Call Of The Dark

Yul became very serious and allowed the woman to tie the blindfold on his eyes properly. He was going to have to rely on Emma's scent now. So he inhaled a deep breath and segregated her scent from the rest.

However a moment later the woman who was putting blindfolds on every man, announced, "We know that the vampires have an uncanny sense of smell. Since the humans and vampires are mixed here, we are going to spray sandalwood scent liberally inside the tent so that you can't detect who you are going to kiss!" She tied the blindfold to another boy. "Remember, you are not allowed to speak. If you do that, you will be disqualified! And then we won't let you come back till another year."

"Nooo!" Yul squealed. And everyone stifled a laugh.

"Yeeeesss!" The woman replied with smirk. "We will! We know that even though you all are blindfolded, you will detect your favorite with her scent. But that is not our goal. If you want to go to your favorite one and kiss her, why have you come in this tent?"

Yul gritted his teeth. Bloody hell. He has wasted his chance. He shouldn't have come to the tent to kiss her. He should have kissed her before all this fiasco. Now he wanted to get out, but how could he? Emma was right there on the other side and must be standing blindfolded. "Damn!" he blurted impatiently, feeling like punching something or someone.

The woman came close to him and whispered. "I know it is hard, but focus on your breathing and then open the eyes of your mind. You will surely detect the one who is made for you."

He sucked in a sharp breath and did what she asked him. The tent filled with a sharp smell of sandalwood scent and now he was clueless as to where she was. So he concentrated on the direction where she was standing. But even that last chance was snatched from him when the woman shuffled them all. Now he didn't know where he was even standing. He was completely clueless.

The curtains opened with a swoosh and cold sweat broke on his face. He didn't want to just kiss anyone. He clamped the side of his trousers as he tried his best to get a whiff of Emma's scent. Someone pushed him in a frenzy and Yul spun. He let out a set of expletives as he did his best to orient himself back in the same direction he was. He strode in the direction of the women hastily, afraid that someone else would find Emma, but five steps later, he found himself colliding with the tent's fabric.

More curses came out as he turned back to where all other men were going. With his jaw clenched, he strode in the right direction. But as his luck would have it, he banged into a man who tumbled and fell down and he fell over him. Yul wanted to grab the boy and thrash him, and then curse him loud but he couldn't. Because if he did the woman in-charge of it was going to throw him out.

So Yul took a deep breath all over again and got up. He focused on the steps of all the women in the tent. He heard the soft steps of someone on the right. A smile came to his lips. Only Emma walked that softly. With his chin up, he walked to the right. The noise of the steps was strange. Was she walking on the snow? Did it mean that she had gone out?

Feeling panicky, he increased his pace and a few meters later, a cold breeze hit his face. Was he out of the tent? But the steps were closer and the scent of sandalwood was stronger. He brought his hands forward and a few meters later he sensed something velvety. That was her dress. "Emma!" he exclaimed and the thing whinnied softly. Shocked, he removed the blindfold from his eyes and found himself staring in the eyes of a white spotted mare. She whinnied again softly. He noticed that her saddlebag was loaded and as she swayed her buttocks, the sandalwood scent bottles rattled inside mimicking his own emotional state.

"Nooo!" he bellowed and sharply spun back to enter the kissing tent, but the woman came to stand there with her hands across her chest.

She shook her head. "You can't enter now." She narrowed her eyes and then asked, "Did you kiss my mare?" As if she didn't trust him with her mare. She had come out to guard the tent as soon as the curtains were drawn.

Yul felt like puking. He stomped his feet like a teenager in heat and then stormed out of there.

---

Emma was… excited. As terrifying as the Kissing Tent sounded, it was thrilling. She touched her lips, wondering who was the poor soul who would kiss her. Well, it was all for fun. She shrugged and then felt better. Why was it that her heart was rebelling against the idea of someone else other than Lazarus kissing her? In her heart she wanted him, but she knew that he had gone to Zeph.

The woman who had introduced herself as Zelda, spoke the rules of the game and then blindfolded all the girls. Olya was right next to her, feeling jittery.

"This is all in the hands of the Goddess now!" Zelda said harshly. "So no cheating!"

Emma's stomach twisted into knots. The scent of sandalwood assaulted her nostrils.

"Young ladies," Zelda announced, "walk forward and kiss the first person you will touch."

As soon as the curtain drew back, the girls started with their arms stretched out. Emma's ears filled with the sounds of scrambling feet as all the girls started to walk out. With a ragged breath she moved a few steps further. Suddenly, she heard someone being bumped and some expletives being hurled in a muffled voice. And before she knew, she had bumped into someone. His arms came around her waist to steady her. Her breath lodged in her throat.