"You're unhappy with me."
Lamia leans over him, tipping his chin until he's looking her in the face. Her eyebrows are raised in soft worry.
"I don't want you to be upset. Tell me what's wrong."
She should know, he thinks, but what comes out of his mouth is something else.
"I'm not, everything is fine."
"You can tell me anything," she says. "No matter what it is, even if you're angry with me, it won't change anything between us."
He wants to be angry, but the look in her eyes is sincere and the feeling passes.
"I'm fine, really."
"Do you want me to leave?"
Yes.
"No."
She smiles as she rises. "I'll leave you alone then."
He's still mulling over what exactly he wants to say to her when he finds Jino, sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace in the dining hall. He sits down and warms his hands. The cold may not bother anyone else, but he much prefers the heat.
"I heard about what happened with Solon," Jino says. "He said she told you to-"
"She wasn't serious," Heli interrupts.
"Sounded serious to him," Jino continues.
"She said I needed to consider the possibility I'd have to choose between you," Heli sighs. "She wouldn't actually ask that."
Jino doesn't look away from the crackling flames.
"Who would you choose? Her or us?"
"I'm not planning on ever having to…I have to protect all of you, right?"
"Of course." Jino stands. "Not that you would have noticed, but you're not the only one getting special training."
"What? Who? What have you been doing?" Heli watches as Jino turns on his heel.
"Believe it or not, you're not the only one here. And though the moments you're not with her are few and far between, sometimes she asks for the rest of us too."
Heli chases after him as he crosses the room, but Jino vanishes in a cloud of sparks and black smoke.
Jakah's eyes are wide, his mouth agape, one hand is on Heli's shoulder. Heli's curled up in Viken's bean bag chair.
"What? What's wrong?" Heli asks. He sits up, now startled fully awake.
"I heard you dreaming," Jakah breathes.
"You what?"
"You were talking to Jino."
Panic rises in Heli's chest. "Is that it?"
"Yes? Was there more? Why do I feel anxious?"
He had missed the preceding scene with Lamia, then. Heli sighs in relief.
"Of course you were with her," Jakah rolls his eyes. "I'm not surprised, but still. Gross."
He stands and Heli grabs his hand.
"You have to help me," Heli gasps. "I can't have Eugene knowing I think about her."
"I can't blame you there. I don't want to know any details about what you two did together either." Jakah shudders. "Have you considered not thinking about her? I guarantee she doesn't spend that much time dreaming about you. You should just forget about her, I mean it."
"That's not- I can't have him knowing about her, at all. But I don't know what's going on or why everyone knows what I'm thinking all of a sudden."
Jakah frowns. "I don't either. Just think more quietly or something."
Easy for Jakah to say. The more Heli tries not to think about certain things, but more pervasively they rise to the forefront of his mind. Instead of disappearing, his mental image of Lamia just pops up more clearly. Putting her out of his mind is simply not possible. She's a constant presence in his thoughts. The only solution is for Heli to banish himself every time Eugene enters the room, leaving a trail of black mist as Eugene shrieks.
It's not faring well with the others either.
"Let's call it quits," Viken says, dropping the game pieces from his hand. "It's not fun if we can hear you strategise and you're also getting angry, which is making me angry."
Avys and Jakah both cast sympathetic looks at Heli as he mumbles apologies.
"He doesn't mean he's mad at you," Avys adds. "We can all feel it."
"I really don't know why," Heli says.
"Would it help if I told you there's somewhat of a pattern?" From the armchair, Taho opens a small notebook.
"Maybe. What's that?"
"My notes. I'm going to be able to publish the only authentic guide about vampires."
Jakah gets up to take a peek at Tae's notebook. As he flips through the pages, Jakah glances at Heli with a grin.
"He's got you pretty well figured out."
"What's the pattern?" Heli asks.
"First, there's the thing where we can hear you, as if you're talking. But it seems like you have to be focused on someone or at least have them in mind for them to hear your thoughts."
This is useful. If he doesn't have Eugene in mind, he won't hear anything. Taho's observations may have just saved him after all.
"But," Taho continues. "You're also doing it unintentionally. If you're looking at him and thinking something like 'I don't want Eugene to know this,' then he's going to know it."
"Great," Heli groans. "Anything else?"
"Everyone you're in a room with can also feel whatever mood you're in. We've been referring to it as an emotional leak."
"I can't stop having emotions anymore than I can just stop thinking," Heli says.
"I know, we're just going to have to figure it out."
The front door opens and Eugene's voice carries into the living room.
"She's doing it on purpose now. There's no other reason for her to show up everywhere I go."
Heli transports himself upstairs before Eugene rounds the corner. He sinks to the floor and leans into the wall just at the top.
