The town was quiet this early in the morning. A few birds, that usually fell to the background once the bustle of the day started, were chirping in the trees. The morning dew provided a ghostly scenery, it was only in the east that the orange sun started to warm up the forest. With my brown bear skin around my shoulders, I waved through the quiet houses of Helfarch.

The whirlwind in my mind made for a nice distraction from the morning cold and the throbbing pain all over my body. It felt like I was hit by a house-sized boulder - one specifically named princess Katherina of the vampires.

The water in both barrels sloshed with each step. Cold drops splashed on my hands, raising goosebumps on my skin and turning into soft caresses while they slid down my fingers. Her fingertips trailed along my hand, my whole body tensed and I almost dropped the barrels. She wasn't here. She was dangerous. There wasn't any question about that anymore after yesterday. There was a monster inside of her. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to push down that inner turmoil.

Then, why didn't she scare me more? Why did my fear disappear the second her humanity seemed to have returned?

I switched the full barrel with the empty one in front of Ura's house. My eyes remained on her door a second longer than normal. After a shake, I turned around and walked up to the next house, switching the barrels. At least people could wash and drink when they woke up.

With lazy steps I returned to the well at the edge of our town. The carefully placed pile of white stones looked exactly how I felt - like only half a mind had worked on its creation. The empty barrels dropped next to the well, my body slipped along the side not much later. My body was at the edge of exhaustion; my legs felt like there were bricks coursing through my veins instead of blood and my joints seemed to have turned forty years older overnight.

Will she be okay? I wondered. Kate had gotten her pretty badly. Her leg had seemed crushed in multiple places and her jaw looked twice the size it had been.

My fingers traced mindlessly along my ribs, I winced at the sharp stab.

"That face speaks volumes." My eyes snapped up at the familiar voice.

Ura stood a few meters further, her weight resting on two wooden crutches. The splints attached to both sides of her left leg looked painful. My left hand fell to the ground and fisted the moist earth underneath it.

My lips curled up, I tried to smile - I really did-, but the genuineness just didn't reach the inside of my chest.

"You shouldn't be out of bed this soon," I said, my hand digging deeper in the earth next to me.

"Neither should you," she pointed out. Her words were mumbled and her face squinted in pain. She hopped towards me, I moved to get up but she shook her head. "She did quite a number on you as well I see."

Her crutch pointed quickly towards me, but I wasn't entirely sure which bruise she was referring to, I didn't look much better than she did. The only difference was that my injuries were purely superficial, whereas Ura would be struggling to recover for the upcoming weeks.

"I'm not the one with a broken leg and broken jaw."

Ura leaned against the well, she tried to hide the groans of pain, but they escaped her anyways.

"Yeah."

"You want some help?" I asked, seeing her struggle was painful.

She swatted my hand with her crutch and clicked her tongue.

"Stop doing that," her outburst came unexpectedly, it made me pull my hand back. She hissed at her abrupt movement.

"Just trying to help," I murmured. My hands trailed my ribs again, the painful jabs were already more sore than electric.

"Then try to help me understand how we survived a vampire attack," she leaned on her crutches while she looked down at me. "Because I can't seem to wrap my head around the fact that the vampire princess stopped in the middle of her attack. Vampires can't do that."

"Apparently they can."

"No, they can't Sky!" Ura hissed loudly, her eyes pressed together while she took a deep breath in.

"Why is it so hard to believe that a vampire isn't just a bloodthirsty murderer?" My voice had gotten tighter and was on the verge of turning up in volume.

"Because she would've killed me if it wasn't for you speaking in some ancient language."

My eyebrows pushed together and my hand stopped playing in the earth next to me.

"What are you talking about?" My voice was higher than it usually was, betraying my nerves.

"Don't act like you don't know. You screamed something to that vampire in a different language. She responded." Ura didn't seem to believe me, her eyebrows were still knitted together in a sharp 'V'.

"That can't be true," my voice squeaked. It couldn't be true, right? "You know I don't speak another language. Heck, when would I have learned another language?"

"Stop playing dumb with me. You begged a vampire instead of fighting her, you knew her name and you spoke her language. You might've fought her, but you weren't really trying. I've seen you fight, you only fight to win."

"Stop doubting me constantly! You're alive, aren't you?"

"Miraculously, yes. But how? Are you friends with a vampire? Is she pulling you to her side?"

"What is your problem? I saved your life, didn't I?" My voice rose to an angry shout.

I didn't know how, nor did I realize that I had spoken another language. I couldn't even read in my own language, let alone speak or do anything in another language. Yet, somehow I did get through to Kate. It was only now that Ura pointed it out to me that I realized the danger that came with that.

"Be honest Sky. Are you losing your mind to that vampire?" Ura's look softened, her voice fell to a caring whisper.

