Suspicion, Searching, And Remembering how to Breath

When we stepped outside the sun was covered with clouds. I breathed in the fresh air and smiled. It worked, It should now be easier for Serana to travel. I turned around in time to see her pull up her hood, it was in fact a habit of hers.

After we left Riften we decided that it would be faster to take a carriage to Winterhold instead of walking. I paid the Carriage driver and along the way to Winterhold an idea sprung in my brain. I looked at Serana who was admiring the scenery than at the back of the carriage drivers head. I smiled to myself and made my way closer to him.

"So..." I said casually as I leaned over his seat so I could talk to him.

"Is there a problem miss?" He asked me slightly concerned. I shook my head. "No, no problem at all... It's just I was wondering..." I said slowly. "If you see many interesting people?" I finished with a smile.

He looked at me confused. "What do you mean by interesting people?" He asked. I shrugged. "Oh I don't know... You know the kind who... Might be wearing some kind of Holy robes, look kind of old, wise, and look like a priest, just not from here." I said with a smile as I looked at him. I saw him rub his nose. It seemed like he was thinking.

But then he leaned back and draped his arm across the back of the chair. "I might have seen someone with that description not too long ago..." He said in a casual voice.

'Oh great.' I thought to myself. I knew exactly where this was going and fast. I sighed and listen to what his proposition was going to be.

"But mind you." He continued. "My memory is very blurry; you know this job can make a man so weary that his mind sometimes becomes so slippery even the strongest of thoughts slip out." He said with a crooked smile.

I hung my head for a second before I looked at him. "Oh really? And what would it take to help you remember?" I asked with a fake smile on my face.

I watched as the carriage driver rubbed his chin for a couple of seconds as he thought about what he wanted. It didn't take long before he turned to me with a sick smile on his face. I arched an eyebrow at his expression; it sent a wave of chills down my spine.

"Well..." He started. I knew what he felt, he felt like he was in complete control, I hated being in these positions. I always found my coin pouch much lighter after these kinds of situations.

"Many things could help... But there is one in particular that you can do for me that might just jolt my memory enough for me to remember exactly." He said eyeing me up and down before he winked at me.

The corner of my eye twitched. Was he really hinting what I think he was hinting? I grit my teeth together as I had to fight the urge to reach for my blade.

"Or you could tell us where he went and you get to keep what every man fears losing the most." I turned my head to find Serana had moved in closer to me. She was sitting right beside me and was fiddling with the glass dagger I had given her. She kept her head down as if she was examining the blade, but I knew that she was actually hiding her eyes. Quite honestly the way she looked there was quite mysterious and in a way intimidating.

I turned back to the man to find fear in his eyes. "Dragons Bridge!" He said quickly as he turned around in his seat so that he was facing forward and away from us. "In fact I will take you there right now if you want! Free of charge!"

I smiled as an idea popped into my head. "One free lift to Winterhold after we are done with our business there would be much appreciated as well." I said patting his shoulder.

He nodded. "Of course of course! No problem at all!" He said not taking his eyes off the road that was ahead of him.

I sat back, smiled and turned around to look at Serana. She put her blade back in its sheath and raised her head so that her glowing red eyes could see me. She flashed me a quick smile before she lowered her head again to hide her eyes. I grinned as I lightly leaned into her for a second she did the same as I heard a soft chuckle come from her. I was starting to see what a great team her and I make.

I don't know when but at some point I must have fallen asleep. The carriage jolted as we hit a bump and I found myself jolting awake. I wondered just how long exactly I had been leaning on Serana's shoulder.

"Sorry…" I mumbled as I rubbed my tired eyes. Serana shook her head and touched my arm lightly.

"Don't be sorry, I saw how tired you were so I let you sleep." She explained as the carriage hit another bump. My brow furrowed as I watched Serana who had just been looking at me look towards the floor.

Confused I turned around to find the carriage driver turned around in his seat. "Ah sleeping beauty you are awake now." I arched an eyebrow as he spoke. "I just wanted to let you know that we are here, I will be waiting right here for you two to return so I can take you both to Winterhold." I nodded and patted Serana's arm to indicate we could get off.

We jumped off the back of the carriage and as we walked away I turned to see him motioning me towards him. I arched an eyebrow and looked at Serana. She looked at me confused.

"What do you think he wants?" She whispered to me slightly concerned. I shook my head. "I don't know..." I said shrugging. "I'm going to go see what's up." I was about to walk over to him but I felt Serana touch my back lightly.

"Do you want me to come with you?" She asked quietly. "I don't trust him at all." Her voice was still quiet on that last part of her sentence but her voice was also hard.

