"Hi." I jumped. I hadn't realised I wasn't alone, but there at the counter drinking what looked like coffee was a beautiful girl smiling at me. Perfect porcelain skin framed by 'legally blonde' curls; Full lips painted a warm toned pink to match the blush on her cheeks; sparkling eyes that shimmered with the lightest blending of natural eye makeup (very different to the smoky black I preferred of late). This woman could have been a super model or an elegant actress from the 40's. Her perfect manicured hands wrapped tightly around her cup as she sipped the contents. Coffee, it was coffee. I was happy living in denial when I was quite clearly alone in a room with a vampire.
Realising she had spoken and was waiting for a response, I smiled, probably a little strained looking and over the top. "Hi." I gestured a hand up. "I'm... Honey," I finished awkwardly.
"Felicity, but everyone calls me Flic." She took another sip and I tried not to watch in morbid fascination. She looked at me curious as I still stood by the door smiling. "Not used to Vampires?" She asked. I shook my head, a little embarrassed at the way I was reacting. "Are you from New Cape?"
Willow had said her family were from there. It was one of the smaller islands not far from the mainland here and it was occupied by the Witches. I nodded, unsure what exactly to say. We hadn't gone over what I was supposed to say about where I came from and Willow wasn't here to steer me in the right direction.
Flic smiled, seeming to accept my answer as an explanation of my weird behaviour. "Well I can assure you we're not that different from you. Apart from not using magic, and our diets, and maybe our speed... actually, we're very different." She laughed. "So Honey. Tell me all about yourself."
"Umm not much to tell to be honest." I was starting to panic at the thought of not having rehearsed anything. What if I said the wrong thing? I busied myself with the teapot.
"Which coven are you part of?" Flic asked.
"Umm I'm not. I'm just here with my friend Willow." I hoped that was a normal thing and not all witches were in coven's.
"Willow? Isn't her patron The Crone?" I could hear the excitement in her voice.
"Yes that's right." My voice sounded higher than it should be and I hoped Flic couldn't tell I was nervous.
"Have you ever met her?"
"The Crone? Yes. She's very nice." I didn't think there was anyone that could disagree with that statement. My grandmother was one of the nicest and most gentle people I'd ever met.
"I hear she's quite formidable. I heard what's happened to her daughter and granddaughter; I do hope they're OK."
"What have you heard?" I asked not wanting to miss an opportunity to hear from a Vampires perspective on the situation. I tried to keep my voice natural, and not sound as desperate as I really was for information on my mum and Wynne.
"My dad said that The Mother and The Maiden were both taken from the Earth Realm and that the Council were looking into it. He knows a few of the council members and they're all extremely worried. The last thing they want is an all out war with the Witches. Nothing like that has ever happened between our species, but then nothing like this awful situation has ever happened since the time of Ansuradon."
Ansuradon? I had heard that name before. But I had no idea who that was or what he was connected with. "Do you think he had something to do with them going missing?" I asked, leaning back against the counter sipping my tea.
Flic seemed to mull the question over. "I don't know. It is possible I suppose. Nobody has heard from him in sixty odd years, but nobody knows what happened to him either. He was never found by the Council and any of his people that were captured never talked; they were that scared of him some even cut their own tongues out."
Eww that was gross! "How do you know all this?" That kind of information seemed like it wouldn't be made public, surely.
"I told you, my dad's friends with members of the council."
I wondered if he would be that privy to information if he was just friends with a few members. I looked at Flic suspiciously. She was eyeing me too. "Friends?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.
She sighed and put down her cup. "My dad is Christopher Richards." When I just shrugged and didn't respond, she clarified, "Plasmax." She pointed to the machine. I shrugged again, shaking my head. "My dad is the Founder of Plasmax."
"Oh." I guessed that was a big deal. Flic eyed me again. Was I supposed to be more impressed than I was? Was I being rude? "That's cool." I added.
Thankfully, Willow walking in saved me from whatever awkwardness I was bound to get myself into next. She stopped just inside the door and her mouth dropped open, "You're Felicity Richards!"
