Crimson

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Cassie insisted that I stayed for three days and I didn't put up much of a fight. It was nice to be surrounded by people, it helped taking my mind off all that had happened. Of course, when I left, I would go straight home and Saida would be there. But she didn't know what had happened and she would ask. So having three days of calmness before having to relive it all, was amazing.

The doctor came to take off my bandages after one day. She examined me thoroughly also, though there wasn't really anything to examine. The wounds had all turned to scars.

"This is incredible," she mumbled as she looked me over. "Are you sure that you're just a witch?"

"Of course I am!" I answered and felt annoyed at the question as it reminded me of how many things there now seemed to be about me that wasn't like a witch should be. For instance, I hadn't felt hungry even once since waking up. Instead, I constantly felt thirsty but nothing helped against that.

"It truly is incredible then. You heal even faster than shifters," she continued, shaking her head.

I did my best to not place any importance on what she said. There had to be a reasonable explanation for it after all. Sure, witches generally healed at the same pace as humans, compared to shifters that healed much quicker. But this was all magic, so anything was possible anyway. Maybe my great, great, great grandma or something had been a shifter so that the super-healing remained but the other shifter abilities didn't.

But there were uncomfortably many things that made me stand out as a witch.

The extra strength, speed, and senses I had gotten used to, but I did notice that they seemed to have grown even stronger. I had been in too much pain to manage to fall asleep, but I had realized that I didn't need it anymore. I wasn't hungry, but constantly thirsty though I couldn't do anything about it. And to top it off there was the speedy healing.

But it was all too much for me to think about and make reason out of, so I pushed it aside as much as I could.

As I left both Cassie and Darren were there to say goodbye to me.

"Remember that you're always welcome here. It's just for you to show up," Cassie said and hugged me.

"Thank you. And I will have to come when the detectors are done if nothing else. So it won't be too long," I answered and both she and Darren looked startled.

"You really don't have to worry about that," Darren said quickly. "After the latest attack..."

"I want to make them," I answered, stopping his protest. "So please let me."

He nodded slowly. "Alright. Then thank you in advance and we'll look forward to your next visit."

I smiled at them, then closed my eyes and teleported myself home.

There was immediately the sound of glass breaking, a shriek and then I was hit by a hug.

"Oh my Goddess, Crimson! Where the hell have you been?" Saida exclaimed and I could hear how she had already started to cry.

I returned her hug and patted her on the back. "I'm so sorry for having made you worried."

"Just promise you won't leave like that ever again! Okay?"

"I promise."

It took some time to calm her and it felt quite refreshing. As nice as it had been to stay with the wolves, they had all been focused on me and my well-being. So having someone else in focus for a bit felt good.

Once she had calmed down somewhat, I made chamomile tea, which I had started to drink a lot of. Then we sat down together in the living room.

"Can you tell me what's been going on now? Are you sure you're okay? You're not in some kind of trouble?" she asked as soon as we were seated.

"I'm not in trouble. I..." I hesitated for a moment. I knew that she would look at me with pity if I told her the truth, and I didn't want that. But at the same time, it was Saida, I told her everything and I knew that in the long-run it would be impossible to keep it from her. "I met my mate."

Her eyes widened and she broke into a smile. "That's wonderful! Who is it? A human? Or some other magical creature? What do they look like? What are they like? And... and why do you look so sad?"

Tears broke through at her question. She put her cup down and as I had just before been comforting her, she started comforting me.

"I rejected him," I said between sobs.

She didn't say anything, didn't press for more information. Just hugged me and waited to see if I would say more.

"He's a vampire," I confessed and she stiffened.

"I'm sorry, Cri. Ugh, I can't imagine being mated to one of them. Those filthy parasites. But you managed to do the right thing, though I know it must hurt."

I pulled away from her. Glared at her. "He isn't a filthy parasite! None of them are!"

Saida flinched at my yelling before frowning. "What do you mean? They are just bad news. Killing without any conscience."

"They don't!" I snapped and stood up. "Not all of them."

"I..." She looked away from me, looked around the room and fidgeted with her fingers.

I pinched the space between my brows, knowing that I had hurt her and knowing that it was obvious that she would say those things. Hadn't I been saying the exact same stuff just a month ago?

"I'm sorry," I said in a much calmer voice. "I shouldn't have yelled. But they really aren't like that. Not all of them. Some of them are really great. Kind and caring. I... Everything about them being dangerous and killing whoever, it's just prejudices. Getting to know them... Well, they are people, just like us."

I sat back down and took her hands in mine. She still frowned.

"Have you been living with vampires all this time?" she asked slowly.

"Yeah and they might be a bit rough around the edges, but they are good people."

"Then why did you reject your mate? Because you don't want to lose your magic? Or did he do something to hurt you?"

I didn't know what to say. I knew that if I told her the truth, that Lamech had bit me without my consent, Saida would get angry at him. And I didn't want that. I didn't want her to think badly about him. Mate bond or not, I still cared about him and still loved him. It would take some time for those feelings to subside.

"He didn't want me as a mate," I said instead, which also felt true, though what Alair had told me had made all of that confusing. But if Lamech really had treated me badly on purpose in the name of protection... Well, then he really was foolish. When had such a plan ever turned out good for anyone?

"Fuck him then!" Saida exclaimed. "You're a catch and anyone should be down on their knees thanking the Goddess to be mated to you. If he couldn't see that, then his loss, not yours."

I smiled at her and leaned my head against her shoulder.

"You're awesome too," I told her and she giggled.

"Of course! I learnt from the best after all. What do you say about pizza, ice cream, and a movie? And as much trash talk as you want obviously."

"Sounds great," I replied, though I knew there definitely wouldn't be any trash talk.