Chapter 61About Bygone Beauty

She was beautiful, it was hard denying that. Her long raven-black hair was such a nice contrast against her pale skin. Her eyes, glowing almost in the soft glow of the candles, were a deep emerald green. I had never seen her so innocent, fragile and... human.

Valerie, what happened to you.

Another thought occurred to me. Why didn't they kill her. They were planning to kill Isabel until they found out she wasn't a vampire. But they left her alive. I heard Khuna gasping next to me. Did she think the same?

And what about Isabel? She wasn't looking in, she just stood with the door, waiting for our next move. Isabel wasn't wearing her backpack so what choice did we have?

"Behind you." Isabel's voice cut through the magic.

She opened a door almost opposite of Valerie's cell and waited. Khuna went to look and came back with a robe exactly like one of the brothers. It seemed so odd to have a supply cabinet there but they had to store them somewhere. There was as good a place as any.

Valerie had stayed silent and looked so frail I didn't want to touch or speak. She also felt different, as if she was broken. I took a deep breath with Khuna standing behind me. She put a hand on my shoulder for support while, thankfully, Isabel stayed at the other door. Time to act.

"Valerie, are you alright?" She looked up but didn't reply, nod or shake. Her eyes looked empty.

I took one step closer, no response, no cringe, no welcome. "Valerie, what did they do to you?"

One more step. "Valerie?"

I stood right in front of her, slightly blushing as I was very close to her naked skin. And despite the soft light my vampire eyes picked it all up beautifully.

Don't think about beautiful skin.

"Khuna, hand me that robe?" Khuna stepped into the cell and handed me the robe, it was mostly meant to be lowered over someone. At the moment it didn't matter if Valerie had her arms through the sleeves, so I just pulled it over her. It would be weird having her walking among us in a monk's robe without anything underneath. We had to get her home.

"Valerie, we need to get home." I took a step toward the door but she didn't step.

I stepped outside and motioned Khuna to follow. But, again, she didn't move.

I walked back in behind her and pushed her forward gently against her back with one hand. She walked. Going outside the door and turning was just like leading a one year old, by varying the pressure on her back. She felt so empty, so broken... And yet so much more human than before. What had they done to her?

Slow we went, Isabel opening the doors and gate for us and taking the time to close them. Besides the missing people, we were never there. If the brothers were smart they wouldn't return. Two people had escaped their grasp, one of them a vampire. Or had they expected them to be taken, by a different branch of the same order. No, probably not. The whole speech of the brothers with Isabel implied they were going to do everything themselves. I'm sure this was no different.

"What did they do to her?" I asked Khuna when we were off the church grounds.

"Nothing to her body, it has to be her mind." She looked thoughtful.

"Think they did it on purpose."

"To be honest, I doubt it. But you've seen them, what do you think?" She kept thinking while we walked.

"I don't think so either. They would either kill her swiftly or keep her for some reason. But what reason?" For a moment I caressed Valerie's back through the robe she was wearing, but it got no response.

"Something went wrong." Said Khuna gravely. And that was it for a long time.

We walked and walked. Things seemed so slow. All until I suddenly remembered. "Khuna, Isabel."

Khuna looked up as the thought got into place. "You're right. I'll bring her to the safe-house." And she took off, leading Isabel the other way.

Was it any use? Isabel seemed to know everything already. Walking closer into town we, Valerie and I, got a few really weird looks. No one could see it was a girl inside the robes and I was dressed very cheerful and child-like in my skirt and t-shirt. There was definitely a conflict of contrast there. But no one dared speak to us, I was grateful for that little joy. The bigger problems were about to arise however.

Our street.

The truck was no longer there, just like I expected. I expected it to be there and it wasn't, which made a weird kind of sense. Maybe maintain a list. Or they were just done from earlier. No idea what they did at those hours, and inconsistent as well. The problem was however of a different nature. Getting Valerie on the roof. She didn't look like I could convince her to jump.

Jump... I couldn't jump with her, throw her up there or climb with her. Although. Climbing was possible if I held her with one hand, using the other to climb. Dangerous, but possible.

I started to climb and it felt like the first night. Everything was new, every hole in the wall, each bit of support for my hand and feet. I held her with my left hand around her waist. It worked with my strength, barely. It wasn't that she was too heavy to climb with. But maintaining balance was the thing here, each mistake could make me lose it and fall backwards, with her.

My fingers hurt when I made it to the edge of the roof. But I made it. I dragged her up on the roof and climbed after her. She didn't stand up on her own, she just kept sitting where she was put and waited. It all felt so incredibly wrong.

I pulled her up. "Valerie, we're home."