"You must be Willow. Call me Flic."
Willow looked at me and giggled. "We're rooming with the Plasmax Princess!" She bounced on the spot. I guess the Plasmax thing was definitely more of a big deal than I thought.
Flic just laughed. "You can talk. You're practically royalty yourself with The Crone as your patron."
Willow blushed. "Not really though."
"Close enough," smiled Flic. She gestured around the suite, "This can be our royal court."
Willow laughed and took a seat next to Flic. "So what's it like being the most loved vampire in the realm?"
Flic's eyes saddened for a moment before the smile flashed back into place. "Lots of balls to attend so learning to dance in heels is a must." She laughed.
"I bet your dance card is always full," sighed Willow wistfully.
"There are many suitors, it's true. However I would prefer to fall in love than be married as breeding stock." That look was back in her eyes. Then just as fast she smiled and waved a hand as if dismissing the thought. I guessed there were downsides to being vampire royalty.
Willow seemed to be thinking over what Flic had said, a slight frown on her face. "Hmm, yes I suppose you would definitely be wanted for producing lots of little Ancient babies. Is it true you and your cousin are the most Ancient level Pured?"
Flic's surprise at Willow's bluntness was almost palpable. Hadn't Willow said it was a bit of a taboo subject. "Umm Willow..." I wasn't sure what to say. I remembered back to my first impression of Willow - she was so unfiltered.
Flic burst out laughing and it caught me by surprise. "You know everyone always wonders that but nobody ever asks. I see the assessing eyes and sideways glances when I walk into a room, but everybody always skips over that question." Willow just looked at Flic waiting for an answer. I was starting to wonder myself, but only because it seemed to be a big deal. "Technically I've never gone one on one with an Ancient even though I attend those classes, but yes I believe Scarlet and I are both the closest to the Ancients as one can get with Human blood." She turned to me and explained, "Our mothers were sisters and took to being Vampires better than any of the other Pured. Scarlet's mum died in childbirth. My mother had complications so I'm an only child. Many of the other Pured had issues too so the pressure is on our generation to procreate and produce as many 'little Ancient babies' as possible." She used her fingers as quotations when describing 'little Ancient babies'.
My guess was that she'd heard that term on more than one occasion. "How very 50's," I sighed and shook my head. Flic looked at me puzzled. "What about what you want?" I asked. Flic shrugged, the sadness back briefly. "Do you at least get to say who you marry?"
"Oh yes of course." She nodded, her charismatic smile back. "And I intend to choose well." That made me smile. "Finding the right mate is important," Flic explained. "And who knows how long it could take?" She shrugged a shoulder elegantly. "Could be years."
I liked where she was going with this. "Years and years even." I smiled knowingly. Willow's head bounced back between the two of us.
"Indeed." Flic's smile mirrored my own and I decided then and there that I liked this royal vamp girl. "Subject change." She said, her tone of voice becoming more animated. "My lessons don't start until later so I'm heading to The Diner. Would you two like to join me?"
The Diner? I could see Declan. My little bounce of excitement was apparently all Willow needed to get excited. "We'd love to," She grinned.
"Meet back here in 20 minutes?" Suggested Flic. We nodded and went to our room to get ready.
#
20 minutes and many outfit changes later I was ready to go. I was so excited to see Declan again. When we got to the Foundation gates there was a car waiting for us courtesy of Flic. No peddling needed tonight as this was an electric car and whilst it looked slightly different to the Human versions, my guess was it ran pretty much the same way.
We drove along the outskirts of the Forest and I could feel the trees calling to me; I found I ached to be barefoot amongst them. Not tonight I whispered to them. I was almost sure I felt them sigh in disappointment.