I turned so I could see her. Her red eyes held concern for me. I gave her a smile. "I think I will be ok." I said to her and she nodded. "I won't be too far away." She said as she turned and made her way into the small village.

As I made my way back over to the carriage I took note of the man watching Serana walking away. When I was standing beside the carriage and looking up at the man sitting in it I crossed my arms over my chest and I waited to hear what he had to say. He looked down at me for a few seconds. I sighed.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked as I grew a little impatient with him. He shook his head slowly.

"Well... Not a problem I think." He said calmly. "But your friend there..." He said as he motioned his head towards where she went. "Is there something wrong with her?"

My heart nearly leapt in my chest. Did he know? "I have no idea what you mean?" I lied as I tilted my head to the side.

"You don't?" He said as he leaned in closer to me. I unfolder my arms and leaned in to make myself look like I was interested in what he had to say.

"Do you think that there is something wrong?" I asked quietly. I was trying to play dumb with him. I needed to know if we could trust him in being our carriage driver who will take us to Winterhold.

He nodded. "I think that there just might be lass. You see there have been strange people wandering Skyrim lately... And I have heard talk about people going missing, and people turning up dead on the roads."

I nodded. "So you think this has something to do with my friend?" I asked him quietly. The man looked around before he leaned in close to me again. He nodded. "Yes I do lass, you see I don't know if you noticed or not but your friend's eyes..." Yup, I'm pretty sure my heart stopped. He knew, at some point he must have caught a glimpse of her eyes, and then he put that together with her pale skin, and her hiding from the sun. "You see lass." He continued. "The guards all over Skyrim are giving warnings to people to watch out for mysterious travelers with glowing red eyes... There is a good chance that they are vampires."

I took a breath and shook my head. "You think that my friend's a vampire." I said with a chuckle. I needed to try and throw him off for as long as possible.

He nodded. "I turned around to find you sleeping lass, I saw your friend allow you to lean on her shoulder, as she looked down at you I saw them, glowing red orbs under that hood." He stopped to catch his breath and to look around for any unwanted eyes before he leaned in close. "I was so scared that she was going to bite you." He said in a harsh whisper.

I looked at him for a few seconds before I released a fake laugh. "I think you may be working to many hours sir." I said with a smile. "My friend is not what you think she is." I said waving my hands at him. I saw his brows furrow and his mouth fall open slightly. I stopped laughing and looked up at him with a smile and sighed. I took a step closer so I could pat his leg. "Get some rest sir, in fact you do look exhausted." I said as I turned to leave.

I saw Serana in the distance waiting for me. She looked at me as I made my way towards her. When I was close enough to her and far enough away from the carriage my expression changed and my heart started to race. Serana had been wearing a smile also but as soon as she saw my face hers changed to a concerned one.

"Skylar?" She asked as I grabbed her arm and lead her far away from the carriage. "What's wrong? Did he hurt you?" She asked alarmed.

I instantly shook my head. "No." I said in a low voice as I led us down an alley.

We stopped there and I peeked around the corner so that I could look at the Carriage driver. I sighed in relief to find him still sitting in the carriage. I quickly turned to Serana.

"He knows." I said quietly.

Her eyes went wide. "What? No.." She said as she buried her face in her hands.

I quickly placed my hands on her shoulder to reassure her. "Don't worry, I think I threw him off our trail long enough for us to find what we are looking for here."

She slowly looked up at me with her glowing red eyes. That sight made my heart leap in my chest but I quickly shook it off. "But I don't think we should use him to get to Winterhold." I told her as I pulled my hands away from her shoulders as I peeked around the corner again.

I held my breath as I thought for a few seconds. "Let's ask around to see if we can't find anyone who might know where he went." I said in a quiet voice as I looked over my shoulder towards her. She nodded in agreement.

We walked out of the alley and began to ask people. We asked some men who were chopping wood but they did not seem to know what we were talking about. And neither did the women we asked. I walked up to a guard and asked him if he may have but he shook his head and told me to go bother someone else, and that he was busy.

I sighed and ran my hands through my hair. "This is hopeless." I mumbled. I turned around to find Serana speaking to a little boy no older than eight years old. I chuckled but when I saw the little boy point down the south road my jaw nearly dropped to the ground. Serana waved goodbye at the boy and made her way towards me.

"South road." She said with a smile. I blinked a few times before I gave my head a shake.

"Ok let's get out of here." I said when I caught a glimpse of the carriage driver talking to a group of guards. My eyes went wide as my ears picked up the word vampire. "Ok we need to leave, like right now." I said as I grabbed her hand and pulled her along. She too had saw the guards and did not resist.

