Once Betrayed Never Forgotten

Chapter 29: An Unexpected Ally

I’ve been running for what feels like an eternity, but time is elusive in this eternal night. There’s no way to tell if it’s been minutes or hours since I began my desperate flight. The castle’s twisted labyrinthine corridors taunt me with their endless gameness.

In the inky darkness, the arched stained glass windows reveal nothing but an abyss, a canvas painted with eternal night and a blood moon casting a sinister red glow upon the stars. I wonder why Aleksande, Artya, and Konstantin haven’t come after me yet. Perhaps they assume I’ve returned to the Blood Moon Ball or retreated to my chambers, dismissing me as weak and powerless. They underestimate my determination to nod

My legs ache, and each step becomes a battle against exhaustion. Hope is a fragile thread that I eling to desperately. My sole desire is to break free to descend to the distant village twinkling in the vallier below, its golden lights a beacon of escape

Now, clad in leather riding boots and a thick black fur coat over my silken ball gown, I stand at a cross. It’s going to be treacherous in the denow, but my determination fuels me

With each stegs, I realise I’ve passed the same painting repeatedly—a woman in Victorian attire with dark red hair and crimson eyes. Het cruel sneer follows me through the centuries. I’m caught in a nightmarish loop, and despair threatens to drawn me.

Suddenly, I shiver as a frigid sensation grips me, and I sender eyes upon me

I’m being watched.

1 peer into the shadowy corners of the corridor, like a deer facing the mouth of a mountain lion s

dark den

“Hello?” I call out, my voice quivering despite my futile attempts to muster some bravado and +10

sound confident. “Whos there?”

Bon

06:

Suddenly, a cold hand clamps over my mouth from behind, muffling my scream. ley lips brush against my eat, and a hushed voice fills me with dread. “Scream, and I’ll rip your throat out, little

mortal bitch,” it whispers.

Fear courses through mor, and I nod slowly as the hand withdraws. My assailant turns me around. and I’m met with the last person Id expect–Tatian Her pretty face is twisted in a snees, a fusion of anger, disgust, hatred and blood hat in her nared eyes. If looks could kill, I’d already be

dead

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Cornering mr. Tatiana growls and bares her teeth evealing her sharp, pointed canines. Hier

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between distrant and desperation

Con, what are you want the mapping some feet away. Follow me

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When Tationa snaps at me to hurry, it s a jolt of reality. I have no choice but to trust my enemy – H

seluctaest ally. If the knows a way net of this cursed castleal must take the chance.

Ed

I follow Tatiana, knowing that my salvation may ret in the hands of the last person dever

expect to help me escape this nightmare:

I follow Tatiana through unfamiliar passages, descending countless stairs, and traversing a of the castle I’ve never seen before. She never hestes in her stride, confident and unwavering in her direction, as if pulled forward by an invisible thread. Finally, we arrive in some sort of hall, like a grand entrance lobby. It’s a stark contrast to the rest of the shadowy, dimly lit castle, a hall of pristine white marble. Everything gleams, from the pure white furniture to the plush carpet underfoot. An intoxicating fragrance, sweet and Sotal like violets and jasmine, fills the air, enveloping m me in its heady embrace.

Life–sized statues of white marble stand sentinel in alcoves, their forms sculpted with classical

perfection reminiscent of ancient Greece. Warriors and philosophers, nymphs and Gods, all captured in timeless ivory stone. The room is a study in blinding white, a stark departure from the castle’s usual darkness. I’ve entered a place that feels entirely disconnected from the rest of this

foreboding fortress.

At the far end of the room, three doors beckon. One is carved from gleaming gold, etched with the likeness of a lion; another, crafted from silver, depicts a wolf, and the third, made of copper, bears the image of a bear. They exude an icy chill that sends shivers down my spine.

Bon

06:1

Tatiana halts before the doors, her hand resting upon the copper one, fingers tracing the bear sigil as she murmurs some unfamiliar foreign word. The door momentarily glows with an eerie white light, then swings open, revealing a winter landscape bathed in the eerie light of the blood moon. Snow blankets the ground, and a cluster of dark fir trees stands a few yards away. The night beyond is inky black, the snow tinged pink under the moon’s crimson gaze. A rush of frigid air spills into the room, and I instinctively clutch the warm fur coat around me.

Tatiana steps aside, her sneer now one of mock courtesy, gesturing for me to pass through the door

Chapter 29 An Unexpected Ally

This is where we part, she declares with a dismictive tone.

I stand at the threshold of freedom, the exit within reach.

“Good riddance.” Tatiana multers.

Curiosity nags at me, and I can’t leave without answers. I turn back to face her.

“Why are you helping me?” I inquire.

Tatiana sighs and quickly rolls her eyes, regards me with a mixture of irritation and amusement. “Insolent child, to ask such a foolish question. Obviously, benefits me for you to be gone. Aleksandr has been unusually distracted since you entered his world. I want you back in California as much as you do. Aleksandr is mine, understood?”

“You can have him,” I grumble, recalling Anya’s chilling warning about what would happen if he and I were to sleep together. That lying bastard was going to seduce me anyway, possibly killing

me in the process…

“Anyway, get lost,” Tatiana commands, practically pushing me through the door.

As I stand on the precipice of freedom, one last question lingers.

“I still don’t understand,” I say, my curiosity burning. “If you wanted me gone so badly, why not just kill me? I thought you were going to, earlier.”

Tatiana lets out a sour laugh. “To be totally honest, I did actually contemplate it, for a moment. I won’t deny the temptation to rip your pretty head from your shoulders and feast to my heart’s delight on your sweet, warm blood. Hmmm…”

Her eyes glaze over momentarily and she licks her lips, clearly savouring the thought.

+10

“But alas, my better judgement prevailed,” she continues with a sigh. “Aleksandr would have Bon known. He’d have detected your revolting human stench on me, no matter how well I disguised 06:0 I’m not seeking his wrath. He’s one vampire you don’t want to provoke. No, this is better. I’ve shown you the exit, and now you can do the dirty work for me. You’ll venture out into the night, perhaps freezing to death in the snow in your pathetic escape attempt, or getting devoured by ravenous wolves, or worse. How perfect. How poetic.”

I want to deliver a sharp retort, but words elude me. Instead, I reply coldly, “Thank you, Tatiana. But

you’re wrong. I don’t plan on dying anytime soon.”

She sighs, exasperated, muttering “whatever” as she forcefully shoves me out into the cold, snowy

Chapter 29: An Unexpected Ally

night. The door slams shut behind me, leaving me alone in the frigid darkness, my path to freedom uncertain but clear.

Chapter Comments

EJ

Alrighty then. Is she going to end up in the town only to find that it’s filed with Vampire’s too?

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