts a hand on my shoulder. "It's okay," he tells me.
I sniffle and try to dry my tears. "I'm sorry."
"You have no need to be," the elder vampire assures me.
"I was so scared," I tell Shan.
"I'm fine...I'm alive...I promised you."
I nod, composing myself the best I can. Kurda was able to postpone the next trial for three days but that is all. He will have to kill two boars who have ingested vampire blood. Kurda and Vanez decided to let him rest the whole time before the trial. I am not so sure that he will do well in the trial. He is severely injured. His skin is horribly burnt and he doesn't even have hair anymore. He is healing but it's a difficult process.
I put lotion on him a lot and rarely leave his side. Everyone visits and tells him stories to keep him from getting too bored. "You care for him very much," Arra tells me one night.
"I do," I nod.
Mr. Crepsley has news for us. He said Seba is retiring and offered him his job. He said Shan can stay here with him at Vampire Mountain until he is old enough to go on his own if he wants. Harkat said he would stay with Shan as long as he allowed him to.
"Are you really going to stay here?" I ask him.
"I don't...know. What...are you...going to...do?"
"I have an idea but I'm still not sure if it will work out."
"Did you...find a...teacher?"
I nod. "Yes, I think so. I have to talk to them and then Gavner and the generals. Everyone has to be in agreement about it."
"Who is it?"
"I'll tell you after I talk to them."
"Okay."