Let's just get right into it.
Enjoy!
Ara woke up to a dark room that morning. The fact that the sun had risen already a few hours ago wasn't at all noticeable when no ray of light penetrated through the thick, purplish curtains. A familiar smell filled her lungs soothingly; she smiled, still with her eyes closed, to the knowledge of proximity. Moving lazily around she enjoyed the feeling of that soft touch of the sheets against her skin. She felt well rested, relaxed; her mind had melted into a state of pure blankness and carefreeness. No feelings of uneasiness or worry had place inside. She stretched her arm a little bit and touched the skin she knew she'd find, without needing to open her eyes. The only thing that was necessary at that moment in which her body felt so light and so deliciously caressed by the mattress and the sheets that her mind was free of any kind of thought. Her fingertips ran through the prominences of the body she had came to know. Up and down through collarbones, flat chest and stomach and then that curve again on the bones of his hips. How she loved those bones.
"Aren't you going a little bit too far there?" the particularly hoarse voice came from high up like a tender reproach at which she could do nothing but smile.
"No" she replied throatily as her arm covered his waist loosely. She drew nearer, planting a small kiss on his side, before finally opening her eyes. The darkness of the bedroom made it easy to transition from the night of sleep she still hadn't shaken off. He was sitting on the bed with his back partially supported against the pillows, in his hands the book he had left aside the previous night. "Did you sleep?" she asked.
"No. You were snoring the whole time so I had to read instead" he replied without taking his eyes off the pages of the book. One of his hands travelled to the back of her head, tangling her hair between his fingers.
"What? Did I really?" she questioned with a slight frown, incorporating to sit down next to him.
"Not really" he said with the same serious tone as before, gaining a soft push from her on his shoulder.
She snuggled on his arm, nuzzling against his jaw affectionately as her fingers traced the shape of his side. Urging him silently to take his attention off the book she started to draw the curve between his neck and shoulder with her lips, giving small kisses to his skin. The desire of closeness and contact motivated her to display the tenderness she had never shown before, to mildly demand for his attention.
"Leave the book aside" she purred groggily, cupping his cheek gently to direct his gaze at her.
"Why are you so affectionate, all of a sudden?" he questioned while complying to her demanding request. He looked at her for a moment, keeping his sober demeanour but taking in all the information he could at the same time. She was suddenly looking so feline; a confidence and power he had never seen showing on her eyes before. It was as if she were making him accomplice to something. And it felt strangely good, seeing her like that.
"Why, you ask? How insensitive..." she scolded him with less playfulness than he would have wanted. The pursing of her lips was enough proof to know that his question had bothered her in all seriousness. "Are you serious?".
"What? Can't I have an honest doubt?" he retorted with slight hints of confusion and exasperation at how easily he had obviously made her upset. But his second question didn't seem to help the least bit. In fact, the mild annoyance she had just shown had now turned into a deep frown and irritation radiating from her.
"You are so dense" she said with unwilling disdain as she moved her body away from his.
"This is what you made me leave my book for?" he asked, now starting to get frustrated at the way she refused to clarify what exactly he had said that was so wrong and why. But all he received in exchange for his questions was a groan and her leaving the bed. "Aren't you going to explain yourself?" he pressed.
She stopped in the middle of the room at half her way to leaving the room and prepare to go back to the inn as soon as possible. Instead, she turned around and walked back to the bed, standing by Add's side and slightly leaning over to whisper on his ear.
"Because we had intercourse, Add. We did it after you read a sonnet to me and you were so tender and so sweet that I thought that maybe, maybe you had opened up your heart a little bit more and I felt like doing the same. That's why" she muttered with a firm tone that bordered with the anger, dangerously playing with its limits. As soon as the last word came out through her mouth she withdrawed, resuming the original plan of getting out of his bedroom and go about her day, working at the inn as she should do. She closed the door leaving a conflicted man behind.