"Where's Heli?" he hears Eugene ask.
"He just left," Avys responds.
"Again? He's been running away from me for days. Why is he hiding from me? What's in his head that he doesn't want me to know?"
"If you don't yet know it, you've already answered the why question," Taho answers.
"I'm kinda glad he's not in here, to be honest," Soule says. "I don't like the uneasy feeling every time he's around."
If they didn't want him around then fine, he wouldn't be around. He takes himself to the front door and steps outside.
"Did you just-" Viken says, but Heli doesn't hear the rest as he closes the door behind him.
The nights now are cloudy and wet. Sitting out in the moonlight isn't an option anymore, so he circles around the cottage until he spots a couple narrow steps leading down towards the stream. Set in the stone at the bottom is a small door. It's not locked, so he enters. Inside is a root cellar, and it's huge. He finds a single light switch and flips it on. One bare bulb flickers on from the centre of the stone ceiling. The floor is dirt and gravel. Lining the walls are wooden shelves, some laden with jars and cans of actual food, but some are things definitely not edible.
Red spotted mushrooms fill one wooden crate. Another shelf holds bits of fur and bones, and a large set of antlers. An antique key hangs from a hook, and high on the top shelves above it, gold objects shine in the light.
Heli lifts one of the objects and lets it float down to his hands. It's a small telescope, but when he tries to look through it, the lenses are cloudy. He sends it back and brings down a compass. Etched into the bronze is a dragon motif.
"Are you going to live down here now?"
He turns to see Viken standing in the doorway.
"No," Heli sends the compass back to the top shelf. "Just until I figure out what's happening to me."
"So for the foreseeable future," Viken rolls his eyes but pulls over a large box and takes a seat.
"Is this all magic stuff?" Heli asks.
"Most of it," Viken replies.
He watches as Heli continues inspecting various objects. Some of the dusty jars remind him of Dr. Himmel's wet specimens. He wipes the dust off of one, revealing the scaly skin of a black snake.
"Want to see something cool?"
"Okay, sure."
Viken jumps up and scans the shelves. After rummaging around some old bones, he pulls out a small box. Bronze hinges adorn the otherwise plain construction. He takes the old key off its hook and hands both to Heli.
"Try opening this," he says.
Heli gives him a suspicious look but puts the key in the lock and gives it a turn. With a click, the lid pops open. He flips it back. There's nothing inside. Burned into the bottom is a circle surrounded by strange looking characters.
"What does this-"
He gasps as he looks back up at Viken. They're standing at the edge of a forest in a wide field, the wild flowers swaying in a soft breeze. Tiny pricks of light flash throughout the field. Overhead the moon hangs full in a sky full of stars.
"Woah, you got a nice one," Viken grins as he circles around, taking in the view.
"Is this real?"
Viken shakes his head. "It's an illusion. Don't try going too far, or you'll just walk into the wall. The really far out thing is that it's different depending on who opens the box. When Eugene tried it, he got a desert."
For an illusion, it certainly feels real. The air is cool on his face, and he can hear the rustling of leaves. It stretches out as far as he can see, with the misty blue silhouette of mountains far in the distance. Between them just an unimaginably long stretch of soft plants and flickering glow worms.
"What does it look like when you open it?" Heli asks.
"A deep cave, on an island."
Behind them in the forest, Heli can hear the sound of twigs snapping. He turns and squints into the dark trees. He can feel the presence of something moving behind them, but even he can't see.
"Look!" Viken pulls on his sleeve.
Further down the treeline, two deer step out into the field. They stop, looking up towards Heli as he stares back.
They may not be real, but the peacefulness is. He could just stand here for hours, without a thought for anything in the real world. No wonder it's a spell kept locked.
"You've relaxed a bit," Viken says. "Still a bit worried though."
Heli shrugs and snaps the lid on the box shut. The illusion instantly disappears, leaving them back in the root cellar.
"Listen, you actually shouldn't live out here, so let's go back inside." Viken locks the box and returns the key to the hook.
"I'm upsetting everyone, though."
"Only because you keep worrying. Want to tell me why? I have good advice sometimes."
"Absolutely not."
"You should still come back in," Viken insists, and gives Heli a light push towards the door.
Heli follows Viken back into the cottage. Eugene is standing with his arms crossed, and he looks up as they enter the living room. Heli's about to transport himself away, but Viken throws his arms around him.
"No, stop it!" he says. "Sit down."
He shoves Heli to the sofa and he sinks down, pointedly looking everywhere but at Eugene who leans down until they're eye-level. Eugene turns Heli's head to face him and uncaps a large sort of pen. A pungent odour wafts from it.
