Bella ran as fast as she could. Her mind was filled with the cold eyes that stared at her brutally and how the witches shrieked till the end.
Their voices gnawed at her heart and clenched her soul in a tight grip. The girls were only selling things. They did nothing wrong which deserved punishment. Yet the vampire dragged them brutally and took them away.
Many eyes turned to look at her running body. Some with a frown, some with growing anger, some felt wary while others did not care about her. She was not one of them. She was not any of them.
How far and wide she had run. She only stopped when she was near their boundaries. The journey she had done by the carriage in half an hour was done by her feet in forty minutes.
"Luhan!" "Luhan!" she called her only friend who frowned and came running as he had called a spell on her when she left.
He would hear his name escape from her lips, no matter how far she was. And using the link between them, he would apparate wherever she was.
He knew that she was in deep trouble yet he was shocked to see her standing in front of his door in a disheveled state. Her feet were bleeding and her hands had bruises.
"Bella! What happened?" He dragged her in but she struggled and shook her head.
"I want to go to the high altar. I want to go to my father." she pleaded when his lips smacked into a thin line.
Taking her to her father was not difficult. But everyone in the coven knew that her entry was prohibited in the high altar.
Witches do not talk to her. They treat it as a stain on their position. Her black eyes symbolize evil, they say as they glare at Bella. She had been born from the devil.
There were so many rumors that her own mother had started to hate her. Luhan had seen how Julia did not leave a chance to beat and hurt Bella.
His heart only ached for the girl. If possible, he wanted to run away with her and start a new life but he knew she would refuse. And he was not strong enough to protect her.
But one day he would, he was going to be the strongest witch and then hold her hand and pull her away from this mess.
"Bella, you know your family would not like it." he struggled to find the right words as he held her wrist.
Glaring at the bracelet for a second, he closed his eyes and casted a spell. But he was shocked to see that it did not work.
The tracking spell worked just fine before.
"My mother made sure that I could not take help from other witches in healing my injuries. As long as it was a healing spell, it would not work for me." she explained as if it was nothing but Luhan's heart broke once again.
He felt his body go cold yet all he felt was the hotness of anger at that moment and closed his eyes to calm himself.
"I will go and bring ointment." he stood up but she held his hands and shook her head.
"The vampire took two witches from the market. They say they were going to kill them in three days. We need to inform the high altar so that they could be saved." his eyes widened with horror and he finally realized why she was looking so horrified.
"Did they come to you too?" she shook her head, a moment of hesitation but he pressed her hands and assured her.
"I know it hurts! It will be okay. I am going to stay with you until you feel better." he sat beside her and hugged her.
His warm body made her feel better as she leaned on his chest. An action, she never did before. He felt a strange sensation and fulfillment when he touched her back and soothed her.
"Thank you! But if we do not inform the high altar, they would be killed, Luhan. Please take me there." she whispered again when he closed his eyes.
If only he could explain to her that she would not be welcomed there and they were not going to save those random witches.
They would only say it was for the greater good.
"Luhan!" He forced a deep breath and nodded.
"Alright, I will take you there." When she raised her head with joy filling her eyes, he knew that he was going to regret his decision.
But if given a second chance, he was still going to take it because he could not see her hurting so much.
"But you have to stay around me all the time and you would not go against me. If I ask to return, you will come back with me without any argument." she opened her mouth to refuse but when she met his stern eyes, she shut it with force and nodded.
She knew if she did not agree with him, he would not take her with him.
He took another breath as if preparing himself for war as he held her hands and closed his eyes. In the next moment, they were standing in front of a large building that looked like human's church.
It had a clock tower and rose garden in front of it. Bella looked at the grandiose building with mesmerization. She could feel the flow of thick mana around it.
Even a weak witch would feel strong just by standing here. This place was made for gods!
"Close your eyes, Bella. And do not open it until I ask you to." Bella was reluctant. She had never seen something so magnificent in her life and she wanted to see more but she knew, if she did not follow his command, she would never be able to enter this large building. So, she forced herself and closed her eyes.
Luhan slowly pulled her with him, making sure that her feet did not hurt again when the witches noticed their presence.
They looked curiously at Luhan who was dragging a girl in his arms.