Bites The Day

By the time Amara woke up, she was tired and confused, unsteady on her feet as her head throbbed. She remembers this feeling - But she can't place how or from what. She's never had anemia in her life and yet the feeling of lightheadedness and weakness were both familiar to her.

She groans as she pushes herself out of her bed, the snowstorm having passed as it left the world bleak and covered in a seemingly immovable layer of snow and ice. She takes off the dress given to her, folding it neatly and gently, doing the same with her gloves, terrified of damaging either fabric despite the wealth that Elise possessed.

Elise seemed like the type of person who could use fine silk as a rag and not think twice of it. The type of person who had enough money to treat it as if it were disposable. But she ran a shop, and in the direction Amara was going to either way. So, Amara had the choice to either freeze in the cold trying to walk towards the closest village or be taken there in a carriage with a noblewoman. Of course, Amara chose the latter.

She put her mask back on, and her robes after it. The lavender hadn't spoiled yet, and it fit just as tightly as it had before. It brought her familiarity. She walked down the stairs, only to find Elise there, ready and waiting with a book in her hands, her dress beautiful but not made out of expensive materials. It was linen and cotton, a worker's dress with a corset over it. It was beautiful on her.

Somehow, Elise had noticed her presence, turned in her direction and smiled.

Elise

"I'm going to the village nearby, dear. Would you like to come with me? Judging by your clothes you were already planning on it."

Amara stared at her for a moment, before nodding as she surveyed the room to look for her doctor's bag. She had certainly left it somewhere, having come inside with it. Yet, nowhere to be found inside the main room.

Elise

"Your bag's in the kitchen, darling. The carriage won't be here for another hour, so once you find it you may wait with me."

Amara simply nodded again, going to the kitchen and finding her bag on the dining table, right in the center of it as though it were some sort of decoration. She took it easily, walking back to the main room and sitting down next to Elise.

Amara

"I'm in your debt, Miss Elise. You've treated me with nothing but kindness."

Elise smiles at her and places her book down, taking her gloved hand into her own bare one. Amara was so, so warm, as if there was a fire burning under her skin and coursing through her veins. Her heart was loud, beating, alive, the rhythm of it an intoxicating thing that Elise hadn't heard in a while. She wanted to keep Amara alive for as long as she could — Her blood was too precious to have all in one go.

Elise

"Take it as no debt, Amara. You've already paid it enough."

Elise's grin was wide and alluring, exposing her sharp canine teeth. Amara furrowed her brow in confusion. She thought she hadn't told her name to Elise yet. Perhaps Elise had looked into her journal while she was asleep? But she rarely, if ever, mentioned her own name in it. She hadn't even put her name on the back of the journal's cover, almost afraid to be found when she had acquired the dusty thing. Perhaps it was a mere coincidence, or Amara had told her name to Elise and forgot. Either way, she didn't pay close attention to it.

Still, she was confused. What did Elise mean by telling her she had already paid her debt?

Before she could ask, the sound hooves against dirt and snow echoed outside, each of the horse's steps breaking the layer of ice as the heavy wheels of the carriage dragged along the ground.

Elise

"The carriage is here."

She extended her hand, a bag on her arm and a smile on her face.

Elise

"Come with me, love."