It was the early hours of the morning, when birds were still asleep and the sun was waking from its slumber. Jason, my unusual savior, was talking to a tall girl with hair as golden as the royal jewels and eyes as green as spring leaves. With hushed voices, their conversation bounced from one to another, like ping-pong. First it was Jason, whose face looked more troubled and tired than it had been during the night, his expressions kept switching between frustrated and soft. Then there was the woman, not much older than myself, whose perfectly fine features constantly pressed together in a pained frown every time her eyes flicked my way. It was only Jason's hand rubbing along her arm that made her lose focus on me. For a second, her tension dissolved. 

The more I observed both of them, the more I asked myself what the nature of their relationship was. The woman's eyes remained entirely too long on Jason, and Jason clearly seemed comfortable around her as well. But it was the distance between them that made me doubt.

They were standing in the looming shadow of the most magnificent wooden treehouse I had ever seen. Big strong pillars held the whole establishment up, and between the pillars benches and tables were surrounding the old, mighty trunk. And a trunk it was, it was the biggest I had ever seen. It needed ten of me to simply even get to the other side of it. It radiated strength and age. It made me wonder who these people were. The treehouse itself was mostly hidden by the leaves and branches of the tree, and only part of the first floor was visible. It was magnificent.

"Are you serious?" The sharp voice of the blonde echoed over the open space that stretched between the house and the growing river. Her hands were rubbing the side of her face, again her face scrunched together. Jason took her tiny hands, letting them disappear in his.

"Don't mind Heather." The sand-papery voice made me jump up from the cut-off tree trunk I had been sitting on ever since we arrived. Jason had told me to stay, and because I didn't have any other place to go, I had listened. Now I regretted my decision, as I was once again on my ass in the mud.

An old lady, dressed in colorful clothing with a white apron above them, smiled down at me. With a bit of a limp, she moved next to me and sat down on the bench. She stretched her hand out, I ignored it. When I sat back down on my previous spot, her hand fell down on my knee. My shoulders tensed and I found it hard not to shake it off. My good hand was already clenching my knife in between my fingers, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Ever since the night of your making, the world has been different. Heather is a strong witch, but she's still growing into the prime of her powers. It is natural for her to feel a bit off balance in these trying times." The woman looked sideways at me, a genuine smile transformed from her dried lips. My lips pressed together into a line, but I quickly looked away, back at the witch, Heather, who was walking away in the direction of the treehouse ladder. Her head was shaking and her hand was back at rubbing her temple and ear. Jason simply followed her with his gaze, he looked worried, before he turned back to me, his worry not dissipating.

"Jason is the alpha here."

"Isn't he a bit young to be an alpha?" I wondered aloud. My eyes remained on his brown ones. They did look old and mature, when you paid attention. Like they had already seen too much of the world.

The woman hummed. "Unfortunately yes, but there is not much we can do about that I'm afraid."

The hand on my knee moved away, which made me instantly relax.

"Let me take a look at your wounds, dear." She spoke gently, her hand asking for consent. My eyes finally let go of Jason's brown ones and fell onto the dark gray of my companion. They sparkled with life, which was in contradiction with her irises, where color seemed to have drained away over the years.

Hesitantly I nodded, and she pulled my jacket off with the most gentle hands. They felt cold and soft against my naked skin. A sharp intake of breath made me look down at my arm wound. My bicep looked messed up, like seriously messed up. My arm was a dark red with thousands of cracks in it, that wasn't the bad part, dried blood could easily be washed off. It was the black mark in the form of my dagger that looked very unhealthy. The wound had closed, but around the lines big yellow blisters had appeared. The throbbing and constant burning made sense now.

"Oh dear," the woman's mouth fell open for a second, before she realized this wasn't the proper way to react. With fixed eyes and her mouth pressed in a serious line, she pushed my jacket back up. "You're coming inside, right now. This must be looked at. Immediately. No matter what the verdict is. Whether you can stay or not."

With a limp in her gait, she pulled me forward. The woman had a lot more force than I would have accounted her for, and just like before, I went with her, because I simply had nowhere else to go. At least she seemed to genuinely care about my health. I couldn't start to be picky now.

"Jason, dear, I'm taking the girl inside." Before the man could say something, she went on: "I'm not taking no for an answer, she needs medical assistance." The alpha looked me up and down, with his kind, investigating eyes, before he nodded.

"If you don't mind, Mimi," he called over. "Once you're ready, could you check up on Heather as well?" The woman named Mimi smiled, like only old ladies could, and nodded. Her eyes shone with love and care, and it made my insides warm. It reminded me of my mom. A sadness made my heart squeeze. They were so open about showing it. "I'm going to check on the others, they should've been back by now."

