suited the situation perfectly.
Tae climbed down from the wagon and headed for the dune. For a girl who seemed to
have lost her own will and who was manipulated like a doll by the old woman, this
was an unbelievably purposeful course of action. Climbing the dune, she was a few
yards from the Hunter when she came to a halt. It was the words that came over the
back of his black coat that stopped her.
“What brings you out here?” he asked.
Tae didn’t answer.
“There’s no telling what’ll come at us next out in this desert. Go back to the wagon.”
His voice was soft, but it allowed no debate.
Tae closed her eyes. Her head still hung low, and her thin, bloodless lips trembled
with fright. “I . . . I thought I might . . . answer your question . . .”
Back at the cheap hotel, D had asked the girl the name of the Noble who’d abducted
her. Now it was a different question he put to her. “Do you want to tell me?” he asked.
Tae looked up at D with an expression that betrayed her surprise.
“Why have you decided to talk about it? If you don’t want to, don’t force yourself
to do it.”
The girl didn’t know what to say.
“Did Granny put you up to this?”
Tae looked down again. It took a few seconds before she could speak again. “If you
didn’t feel like helping . . . she said none of us would make it across the desert
alive . . . that’s why . . .”
“Your parents are in Barnabas, aren’t they?”
Several more seconds of silence followed.
“It seems both of them are dead,” the girl replied. “But my big brother got married
and took over the house.”
“In that case, you needn’t burden yourself unduly for the rest of the trip. I can’t
take you there, but you’re free to follow me.”
Tae looked at D strangely. The black expanse of his back spoke volumes on loneliness
and complete isolation. Somehow, she got the impression that the young man had nothing
more to say to her. Tae backed away a few steps; she was too afraid to just turn around.
Right as she was about to go, the girl hesitantly said, “I don’t remember anything
at all. Just . . .”
Just what?
“In the darkness, there were always these two red eyes, blazing like rubies . . .
watching me . . .”
The Hunter hadn’t turned toward her, and the girl then turned her back to him, too.
Not long after the sloping dune had hidden the tracks she left in the sand, another
voice—a hoarse one—could be heard where D seemed to be alone. “Well, it looks like
he
got a taste of her after all,” it said with a chuckle. “In which case she’ll never
know happiness no matter how she might try, eh? So, what do you suppose he did to
her?”
There was no reply. D just kept his eyes trained straight ahead at the cold world
of sand that seemed shrouded in gray light.
The voice laughed with amusement. “She may be behaving herself right now, but he isn’t
crazy enough to snatch a human girl just so she can be his maidservant. Sooner or
later, that girl’s bound to show her true colors. Our foes aren’t on the outside,
but rather—”
“There are some girls that nothing happens to,” D finally replied.
“Sure, but that’s maybe one in ten thousand,” the voice shot back ruthlessly. “And
just think about the miserable end this world has in store for all the rest of those
girls—and I don’t just mean the ones
he
took.”
If that comment had been directed at anyone but D, they would’ve grown pale as they
tried desperately to strike the answer from their brain, or perhaps they would’ve
frozen on the spot from the overwhelming horror of it.
For
the hidden
, the tragedy really began when they were found and brought back to the world of humanity.
There were girls who might suddenly sprout fangs and tear into someone’s throat the
very day they were reunited with their parents. There were boys who might live uneventfully
for months, or even years,
Tae climbed down from the wagon and headed for the dune. For a girl who seemed to
have lost her own will and who was manipulated like a doll by the old woman, this
was an unbelievably purposeful course of action. Climbing the dune, she was a few
yards from the Hunter when she came to a halt. It was the words that came over the
back of his black coat that stopped her.
“What brings you out here?” he asked.
Tae didn’t answer.
“There’s no telling what’ll come at us next out in this desert. Go back to the wagon.”
His voice was soft, but it allowed no debate.
Tae closed her eyes. Her head still hung low, and her thin, bloodless lips trembled
with fright. “I . . . I thought I might . . . answer your question . . .”
Back at the cheap hotel, D had asked the girl the name of the Noble who’d abducted
her. Now it was a different question he put to her. “Do you want to tell me?” he asked.
Tae looked up at D with an expression that betrayed her surprise.
“Why have you decided to talk about it? If you don’t want to, don’t force yourself
to do it.”
The girl didn’t know what to say.
“Did Granny put you up to this?”
Tae looked down again. It took a few seconds before she could speak again. “If you
didn’t feel like helping . . . she said none of us would make it across the desert
alive . . . that’s why . . .”
“Your parents are in Barnabas, aren’t they?”
Several more seconds of silence followed.
“It seems both of them are dead,” the girl replied. “But my big brother got married
and took over the house.”
“In that case, you needn’t burden yourself unduly for the rest of the trip. I can’t
take you there, but you’re free to follow me.”
Tae looked at D strangely. The black expanse of his back spoke volumes on loneliness
and complete isolation. Somehow, she got the impression that the young man had nothing
more to say to her. Tae backed away a few steps; she was too afraid to just turn around.
Right as she was about to go, the girl hesitantly said, “I don’t remember anything
at all. Just . . .”
Just what?
“In the darkness, there were always these two red eyes, blazing like rubies . . .
watching me . . .”
The Hunter hadn’t turned toward her, and the girl then turned her back to him, too.
Not long after the sloping dune had hidden the tracks she left in the sand, another
voice—a hoarse one—could be heard where D seemed to be alone. “Well, it looks like
he
got a taste of her after all,” it said with a chuckle. “In which case she’ll never
know happiness no matter how she might try, eh? So, what do you suppose he did to
her?”
There was no reply. D just kept his eyes trained straight ahead at the cold world
of sand that seemed shrouded in gray light.
The voice laughed with amusement. “She may be behaving herself right now, but he isn’t
crazy enough to snatch a human girl just so she can be his maidservant. Sooner or
later, that girl’s bound to show her true colors. Our foes aren’t on the outside,
but rather—”
“There are some girls that nothing happens to,” D finally replied.
“Sure, but that’s maybe one in ten thousand,” the voice shot back ruthlessly. “And
just think about the miserable end this world has in store for all the rest of those
girls—and I don’t just mean the ones
he
took.”
If that comment had been directed at anyone but D, they would’ve grown pale as they
tried desperately to strike the answer from their brain, or perhaps they would’ve
frozen on the spot from the overwhelming horror of it.
For
the hidden
, the tragedy really began when they were found and brought back to the world of humanity.
There were girls who might suddenly sprout fangs and tear into someone’s throat the
very day they were reunited with their parents. There were boys who might live uneventfully
for months, or even years,
Similar Books
