We walked out into the main street of the market district. I struggled to keep up as Erria weaved through the crowd, somehow managing to keep her frail sister with her. She slipped into a side street, still a few meters ahead of me. I followed. I couldn’t lose sight of her, not when she was carrying my blood. I managed to squeeze through the crowd and onto the street I saw her enter just seconds before. She stood to the side with her sister still clutching her arm. Erria smiled when she saw me.

“Sorry, we had to walk fast. I didn’t want to keep Elawynn in the crowd for too long – she’d get sick.”

I glanced down at the frail child.

“Was the vial for her?”

Erria nodded, her eyes pointed to the ground.

“Thank you again for the money.”

I shook my head, not sure what to say.

“I assume you want to have your snack soon. I can show you a nice spot,” she said.

I followed her through the streets until the dense growth of the forest came into view. It was a familiar forest, the forest I’ve grown to know well over the past year, so I was surprised to see a different angle of it that I hadn’t seen before. Just before the trees began, a stream separated the two grassy banks. Erria carefully descended the hill, keeping a tight hold of her sister and my blood. She walked down to the riverbank and paused, looking up at me. I stepped down the grassy hill towards her, soon standing next to her on the bank.

Erria held out the bottle towards me. I instantly took it. It was warm with her body heat, maybe not exactly human body temperature yet, but close. She brushed the puffy skirt of her dress forward, sitting on the grass. Her sister sat down next to her, on the side furthest from me. I sat down, too.

I looked at my bottle, filled with crimson red liquid. I opened the lid and the scent instantly hit me. It was strong, savoury, metallic, everything that I ever wanted. I brought the bottle to my lips, taking the first sip. When the taste hit my tongue, I had to resist the urge to gulp it all down at once. For me, this was a special treat, I couldn’t waste it.

The second sip was different. Whilst the first sip was just pure taste, hard to describe as anything other than ‘wonderful’, on the second I could make out each individual note; the subtly salty, mildly sweet, the gentle iron-y aroma that diffuses all through your mouth. It was more than just ‘metallic’ and ‘salty’.

“Are you enjoying your meal?” asked Erria.

I focused my attention back on reality and faced her.

“Y-yes. It’s good. It’s blood.”

Erria tilted her head, still looking at me. Her eyes were just as purple as her sister’s.

“You seemed quite hungry.”

I looked down at the bottle. Streaks of red ran down the inside of the glass where the blood had touched it.

“Blood is expensive. They don’t sell it in regular stores here,” I said.

Erria frowned.

“You’re just a kid, aren’t you?” she paused. “Don’t your parents feed you?”

I stayed silent. Erria looked at me intently, though still politely.

“Are you alone?” she said quietly.

I nodded. Erria turned her head to face the lake again, her hands resting on the purple fabric of the dress. It almost shimmered in the sunlight. I tugged on the top of my scarf, making sure that my skin was sufficiently protected from the sun.

“Where do you live?” she asked.

I looked away, placing my eyes on the moving water of the stream in front of us.

“Just anywhere around here,” I replied.

I could see Erria glancing at me from the corner of my eye, but I didn’t turn to look at her. I continued watching the water, watching a few birds washing themselves in the stream.

“Um,” she said, pausing, “if you want, you can come with us. We live in a nice cottage in the forest. I’m sure there will be room for you.”

I looked up at her. She gave me a small smile, glancing away as our eyes met. She seemed to really mean it.

“I don’t want to impose,” I said, “would your parents be okay with that?”

“We… we don’t really live with our parents either.”

I nodded slowly.

“Okay, then. If that is fine with you. Just for a few days.”

Erria ran her fingers through the end of one of her ponytails. She had two, filled with violet hair, loosely tied near her collarbones.

“Well,” she started, “once you are finished with your snack, we may head off in the direction of the cottage. It is not too far from here.”

I nodded before taking another sip of blood. With each sip, I felt my stomach settle, my whole body relax. It was as if I could feel each sip of blood fill my arteries, travel though each vessel, warming up my limbs. I knew that this wasn’t how it worked; the blood travelled into my stomach to get digested, but that knowledge alone didn’t make the warm euphoric feeling in my limbs disappear. I was starting to feel so relaxed that I thought I could fall asleep just like that, despite it being the middle of a sunny day. And maybe I would have, but I noticed Erria looking at me again.