As the lights of The Diner came into view I gasped. I guess I had expected an American Diner of sorts with James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis Presley at the counter drinking milkshakes. Yeah OK, maybe that was just a picture, and an unrealistic one at that. But this was something of amazing proportions. A huge curved ceiling seemed to hover over an outdoor seating area. There were rounded holes in the roof above raised beds of the same shape, all full of exotic looking plants. The decked area had tables of different sizes and heights, some people preferring to stand or perch on high stools. Surrounding the decking were waist high glass panels and beyond that was a tiled water feature with small fountains and planted areas. The whole place looked like an exotic hotel resort.
Our driver parked the car and we got out heading for the interior portion of The Diner. The building was curved in the same way as the floating canopy outside and the walls were glass echoing the panels surrounding the decking. The interior was also decorated in wood and exotic looking plants. Large circular lights above some of the tables mirrored the holes in the canopy outside. The whole place had such a beautiful architectural cohesion, it was hard not to love the place already. I just hoped the food was up to scratch.
A long curved bar dotted with stools would have been the main focus, but my eyes went straight to the gorgeous man behind the counter. Declan. He was wearing a white t-shirt with The Diner logo on and it hugged his muscles deliciously. His brown floppy hair moved around his face as he darted up and down the bar collecting empty glasses. He smiled and traded polite conversation with the patrons and I noticed more than one female batting their eyelashes at him. One in particular caused me to scowl: Belladonna. She sat at the bar with most of her breasts on show and her annoying laugh echoing around the room. She seemed to have Declans attention and it bothered me. A lot.
Flic showed us to a booth and as I sat down I realised that we were pretty much central to the restaurant and our table was elevated slightly. I felt like I was on stage and I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I looked around nervously, there were a few curious glances and even the odd whisper and nod in our direction. Had I been found out? Was my cover blown? Then one of the whispers caught my ear; I heard Plasmax Princess and I realised it was Flic that had their attention. I sighed gratefully. She didn't seem bothered by it. She was probably used to it. I turned back to the table and tried to ignore everyone else.
The table itself was a piece of technological art; it looked like wood but had the texture of glass. I watched as my friends touched the table in front of them and their menus appeared. "It's touch screen?" I grinned. "This is so cool!" I touched the table in front of me and my own menu appeared. It gave me species options to choose from first. It was strange to see all the species listed in front of me. I clicked on Human as a force of habit, after all that was what I had always thought I had been. A list of food came up on my screen and as I touched the burger option, details of the meal emerged. I was able to make any changes I wanted so I removed the pickles. I added French fries and a strawberry milkshake to my order and submitted it. A thank you for ordering skit came up and danced across my screen before returning to the wooden design that blended with the rest of the table. Best ordering experience ever.
As I looked up grinning I saw Flic watching me, a smile on her face. "Do you like Human food?" She asked.
"Oh umm..." I wasn't sure what to say. "I like to try different things." I finished lamely. She nodded, seeming to accept my answer. I looked at Willow but she was still busy with her menu. Maybe I should have looked at the Witches menu. Part of me wanted to look at all the menus but Flic would probably wonder why and I wasn't sure I could come up with another answer on the spot. I was probably acting suspiciously as it was.
I looked around the room eyeing what everyone else seemed to be eating and drinking. At the nearest table sat Air Elementals and their plates were full of greenery and pretty coloured flowers. In the middle of the table was a glass covered dish and inside were crickets hopping about. I watched in morbid fascination as one of the Elementals reached in and scooped out a couple popping them straight in her mouth. I turned away feeling a little nauseated. Maybe looking at what everyone else was eating wasn't such a good idea.
"You OK?" Asked Flic. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak yet. "Not used to Elementals either?" She raised an eyebrow. I shook my head. "Mmm hmm," She murmured, smiling.
It wasn't long before our food arrived and our waiter was a pleasant surprise. "Hey! What are you doing here? I didn't know you were coming tonight." Declan smiled brightly, placing my meal in front of me. He put a pasta salad in front of Willow and placed a bowl of what looked like miniature black puddings and a glass of wine (it was wine) in front of Flic. Then he sat down next to me, pinching a fry. "You alright? How's The Foundation?"
