Hope ran with all of her might, she was too afraid to slow down and kept looking behind her shoulder to see if there was someone or a werewolf who ran after her, but to her relief there was no one there.
The almost empty street wasn't look that scary for her now, since she had another thing that needs to be aware of.
The area where the festival was being held was in the heart of this village, almost everyone werethere, gathered at the event.
The closer Hope to the festival, the more people she saw wearing beautiful mask to cover their faces.
There was noisy sound from people chattering and music welcomed her when she was there, out of breath. She would dare to slow down her pace and took a deep breath, only when she was surrounded by people.
Hope had never run like that before and she didn't think that she wanted to do it again in any time soon.
"Mask?" a stall keeper, which was a man in his early forty, passed her a white mask since he saw Hope didn't have it. "Masquerade without a mask is not nice," he said with a grin.
"Alright," Hope took the mask from that man and gave him the money, along with that, the flowers that she had stuffed inside her pocket was handed over too.
"Wow, thank you for the flower—wait, I have not given your change yet," the stall keeper shouted at the girl who had ran into the crowd, as if he heard her answer.
"You can keep it!" and with that her small body disappeared, mingling with the crowd.
Hope was too anxious to be bothered about the change, because what she needed now was to go to where the torch was, and it was hard to move with all the people went from every direction, surrounded her.
Hope was glad with the mask that covered her face, but also anxious to see this sea of people whose face couldn't be seen in front of her.
Hope wouldn't know if there was a witch or vampire among them, but again, she would never know unless those creatures did something peculiar.
The torch was placed on a higher stage and was surrounded by people who were dancing while circling it. However, Hope was not able to see the woman.
She was getting nervous.
Licking her dry lips several times, Hope moved toward the stage.
The festival was packed with masks and happy smiles everywhere, if Hope wasn't in her current situation, she would drowned in nothing but joy.
However, now it wasn't the right time to think about that.
Her mind raced along with her legs, forcing her way forward, yet even when Hope had joined the dancing around the stage, she still couldn't see the woman.
Has she already left?
Hope could feel the twinge in her heart telling her that she had lost the opportunity to meet with Kace and knew about the reason why he wasn't here yet.
She cursed herself under her breath for her stupidity.
Hope craned her neck to see around her, but since her height was not taller than some people around her, it was hard to have a clear view.
"Hey, lady…"
A husky voice greeted Hope's ears as cold breath fanned her neck. Startled, Hope turned around only to see a man wearing a red mask, smiling at her creepily.
"Are you looking for someone?"
Hope's hand was tangled with him, since they were doing the dancing circling the stage. This man was on her left side while a slender woman was on her right.
"It's none of your business," Hope hissed, she acted arrogant to cover her fear, there was something from this man that made her wary.
Is he one of the supernatural creatures, who came to join the festival? No one could answer that question and Hope couldn't ask.
"Hmm," He hummed and tightened his arms around Hope's while moving, following the rhythm and the movements of the music and all the people there. "Let me guess, waiting for your shapeshifter partner?"
With that question, Hope jerked away her hand, yet he tightened his grip and chuckled, "Don't worry, I will not do any harm on you. We have that stupid treaty between our kinds, remember?" he said it with humorless tone.
That treaty was the only thing that kept both creatures from killing each other every time they ran into each other, but it was also considered as a joke for some of them.
Since both creatures were too strong headed, a little friction was enough for them to forget all of that at once.
"You better stay away from me," Hope whispered harshly at him.
It wasn't a new thing for Hope for being mistaken as a shapeshifter. Even Ian thought of her as one of their kind the first time they met. And now, since Hope had been living with the siblings' family for more than a week, she was sure, it was even harder to distinguish her scent as human, and not even with the flowers on her pocket could help.
"Wow! You are fierce." He feigned surprised. "Why don't you enjoy the festival, since it is rare to see your kind around this village?"
"Let go of my hand!�� Hope gritted her teeth, though she was angry at—whatever creature he was—this man, her eyes still focusedon the surroundings, trying to find that damn woman.
Now her frustration had turned into anger. How could she promised to offer her one thing, but didn't keep her own word?
"Let her go!"
There was another voice from behind Hope and his voice was very familiar in her ears, without even seeing who it was, she knew who this person was.
"Ethan!" Hope screeched, she was thrilled and grateful, but at the same time her mind had pictured another trouble which coming on her way.
If Ethan was here, then, she was not only had to run from this annoying man, but also from the siblings!
Where is that witch!?