Married To The Mad Vampire Lord-Chapter 162: Danger zone

What had they done to him? What had they done to her strong Rohan?

What if they had...

Belle swallowed the words along with the tightening in her throat. No, she wouldn’t think like that. She must not allow herself to carry such negative thoughts about his well-being. She had to think positively. But, Lord help her, she couldn’t do it anymore. Not about Rohan’s condition, and not about hers.

She did not even believe she could carry on if he did not come to her. She had never been able to do anything right in all of her life. She had not fought Cordelia or tried to save Evelyn like the woman had saved her from receiving a beating, and most certainly, she couldn’t save her husband...

Belle cried until she no longer had tears in her eyes, and the heavy rain drowned out the wretched sounds that came from her heart. She cried herself into exhaustion, every muscle in her body protesting her will to stay awake. Her head became so heavy, as though she carried an invisible weight—one that pressed on her limbs and made it impossible to even get up and resume her search.

She fell asleep with a heavy, knotted heart, a knot so tightly twisted that no amount of crying could undo the knot.

The singing of morning birds flowed gently to her ears, and her heavy eyelids fluttered open. At first, she didn’t question where she was and simply remained lying there, still and exhausted. But the first sight of wet grass filling her blurry view jolted Belle upright, and she shot into a sitting position on the damp forest ground.

The sky had cleared, and the rain had finally stopped. She looked up at the towering trees as the soft sounds of unseen birds filled the air, accompanied by the occasional croaking of frogs hidden in the bushes.

It felt strange, almost unbelievable, that she had actually fallen asleep when she had been so determined not to stop, not even for a moment, until she found Rohan.

Belle yanked at her hair and scolded herself, "How stupid of you to sleep off when you haven’t found him yet."

Every emotion that had weighed on her last night was now gone, faded, leaving her with a clear head. She could not believe how she had thought she wouldn’t be able to look for Rohan if he did not come looking for her.

She could not afford to waste her time here. Who knows, maybe Rohan was also looking for her in this vast forest and she had fallen asleep here. Belle thought as she grimaced from the aches in her body when she tried to move to stand up. freewebnσvel.cøm

Her clothes were still damp, and every bruise on her body had become sore. She used the tree behind her for support and pushed herself to stand up straight. She bent down and took her crossbow, which she had clutched onto last night.

There was only one way to find Rohan. If she could not find him here, she would have to find her way to their castle and get Kuhn. He would be able to find him, as they were connected in some kind of way where the creature always knew where he was.

Kuhn had not come out with them because Rohan said the creature could not risk being too far away from the castle or risk being sighted by the reapers who traveled to the living world to take souls. He was wanted after that day. He had been left behind to stay in the protection of the castle.

If she could reach their castle, she would be able to find Rohan faster with the help of Kuhn and Rav, and maybe even get to know if Evelyn was alright. Wandering aimlessly around the forest was no longer a good idea. All she had to do now was find a path to exit the forest, step into town, and take a coach home.

With that plan in mind, Belle grabbed her crossbow and began to limp away, her head so wrapped in thoughts that she completely missed the red marks on one of the trees she passed—a mark that had been left to warn of the danger zone ahead.

It was after she had walked for a while, long enough to lose track of time, that she noticed that there were no ends to the trees. They kept getting denser, with no clear paths in sight. Belle finally realized something was utterly wrong with this side of the forest.

Normally, in every direction, there were visible trails—faint paths that showed signs of being walked by people every now and then. But this side of the forest had no such thing. She was trudging through thick bushes, and the trees were packed so closely together that it looked as though no one had ever cut through them to make a path.

That alone was enough to make her stop in her tracks and glance around, unease crawling up her spine.

The surroundings were so silent that even the birds seemed to avoid this place. Thick fog hovered in the air, clinging to the trees and making everything appear hazy and ghostlike. She hadn’t come this way last night, had she?

Goosebumps began to rise along her arms as a sickening sense of unseen danger crept over her from the oppressive stillness.

Her instincts screamed at her to turn around. Without wasting a second, Belle spun on her heels to go back—only to freeze when a loud snap echoed from behind her. Somewhere in the dense fog, something had moved.

She didn’t dare turn to see what had made the sound or what was lurking in the mist. But even without looking, a foul smell suddenly drifted into the air, so putrid and thick it curled her stomach. What was even more unsettling was how strangely familiar it was. She had perceived this exact stench before... but where?

Her thoughts turned nauseating as she tried to recall, a sickening sensation swirling in her gut. Still, she didn’t wait to figure it out. She began to brace herself to run, but before she could take a step, a low growl rumbled from behind, forcing her to stop again.

And then, before she could even think, something leapt out in front of her.

She screamed, startled so violently it felt like her heart had stopped.

Her scream echoed loudly through the forest, and after it died down, she heard growls and rumblings coming from every part of the trees. And then, what had jumped in front of her, she opened her eyes to see what it was, but the moment they fell on the creature, every drop of blood drained from her body, and she paled like a ghost.

Even her heartbeat seemed to seize for a moment before it resumed, now throbbing so hard it felt like it was trying to make up for the momentary stop. It pounded so violently, it was as if it would rip out of her ribs. She took a frightened step backward as she made eye contact with the most hideous thing she had ever encountered.

A rogue...

She had walked into the danger zone despite how careful she had tried to be.

She had attracted the living dead. The rogue.

Belle knew. It stood in front of her, sniffing the air as it had no eyes. The spot where its eyes were supposed to be had rotted away, with veins poking out like tangled plant roots. Its skin was the color of burned ashes and had sunken so deeply to the bones that half of its body looked like a skeleton. It carried that foul, decaying smell she found disturbingly familiar.

She found it familiar because they had attacked her family carriage years ago, and she had perceived their foul stench, and her senses had clung to it even though her memories had failed her.