"That smells awful," Heli tries to lean away but Viken holds him in place by his shoulders. "I think the ink is rotten."
Eugene pushes back Heli's fringe and surveys his forehead. "It's a permanent marker. Yeah, it stinks but this is going to help. I think."
Eugene bites the corner of his lip as he starts drawing on Heli's face, a series of circles and quick lines. It feels complicated. When it's completed, he recaps the marker and steps back to admire his work.
"How is it?" he asks.
"Quiet," says Soule. "The air has definitely cleared up."
"I don't hear any disembodied voices," adds Taho.
"Great, if you ask me," Avys concludes.
They're all crowding in front of him, their eyes tracing over his forehead.
"That's a suppression sigil," explains Eugene. "So it should keep all his thoughts in his head."
"Won't it wash off?" Jakah asks.
"Eventually, but I thought it'd at least give him time to figure out how to stop the leakage on his own."
"Ahh," Jakah nods in approval.
Heli feels pressure on his forehead, as if an invisible hand is squeezing around the front of his face. The others straighten up, looking around at each other and nodding. After a while Viken leans over and waves a hand in front of Heli's eyes.
"Do you think it might have…worked a little too well?" Viken glances from Heli to Eugene. "He hasn't even blinked."
"Isn't that normal?"
"No, not really."
Eugene leans down again to look Heli in the eye. Though he's directly in front of his face, Heli can't focus. His gaze is stuck somewhere off in the distance and everything else is a blur. He wants to tell Eugene it's uncomfortable, but every sentence that bubbles out of the fog fizzles out before it can finish or connect to his mouth.
Eugene shakes his shoulders, but Heli might as well be a rag doll. He feels like he's asleep and dreaming, not actually present and awake.
"Hm," Eugene frowns. "Maybe I shouldn't have used the marker."
He leaves and returns with a bar of soap and wet cloth. He scrubs at Heli's face, dripping water all down his front, but the frown only deepens.
"Try the rubbing alcohol," Taho offers.
"Good thinking," Eugene says. He returns with a bottle of liquid that's even more pungent than the market had been.
He tries oils and different sprays, bottles of household cleaner and whatever else they can think of, but it's apparent from the looks on their faces all they've accomplished is rubbing the skin on Heli's face raw. In addition to the closing vice grip, it burns.
"What if we just let it settle," Eugene says. "It should just fade on its own."
"It hasn't faded even a tiny bit after everything you just tried," Viken says. "Can't you change what's already there to be less effective?"
"If I add to it we might make it worse."
"I don't see how that's possible."
"He might explode or something, I don't know."
Jakah sits down and looks Heli straight in the eye.
"Hey," he says. "Are you in there? Snap out of it."
Jakah's voice reaches deep into his mind, as if clearing a path. Heli blinks.
"I'm…" he says. "I think…"
"That's an improvement," Eugene says.
The stream of thoughts slightly becomes better, like slowly waking from a deep sleep. Though he's somewhat more alert, the constant ache in the front of his skull feels like another curse. Eugene insists it will go away eventually, but Heli suspects he has no more idea of that than how to actually remove the sigil from his face.
Viken is still out as the sun begins to set.
The one good thing about Eugene's sigil is Heli can sleep again without the disturbing nightmares. At the same time, the moment he takes his first evening breath switches on the ache in his head.
The front door opens and Heli can smell blood. Jakah perks up too from the sofa. He's used to the smell of animal blood now, but this is different.
This smells absolutely delicious.
"You're back late," Soule says from the kitchen. "Where have you- what happened to your face?"
"Fell off the bike," Viken says. "Don't worry about it."
"Fell off and rolled down a cliff?" Soule sounds exasperated.
Heli gets up to look, though he suspects he'll regret it.
As soon as he sees Viken, the prickling starts.
Viken's lip is split, and blood covers the lower part of his face and drips down his shirt. His attempts to wipe it away have left smears across his cheek and all over his jacket sleeves. There's a growing bump above his eye which is bruised and bloodshot. White, blood smeared knuckles grip a container full of blood.
"Taho told you to stop going to town so often," Soule sighs, taking the blood from him.
"Yeah, but now we've got two of them," Viken replies.
"You can let someone else go, once in a while," Soule says but Viken shakes his head.
"I've been the one going, so I'll do it. Besides, if they're not hungry they won't want to eat us." Viken glances at Heli, who's propping himself up on the door frame. "And you, don't look at me."
Viken goes upstairs wincing. More than the pain from his curse, Heli doesn't like that Viken came home looking like while trying to collect blood for them.
"We tried to tell him," Soule sighs. He pulls an ice pack from the freezer and wraps it in a kitchen towel.
"We've been here for how long and he still thinks we'd attack him?" Jakah asks.
