Testimony of Children (Alice Gray Book 2)

19

As soon as I was enveloped in the warmth of the room my fear dissipated. The large dark wooden bar and floorboards gave the Inn a cosy feel, especially after the bitter December air on my skin. The bar was busy with a cheerful bustle.

James was nowhere to be seen, and I started to think I'd had a lucky escape. May as well make the most of the outing. I ordered a large glass of red.

Just as I'd raised the glass to my mouth, my arm was yanked away. The wine splashed onto the sleeve of my dress. My heart sank as my chance to return it to the closet intact disappeared.

A diminutive girl with strawberry blond hair pulled me towards the upper level of the pub. When I tried to yank my arm from her grasp, I realised my companion's true nature. The girl had an iron grip. She was a vampire.

Just as that thought sunk in, she turned. Presented with the loveliest countenance that I'd ever seen, my heart fluttered in my chest. A delicate heart shaped face was framed with beautiful hair that fell in perfect ringlets to her shoulders. Her complexion was fair, and her lips of a rosy hue were set in a cupids bow pout. Soulful brown eyes with an unusual amber glint looked at me, anger evident in their expression.

"You're alone?" Her voice came out in a squeak of disbelief.

I had to swallow the giggle that tried to bubble out. The high-pitched tone, coupled with her height of five feet, made her seem like a neurotic teenager. But looks can be deceiving, and the art of misdirection is one of the vampires' greatest tools.

"Does she know you've come here? No, she wouldn't allow that," the girl said.

"Who, Emily?"

How the hell was this girl connected to my security expert? Emily was more than that to me now. She was my friend. And after learning of her history with vampires, I couldn't believe that she had any allies amongst them.

My life-force prickled against my skin, acknowledging the threat. If this girl meant to harm Emily, my power wanted to obliterate her. Buzzing filled my ears as I tried to bring my fury under control.

The girl looked at me, eyes widening. She was about to speak when she suddenly flinched, her attention zeroing in on a stimulus that I couldn't detect. She sped away at an unnatural speed.

I glanced around, worried that some of the human patrons had noticed her departure. Everyone was too busy drinking and chatting.

"They're more likely to notice the thickening in the air caused by your power, love." James's youthful voice floated out from a small room, the entrance to which was just a few steps away. He was sat on an old wooden bench in the misshapen room. For a moment, I marvelled again at his youthful appearance. How was he even allowed in here when he looked barely fifteen?

"They've known me all their lives. Their brains can't process my lack of ageing. I know how to fool them."

James's knack of deducing my question before I spoke it out loud was uncanny. It did nothing to put me at ease, but I guess that was the point.

He smiled at me now, no doubt interpreting my thoughts yet again. It was time to get this meeting on my track.

Intending to appear unfazed, I sat across from James with no more preamble. When my knees brushed his, I realised my mistake. He had chosen this small room for a purpose.

James released the full force of his oppressive power the moment that our bodies touched. My life-force surged in response, euphoria filling me as my presence swelled out into the atmosphere, escaping the bounds of my physical body. Rising to the challenge meted out by James, the silver particles of my magic multiplied and joined together until the air became thick with silver fibres.

The strands drifted in the viscous atmosphere that was caused by the opposing forces of our magics, James's heavy energy preventing them from joining to form the web that made my power strong. Yet the particles continued to multiply, spinning the fibres into threadlike strands, ever longer until there was more energy than could be contained in the small space. The smell of ozone told me that something was going to blow.

The pretty young vampire appeared at the open door to the small room. Eyes wide, an infinitesimal shake of her head alerted James that our show of power had gone too far. He pulled his energy back to him instantaneously.

Mine was far more unwieldy and I had to hope that it would dissipate of its own accord now that the threat had been withdrawn. The long strands of silver still floated aimlessly in the room, tangling like yarn in need of winding.

"The humans and other creatures can't sense it like you and I. We feel the very molecules change and react. To almost everybody else, it is merely a vague sense of foreboding or a heaviness in the air, like before a thunder storm. A few, like Elizabeth here, are susceptible to more, but even she is not sensitive enough to identify the competing forces."

"What the hell," I gasped, still breathless from the rush of adrenaline that came with the power.

I really didn't want to admit that I had so little control, but I suspected that this entire episode had been designed by James to demonstrate just that.

If we shared an unusual form and strength of power then I needed James to teach me how to control it. Unfortunately, I didn't think he'd do it out of the kindness of his own heart.

Can Alice trust the new vamps? Hope you're enjoying the story.