Esadora woke up to Holly shaking her.

She groaned. “What?”

“I have to go with some… soldiers. Apparently, they found the opening I put in the barrier and want me to take it off.”

Esadora blinked, trying to properly comprehend what she said. “But why? Shouldn’t they be ecstatic that they can leave, or something?”

“That’s what I’m thinking,” Holly said, and shook her head. “Well, that’s beside the point—will you be alright on your own, or do you want to come along?”

“I’ll be fine.”

Holly nodded. “I’ll see you later, I guess.”

Esadora said a quiet “goodbye” and sat up in her bed. She watched Holly’s back as it disappeared behind the door. She blew out a forced breath and stood up, stalking over to the bag of God-knows-what and opening it. Her eyebrows shot up. The bag was full of underwear.

She blushed for a brief time, but ultimately decided to wear the underwear. She grabbed a pair and scoured the closet for suitable clothes, settling on a T-shirt and some jeans.

As she gripped these clothes in her hand and walked toward the door where she thought the bathroom would be, her mind finally caught up with her brain. She halted in her tracks, hands tightening around the clothing.

Here she was, in the Vampire Belt, about to go to take a shower… why was she acting so casual in this place? The day before she’d been tired and panicked, but right now, she needed to take this place for what it was: the Vampire Belt, a place where vampires roamed.

But she could still take a shower, right? All the sweat and dirt that had dried on her the day before was making her feel disgusting, so, for now, she shoved her thoughts of the Vampire Belt and entered the bathroom.

Once she was washed and changed, something occurred to Esadora: the vampires had shown such aversion toward Holly, and she was with them right now… alone. Who knew what they would do to her.

She rushed out of the room. The sound of her boots slapping against the wood floor echoed throughout the hallway, her stomach clenching with anticipation. Her feet barely touched the staircase as she sprinted down it.

She was so fast, in fact, that she barely caught herself when a figure appeared at the bottom of the staircase.

Her momentum carried her forward, straight into the arms of the figure, which was now taking shape in her rapidly-moving brain.

Leon!

Esadora had no time to lament her bad luck, however, as they fell in a tangle of limbs. She ignored Leon’s groans of pain and her own struggling lungs, tripping over herself to scramble out of his arms. Her body was clumsy with fear, so by the time she was steady on her feet, Leon was too. He grabbed her arm before she could run away. Her arm tingled from the contact.

“I need to talk to you.” As opposed to yesterday, his tone was serious, and had a more obvious edge to it.

“Uh, well… I have nothing to say to you.” A lie, of course, but everything about Leon's behavior screamed at her to run away.

He tightened his grip on her forearm. “I wasn't asking.”

Esadora pulled and flailed her arm in his grip but to no avail. She could do nothing as he dragged her along to another hallway. It was only then that she noticed the soldiers stationed in the lobby. They didn't even glance at her, but she knew they'd heard their exchange. A flare of anger rose up in her chest, and she struggled more, though it was futile, to get out of Leon's hold.

Leon kicked open a door and shoved her inside of the room. Esadora squeaked as her butt hit the ground, sending a glare at the boy responsible. All irritation left her, however, as Leon shut the door behind him. Her eyes widened, heart picking up its pace as he stepped closer. She was up in a flash, crossing over to the other side of the small room and crossing her arms. She forced her expression into one of ferocity.

“Don’t come any closer! What do you want?”

Despite her warning, he did step closer. But only one step.

And yet it was still enough to make her freeze in place.

He laughed, though his expression was one of barely restrained rage. “I don’t know. What do you think?”

Esadora pressed her lips together, glancing to the side.

She screamed as his palms slapped against both sides of her head, face a few inches away from hers. “Don't you dare ignore me.”

She still didn't respond, throat closed in fear and indignation.

She barely registered his fingertips wrapping around her throat, and she had no time to do anything as she went sailing through the air, landing on her back, hard.

Nothing beside wheezes could leave her mouth, all of the breath having escaped from her. She vaguely registered Leon speaking in the background.

“Why couldn't you have just stayed in Esmeralda? What's here for you? The only reasons I can think of are to get some petty revenge… or to get your magic back. But you have to have realized that achieving those goals is kind of impossible, right?”

Esadora stood up, then broke into a coughing fit.

Leon sighed. “Oh, you're pathetic. I didn't throw you that hard… did I?” The last part of his statement seemed almost remorseful to Esadora, but she paid it no heed, along with the sparks of pain in her back.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she croaked. “What did I ever do to you?”

“I don’t know, Esadora. I don’t know.”

After running away from that maniac, Esadora got her head together—kind of—and went to find Holly. The Vampire Belt was easy to navigate, surprisingly, and she knew where she was going. But her mind kept going back to what he’d said, what he’d done, and she continued to lose her way. It wasn’t long before her legs ached. She scowled at herself, resolving to stay focused on the path…

But what path?

Though she could’ve found her way from where the Veharics lived to the place Holly had opened the Vampire Belt with minimal effort, she hadn’t been shown around anywhere else, so when she found herself in an unknown area, she couldn’t help the slight panic she felt. She crossed her arms and cocked her hip, furrowing her eyebrows as her eyes gazed from one place to another.

Where in the world was she?

Despite the turn of events, she forced herself to continue on in hopes that she would find some familiar area—though she wasn’t sure how any place could be familiar when she’d only arrived here the day before.

