Page 92 of Stalked

Mid-afternoon, I hurried into one of their great rooms and gravitated toward Sarah, a witch who was also held against her will. We had to do our best to speak quietly whenever we were around Colin or Sarah’s vampire, Troy. Vampires had a strong sense of hearing and were always listening nearby.

It was hard, though, to keep quiet when Sarah first mentioned her power.

“You can do what?!” I lowered my voice by the last word as Sarah, a blonde woman with lightly tanned skin, gave me a sharp look with her hazel-colored eyes.

Troy wasn’t far from where we were sitting. Though we weren’t plotting an escape, I wasn’t sure yet what was acceptable as a topic of conversation amongst the witches. Despite these bracelets shielding our powers, I strongly suspected we still made them nervous. They may have fangs to bleed us dry, but if we could use our magic, they’d have no fighting chance.

“I can make people see things that aren’t there or manipulate someone’s face to look like someone else,” Sarah explained patiently. I hadn’t even heard of powers like those before. “If I could use magic right now, I could make you see flowers blooming in my hands or trees growing in through the windows.” She glanced over at Troy, leaning his back against the wall, his arms folded across his chest. “Troy over there.” She gestured with her head. “I could make him look like Steve Buscemi, and every one of us would see it.”

I giggled at the mental image, glancing at Troy from the corner of my eye. As I looked, a pale-white, red-headed vampire on the other side of the room called out for Troy, waving him over and out of the hall.

Finally, we can speak normally again.

“That’s fascinating, Sarah,” I said. “I’d love to see you use your magic someday.”

Her expression changed. “Yeah. Me too.” She sucked in a breath and looked over at a group of girls sitting by the fireplace. “You should ask around later, hear what some others can do. Like, you see April over there?” Sarah pointed at a curly-haired brunette with light brown skin, slim and a bit older than Sarah and me. “She can manipulate light and camouflage her body to blend in with her surroundings. And Rachel can make plants grow faster. I don’t remember what else she can do, but she used to have a lovely flower shop before … before they brought here her.”

My excitement dulled again as I looked at Rachel, who had been staring at the covered window, and imagined how much happier her life had been back then. “She must miss it,” I muttered.

“Everyone misses their old lives, Mercy,” Sarah shrugged. “Everyone lost something.” The way she said that last phrase struck me.

“What did you lose?” I asked before I could stop myself, realizing those words could have offended her. I had no idea what she had gone through, and I hoped my question wasn’t prying too much into her life.

Sarah sighed, looking away. “Almost everyone, back then.”

What does that mean? Did she lose her family?

As if she could see the questions on my face, she frowned and continued, “Things aren’t black and white, Mercy. Maybe my life wasn’t exactly ideal before I was brought here. It’s not like I wanted this, but I’d been running from someone else, and my vampire’s not a bad one.”

I didn’t know how to respond.

Her vampire wasn’t a bad one?

April hesitated as she walked past on her way out the door. “You okay, honey?” she checked, looking concerned at the expression on Sarah’s face. Not angry, but certainly not happy.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Sarah reassured her. “Have you met Mercy, yet?”

I let Sarah change the subject and smiled at April.

“No, I haven’t!” she chirped. “?I heard about you, of course. I could feel your Awakening yesterday. We all did. Like there was this sudden strength we’d been missing our entire lives, you know?”

Actually, I didn’t know that. I knew my Awakening would make a difference, but for everyone to feel it immediately? I hadn’t really expected it.

April, Sarah, and I talked together for a while longer. They told me how they and the other witches had heard stories about the Chosen Ones coming to Earth centuries ago. Yet, they didn’t know our purpose, nor did they know vampires existed until they were caught and brought here.

We shared stories about our pasts. Some witches, like Rachel, used their powers in everyday life to support themselves. At the same time, they had been taught to hide their skills. Making one mistake in the wrong place, in front of the wrong people, had brought them to this hell house. In return, I told them how my mother had taken my powers hostage my entire life and that when we all escaped from the lair, they’d be able to use their respective elements, including Spirit, from there on out.

At the mention of escaping, a few witches froze. Sarah tilted her head to the left, and I noticed a vampire standing off to the side and staring right at me.

He heard.

A chill ran down my spine as our gazes locked. The vampire tucked a strand of long, raven hair behind one ear and held one finger to his lips, as if telling me to be quieter before going on his way. Was he going to pretend he hadn’t heard anything?

“That’s Silas,” Sarah murmured. “You’re lucky. He’s not a monster like the others.”

“Every vampire I’ve seen since I’ve been here has shown me otherwise?” I said.

“Not every vampire wants to be the way they are,” she reminded. “There are a few vampires like him in here; they want to survive, but they don’t enjoy having to do it this way. They’d choose to be human again if they could.”

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