Walking through the busy streets of the town she stepped against the stone with a strong pace, short but quick steps moving the ample skirt around her feet. She hated the inn; the disgusting smell that emanated from the walls and the decaying feel of its badly mantained structure. But at least she would have the chance to take her mind out of the buzzing thoughts that were whirling around inside her head. It was a disgrace. Even if no one were to find out Add was a vampire, the fact that she had behaved like that being a single lady was bad enough. To top it off, he had acted as if it wasn't even a big deal, or like it didn't mean or change anything. What a brute he was sometimes.
But even when those kind of thoughts were busying her, she couldn't help but feel how an increasing sense of guilt started to grow inside her. She recriminated herself for filling her mind with that sort of banal issues, when there was so much she needed to worry about and resolve. Add had completely flooded her mind with his sole existence the past weeks, so much that the deplorable situation of the town had been relegated to second place. She knew she hadn't been acting responsibly towards the extermination of the invading demons that had taken so much through her life, even if it was true that the death of her hunting team made it impossible for her to take care of it alone with the same efficiency. What she was currently doing would also be useful to solve the problem, hopefully, even more than going out at night and killing a couple of demons if she managed to find them. But still, being recluded inside a library studying translation didn't feel as involved as she'd want to be about the end to the demon invasion. What to do, what to do.
Glancing down at the palms of her hands she had a certain thought crossing her mind for an instant, enough to linger inside her head for the rest of the way towards the inn. The vibration and heat she had felt in her fingers when that strange vortex had been created out of nothingness, with just her precise words, were something she couldn't shake off the memory of her skin. She had felt the power flowing inside of her like a wave of hotness so clearly that it almost didn't seem real. The same had happened with the restoration spell she had casted upon herself after Add's vicious feast, but differently. The first time it had been as if something really strong was being exuded from her body, appearing inside her chest first and spreading all over to penetrate then through her skin and to the exterior from the tip of her fingers. The last time, however, it had been something that flooded her completly. Something that enveloped her and filled every corner of her insides. The sensation of her body recovering its own life and strength was indescribable.
She looked closely at her right hand, opening and closing the fist her fingers formed; it looked almost foreign to her. But if all of what happened had been real, if it was really possible for her to create that sort of forces with just the knowledge of an ancient language then it was clear that she needed to attain more of that power conversance gave her. She came to a stop near a solitary alleyway, closing her eyes to try and remember the exact words that had unleashed the discovery of that mystical power. She found them seared into her mind; she could almost see them engraved inside her eyelids, dancing in front of her.
Mimicking the movements of her lips the previous night she started to repeat the words that were presenting themselves to her in the form of unforgettable memories. That heating sensation started to grow inside her chest once again, more and more intensely as the reciting progressed. Her extended arm felt heavy and full of a strange strength she struggled to keep at bay, feeling the tips of her fingers with stinging heat. In the middle of the dark a yellowish light started to emerge out of nothing, swirling vertiginously and taking more and more strength and more and more size as she got closer to the end of the spell. She had to stand firmly on her spot to avoid being attracted towards that powerful wind that was filling the narrow passage between two old buildings, increasing in size and its light becoming more intense. It lingered there in the middle of the air for a few second before retracting and absorbing itself with a small explosion, even when she hadn't withdrawed her arm.
Ara stood in the middle of the dark alley for a few minutes, staring in front of her where the vortex had been. A satisfied smile pushed itself to her lips, her stomach filling with a sensation of success. She had done it; not one, but two times successfully. It was enough proof of what she was capable of doing, and it felt like nothing she had ever experienced. Her body was trembling with excitment and tiredness, part of her energy flowing out of her body. She felt suddenly drained, but the emotion of the accomplishment was overwhelming.
She turned around, her whole body vibrating with contained content, and her eyes met yellow irises glowing in the dark, staring back at her from the beginning of the alley. Walking closer, she kneeled down to draw her hand nearer the black cat that seemed to scrutinize her with its attentive gaze. It looked surly, but didn't get away when her fingers ran through its thick and soft fur. The cat didn't purr or rub its head against her hand, but let itself be petted by Ara's gentle hand calmly. Its eyes were intense, not leaving her for even a second, almost attracting and mysterious. A husky chuckle came through her lips as she petted behind its ears.