Mimi guided me up the ladder, inside the wooden treehouse. It was warm inside, the morning light fell with gentle yellow rays through the windows. My eyes scanned over the varnished wooden walls, children's drawings hung up in colorful frames, and climbers creeped along the ceiling from window to window.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Mimi spoke, her voice soft. She looked at me from across the hall, I hadn't noticed my feet had frozen in place. I nodded, my mouth open in awe, and my left hand holding my right arm up.

"Fi likes to draw, she's quite an artist." I wouldn't have called the drawings art per se, they were more scribbles than anything else, but it was more than I could. It was more than any Hunter could, or would.

In slow easy steps that gave me time to look around once more, I followed Mimi into the last room on the right. It was a small bedroom with a single bed and a small wardrobe. Mimi ordered me to underdress before she left the room again. Following my instruction, I sat there on the bed, waiting in my half naked glory, my shirt pressed against my front, and my right arm crossed in front of it. Before I could get really uncomfortable, Mimi returned with a clean cloth and a bowl smelling of healing herbs.

The woman limped with her uneven gait, she sat down and said: "What you are going through must be terribly difficult. Are you alright, my dear?"

Tension rose inside me, like witches called upon their magic. My right hand pressed into my body, pressing my breast flat until it hurt.

"My apologies, I did not mean to make you feel uncomfortable." She sat closer, which only made it worse. Luckily, she quickly understood and stood up, distancing herself from me.

For a moment, she stayed silent. She didn't press, nor run.

Then, she spoke with the softest voice: "I once went hunting in the woods, far from the Den. I used to be a great tracker, and to truly test my skills, I went looking for a missing goat." My eyes flicked up with a confused gaze. Mimi leant on her left leg, her back crooked and her hands resting on the wall behind her. She looked uncomfortable standing there, but all she did was smile and nod. "Yes, a missing goat. There used to live a farming family not too far from here. One of their goats had escaped, and if it wasn't found before dark, it would be lost forever to the family. So I started my search at the farm, from there it took me deep into the woods. I was so lost in my mystery that I hadn't realized that I had walked right into bear territory. Three deadly looking bears were standing there, only inches from me. Their eyes were so big, and I hadn't felt fear until that moment. Right there, I regretted every single decision in my life." She sighed, before she went on: "I was lucky to get away from there alive."

"They didn't attack?"

Her voice was sugarsweet: "Oh, no dear. Brown bears don't usually attack humans. Not if you lay down and wait it out."

I squinted in confusion. "Then what was the story about?"

Mimi stood a bit straighter. "Nothing dear, I was simply trying to make conversation. Those wounds of yours simply reminded me of what the goat looked like."

Before I had time to wrap my head around it, Mimi was sitting next to me. She pressed the cloth, drenched in the herb infusion that made my sinuses wide awake, against my wound. With a little needle she punctured the yellow blisters, all while the sharp scented cloth was covering my arm. I would've liked my dirt covered twig from before, unfortunately I had nothing and all came out screaming. Little stars in front of my eyes came first, followed by black dots and eventually full-blown blackout.

***

Waking up in a strange bed was more peaceful than I would have expected. Of course, there was a single moment of panic, but that quickly disappeared the moment I realized no one was around and no danger seemed to lure around the corner - for now. A furry blanket was draped over me. A glass of water was standing on the ground next to the matras, a note balanced against it. The lettering had a tremor in it, but overall it were clear words. I deeply hoped that there was nothing important on it - why was it that everyone expected other people to be able to read?

My hand reached out to the glass, I noticed the white bandage draped around my right upper arm. Without much difficulty I picked up the water and drank from it. The cool liquid felt refreshing and in a way healing. My arm was still somewhat sore, but nothing like it had been the day before. Simply because I could, I put the glass back down on my left and punched the air a few times before me. My teeth showed now my lips were pulled apart in a big grin.

With careful hands, I pulled the woolen blanket off me and pushed it aside on the bed. Someone had made me look decent. The blood covering my body was washed away, a fresh black shirt was covering my upper body and I was now wearing washed-out brown shorts. Strangely enough, they fit perfectly. Out of curiosity, mostly because moving seemed incredibly easy, I pulled up my shirt until right above my navel and inspected my stomach wounds. My heart skipped, then stopped. There was nothing there but a single thin white line of scar tissue. Before there was still a red and yellow looking scab, the wound had been healing, but still clearly present. How long had I been asleep?

My eyes flicked to the small window in the wooden wall. Outside, the sun was hidden behind gray and white clouds. It wasn't raining, but the floor looked moist enough for it to have rained recently. I heard voices outside, but saw no one. How many people would be present here? Were they all wolves, like Jason?

