Chapter 311: Grateful
"Absolutely not!"
Straight to the point and stern Silas was when Arabella asked if she could join him inside the cell.
Silence fell heavy after that as the cold breeze ran between the gloomy corridors, rattling the free chains of the dungeons.
"She remains unstable," he added, a lot calmer than before.
Arabella merely nodded in response and stood in her place. Katherine dared say nothing while her gaze snapped between the young woman and the vampire who continued to glare at her as if trying to pulverize her with his eyes alone.
"We should call for the doctors," Arabella, yet again, put an end to the quietude that mingled with the whistling of wind, "They should know what to do better than us,"
Silas was skeptical since the doctors did Katherine no good from the very beginning. Instead, it was her that came up with the idea to use his blood which... Worked, miraculously.
In the end, he simply did his best to push those thoughts to the very back of his mind.
Arabella was back from the dead and Katherine had also returned, it seemed.
Those were the two highest points on the list of his priorities.
Silas moved abruptly, wrenching a jolt out of the already shivering Katherine, but he did not near her and on the contrary, exited the cell before locking it behind himself.
"I will go fetch the doctors myself. You may have a moment with her, but do not, under any circumstances try to open this cell,"
He looked her straight in the eyes when uttering his last order, making it clear he was not joking about it.
"Understood,"
After one last look their way, Silas disappeared behind a wall, but kept his ears tuned in, ready to capture anything out of the ordinary. Anything that might jeopardize Arabella’s safety because that time around, he’d not only never forgive himself, but wouldn’t be as clement to her assailant as he was before.
"What you just said to me," with a shaky and fragile voice, Katherine ended the pending silence between them, "What did you mean by it?"
In response, Arabella smiled warmly and took a deep breath, "Do you, by any chance, remember having the most realistic dream ever recently? One that I was part of,"
"Yes," Katherine whispered, staring down at her hands, "You were part of it until you weren’t,"
There were a few seconds of more silence before Arabella spoke again, "And then you were left with my mother," her sweet smile remained, "In the dream, I mean," she quickly added upon noting the surprise on Katherine.
"So... It wasn’t just a dream," the vampiress half asked.
"I don’t think it was just a simple one, but it most certainly was a dream. One that I am really happy to have shared with you, Katherine,"
At those words, Katherine’s features suddenly crumpled into the most devastating of frowns, "I am so sorry. I am so sorry," she tried to choke her cries.
"Everyone is alive and well," Arabella nodded, "So, don’t you worry yourself about that,"
"How can I not worry? I almost killed you!" she hissed.
"Almost," Arabella chuckled, which plastered yet another look of surprise on Katherine, "I meant what I said a few minutes ago, you know," she tilted her head.
"About the dream," Katherine had adopted the most sheepish of tones ever heard from her.
"I hadn’t seen my mother smile since the day I found her body hanging in that room," Arabella’s eyes flickered towards the wall right behind Katherine, "From then on, every glimpse of her I’d gotten in my sleep was either from the back or her with her hands over her face as she cried,"
Katherine’s eyes widened as she straightened up, "She was right!’ those words came out as a murmur, "You did not belong in that realm!"
Arabella nodded, "And here I am,"
"It seemed so real, but I can only remember glimpses of it," Katherine shook her head.
"You’ll remember more as the time goes by," there was another pause before the young woman shared more of her thoughts, "I can’t really thank you for what you did, but... In a twisted way, I am grateful you sent me to that place. It was the best closure I could have ever hoped for,"
Katherine could no longer hold her tears and just exploded right in front of Arabella.
She did not try to soothe her as she had the right to cry every tear in her body. She had the right to get it all out after such an ordeal.
And Arabella knew her words weren’t the easiest to take in.
Silas thought the same... Ascending the stairs, not for a second did he try to think of anything else. There was no way he’d allow himself to get distracted.
Eventually, he returned with the doctors that began examining Katherine as soon as their initial shock wore off.
Him and Arabella stayed down in the dungeons until they cleared Katherine from all danger and declared that she was sane of mind again.
Although, both Katherine and Silas refused to concede and insisted on her staying in the dungeon at least for another day, just to drown out their doubts.
After a few attempts, Arabella accepted it and followed Silas back up.
Neither of them said a thing for a good moment until the words threatened to eat at his insides.
"I believe I fell asleep,"
That had the merit of stopping her dead in her tracks, "How so?" she mumbled.
"That dream you’ve talked about with Katherine," he started, "I think I was there as well,"
She seemed to ponder his words for a while, "I thought I heard your voice," she whispered.
"You did," he said, "I was there. I called for you, but for some reason you couldn’t see me,"
"I suppose it was no ordinary dream then," her hand gravitated up, but instead of her mother’s pendant, she gripped the brooch pinned to her chest.
"I share that belief as well," he said.