"You know, you remind me of someone I know" she cooed softly, smiling at the animal that was attentively peering at her. Its ears twitched slightly at her words. She stood up again. "Goodbye, kitten" she whispered before resuming her way to the inn, leaving the black cat behind.
Feeling lighter on her feet than she did after leaving Add's castle, she arrived to the old building where the innkeeper awaited for her return. Being received with a grumpy face, yelling and the severe scolding of the old lady was something she had expected, so much that she was unshaken by the aggressive treatment the woman was giving her. She was late for her chores, yes; the old woman had to serve the breakfast and clean the bathroom alone, yes. But still she was right in time to clean the pensioners bedrooms and help prepare and serve lunch. Maybe being forbidden to take a serving of pottage as punishment for not complying with her part of the deal wasn't going to be as bad as it sounded. And it all honesty, it was fair. She had to work for food and a bed. She didn't do what she had to, she lost one of the privileges for the day. It was simple.
Ara went upstairs and into her room to change her clothes for a more appropriate attire for cleaning. Leaving the formal dress she had worn for the failed ball inside the wardrobe, she took a simpler, thinner, uglier dress for her to stain with all kinds of dirtiness. She tied up the lace that attached the fabric to her back and combed her hair in a braid to then fix it in a big bun. Just then she took the time to glance in the direction of the small balcony and see the black cat from before sitting with perfect balance in the railing, staring at her impassively with its cold, prideful eyes.
"Oh, you followed me...I can't have animals in here, just so you know" she told the cat with resignation, even if she knew it couldn't understand her. When she walked closer to it, the feline jumped off the railing and walked into her room, passing her by on its way to climb to the highest point of the tall wardrobe in front of her bed. It almost felt like it was mocking her, showing her how she wasn't going to be able to tame it. Now the cat looked down at her from its mighty position at the highest place of the room. She sighed; she wasn't going to fight with a cat. "Okay, stay there if you want then" she merely said as she left the room.
The afternoon passed by terribly fast as she occupied herself with diverse chores. Help preparing the pottage for lunch, cleaning the pensioners bedrooms while they were busy eating, cleaning the kitchen after they were done, cleaning the corridors and the salon. She barely noticed the transition of the light from its subtle yellowish tone, to a dark orange, to the blackness of the night. She was exhausted and hungry, but there was nothing she could do about that at this point, but sleeping it off.
When she returned to her bedroom the cat was still there, watching every one of her movements while she made it inside and closed the door and then while she undressed to get a deserved bath. Its piercing stare was pinned on her even when she was submerged in the warm water of the bathtub, waiting from up one of the shelves in the room. It had been slightly disturbing at first, but she decided to ignore it. It was just a cat after all. It even followed her to the bed when she was ready to sleep. Contradicting the distant behaviour it had shown the entire day, the feline crawled close to her and quietly snuggled against her chest, pridefully, almost like claiming an earned right. She felt resigned and content at the same time. This animal was stubborn and cocky, but the soft company of its body was somewhat soothing. She caressed its head and back tenderly as she slowly fell asleep, feeling its weight on her chest and its humid nose rosing her skin.
The white light of the moon had taken over the dark mantle of the night, redrawing every shape with its pristine contouring. It had been hours since Ara had fallen asleep with the cat cuddled against her body; the subtle sound of her slow and calm breathing was the only thing that could be heard in the room for a long time. Until a different noise started to slowly take over the silence.
Deep growling and groaning and the sound of claws climbing up the wall under the balcony.
Anessa: I'm glad you're enjoying the fic!
Ace the Card Mage ; I don't think I get what you mean?
nanashimai: I didn't want to write it explicitly because it was gonna be ugly ;-; plus it wouldn't have been coherent with the rest of the fic, I think. I actually was shrieking and giggling to myself while writing that chapter lel. I'm glad you like it! And thank you for your constant support ;-;
So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
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See you soon 33