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“Just try to relax,” he told her, looking at her, all worried. “It’ll pass.”
“How is she?” Amelie asked, looking at her, with the same anxious expression.
“I’d say still okay, that tea probably helped a lot.”
At that moment, Eva pushed him away, and leaned over to the side of the bed, vomiting. It came in horrible gushes, ones she was barely able to stop or fully get out. She felt Sebastian’s hands gather up her hair and she was grateful for that small act of kindness. Once she was done, and her stomach finally pulled back to where it usually was, she felt like she could breathe again. The disgusting taste of vomit was still in her mouth. She frowned.
“Here,” Sebastian said, offering her a glass of water. “Just take one small sip. You don’t want to irritate your stomach again.”
She did as he told her. She took one small sip, then gave him back the glass. She didn’t know what was happening and she hated the feeling.
“What’s going on here?” she asked, suddenly feeling afraid. “Have you both been lying to me all this time?”
“No, no,” Amelie was quick to assure her. “We just haven’t told you everything, so you are confused, and it’s understandable. If you’ll allow me to continue with my story, it will all become clear.”
Eva eyed them both for a second, but then, realizing she couldn’t run away even if she wanted to, she adhered. Amelie opened the photo album again, showing the same photo from before.
“Some time after this photo was taken, Rannulf started acting oddly. I found small animals drained of blood but at first I thought someone just didn’t clean up after themselves. Then, I realized that someone was storing this blood and in very large quantities. It would have to come from thousands and thousands of rabbits, or…” she paused, allowing Eva and Sebastian to make their conclusions.
“People?” Eva asked.
“Unfortunately, yes. You see, we don’t do that. We need very little blood to survive for a very long time. There is no need to kill for future. We never allowed that at the institute. Of course, there was an investigation, and Sorwyce and I found out, to our horror, that it was Rannulf’s doing. We tried talking, we tried forbidding him from doing it, but nothing worked. He seemed to have turned evil somehow. If that makes any sense. Douxora came to me one evening, with a notebook he found in Rannulf’s room. It was an ancient book on demonology. We had those at the library. I thought he was just interested in that. It was just a phase. He would outgrow it. Several months later, we found three Halflings dead, positioned in some kind of a ritualistic circle, with blood offerings to a demon named Xol’gorog. Sorwyce and I were devastated. We knew immediately who it was but we couldn’t allow our own son to be killed. For they surely would have killed him. So, we said we didn’t know who it was. Maybe some animal in the woods. We never allowed anyone to see the ritualistic part of the murder. We hid the blood, spilled it all over the woods, and hid the bodies in different places so they would be easily found, but it might look like an animal got hold of them and killed them. The official explanation we offered was accepted and life went on. But, Sorwyce was never the same again. Neither was I. We knew we couldn’t trust Rannulf. He was becoming increasingly dangerous. He pushed Douxora down a cliff when he thought no one was looking. Not even Douxora saw him but he claimed that no one else was there and we believed him. We realized that Rannulf had summoned that demon, Xol’gorog, and he was under his protection and influence, even before the actual summoning and sacrifice. Xol’gorog needs blood and that is how he infects the host. He’s like a disease. But, what he does is he mutates the host’s body from the inside, making it thirst for more blood. Then, more and more of us started disappearing. More and more Halflings, too. We had an invisible enemy who had infiltrated our own lines, and was killing us off, one by one. This is why Sorwyce disappeared. Rannulf tried to kill him. He attacked him, wanting the position of the Headmaster, knowing how powerful it was. Sorwyce fought him off, but Rannulf didn’t manage to kill him. Sorwyce escaped and the official story Rannulf gave was that his father had simply vanished. They all believed it, of course. I pretended to believe it myself. Douxora knew something was wrong but he couldn’t prove anything. Some time later, Rannulf got the position but Douxora wouldn’t agree and, now, we have two academies, as you know.”
“Does Douxora know Sorwyce is alive?” Eva asked.
“Of course,” Amelie nodded. “We’ve been preparing for a long time now but I feel we’re still not ready to attack him and, after all, he is my child, I don’t want to hurt him.”
“I
s there a way to make Xol’gorog go back where he came from?” Eva asked again.
“Yes, but it is very difficult. Also, we don’t know if Rannulf would ever change back.”
Eva could hear sobs and her heart ached for this woman who had lived several lifetimes, not one of them happily. She knew she needed to help her in any way she could.
“Once the blood goes dark, there is no going back,” Sebastian said.
“And he has been so helpful, this sweet boy,” Amelie pulled his head to her and kissed him on the cheek.
“You?” Eva asked.
“Mhm,” Sebastian nodded. “Like I already told you, I am a blood dealer but the blood is not human. I mean, everyone thinks it is but it’s not.”
“It’s not?” Eva was astounded. “What is it then?”
“It’s just animal blood, you know deer, rabbits, squirrels. Sorwyce has been adding some herbs to make it feel like it has more iron. I haven’t tasted it myself but everyone believes it’s human blood.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this?” Eva asked.
“I couldn’t risk it,” he replied. “There’s too much at stake. And that other blood dealer, that’s also me. Sorwyce suggested we keep one a mystery, in case I need to step back from this role. So, you see, I’d rather you think I was a nasty blood dealer, than have an innocent person die because I opened my mouth too early.”
“You mean me?”
“I mean any of us, we’re all in danger.”
“That’s right,” Amelie added gravely, “but especially you.”
“Why?” Eva kept asking questions, because it all sounded so scary.
