Page 17 of Blood Coven

“Do you swear to remain silent about what happens here?” Sorin asked.

Red nodded; they were the first people in Red’s whole life who had ever extended a welcoming hand or lifted her when she fell. They showed her kindness in a world full of cruelty. Witches they may be, but Red knew now that witches were not the horrid things she was raised to believe. “I will never betray your trust,” she promised.

“I will walk Red home,” Alina offered.

Red was flooded with relief. She was scared to part from the glowing embers of the fire and the beautiful faces of her peers. With Alina by her side, Red felt safe for the first time in her life. I was told never to stray in fear of what lurked in the woods, she thought, but what lurks outside these woods is far scarier. She suspected that unity between girls was a frightening thought to the men who ran the town.

“We have been doing this for a long time and have never been caught,” Alina said, pulling Red from her thoughts. She linked her arm with Red’s, the smooth crook of her elbow soft against her skin. She placed her other hand on Red’s arm. “I trust what happened here tonight will remain a secret.”

“I will never speak of it,” Red answered honestly. “What would I gain in betraying the trust of my first friends? If that is what I can call you…”

“Friends, sisters, witches,” Alina spoke in a sing-song voice. “Call me what you need.”

Red’s cheeks burned despite the cold air.

Above them, trees loomed, their tops hanging down like giants craning their necks to see the ants below. No birds flew this late at night or this deep into the winter, yet a large raven was perched, watching them curiously. She could still feel its eyes following her as they walked, studying her every move. Red was unable to shake the ominous feeling and tightened her grip on Alina.

“Why did you ask to be protected from love?” Red asked, her eagerness to know showing in her haste. “In a town so devoid of it, why would you wish to be hidden away from what little you might find?”

“Did you know Tatiana and Lilianna’s father loves his daughters a bit too much?” Alina asked.

“There are rumors,” Red admitted, ashamed she had heard what Mr. Floarea did to his daughters, but no one ever stepped in to stop him. The villagers believed it wasn’t their place to determine what went on in a household other than their own.

“Tell me, Red, do your parents love you?”

“My father? No. My mother?” Red paused to think. It was not an easy answer after what happened only a few hours ago. Years of suffering while her mother looked away made Red think maybe she did not love her. She shook her head, ridding herself of these thoughts. Surely someone had to love her.

“I do believe she loves me,” she said, hopeful that saying the words aloud would help her truly believe them.

They drew closer to town, dark in the absence of glowing fires as the townsfolk slumbered in their warm beds. The moon still hung low in the sky. Red would ache tomorrow from the beating she received from Grandmother and would be tired from staying out all night, but she would sacrifice her sleep any time if it meant spending more time with Alina and the others. With them, Red had even forgotten about her pain.

“And what has love gotten you?” Alina continued.

“Nothing.” Red breathed the word, which clung to the air before her in the fog of breath before dissipating into nothing.

Alina and Red stopped just before they crossed over the town line. For the first time, Red saw a strange aura surrounding the town as though hundreds of years of hatred soured the air. Beyond the town line was the feeling of freedom, but it came with fear. Fear of the unknown, offered by the girls in the woods. Fear of the Wolf, whom she dreaded she soon would meet. Fear of being unprotected. Red looked down at her hands and noticed they were no longer shaking; she was not scared of Alina. If she went back to the woods and the Coven, she knew she would feel protected and be protected.

“I’ll admit I feel love too quickly. Too deeply. I no longer wish to feel it because I know it leads to nothing but pain,” Alina said. “I am different, and if the town knew it, I would be cast out.”

“Different how?” Red asked, longing to hear the words. Like the air she needed to breathe, she needed those words. If they were made physical and she could reach out to touch them, she would know what she felt inside was real.

Alina smiled with a sadness so deep, it seemed it would never be removed entirely. As if, whether she was free from ever feeling love or if she felt it so profoundly that it consumed her, she would always look saddened. The delicate girl with white-blonde locks broke from Red’s gaze and held her hands, their paleness glowing in the moonlight. Red knew Alina would not reveal how she was different, how she loved differently, yet deep down she knew why.

Because she felt it too.

“Goodnight, Red. Think about me in the dead of night.” Alina kissed Red’s cheek just below the cuts, then slunk back into the darkness. Her ghostly form seemed to float away until she was too far to be seen by the naked eye.

Red whispered long after she disappeared, “Goodnight, Alina.”

PART II

THE CURSE

11

SILVANIA

THE YEAR OF THE MOON

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