My head shook in disbelief. "No, I'm not losing my mind, Ura."

She held my gaze, before she sighed: "I'm going back to bed, my body hurts."

"Okay," I mimicked her sigh. My eyes remained on her until I was staring at a wooden front door. I didn't start moving for another few minutes, simply sitting on the moist ground letting my trousers get wet and my hands get dirty.

When the front doors started opening and the dark orange glow of the morning sun had turned yellow, the walls seemed to close in again. One last time, I fisted the ground before letting it escape through my fingers and back to where it belonged. With both hands, I pushed myself up so I could walk backwards towards the forest. I needed some air, air that I didn't share with the other Hunters.

I'd return later, before they would notice I'd left.

***

An hour or two later, I strode back into town. With my mind occupied, I walked along the houses and towards the weaponry where I picked up my bow and arrows. A Hunter's day couldn't start without their weapons on their side.

Jurgen, a boy not much older than myself, was cleaning and sharpening dais in the dimly lit shed. The pointy weapons glinted in the light of the fire and I smiled at them. One day, I'll have a pair of those beauties. Until then, I was satisfied with my daggers dangling from my belt.

My stop in the weaponry was short and I continued my course towards my house. My mom always liked to see me before my tasks of the day and I would like to see her before the chaos of the day started. She always had the best advice to keep up the mask I constantly had to wear.

When I reached my little house, my mother stood quiet on the side. Her eyes were hard and cold while she talked to Arwin and another council member. I sighed, what would it be today? My mother's eyes switched to me when I came into view, they melted into sad orbs and my heart skipped. My throat squeezed together and my eyes remained on her while I became aware of the arrival of the other Hunters. My feet kept their same pace and direction, but now much less relaxed.

My mouth opened, but closed again right away at the look I got from her. The sadness was still there and I knew she was trying to stay strong. My jaw tensed again and I tried to swallow the bulb inside my throat.

When the geared-up group of Hunters reached the invisible line drawn around my house, Arwin ordered, "Hunter Ura, report."

My eyes finally left my mother's and skipped over the group until I found the chocolate brown ones I knew so well.

"Y-yesterday afternoon," she started, her voice had a slight tremor in it. Her eyes were pleading for forgiveness.

"Speak up child," Lionel, a man with sparse blonde hair, spoke.

Ura stood to attention, her eyes pulled away from me and the previous guilt disappeared, an expressionless mask fell over her face when she answered like a good soldier: "Yesterday afternoon, I found Hunter Sky in the arms of the vampire princess ..."

My best friend, maybe even my only friend, hesitated when her gaze met mine once again. Her swollen eyes hardened before she looked away in the direction of our superiors.

"The princess attacked, Hunter Sky joined the fight, but it was clear she wasn't fighting to kill. When the situation turned against us, she-," she hesitated once more. I saw her take a deep breath, before she continued. "She begged the vampire princess, she spoke in their ancient language and she showed no intention in taking down our biggest enemy."

I should've felt hurt, like a knife was stabbed in my back, instead all I felt was a cold spreading through my body, a silence inside my head while my subconscious tried to catch up on what was going on.

"Why?" My throat felt dry. When the word came out it felt like sandpaper rubbing along the inside.

"You need help. You've drifted off too far. They can help, they promised." She tried to smile, but when I didn't react, she looked angry. "Your ideas have always been controversial, but being friends with a vampire?" She shook her head before looking away in disgust.

My feet were acting before my mind could think of a plan. I walked backwards, away from my enemies, because that's what the Hunters were now. They weren't going to rehabilitate me or help me. I betrayed them, I had proven to them that I wasn't loyal anymore. The only way this would end was with me being dead. Ura might not see that, but my mom had always warned me about this, and I saw that decision clearly written in the hard faces of the council members.

With my eyes falling to the ground one more time, I turned around, grabbed the bow and arrow from my back and shot in the direction of the Hunters standing in my way. The ring surrounding me broke apart when they jumped away from the sizzling arrow. The tap of the arrow pierced the resin of the tree. Without hesitating, I ran past them and into the green of the forest.

Without any goal or plan, I ran until my body couldn't take it anymore. My knees gave in and I dropped onto my hands and knees into the mud. Only now taking a moment to listen to my surroundings, I was relieved to hear no other lifeforms around me.

Unfortunately, it also gave my heart a signal that this was the moment to let all the emotions out. Tears sprung into my eyes, my jaw tensed and my hands squeezed the earth and fallen leaves.

I'm a Hunter, I don't do emotions!

The thought did the opposite of what it was supposed to do. Instead of pushing down my tears, more appeared until my eyes couldn't hold them anymore and trails of salty water ran down my face. In all the quietness of the forest, Ura's betrayal should've been loud and clear, yet the only noise that could be heard were the soft sobs that escaped my tight throat.