Chapter 210 Vampire Luna

Chapter 210 Vampire Luna

As we stepped away from the horrifying execution grounds, Mary silently reached out, wrapping her warm fingers firmly around my wrist to guide me through the clearing crowd. She kept her head down, her brisk footsteps pulling me along the dirt path without giving me a single second to catch my breath or process the nightmare we had just witnessed.

My mind was still spinning with unbearable guilt, and the physical exhaustion of keeping my composure was quickly catching up to me. I tugged lightly against her hold, my brows furrowing into a tight, frustrated line as I tried to slow our pace.

"Where... where are we even going, Mary?" I forced the words past my dry lips, my voice laced with clear hesitation. "I really need to head back home right now. I have so many important things waiting for me."

Mary didn't slow down for a second. Instead, her grip tightened slightly around my wrist, her lips curving into an overly bright, cheerful smile that felt completely out of place given the heavy dark cloud still hanging over the pack grounds.

"Oh, come on, Amanda! Just come along with me," Mary urged, her eyes sparkling with exaggerated enthusiasm as she glanced over her shoulder at me. "Let's go grab a nice, warm bite to eat together. It will help get our minds off all this awful madness."

A cold spike of suspicion instantly shot through my chest. The sudden friendliness, the warm invitations, the gentle touching—none of it felt real to me. My instincts screamed at me to put distance between us before she dragged me into another dangerous situation.

I dug my heels into the earth, pulling back with all my remaining strength until her fingers slipped completely off my skin. I stood my ground on the path, folding my arms tightly across my chest as my expression hardened into a firm, unyielding glare.

"No, Mary. I am definitely not going anywhere with you," I declared, my voice flat and icy as I shook my head. "I don't need you buying me breakfast. I already have someone waiting to take care of me and feed me."

Mary stopped dead in her tracks. She turned around slowly, her enthusiastic smile instantly collapsing into a heavy, disappointed pucker. She placed her hands on her hips, throwing her head back with a sharp, dramatic sigh that practically radiated annoyance.

"Oh, come on, Amanda Seriously?!" Mary groaned out, her shoulders slumping as she stared at me with wide, exasperated eyes. "I thought you and I already thoroughly talked about this exact issue!"

I narrowed my eyes into sharp slits, taking a cautious step backward into the shade of the tall pines lining the pathway. "Talked about what, exactly?"

"We talked about us becoming actual besties!" Mary exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air with dramatic flair before bringing them together in a desperate, pleading gesture. "And best friends sit down and eat meals together! I am honestly just trying to be genuine and sweet to you, Fedora. Can you please stop acting like a dramatic little child? You're acting like I'm secretly plotting to kidnap you, shove you in a dark closet, or slip lethal poison into your orange juice! It's literally just a simple plate of food in a loud, crowded public restaurant!"

A cold, bitter laugh escaped my throat, completely devoid of any real humor. I glared straight into her eyes, my face twisting into a sharp mask of absolute disbelief at her sudden play for innocence.

"I know your true nature far too well, Mary," I spat back, the raspy venom in my tone making her flinch slightly. "Knowing your dark track record, you actually would try to kidnap me or poison my food if it suited your twisted plans! So please, do us both a huge favor and stop walking around acting like you're some innocent, holy saint who never did any wrong!"

Mary’s defensive posture suddenly dropped. Her wide eyes softened, a faint flicker of deep-seated guilt and genuine sorrow passing across her face as her lower lip trembled ever so slightly.

"Well... all saints were once filthy sinners, weren't they?" Mary countered softly, her voice dropping down into a quiet, raspy whisper that barely carried over the rustling leaves. She took a slow, timid step toward me, her eyes locking onto mine with intense seriousness. "And please, stop standing there acting like you've been a one-hundred-percent innocent victim in every single situation, Amanda. You've made your fair share of terrible mistakes and done bad things too."

She paused, taking a deep, shuddering breath as she smoothed down the front of her skirt, trying to pull her crumbling composure back together.

"Look... if you are truly determined to never, ever forgive me for my past mistakes, then fine!" Mary blurted out, a sad, bitter smile touching her lips as she gestured weakly toward her own chest. "I get it! But you have to acknowledge that I am genuinely trying my absolute best to make peace with you here. I'm extending an olive branch... and I'm certainly not going to kill myself trying to prove it to you if your mind is already made up."

My heart hammered heavily against my ribs as a flood of painful memories flashed behind my eyelids—the harsh accusations, the deliberate cruelties, and the endless fear she had put me through since the moment I arrived.

"Yes, I willingly admit that I have done plenty of bad things in my life," I admitted, my chin trembling as I forced myself to maintain direct eye contact. "But none of my actions even come close to the sheer amount of damage you've caused, Mary! You can't honestly expect me to just magically wipe my mind clean and forget everything you did to me like it never happened! What on earth is so hard for you to grasp about that? The sheer volume of evil and pain you hurled at me completely drowns out the few tiny, random gestures of kindness you suddenly decided to display out of nowhere a few days ago!"

I pointed a stiff, trembling finger toward her chest, my voice cracking under the crushing weight of my pent-up resentment.

"You hurt me far more than you ever tried to be good to me!"

Mary flinched as if my words were physical arrows piercing her skin. She bit down hard on her inner cheek, staring at the dirt between us for a long, agonizing moment of unbroken silence. When she finally raised her head back up, her eyes were swimming with raw vulnerability and quiet desperation.

"Yes... I agree with you," Mary whispered softly, her tone entirely devoid of her usual pride as she gave a small, solemn nod. "I know I hurt you deeply, and I know my past actions were terrible. But how on earth am I supposed to ever fix those mistakes... if you refuse to even give me a single chance to do more good than the bad I did?"

Without waiting for me to respond, Mary slowly turned her back on me, taking heavy, deliberate steps down the winding dirt path leading toward the town square. Her head remained bowed, her shoulders slumped in absolute defeat as she walked away, leaving the invitation hanging heavily in the chilly morning air.

I stood completely frozen under the towering trees, staring at her receding figure as my chest heaved with conflicting emotions. My mind screamed at me to turn around, run in the opposite direction, and lock myself safely inside my room. But as I watched her lonely form disappearing down the path, a heavy, tired sigh escaped my lips, deflating all the anger left in my body.

"Fine!" I called out reluctantly, taking a few hurried steps forward to catch up with her moving shadow. "I've heard everythi

ng you said... I'm coming."