Page 7 of Castings & Curses

“That makes sense,” Jan said with a prominent side-eye. “It’s dark there.”

Hanne frowned slightly. “Not in summer. Why?”

“Ignore Jan.” Lucille realised that he wasn’t so much a bad cop rather than a stupid cop. “We wanted to talk to you about your tomato juice. Or rather that it wasn’t really tomato juice.”

Instead of protesting, Hanne simply folded. Meekly, she whispered, “So, you smelled it.”

Irritated, Lucille checked with Jan. She hadn’t expected Hanne to outright admit to it. “Yes, I also saw it. Blood and tomato juice are quite different in consistency.”

“Mikaela doesn’t know,” Hanne said with a wistful smile, which seemed a bit out of place. “She’s a little naive in that regard.”

“Sooooo…” Lucille needed a moment to sort her thoughts. With Mikaela being potentially innocent, she decided to focus on Hanne. “Does that mean you’re some kind of vampire? Don’t worry, we know our way around supernatural creatures. There’s always some vampire, werewolf, or demon in Greenvalley.”

Next to her, Jan had folded his arms. “It’s still light outside, Lu.”

“A friend of ours is a half-demon,” Lucille said in the hopes of gaining Hanne’s trust. So far, the girl didn’t seem much of a danger, but it could all be an act.

Jan signalled air quotes. “Friend.”

Lucille sighed. If Matt returned for the last year of school, he would have a lot of amends to make.

“I’m a Verenimijä, yes,” Hanne said, taking Lucille’s advice of ignoring Jan.

“A Vere-what?” Jan asked promptly.

“Verenimijä, it basically means bloodsucker in Finnish. My kind live in very remote areas, and since Finland has such long summers, we got used to the daylight a long time ago.”

Lucille needed to be careful not to get too excited about this new information. “What brings you to Greenvalley?” Hopefully, not another ritual of everlasting night.

Hanne sighed. “I told Mikaela that I wanted to travel with her, but—”

“Wait,” Jan interrupted. “The other girl knows nothing about this?”

“You only got that now?” Lucille asked, barely containing her sarcasm.

“She doesn’t.” Hanne’s voice almost broke, as if she was close to tears. “I know I need to tell her, but I’m too afraid of what she’ll think of me.”

“Of you drinking blood?” Lucille asked not without compassion.

“It’s not human blood. We usually feed off animals, only using human blood in emergencies.”

Jan still had his arms crossed, glowering at Hanne. “Wonder what emergencies that could be.”

Lucille ignored him. “Why? If I may ask?”

“Because of our way of life. There are only a few large settlements in Finland, and the smaller the settlement, the more likely they’re armed. It’s much easier to stay away from humans altogether.”

“So, why travel then?”

Hanne squirmed under the question, her eyes glancing at the crowd, likely searching for Mikaela. “My people don’t tolerate relationships with humans. It is…” She struggled with speaking. “A betrayal to the community. I didn’t want them to go after Mikaela, so I suggested travelling.”

“And now others have to pay for it,” Jan said darkly.

“What do you mean?” Hanne asked in confusion.

Jan finally loosened his stance. “I found the severed head in the bushes behind the hostel today. Under your window.”

Hanne paled. “Oh.”

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