A Dozen Secrets: Twelve Tales of Hidden Magic
Page 6
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The Quiet Girl
She looked nervous and ill at ease. That wasn’t uncommon. The people around her were, almost without exception, young, attractive, boisterous, friendly, and drunk. They were students and young professionals, so their behaviour was probably acceptable. I moved closer, wondering if she might appreciate a little comfort, or even a chat somewhere quieter. My shoulders rolled slightly in time to the music, and to my steps. But I didn’t dance, I didn’t pose. I don’t want to draw attention to myself, but I know that if someone wants to see me, they will.
My aura would capture the attention of anyone I was interested in. That didn’t mean I was a vampire or a mage, of course. Many people have a powerful spiritual energy, and their aura shimmers like a perpetual glow all around them, even filling the room. I’d been one of those people, able to captivate people effortlessly even before I knew why. Becoming a vampire had only sharpened my senses and made it easier to control. Now I was looking for prey, and this girl was the first who caught my eye.
Of course, I’m not a fool. One common trick is to look awkward and alone, then direct your will towards a potential target and make them notice you. Humans have quite a tendency to be more trusting of other people if they’re the one making the first move. And I know just how easy it can be to influence someone else’s instincts, even another mage. So I wouldn’t approach without checking the power of her aura first, and making sure she couldn’t be a threat.
There was practically nothing there. A faint shimmer around her shoulders, and that was all. The other people around her were loud and vibrant, an interlocking rainbow. Some of the auræ extended a palm’s width from their bodies, while others were large enough to be a cloud around a whole group of friends, shimmying as the one at the centre danced. Everyone has something, even the dead. This girl, though, had one of the weakest souls I had ever seen. She probably had people shouting over her the whole time, couldn’t get served at a bar even if she wanted to drink. People just not realising there’s anyone there.
Or she could be a trickster. Mostly it’s mages that pull that trick, but I’ve seen vampires do it too, or even one or two humans. They enhance their spirit aura until it’s too large to easily be seen, until their aura fills a room or encloses an entire city block. They give an impression of detachment, a living enigma who defies empathy. But then if they want to, they can create a new aura, like a bubble inside the first. Newly ascended vampires might not realise, they just see the weaker aura that projects an impression of normalcy, and they don’t even see the larger one around them. Then they try to feed, and the victim turns the tables. If their true spirit is powerful enough, the aura might be so diffuse that it’s hard to recognise as it changes, and those hunters are like a frog in boiling water.
I did not wish to be a cooked frog. I turned to look at my own hand. I have memorised every detail of my own inner aura, and know its shades and imperfections like the back of my hand. If I was standing inside the aura of another, I would spot the difference there. I could make out some slight variation as one of the loudest guests at this party gyrated, his spirit radiating out across the room and encouraging others to dance with him. I could even see the faint influence of the spirit of the city, that I had carefully tracked the shape of over the last week. I’d even observed the ebb and flow of life force in the city, and located its foci, in case some person with power beyond belief was disguising himself as a part of the city, only to trap vampires when they came close without realising his power surrounded them. I could be sure this girl wasn’t a significant part of the city’s aura, and there was nothing else around me.
It might seem I was paranoid, to do so many checks every time I find prey. But you wouldn’t find a vampire who wasn’t cautious. The stupid don’t last long in our world.
I walked slowly towards her, masking the music between us so she could hear me clearly. I didn’t walk right up to her, but extended my own presence to draw her in. She would find herself fascinated, and have no idea why. Within a minute, she was standing by my side. She didn’t say anything though, and I realised that after a lifetime of being overlooked she must be too afraid of rejection to even address a stranger. It was hard to say for sure which was the cause and which the consequence here, but shyness and weak spirits always seemed to go together. There was enough power there to sate my hunger, though.
“I don’t think much of their singing,” I gestured towards a group of intoxicated youths who were trying to remember the lyrics of whatever pop classic the sound system was currently distorting. “Maybe you’d like to step outside, where I can hear you talk.” I put my power into the words, my aura resonating to make the command irresistible in ways which the simple physics of sound could not explain. It would seem so natural to her to come with me.
It only took a few more seconds for me to get her into a quiet room where nobody would disturb us. She smiled quietly, looking around at the decor. It wasn’t much, but it would suit my purposes. Then I focused my presence and projected a solid shock of spiritual energy. She would be rendered docile for a few hours, unable to fight me or to make a sound. It would be obvious something was wrong if anyone saw her, but I’d already made sure I couldn’t feel any other presence in the area.
She turned around to face me and glared, raising an eyebrow in interrogation. I hit her again, and she shrugged it off with a wave of one hand. I could see her aura thicken as she manipulated it, but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. It was entirely the wrong flavour for the life of the city, and too strong as well. So why hadn’t I noticed the change when I moved into it? It made no sense.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered, and dropped control over the inner shell of my own aura. If she hadn’t seen that I had two layers, it would seem an act of complete submission. But she glared just as hard. “I thought you were weak. It seems I was wrong. I’ll leave, with your permission, and hunt outside your territory.” I didn’t even put any resonance into the words. The raw power she was wielding was simply too much, she wouldn’t fall for any of my tricks even if I still couldn’t see when I’d come within reach of her aura.
Her glare was of pure hatred, though. I felt the echoes of her own resonant voice as soon as she opened her mouth. This was a power so intense she could never fully suppress it, giving the shy girl image a whole new spin. She didn’t want to talk, because speaking would change the world.
“Where could you go?” she said, simple enough words. She didn’t shout, but the spirit energy riding on every word amplified them into the single most powerful magical effect I had ever imagined. Still, she was making every effort to minimise the power she let slip. The sound divided my corporeal body into its constituent atoms, and the force of her will behind it erased the identity from my own aura. Annihilated totally, my only consolation was that for a moment, I had seen her face and known what she was.
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About the Author
Angel keeps on writing, from short stories to much longer ones, and also loves to dabble in all kinds of creative endeavours. He’s never had any particularly interesting jobs, so doesn’t have much to write about here, but has devoted an insane amount of time to writing a short story every day for more than a year. Hopefully, this will help to keep the books coming for quite a while. When not writing, you can usually find him trying to make the household budget stretch, and trying out culinary experiments on his friends and housemates.
By the Same Author
Short Stories
A Dozen Nightmares
After Hope
A Dozen Curiosities
Whispersmiths (and Other Rumours)
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Novels
Sandpaper Kiss
Mr Hook's Big Black Box (serialised online)
g books on Archive.