chapter 72

ARIELLA.

I didn't want to talk to Viel again, but two days of just staying in the room where I woke up made me hungry. I couldn't bear it anymore, so I headed to the kitchen which was grand and spacious and had an overlooking view of the mountains outside through its human-sized glass windows. There was no cooked food in there, which to be honest, was what I expected from a vampire house's kitchen so I just looked for a bell and rang it.

After a few minutes, Viel appeared at the kitchen's entrance with one eyebrow raised. "What is the matter, Ma’am? I thought that you don't need my buffet meals?"

I glared at him again. "Well, I got worried that your master will fire you if you don't work, so yeah, maybe I want to eat. What can you cook? I hope it's not bloody steaks."

That surprisingly made him cackle. "You know what, for a werewolf, you are kind of cool. But I guess that it’s your mother's lineage that makes you cool."

"Judgmental much are we?" I snapped back playfully, but I was still on alert. But Viel didn’t move and was just looking at me so I gave in. "Fine, let's stop pretending like we can be friends here. I'm just hungry, and you're a butler who can cook, so let's just do our roles here."

"I'd like that, especially because I hate annoying women."

"Ditto, butler. But please cook me a nice meal, and I'll just come back here after you finish cooking. Or do you want me to stay here and watch you?"

"No. I don't want you to watch me while I work. And besides, I still have to get your food from outside, as we don't usually stock food here fit for werewolves or humans."

That got me curious. "So you can go out but I can't?"

"Of course. Only vampires can get in and out of here as they please. While you, you are locked here. You see how useful our abilities are now, don't you? The Stepanovs were especially gifted with this type of power. The ones that last for more than a lifetime so it becomes a curse."

"I see... I thought you were stuck in here too just like me... But I guess not, since you still need to hunt for blood, am I correct? But I wonder where are you going to get my food from when this is technically almost the Arctic? Is there a grocery store out there?"

Viel nodded. "There is a human town not far from here, so I'll get your food and come back real quick. You can do your own thing while I'm gone since you can't get out of here anyway."

"So there is no loophole to this curse, huh," I said, trying to trick him and hoping that he takes the bait.

And he did. Viel smiled at me with a look of arrogance on his face. "Even if there is a loophole to the curse put in this castle, why would I tell you about it?"

***

I was restless the moment Viel left the house. I watched him open the double doors and it did open for him, much to my frustration. I was tempted to just run towards it when it opened but I also didn't want to give up this leniency that Viel gave me. My plan was to make him think that I had already given up on escaping out of here so that he'd just allow me to roam around here and inspect the whole castle while David was still not here.

Viel’s last words to me before he left gave me hope that there was indeed some kind of loophole to the curse that was keeping me locked in here. I tried baiting him to make him say those lines to me, that he would not tell me anything about the curse and to me that was a confirmation. Maybe there was an exception to it, like a secret door or even just a window that anyone could use in case of emergency. Or maybe there's a password or something that will get me out of here. And if there is, I have to find it before David comes back.

So the moment I was sure that the coast was clear, I began roaming the castle and searched for exits other than the obvious ones. All I saw were two regular doors that led outside but as soon as I touched them I got blasted away from them. It felt like there was an invisible force that would push away anyone who wasn't a vampire when it was touched.

"Argh!" I was mad again. "Why do these vampires have these wild powers?" Angry that I couldn't find any other passageway out, I then walked back to my room. I wanted to try the windows next. Maybe the glass would break if I used all of my strength. I was looking for something huge to throw at the windows when I heard a voice echoing through the room.

I got all excited when I realized that it was Emma's! She was using the same technique that Blaire used for David when he announced the war! My heart skipped a beat when I heard what Emma had to say. "Ariella... Please listen... I know you're somewhere we don't know, but don't worry. We are looking for you. The war is finally over, and we are currently in hiding because David has been hunting us down. He wanted to kill us all after what happened to his family. We defeated almost all of them... Now there's only David and his two younger brothers but we still need to be careful..."

Emma sounded like she was out of breath. She must have been running before she talked to me using her powers. "And don't worry about Eli too... I think he has a plan, so he'll come to save you from David. We have some casualties like Eli's father and some of our fighters, but that's it. Your father is safe too."

I almost choked on my own saliva because I was so surprised at what I heard. Eli just lost his father? Oh no. I have been there for him right now, but how can I even do that? Hearing the news from Emma made me feel more frustrated than ever.

"We are almost there, Ariella. Once we take out David, it's over. His two younger brothers are still kids, so David is the last one that we have to defeat. However, I got worried about what David's mother told me before she died. You see, we were fighting before Eli killed her. And she said something that bothered me. She told me about someone that they might awaken if David fails or dies. I don't know who his mother was talking about, but she sounded confident that this person was strong too, whoever that is."

"What?" I stopped and then cursed because I slipped and fell to the floor due to my overexcitement. However, this might be the best thing that happened to me because as I lay there on the floor, I saw something interesting in the ceiling of my room as I looked up. There was a trapdoor on the ceiling, which to me was very suspicious. This trapdoor might be the answer that I was looking for!