"It's good. Amazing actually. The stuff they're teaching is crazy." I took a sip of my strawberry shake. "Oh my god," I looked down at the shake "this is..."
"I know right," agreed Declan. "So much flavour. All the food and drink here tastes natural and rich; nothing like back home." I nodded, he was right. I tucked into my burger sighing in delight at all the flavours.
"Is the food in New Cape all that different?" Flic asked, seemingly confused. Oh right. I was supposed to be from the Witches island, I guess that meant Declan was too. I took an extra minute to finish chewing while I tried to think of a response.
I looked at Declan, he didn't seem to have realised we were in company either. "Human food is a little different there that's all," He smiled. "More choice here."
Flic looked between Declan and I, then nodded and smiled. I hoped she was buying it. She eyed Declans bracelet. "You work with The Crone?" She was impressed.
"Her and her family, yes." Declan smiled naturally and I guess he'd been asked that a few times since working here.
A person arrived in my peripheral and even before I realised who it was I bristled. "Hey Flic." Belladonna's annoying voice broke into our conversation. "What are you doing with these two?" She asked looking down her nose at Willow and I.
"They're my suitemates, and friends." Belladonna didn't look overly impressed. "You know Willow, The Crone's ward?"
Belladonna's eyes narrowed slightly and then her fake smile got even wider. "Ah yes of course. We're in the same classes aren't we?" She smiled at Willow as if they were best friends. "Declan, you didn't tell me you were friends with Flic and Willow." What was I? Chopped liver? She put her hand on his arm and rubbed it gently. I almost growled.
"Actually I'm friends with Honey and Willow; I just met Flic," He smiled genuinely. I wondered how long he'd known Belladonna for, and more importantly how well he knew her. Her gaze flicked to mine and she kept her smile in place. I fake smiled dramatically at her knowing full well she really wanted to scowl at me. My guess was she wasn't going to show that side of herself in front of Declan.
"Declan," She smiled sweetly and flipped her platinum hair over one shoulder. "I wonder if you'd be my hero and make me a Green Brew; nobody mixes them quite like you." Oh my god I was going to vomit.
"Of course." He smiled. "I'll see you later Honey." He winked at me and left for the bar, Belladonna hanging on his arm.
"Oh my god she is vile." I turned to Willow who looked a little confused. "Can you believe how fake that girl is?"
"She's definitely very different from how she is in class." Said Willow, still frowning.
"What do you mean?" Asked Flic.
"Belladonna is poison." I scoffed. Flic looked confused. "You know she's not normally like that right? That was put on."
"It was? She's always like that with me." Shrugged Flic.
"Probably because of who you are. No offence." I added quickly. "When she thinks you're a nobody she treats you very differently, trust me."
"She thinks you're a nobody?" She asked and I nodded. "But you're not a nobody are you?"
I was caught off guard by the question and I wasn't quite sure what to say. "Umm... err... I'm just me." I laughed, shrugging and splaying my hands out in front of me as if I had nothing to hide.
"Mmm hmm." Flic smiled and sipped her drink. Uh oh. I busied myself with my food to avoid any more of that conversation.
I liked the atmosphere here; everyone seemed to be getting along no matter what species they were. Declan was quite busy so I didn't see as much of him as I had hoped. But tomorrow was his night off and Willow and I were visiting my grandmother for dinner so hopefully I'd be able to spend more time with him then.
When we got back to The Foundation Flic went off to class whilst Willow and I headed back to our room. It had been a long day and I was looking forward to my bed. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE If you find any spelling or grammatical errors, I would much appreciate you commenting on them. I would love my book to be as polished as possible, and I'm sure there will be one or two mistakes along the way. I appreciate your feedback.
Thank you for your kindness.
QUESTION ONE FOR THE COMMENTS: WHAT FOODS MIGHT YOU BE TEMPTED TO TRY?
QUESTION TWO FOR THE COMMENTS: WHAT WOULD YOUR FAVOURITE SPECIES EAT?