“You seem finished,” she said, “are you ready?”

I gave one nod, feeling almost too dazed to speak. Erria stood up and brushed the back of her skirt with her hands. She reached out to Elawynn and helped her up. I glanced down at the now empty bottle, a few red streaks still inside. If I came across some clean water, I could capture these droplets and drink them diluted, nothing wasted.

“Are you coming?” Erria asked, her tone still polite.

“Y-yes,” I said, dragging myself up from the ground.

Erria grabbed hold of her sister and headed to a small bridge over the river. The bridge looked old, but Erria confidently stepped across, gently guiding her sister over it. I followed her, careful not to slip into any of the gaps between the wooden planks. Soon, we were walking between tall trees, shrubs and vines. She led me deeper and deeper into the forest. I felt a little nervous, careful to keep up. I didn’t recognise this area.

It wasn’t long until we reached a small wooden cottage. The outside walls were covered with moss, but otherwise, it looked well-maintained. Erria stepped up onto the front porch and knocked on the wooden door. I stayed standing to the side. A rustle emanated from inside the cottage. Then, emanated some bangs; something that sounded like pots or other metal objects dropping.

“It’s us!” said Erria.

The door opened. Erria glanced at me, then glanced back at whoever was inside, muttering something that I couldn’t hear. A head popped out of the door; it was a granny with dark grey hair in a short haircut, wearing long, dangly earrings. She narrowed her eyes, staring at me. She stood like that for a second before relaxing her posture and waving her hand dismissively.

“Fine,” she said, “I’ll let him in.”

Erria smiled at me, gesturing with her hand for me to come over. I stepped closer to the door, peering a bit into the cottage before following Erria inside. The inside of the cottage was dimly lit, but otherwise clean and airy.

The front of the cottage contained a kitchen and a small wooden table with some chairs. The walls of the kitchen were almost fully covered with shelves, each shelf stacked with pans, cups and various jars filled with miscellaneous powders and herbs. Erria walked further in, into what looked like a living room. A few bookshelves lined the walls and a bed stood at the back of the room.

Erria sat Elawynn down on this bed. She took the vial out of her small leather bag and handed it to the granny, who carried it into the kitchen. The woman stuck a slender spoon into the vial, carefully scooping a portion of the powder. She sprinkled the green powder into a pot filled with clear liquid. She lifted the pot, hovering it a few centimetres above her hand. A small flame appeared above her palm, the flames licking the bottom of the pot. She glanced towards me.

“Stop staring, kid,” she mumbled. “It’s distracting.”

I shuffled back, averting my gaze. Erria tapped the spot next to her on the bed, on the other side of where her sister was sitting. I walked over and sat down. I wanted to ask what the granny was doing but I was afraid to speak, so we sat in silence, waiting.

I looked over at the books stacked on the shelves, inspecting the spines. There were a few spell books, some potion books, and books that looked to be old mystery novels, each book wrapped in its own cover of colourful fabric. There wasn’t much space in this cottage, but the space that was here seemed well used.

Granny’s shoes clattered on the wooden floor as she headed towards us. She held a mug in her hand. She lowered it in front of Elawynn, who took it with shaky hands. Her bony fingers wrapped around the mug and she sipped.

“What’s that?” I whispered to Erria.

“It’s medicine,” she whispered back.

Elawynn grimaced a little with every sip, but continued drinking.

“There’s no extra bed,” said Erria, “and I don’t think Mimi would let you sleep in hers. So, when bedtime comes, I will lay some blankets out on the floor for you. Is that okay?”

I nodded. Erria smiled and turned to her sister. I watched Elawynn drink the green liquid in her mug until she was finished with every drop. I’ve never met anyone this sick before. Old people and sick people always smelled less appetising those that were young and healthy, but I’d never met someone who actively smelled inedible before. I wondered what happened to her, why she was so frail, but it seemed rude to ask, so I didn’t.