I Can Fix Her
691 Words
The chapel was quieter after that.
Too quiet.
Mirella continued examining the iron chains and the symbols carved into the stone pillars, but the tension in the room had changed. It was thicker now: like the air before a storm.
Elias stood nearby, arms folded, watching both women carefully.
Vespera watched him.
Always him.
Her red eyes followed every movement he made. The way his shoulders shifted when he breathed. The small wince when he moved his injured arm.
She remembered that shoulder.
Once she had rested her head there while they watched the rain outside their home.
Now it smelled like blood.
Her tongue brushed lightly against one fang.
Mirella snapped a small vial shut and turned toward Elias.
“The chains are good,” she said. “Silver in the metal. Whoever forged them knew what they were doing.”
“Hunters’ guild,” Elias replied.
“Mm.”
Mirella glanced toward Vespera.
“She’s strong though.”
Vespera gave a lazy smile.
“You’re very observant.”
Mirella ignored her.
“If the ritual is going to work, we’ll need three things.”
Elias stepped closer immediately.
“Tell me.”
“First,” Mirella said, raising one finger, “we weaken the vampire.”
Vespera’s eyes flickered with amusement.
“Oh, that sounds fun.”
“Second,” Mirella continued calmly, “we anchor the human soul.”
Elias frowned slightly.
“How?”
The witch glanced toward the vampire again.
“With memory.”
At that, Vespera’s smile faded just a little.
Mirella noticed.
Interesting.
“And the third?” Elias asked.
“The hardest part.”
She looked directly at him.
“You have to be willing to kill her.”
The words landed like a stone in the chapel.
Elias went still.
“What?”
Mirella didn’t soften it.
“If the ritual fails, the curse consumes her completely. At that point she’ll be stronger than she is now.”
Vespera laughed quietly.
“Oh good. I was hoping for an upgrade.”
Mirella continued.
“You’ll have one moment during the ritual where her humanity might surface.”
She stepped closer to Elias.
“If it doesn’t… you drive the blade through her heart.”
Elias stared at her.
“And if I refuse?”
“Then she kills you,” Mirella said simply.
Silence fell again.
The chains creaked softly as Vespera shifted.
Her eyes were no longer amused.
She was watching Elias very carefully now.
Waiting.
Measuring him.
Elias looked down at the floor for a long moment.
Then he lifted his head.
“I won’t kill her.”
Vespera smiled again.
A slow, satisfied smile.
Mirella sighed.
“That’s exactly what I was afraid of.”
“I’ll save her,” Elias said stubbornly.
“You might not get that choice.”
Vespera chuckled softly from the wall.
“Oh, he definitely won’t.”
Elias shot her a look.
“Why are you helping me?” he asked Mirella suddenly.
The witch hesitated for just half a second.
Then she shrugged lightly.
“You asked.”
But Vespera’s red eyes gleamed.
“Liar.”
Both of them looked at her.
She tilted her head lazily.
“You want him alive.”
Her gaze slid slowly toward Mirella again.
“And if I stay a monster…”
Her smile widened.
“…you get him.”
Mirella’s expression hardened.
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
Vespera laughed.
But then her eyes drifted back to Elias again.
For a brief moment, something strange crossed her face.
Something almost thoughtful.
Then she leaned forward against the chains slightly.
“Elias,” she said softly.
He hesitated before looking at her.
“What?”
Her red eyes burned into his.
“If your witch fails…”
Her smile turned sharp again.
“…I’ll make sure you’re the last thing I eat.”
Elias didn’t look away.
“Then I guess I better make sure she succeeds.”
For the first time that night…
Vespera didn’t laugh.
She just watched him.
And somewhere deep beneath the hunger and the curse…
something old stirred uneasily inside her chest.
- Writer