Heli hears shouting from above.
"I said I fell off the bike! No, there wasn't anyone else, would you drop it?"
Heli follows Soule upstairs to find Viken in his room. Eugene is shaking his head outside the door. Viken's face is cleaned up and now noticeably swollen.
"The things I do for you," he mutters as he applies the cool pack to his lip.
"Really?" Heli says after Soule leaves and closes the door.
"Really what?"
"Fell off."
"That's what I said isn't it? Why's everyone keep asking me that? Do you all think I got pushed and beat up?"
Heli looks at him blankly. Viken lets out an exaggerated laugh.
"Okay, the inability to hold a conversation was kinda funny at first, but now it's irritating. I think you're trying to interrogate me but I've already told you everything."
Heli nods and Viken waves him away.
"Go ask Eugene to fix that sigil or something."
No one else had said it, but Viken's insistence he hadn't been pushed is starting to sound a little suspicious.
"Where is this town anyway?" Jakah asks as Heli goes back downstairs into the living room. "I think I'd like to see it."
"We went through," Heli says.
"I'd like to see it again," Jakah looks up at him.
"You saw."
Jakah sighs. "I want to see it now. Come on." He pushes Heli out the door.
"Why?"
"Do you actually think Viken was gone that long because he fell? His heart rate is giving him away, it's obviously a lie. I want to know what kind of place it is," Jakah says when they've reached the road. "What's the fastest way to get there?"
"Bicycle," Heli says again, to another sigh.
"I know you're not running at full speed, so just point me in the direction."
The sigil's effect extends to more than just his internal monologue, it turns out. In this dreamy state he struggles to keep up with Jakah, but eventually they do make it to the narrow road marked by the stone cross.
"This is quite charming, isn't it?" Jakah says as he skips down the centre of the empty street. It's quiet except for the laughter coming from a pub. They sit on a bench on the opposite sidewalk, watching as people go in and out.
"I think," Heli starts.
Jakah waits for him to finish, but he doesn't.
"Yeah, that's great. What about?" Jakah prompts.
"Viken," Heli continues.
"An improvement over someone else."
"No, I mean." Heli stops again, searching for the words. "It's dangerous for him."
"Ah," Jakah replies. "You mean because of you, or because of the people here? Because they seem completely normal, which doesn't necessarily mean a good thing for someone like him."
"Me."
"He seems like he's okay with that risk."
"I need to apologise."
"Why? I thought you controlled yourself very well."
"And to Jaan."
Jakah makes a face at the sudden topic change. "Forget it. If Jaan's gone where I think he has, you won't be able to get close to him in a million years."
Heli's trying to string together an enquiry as to what Jakah means when three young men in bell bottom jeans and light jackets stumble out of the pub, laughing loudly.
"This is what I needed after dealing with that long-haired freak."
"A reward, you mean!"
They all burst into another round of laughter. Jakah leans forward on the bench.
"Can't believe he actually showed up today. My aunt wasn't kidding when she said he was in her shop nearly every day. Thought we'd have to wait a while to catch real devil-worshippers."
They continue down the street. Jakah and Heli follow, keeping their distance as they listen.
"I heard they live in the middle of the woods, just five men."
"Sounds like a cult to me."
"Something weird going on, for sure. Why else would they need so much blood?"
"Next thing you know, that's not going to be enough and they'll be sacrificing people."
"When he comes back, we should follow him home and torch the place."
"Think he'll actually come back? We gave it to him good."
They turn into a little alleyway. Heli turns to ask Jakah if they should keep on their tail, but Jakah's left his side.
"Who are you?"
Heli rounds the corner to see Jakah standing opposite him, the backs of the three men between them. Jakah is smiling.
"Freak. Whatever let's-" the tallest of the men turns to see Heli, blocking their exit from the alley.
"Get out of the way," he yells. "I've beat one freak today, you don't want a repeat performance."
"Heli," says Jakah. "I can handle this."
Heli turns as the men start shouting expletives and the alley begins to fill with black mist. A stifled scream emanates from behind as he walks away.
He sits down at the edge of a sidewalk, cursing his own disorganised and unfinished thoughts and aching head. He's not sure where he made the jump from Viken to Jaan. He does need to apologise though, for letting Jaan go this long thinking he was dead…
Maybe it was just the background worries about the friends he's lost that brought Jaan to mind.
When Jakah approaches, he's wiping his mouth with his sleeve.
"Are they…"
"They'll live," Jakah says.
"They won't...be worse?"
'They're not going to remember anything," Jakah laughs. "As if anyone would believe them after a night in the pub anyway."
He reaches down to help Heli up from the sidewalk. "I've seen enough of this place. Let's go home."