With an athletic tumble that I couldn't have done after my immense failure in the forest, I got out of bed and finished my inspection. The house felt warm enough to leave the blanket behind. With quick steps, I scanned the room for my weapons, but came out empty. Smart. The glass would have to do then.

With the most quiet steps, I left the room behind and snuck into the hallway. The colorful drawings caught my attention yet again before I focused on the three doors at the end of the hall. All had the same simplicity, probably even made from the same oak going off by the similar eye pattern. The one on my side of the hall was standing open. It led to another hallway, a much darker one. It was mostly quiet, except for a mix of muffled voices in the far distance of the hall. With perfectly controlled steps that made no sound at all - especially since I wasn't even wearing heavy shoes - I made my way across the dark hall. One of the doors stood slightly ajar at the end. This time, two clear voices were talking.

"-understand. Why would you bring her here?" The female voice asked with clear anger. There was something familiar about it.

"The girl needed medical attention. She was covered in blood, her arm was ripped apart." Jason spoke, he didn't sound very amused either.

"Why here? She is the most wanted person in the Lands. This is high treason for me. You know that."

"Well, it isn't always about you." He slammed his hand on a table. A deep sigh followed, as if he tried to remain calm by focussing on his breath. Then he went on in a slow but clear voice. "This place is mine, maybe you forgot. I use it for whoever and whatever I wish. It's not because you ran away from your parents again, that I have to refuse helping others. If you can't be here, then leave." Jason's voice was much lower than before, it vibrated with power and emotion.

There was shuffling.

"Like you always do." He murmured so quietly that I almost hadn't heard. He said it with so much heartbreak that I wondered who the other person was, and what they had done to break Jason's heart.

There was a heavy silence that made me feel like an intruder. It made me fidgety. With my feet already halfway down the hall, I got abruptly pulled back by the shoulder. A strong hand pushed me against the wall with incredible strength, and made my vision blur for a second. When my focus returned, I was staring into familiar red-brown eyes.

"Eavesdropping is impolite," she growled, low and threatening. Shadows hung low under her serious eyes, it was only the small quirk in her lips that made me not want to break the glass against her head.

"Trying to kick a patient out of her bed isn't polite either," I countered.

"You don't look very beaten up to me," Kate let go of me. She took a step back and let her eyes take me in.

My whole face turned hot, a reaction that was not at all appropriate in a situation like this.

"In fact, you look as healthy as you've always been."

Jason walked in steps that told me he'd rather want to be anywhere else.

"I have her bloody clothes to prove it." The princess looked to her side, her eyes sad. The muscles in her jaw twitched at his comment. "But I have to admit that I have never seen a human heal so quickly."

"I'm not a human," I'm a Hunter. The words spilled out, yet the last part got stuck in my throat. It made my heart squeeze uncomfortably.

The princess looked at me, her eyes a strange mix of distress and confusion. She looked so tired since the last time I saw her. She still wore the same dark clothes as last time, perhaps a different kind of shirt underneath, but her clothes told everyone in the room who she was. Not that it mattered the least, the dark circles that sat under her strange mix of red and brown colored eyes told me just how little she slept and how much she worried. Her long loose locks of hair looked even more disheveled now than during our fight in the forest.

"For as far as I know, Hunters still heal like a human." The wolf went on as if whatever frightened the princess was of no matter.

"But she's got my blood inside of her," Kate said distractedly. Her eyes bore through mine while her mind clearly worked overtime. "You heal quicker than you should, you're faster than any Hunter and you spoke the ancient vampire language that hasn't been spoken since the Shibaura War."

Kate stayed silent. Her eyes switched between my left and right eye, and all I felt was frozen in place. Only this time not because her eyes made my heart beat double in time, instead my body felt cold. Ura was right, I had spoken another language. Because why else would Kate say it, if it wasn't true?

"That was more than a hundred years ago," she added, as if everyone else in the room didn't already know.

"I'm not becoming a vampire," was all that my mind seemed to be able to formulate.

"Is that even possible?" Jason asked aloud, as if my statement wasn't as ridiculous as it sounded.

"No," Kate said, finally her eyes left mine. She started a nervous pacing, four steps to my left, four steps back. Her fingers drummed against her legs, both in the same distracting rhythm. "It shouldn't be possible. Hunters were made to destroy the Vampires, it would cause an internal warfare inside of her. Not make her stronger, or turn her."

"We don't know what that ritual entailed. We don't know if they somehow altered the vampire birthing process."

"That shouldn't be possible!" Kate said with finality. She remained still while her eyes moved restlessly. A minute passed, where no one moved or said anything, before she stormed off with a distant "I need to think."

Jason and I stayed behind, both our eyes staring in the direction the princess had run off to. Neither of us said anything.