It took three hours for Ayah to wake up. I had moved her travel bag under her to support her head after I made sure both of them were actually breathing. Móðir stayed until Ember awakened but she refused to speak to me. I chalked it up to her just being mentally exhausted from the ritual, though something in her eyes ate at me. She kept close to Ember until she woke up, whispering to her with words so low, even my advanced hearing couldn't quite catch them. When her eyes finally fluttered open, she seemed a lot better, wary and drowsy, but her fever had broken, and her fractures were healed.
I led Móðir out the back entrance of the library and left Ember to rest. I hugged her and whispered a quiet "Thank you," as we reached outside. "You're welcome, Ástin mín, but please, be careful. And be wary of that one." She spoke softly. I didn't have a chance to ask her what exactly she meant by that before she slipped two small bags into my hand and vanished into the night. They were blood bags. Ayah always worried I'd get too hungry and begin a frenzy. Her bags always kept me fuller for longer, undoubtedly blessed in some way. They would save me from feeding for a while, so I was thankful. I tucked them into my back pocked before going back inside, slightly nervous at the possibility of finally having a real conversation with the girl that had been asleep on my couch for two nights.
I returned, trying to be as quiet as possible just in case Ember was still resting. I re lit the fire so she wouldn't get cold. She had already fallen back asleep on the couch. I still wasn't the least bit tired. Vampires could go weeks if not months without sleeping, and then sleep for days at a time. I hated being kept awake with my thoughts. It was my least favorite thing other than feeding about this whole ordeal, and then when I finally did get tired enough to sleep most of the time I was plagued with nightmares and wake up nearly ravenous with hunger. I stared at the fire crackling at my feet, visions of the recent ritual seemed to dance in the flames. It was unlike any ritual I had ever seen Ayah preform. It scared me, the glowing coals surrounding Ember, the color from the fire vanishing and seeming to transfer into her eyes. She was beautiful in that moment, if not a bit terrifying. Something about the thought made my heart race, and I turned to look at her still lying in her position on my couch, the battered sheet that Móðir had given her still draped over her. I couldn't get over how bright her eyes had been.
Ayah's magic never made a human's characteristics change, and I kept replaying her words over and over again in my head. "Be wary of that one," she had said. I wondered if she had sensed danger, or if she was still just overly paranoid and protective over me. I watched Ember stir slightly in her sleep, turning to face me on the couch. I hadn't had a real chance to look at her face until now. She had beautiful chestnut colored hair that fell around it, it was long and almost shined in the light that flickered in the room. A cute button nose with freckles patterned across it, and a light red birthmark in the shape of a diamond on her cheek. Her cheekbones jutted out slightly from malnutrition, she was short, petite and her skin had a light sun-tanned color. Her lips pouted slightly in her sleep, a light shade of pink. She didn't look very old. Maybe in her early twenties, mid-twenties at most. It still puzzled me how she got herself into this situation in the first place. Such a frail girl should know better than to go out wandering in the middle of the night, especially with nothing to defend herself.
I stood up from my position by the fire, finding myself becoming unraveled again by my thoughts, I trailed through my shelves until I found a book with an interesting color. Once again allowing myself to become lost in the stories of distant lands and far better worlds and letting them silence the almost never-ending thoughts in my mind. Taking my seat on the floor at the head of the couch, I read until the sun came up and she finally opened her eyes. I expected the same piercing crimson color from the night before to look up at me, but instead I was met with deep chocolate brown with hints of grey and silver around the iris. Her eyes widened when they met mine and she jumped up into a sitting position on the couch, looking around violently. "Where am I?" She asked frantically. "Woah, Ember slow down," I said, standing quickly and moving in front of her. "You're in my home. You don't remember anything from last night?" Her face fell as she sat and thought for a moment. Then I watched as it twisted in fear. "You're a vampire!" She yelled. My heart sank a bit at the words. "Uh, yeah, but I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. Me and my friend Ayah helped you. She broke your fever and healed your bones." I told her.
"I watched you knock that Alpha clean off his feet! You were amazing." She stated and my face flushed a bit. "How do you feel?" I wondered if she went back to feeling normal or if she was still recovering. It was a long ordeal to heal her, anyone would have been exhausted after the fact, but she had slept for a while. "Sore. Tired. My neck hurts." She said, bringing her hand up to rub the side of it. I cringed slightly, "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Honestly though, you probably wouldn't have survived the pain of the ritual had I not injected you." She sighed a bit and smiled sheepishly, dropping her hand. "Yeah, thanks I guess," she said, chuckling slightly. "Do I want to know what was in that needle?" "Probably not," I replied. She stretched before standing, wobbling a bit. "I'm a bit dizzy," she said before holding onto the arm of the couch to stabilize herself. "It's probably because you haven't eaten in a while." I told her. I would probably have to go to the market to get her some food. I didn't have anything of nutritional value to a human around.
"I'll have to go get you something to eat. You can stay here until you regain your strength and put some meat on your bones," I said jokingly. "I'll have to go to the junkyard and see if I can't find you a mattress or something. We can set you up a room on the other side of the library, so you'll have your privacy. That way I can have my couch back." I told her. "How long was I out of it?" She asked, giving up on gaining back her balance and sitting back down. "From the fight with the wolves until now has been three days. Do you have any idea what you were sick with? I had no idea if you'd last through the first night burning up the way you were. After I went and got Ayah, I was surprised that you were still breathing when we returned." Her face went kind of pale at my statement. Probably from realizing how sick she had really been. "Uh, no, I'm not sure. I always burn a little hot, and I've felt kind of sick for a while now, but I thought it was just a cold that I couldn't shake," she said, turning away from me suspiciously. I didn't pay much attention to it; she was still a stranger to me and probably a little scared of me. I didn't blame her for not wanting to go into detail about her situation and decided that was enough questions for now. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable, especially if she was going to be staying here for a few days. I welcomed her to read any of the books in my collection or look around the library if she wished while I went out in search of supplies for her room and stockpiled on food for the next few days.