We ran over the stone bridge and down the road when we went around the bend we finally stopped to catch our breaths. "Ok, let's stay away from that carriage driver from now on." I said with a nervous chuckle.

Serana shook her head and looked towards the distance. I watched her mouth fall open slightly and her eyes go wide. "Skylar... Look." She pointed down the road. I followed her gaze and I instantly felt like my heart was in my throat.

I looked down the road from under my hood. There in the distance I saw a carriage... Well what was left of one. And bodies, at least three. "Let's go!" Skylar ran on a head.

"Skylar!?" I called slightly concerned with what might be waiting for us over there. I didn't want Skylar getting hurt especially when she could have prevented it. When I caught up to her she was leaning over a body with two fingers on the neck. She shook her head and stood up straight.

"No... Their all dead..." She said quietly. I bit my lower lip not knowing what to say, but the sound of a fireball hitting Skylar square in the chest broke the short silence.

I heard all the air be forced out of her lungs and a second later she was on her hands and knees trying to remember how to breath.

"Skylar!" I cried as I pulled out my glass dagger. I quickly threw an Icespike towards our attacker. I was not surprised to see a vampire running towards us. He dodged my attack and pulled out a sword of his own.

I cursed under my breath as I saw three more vampires running down the road towards us with their own blades high in the air. I continued to throw Icespikes as they drew closer. I only hit a few but I didn't bring any of them down. They were close now I would have to fight them off at close range. I changed my spell to electricity and just as the vampires made it to me a brown blur charged at the vampires. Howling and snarling rang in my ears as I watched a werewolf begin to tear the vampires apart one by one.

"Skylar.." I whispered as I watched

I gave my head a shake and continued to throw my Icespikes. I was careful not to hit my friend as she continued to fight. She tore the head off one vampire as two more went up behind her. My heart nearly skipped a beat. I ran towards them. I threw my Icespike at one vampire killing him but the other jumped on Skylar's back and drove its dagger into her shoulder. I heard her cry in pain as blood oozed free from her wound.

I screamed in fury as I threw another Icespike at the vampire, it hit him in the leg knocking him off of Skylar and to the ground. He was the last one, I did not waste time. I jumped on him and drove my own dagger into his chest.

I stood up straight and took a moment to catch my breath. Silence found my ears. I turned around to find Skylar gone.

"Skylar?" I called. But I received no response. I turned around thinking that maybe she ran down the path. But no, still no sign of her. I released a worried sigh and slipped my dagger into its sheath. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a trail of blood leading back over to the carriage. My still heart leaped in my chest.

I quickly followed the trail of blood. "Skylar!" I called as I made my way around the carriage. I found her sitting behind it. She only had her pants and a bra on. Her dawnguard armor was beside her. She shook her head and chuckled.

"He got me good." She said in a strained voice. That was when I realized that she had one of her hands pressed against the back of her shoulder in an attempt to stop the bleeding, it was a horrible attempt. Blood was pouring down her back at an alarming rate. She was losing blood.

I knelt behind her. "Let me see." I said in a calm voice. I saw her hesitate slightly but after a second she pulled away her blood-soaked hand. She let her head drop slightly as I examined the wound. It was very deep. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that she was still holding the dagger that had been stabbed into her. Had she pulled it out when she was in her human form? Skylar hissed in pain as I touched a sore spot on her back. "Sorry..." I murmured as I dug into my satchel.

I was praying in my head that I had a health potion in here somewhere, when I found it a smile formed on my lips.

"You are going to be ok." I said as I pulled the cork off the top. I received no response from Skylar, instead I saw her shoulders raise as she took a deep breath. I placed my hand on her good shoulder to keep her still.

"I'm so sorry about this." I said quietly as I poured the liquid into her wound. She instantly tensed up and dug her fingers into the dirt. I bit my lower lip as I was forced to hold her still to keep her from pulling away. I knew that she was consumed by blinding pain. This potion would heal her wound and fast, but for wounds like this it is excruciatingly painful. "Done." I said as the last of the bottle dripped out. I didn't hesitate to throw the bottle away. I looked down at her shoulder just at the wound mended itself. I smiled slightly and sighed in relief.

"You're ok." I whispered as I rubbed my hands up and down her upper arms. I still received no response. Instead Skylar hung her head as she was trying to catch her breath. Her breathing was ragged and uneven. At this rate she was going to make herself dizzy or even pass out. I looked at her back for a moment before I slowly wrapped my arms around her shoulders and pulled her close to me.

"Breath." I whispered. "Slow and steady breaths." I said as I rocked her back and forth in an attempt to calm her down. After a few moments her breathing steadied and her hands were no longer clawing at the ground. I smiled. She remembered how to breath.