After a few minutes of wandering around, she caught sight of a dark figure barreling toward her in the distance. Vampires parted in the figure’s path, letting out gasps of surprise. Esadora’s eyes widened, lips parting as the figure gripped her upper arm and continued to run while dragging her. A squeal of shock left her mouth as she recognized the figure that had her stumbling around—Holly!

She had no time to ponder over why Holly grabbed her in the first place as they swung around a sharp corner and her back pressed against the wall of a building. Holly brought her finger to her own lips, shaking her head as Esadora opened her mouth to ask a question.

After another minute of watching Holly stare at something Esadora couldn’t see, the surprise she had felt was replaced with awkwardness. Holly and her weren’t really touching, but she wasn’t comfortable being only an inch away from someone. She fidgeted, and when she tried to stop fidgeting, she only fidgeted more. Holly glanced at her but didn’t say anything. Heat crept up Esadora’s cheeks.

Finally, Holly stepped back. “It’s all clear.”

Esadora let loose a breath, then cocked an eyebrow at Holly. “Are you running away from someone?”

“Yes? After I fixed the barrier, the soldiers started escorting me back to that vampire house. All the vampires around us kept staring at me and I got fed up, so I ran away.”

“But won’t they come after you?”

Holly shrugged. “Probably not. The soldiers didn’t seem to want me with them anyway.”

“But they were literally just chasing you!”

“They’ll give up eventually.”

Esadora shook her head and began walking in the opposite direction.

“Where are you going?” Holly said with a laugh. “I’m pretty sure it’s this way.”

Esadora abruptly turned around, heat rushing up her cheeks. “Yeah, yeah, lead the way.”

A scowl crept onto her face when she heard Holly laugh more. However, she sobered up when she remembered the night before. “Hey,” she said, fast-walking to catch up with Holly. “Are you feeling any better?”

Holly squinted, glancing at her. “What do you—oh.” Her footsteps slowed, but she didn’t stop. “I, um… I’m fine.”

Esadora grimaced at how her tone had changed. “If you didn’t mind me asking, what was wrong?”

“It’s my brother. I’m worried about him.”

Esadora waited for more but was met with silence. She peeked at Holly, cursing under her breath when she saw that her eyes were downcast. She never should’ve—

“You know, they took my gun away.”

“W-What?”

Holly continued as if Esadora hadn’t spoken. “It was my only gun.”

Esadora felt like there was a meaning in that statement that she was missing, but her mind drew a blank when she thought about it.

“But they didn’t take anything else. They probably would’ve taken my wand, but I hid it in my boot.” As if to emphasize this, she squatted down and pulled the thin, crooked stick out of her right boot. She stood, keeping her wand clenched in her hand.

At first glance, Holly appeared nonchalant, maybe even relaxed, but there was a hidden ire in her expression.

The next words out of Holly’s mouth were unfiltered though. “And thank God I did, ‘cuz I want a cast a spell to set this whole ass city on fire.”

Well, that wasn’t a good sign. “Holly, are you sure you’re alright?”

Holly smiled at her. “What are you talking about? I’m fine. I was just joking.”

But aren’t jokes meant to be funny?

When they returned to the Veharics’ home, Holly stomped up the stairs so obnoxiously, Esadora almost laughed, but she smothered it down. Though Holly seemed to be acting like a child right now, something much more serious was at play, and Esadora was determined to find out what it was.

Before she could head up the stairs, however, a dark-haired woman came from one of the paths.

It was the same lady who’d sat next to Leon the day before.

Esadora took a quick step up the stairs, not wanting to have an interaction with the lady.

“Wait!”

Esadora froze, then turned around to face the lady. “Um, yes?”

“Can I speak to you in private?”

Esadora stared at her for a minute. The woman’s eyes held a certain sadness, but her mouth was turned in a smile. She sighed, nodding.

“Thank you.” The woman gestured to the left. “Follow me.”

And she did, straight to the room Leon had dragged her to barely two hours ago. She scowled at the sight of it, closing the door behind her.

The lady clasped her hands together. “Do you know who I am?”

Esadora shook her head.

“Well, I’m Mrs. Veharic and, though I’m sure you can guess this, Leon is my son.”

Esadora’s eyes widened. That explained the way she’d acted before and why they looked so similar.

“First of all,” Mrs. Veharic started, “I want to sincerely apologize for my son’s actions toward you. I can’t begin to imagine how you feel.”

Esadora only nodded, sensing that this wasn’t the main reason she’d asked her to come here.

“I just don’t understand why he bit you of all people. Before he bit you, had you ever met him?”

Esadora shook her head.

“Then why…” she trailed off, eyes widening. “I heard him call you Esadora. What’s your last name?”

“Morgan.” Esadora furrowed her eyebrows. “Why?”

Mrs. Veharic paled. “What’re your mother and father’s names?”

“Ingrid and, um… Rodney.” She blinked. Yes, that was her dad’s name—she’d almost forgotten. But why was Mrs. Veharic asking all these questions?

“Oh… oh no.” Mrs. Veharic stalked to the door. “I need to go.”

Before she opened the door, Esadora touched her shoulder. “Why? What’s wrong? Is it because my mom’s a Chamber representative?”

Mrs. Veharic shook her head fervently. “No, it’s because…” She paused, turning to face Esadora. “It’s because you’re a descendant of Esmeralda Stanlow!”