After the salesgirl left, Christina asked her husband a question which had been bothering her since they got to this town and the salesgirl attitude towards them only rose her doubt. " Do you have certainty that this acquaintance of yours, the lady you mentioned, would be open to helping us? "She spoke fluently in German, expressing worry. Since she got married to Ludwig years ago, they have been running and hiding from one location to the next, jumping from town to town all over Germany. Vampires have chased her family, as they were against her union with Ludwig. Their elders couldn't accept the fact that a pure breed fell in love with a feeble human.
After she gave birth she became extremely weak as a human didn't have the Constitution to carry a vampire's baby, it was even a miracle she didn't die with the baby while pregnant unlike in other cases. It was because of her poor health, and she was on the verge of dying. Ludwig had no choice than to turn her.
Ludwig clasped Christina's hands in his palms and rubbed her palms tenderly before giving her a light peck to calm her tension. He knew that after all this time, Christina hadn't totally adjusted to everything and that is one of the reasons he contacted Tatiana for help, because he had to protect his family to give them the normal life they deserve. He looked straight into Christina's chestnut reddish brown eyes. He loved this woman, and could give up everything, including his identity as a vampire.
" Yes, Tatiana would help us. Right now, she is the only person I am sure of that can successfully pull this off for us, don't worry my little mouse. I trust her, although she might act crazy at times, but we can trust her. She does own me a favour for saving her life decades ago." He assured her.
Christina wasn't really settled by her husband's assurance, but she knew she could trust his words and rely on him. She was sure he would do his best to protect his family. She turned to look at her son who had been quiet all this while, maybe if things goes well, and they find a solution, Kaiser, her bundle of joy, would be able to experience what it feels like to be a normal teenager even though he is part vampire. A soft smile crept on her face at the thoughts of that coming to pass.
Minutes later, the salesgirl returned after receiving a scolding from her mistress for treating the guests rudely. She had a more hospitable deposition now. " Lady Tatiana is expecting you and would like to meet you…" She informed the small group of 3.
The girl made sure to lock the store from the inside and flipped the open sign to close before instructing, " please follow me." As she ushered them into the inner parts of the store.
The inner room looked like an office with a large wooden workstation table, leather chair, numerous bookshelves and painting. It has a modest interior decorations. There wasn't anyone there, as it was empty.
The girl stood in front of a painting on the left wall of the office, which was hung on the bare wall and said an incantation. The image of the painting changed from an oil painting of a little girl to the image of a large Willow tree, which stood tall and beautiful under the moonlight. Then the walls parted, creating a doorway to a secret room. " This way, please." She still Instructed in German. The secret room had a large golden chandelier in the ceiling which radiated the room. In the middle of the room there was a staircase leading downwards.
The group descended the stairs, which led to a hallway that looked like an ancient castle hallway except that it had light bulbs instead of candles. The walls looked centuries old with large abstract paintings on them.
Down the hallway there was a large wooden door. The sales girl just stood by the door without knocking. She announced her presence and the doors opened on their own. In the room there was a lady who looked in her late twenties sitting on cushions on the floor. The room was beautifully decorated, giving out a mix of medieval Europe and gypsy vibes. The entire floor we covered by a purple fluffy carpet which had plenty of colorful pillows and cushions on it. The walls were stone walls with medieval looking interior decorations with a little modern touch to it. It had plenty of paintings, shelves with books which some of them looked to be old judging from their bindings with strange writings engraved on them. They were also some pots of plants which would leave you puzzled at how they were surviving without any sunlight as the room was underground. The room was also well lit.
The lady beamed a smile at the guests and her voice chirped" Please take off your shoes at the door mat before stepping inside" To the family of three before she instructed the sales girl" Jasmine you can now head back to the store, I will take care of the rest."
The salesgirl Jasmine, curtsied then left, closing the door behind her. Tatiana had chocolate brown wavy hair that grew a little below her waist, along with matching chocolate brown eyes. Some of her hair was braided then packed with a red bandana. She was wearing a long vintage flowing high waist skirt and a loose crop top. She had plenty of gold jewelries on her, the total outfit combo look let a gypsy dress up. Her facial and body features were well-defined and she was putting on a fierce looking make - up.
After the family of 3 settled down on the cushions and pillows. Tatiana faced Ludwig with a cold expression and sneered at him. " So after all this years you remembered I exist. I wasn't included in your wedding plans, and you didn't contact me when your first child was born, even though we thought of each other as friends.. If not for the favor I owe you and how much you offered me, I would have ignored you."
Ludwig decided to stay silent as he was guilty as charged. Tatiana then continued in a fluent British English accent. "Because your family has been hunted by vampires, and you've realized that Europe isn't a safe place, it occurred to you, Ah, I do know a witch who works wonders and could assist me and She adores money to such an extent that she wouldn't say no." She stated in a rather comical way.
Ludwig wasn't in the mood to banter with Tatiana as he was busy lost in his thoughts, accessing their situation. He met Tatiana a few decades ago when he saved her from some rogue vampires. It is so funny how him of all people, had turned rogue. You never know where life takes you.
" Not going to say anything, are you? Either way putting that aside, you arrived later than I expected. I had to make some last-minute changes due to that as I was expecting you and your little Entourage days ago." She breathe out then continued, " don't tell me you just had a battle before coming here because I can feel you giving off so much negative energy, and obviously, you are soaking wet. I would have to wash that cushion. Oh my God." Tatiana massaged her forehead as she saw her expensive cushion being ruined by Ludwig.
She then turned to Christina, who was a ginger head with Chestnut eyes and delicate facial and body features. " Since Ludwig doesn't want to introduce us. Christina, I would introduce myself. I am Tatiana, a forest witch and an old acquaintance of Ludwig. He once saved my life, and I am indebted to him and would love to be of service to him when he is in need of my aide." Her voice chimed then cleared her throat dramatically.
" I am a great witch and seer who has wandered the great plains and mountains of Europe searching for adventures before I was forced to come and inherit this shop and I must say Christina, you look beautiful as a vampire. Ludwig does have great taste and made a good decision to turn you." She praised herself and complemented Christina, who had a little tint of red on her cheeks due to the sudden complement from Tatiana.
Ludwig's voice boomed and shockingly his English accent was clean and could pass as a British accent to cut Tatiana, " You are not a great witch because if you are, you wouldn't have needed my help decades ago." Tatiana rolled her eyes at Ludwig's remark. " I am glad you said decades ago. My abilities have improved greatly over the years and, obviously, you know I am not an average witch. Please don't cut my Introduction like that, so as I was saying, a master of voodoo, curses, and incantations to a certain extent…."