Down, they plummeted, with their heads in the path of their fall. And when she said she was not going to die, it was with an air of finality but now with her life on a shaky line, she pleaded, praying silently not to die.
With her in his arms, his hawk eyes captured the surroundings. The widespread leaves continued to branchless stems. The sound of the river flowing and the countless grains of sand. The wind howling. None of them gave him an option and Caroline was not a quiet person to give him space to think. Luckily, the black cloth around her arm was still in position.
With him holding her tightly, she could not but press her head against his chest. They were free-falling with no landing ground in sight. To say she was not pricked in the conscience or tangled in guilt, would be a lie and if anything was ideally needed now was the miracle she so strongly disbelieved.
In a meager of a second, he held a branch, and expeditiously, they were flung back to safety. On a thatch roof, they rolled, and into the sand, they gained discontinuation.
" I fear that I might be dragged with you to your grave " She heard him say as he helped her to her feet.
Caroline bit on her lip to restrain every type of cuss forming in her tongue, while slowly letting the dread for her life send cold shivers down her spine.
" The infirmary is not far from here. We could get you treated there ". He said and moved to walk ahead of her, but stopped when he felt her not following.
In her eyes were tears that dropped to be caught by the back of her palm, that wetted the few strands of red hair that fell to her face.
" That height was much ". He heard her say between sniffles. And when he looked at her again, she was rubbing her eyes and stretching herself to full length. His eyes widened a little, surprised as to how she could forgo her cry. Or was she sleepy?.
" And what other word could classify you than a crybaby. Standing there won't heal your wound ". He grotched.
Caroline looked at him, folding her knuckles, she curbed herself from talking back to him. Never had she seen a man full of sarcasm. Well, maybe because he was not a man but a vampire.
And when Edgar furrowed his brows, she surged forward and met up with his pace. Her two steps covered his one step till they were both walking side by side.
" I was told once that I walk too slow and I accepted with an open heart and an understanding mind, but you, your heart is shallow and mind, slow. Words don't sink ". He noted and strode.
" Words sink. They do and sometimes, they are buried to resurrect later. I hear, I listen and I adapt. I trust myself with these things ". She refuted in anger and
walked out of there feeling embarrassed at his words.
Edgar chuckled loud at her refute and childish behavior. While he was with her, he thought of how to get her to walk fast. He remembered the time he had called her a crybaby when she stood there not moving, she reacted just the way he had wanted her to react, her movement, but yet he wasn't satisfied with it and to bid her walk fast, he thought, would slow it down again. So after much contemplation, he took to irking her again by calling her a slow mind. That swinging of hands made him laugh too.
They arrived at the infirmary, which was, if Caroline would describe, far from the district. She hissed when her stomach grumbled and her knees ached. They had walked for hours and when he said it was around the corner she believed because she too had seen the building, he showed her but who knew the roads were narrow and businesses opened here in the early hours of the morning. Perhaps, the villagers were yet to know of what had happened to her district. By the time, they entered the room, the sky was dark blue.
" Edgar, such a long time ". The Apothecary called in an elated tone the moment he saw the man and girl enter his infirmary.
" Good morning, Sire Lenus ". Greeted Edgar. Caroline appraised the man.
His white-bleached garment known to represent purity, peace, and transparency, dropped from his shoulder to his feet, burying his full sleeves. His grey head looked like a white cap sitting on his head. She thought it rude to look down on a person's full length, but when he did laugh at a joke of Edgar, she wallowed in the opportunity, catching a black cover of his feet. Was he a priest serving the job of an Apothecary?. A hiss from the man drew her thoughts back to him.
" I thought as much, but what a fair beauty she is. Her red hair is unique ". There and then Caroline knew they were talking about her. Seeing Edgar and the man looking at her, placed her on the nervous side. " What can I say? Your deeds are of good nature ". Caroline turned confused at his words.
" Come my dear. Lay here, let's take a close look at that wound ". She yielded to his words, going to the table he pointed out for her. Releasing her feet from the sandals, she laid, face upwards with her hands by her side. And when she turned to where he was, he was not there as he had gone out the moment she walked to the table. She could only sigh, though he had not said it yet, she knew she was a temptation to him. He was a vampire and she, a human, a prey to him. She looked at the man, wondering if he too was aware of Edgar.
" Take a deep breath, this will be painful. Close your eyes to not get scared ". And as instructed, Caroline took a very deep breath and shut her eyes close. The wound though not deep was painful as she's now felt the heat from the flame of the torch, each time the man pressed the ball of wool against it. She hissed.
Lenus took yet another wool when the previous one was soaked with blood and dabbed it over the wound. Caroline hissed louder. And when he did blow air into it, she calmed down a little
•
Outside the infirmary, Edgar took out his pipe and lit it, amply dragging the smoke and blowing it out at the same pace. His eyes got darker in the passing minutes.