Chapter 162: 162-Strange (2)
"I’m so happy we get to room together when we get to school. Aren’t you all just as excited?"
She offered a piece to Varitreya, who accepted it without complaint. Addessa took one next, followed by Lumi and Luan. Every vampire in the carriage seemed to have no objections to the arrangement.
One by one, they accepted the candy and began eating it. The scene was jaw-dropping.
Maisa watched the entire exchange in disbelief. Not a single person protested to a mixed blood, offering them candy. There was not one suspicious glance or hostile remark.
It was as though everyone had collectively decided to forget every unpleasant thing that had happened between them and got together on the same page.
Zolani clasped her hands together, her smile growing wider. "This is going to be the best school experience ever!"
Maisa slowly turned to look at her. What in the world is wrong with this girl?
For one ridiculous moment, she wondered whether Zolani had somehow gotten high on drugs or something. How else could she explain this sudden transformation?
The last time they had been together, Zolani had looked at her as though she wanted to rip her apart. She had hated Maisa after learning the truth about her being the hunter who had killed her sister.
And now, here she was, handing out chocolates and talking excitedly about sharing a room at school together. There was no trace of the vampire who wanted to keep a distance from her.
Maisa’s eyes narrowed. She knew Zolani well enough to recognize her usual friendliness, but this wasn’t merely friendliness. It was too sudden, too exaggerated, and far too convenient. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
Maisa glanced around the carriage. Varitreya sat calmly by the window, her eyes staring at the scenery outside.
Addessa appeared unusually quiet, and Lumi was already enjoying her chocolate while Luan seemed perfectly content with the arrangement.
Everyone was acting as though this were the most natural thing in the world, and they were the best of friends who had never had a misunderstanding between them.
Everyone except for Maisa, who had clearly missed out on the drama that caused the strange change between them.
She leaned closer to Freya, who was still sitting stiffly beside her, and whispered, "Do you think I’m imagining things?"
Freya swallowed, her gaze fixed nervously on the vampires surrounding them. She had no idea why Maisa was turning to her to assure her sanity. They just met, and as for the others, all she could think about was being ripped to shreds by them.
"I don’t know," she whispered back. "But if you’re imagining things, then I’m having the same nightmare."
Maisa almost laughed, but the sound died before it could escape her throat. She had a feeling that disturbing the peaceful atmosphere might put a crack on whatever was making them behave strangely, and she’d had a mess on her hands.
Across from them, Zolani caught her staring and flashed her another bright smile.
"What’s wrong, Maisa? You look like you’ve seen a ghost."
Maisa forced her expression to relax. "Nothing," she replied.
But her instincts told her otherwise. Whatever had happened to Zolani, it had changed something in her and the others too. And until Maisa understood what that something was, she would have to be careful.
Because sometimes, the most dangerous enemy wasn’t the one who openly threatened to kill you. Sometimes, it was the one who suddenly started offering you chocolate for no apparent reason.
"Why was the school break ended so soon?"
"Because of the inauspicious blood moon. The palace is worried, and so everyone is summoned back," Lumi answered her. "They want all students in their respective schools to keep order."
Maisa listened patiently until she finished. When she was done, Maisa opened her lips and closed them again. She wanted to ask her about her findings on the incident of possession because she understood that Lumi wouldn’t have stopped searching until she got to the root of the problem.
However, sitting there by her side and watching her read in peace, she held herself back. She didn’t need an answer to every question in her mind.
"And what dies Zolani mean that we are all going to be rooming together?"
"Oh, about that," Zolani cut in.
Maisa tensed when she heard her voice. She still couldn’t shake the feeling of fear when facing Zolani. The girl knew her secret and had threatened yo expose her if her emotions were turned on. Now, her emotions were back for some reason Maisa didn’t know, and it was hard to pretend that the threat didn’t happen.
"That’s to put the queen’s initiative in place and show the nation that all of us, despite being of different bloods, are getting along just fine."
"Are we?" Maisa asked, searching all the faces around.
None of the other vampires said anything or showed signs of having a problem with the arrangement. The more she looked at the situation, the harder her suspension grew.
"Why am I the only one panicking here? Don’t you all feel that something is wrong?"
"What are you going on about?" Addessa questioned her.
Maisa swallowed her frustration and leaned back in her seat. If they didn’t feel something was off and she was the only one overreacting, then maybe she was overthinking things.
~
In another carriage, Taratoya glanced out the window as they moved farther and farther away from Felor. Her mind was as clear as water.
The queen consorts voice was at the corner of her mind, but it didn’t affect her at all, unlike the others. She remembered everything that went down in the village and more. Now she had a billion questions in her mind.
’Why was the queen consort so eager to force a happy environment between the flower of fate and its triggers?’ She wondered.
Despite the consort learning Maisa’s identity and her connection to the famous vampire hunter family that has harmed many vampires, including her own, she still kept it a secret and altered their memories by compelling them.
Taratoya drew circles with her finger on the table. Her mind was racing with a million possibilities, and only one made sense. The Queen consort was helping that person who awakened Maisa’s fate.
’Aunt Kheamossa loves Varitreya the most... no one is more important to her than her daughter...’ her thoughts paused as fear tool root in her heart. ’What motive could be so important that she’d go as far as to manipulate the apple of her eyes like a pawn like this?’