Redshift by Ashlynn Chantrea (free ebook reader for ipad .txt) 📕

knew nothing about me but they were being very open. I could blame it on the depression, thinking that they were so indifferent to the idea of death that they would speak openly to anyone. But that didn’t quite track. They were being quiet enough that no one else would be able to pick up on our conversation. Maybe I just didn’t come off as threatening. That thought was kind of encouraging. I didn’t quite like the idea of being a monster. At least there were some that didn’t see me that way.

“I’m Adam.” I introduced myself to the group.

“Pim.” The older boy replied.

“Hector.” He answered next. I didn’t say anything even though I already knew his name.

“Bianca.” She smiled a little as she spoke.

“Laney.” The chaotic beauty whispered shyly.

“Rain,” The first sister said. “Zephyr.” The second one whispered. “Meadow.” The third answered.

Surprised by the sister’s names and without thought to my rapid and impulsive reactions, I snorted.

“Seriously?” I laughed quietly.

The sisters glared at me. All three pairs of eyes met mine at the exact same moment.

I tried for a sheepish smile but I couldn’t tell if I was doing it right.

“Sorry.” I said.

They glared for half a second longer and then shrugged as one.

Laney appeared beside me. I had seen her move, quickly taking her place next to me with her back against the wall again. She squatted, staying on her feet while also staying low to the ground with the rest of us. It occurred to me that her position would be uncomfortable for a human. But without circulation to cut off it probably felt as natural as any other position.

“Don’t feel bad.” She whispered softly to me, “I laughed too.”

I smiled at her. There was something so alluring about her, I wasn’t sure what it was but it made it hard to look away from her. I tried unsuccessfully to pinpoint what it was that made her more beautiful than the rest of the vampires here. She didn’t seem uncomfortable with my staring.

“How do you do it?” She asked me after a couple minute of my silent staring. She was gazing into space, probably not focusing on her surroundings as much as her thoughts.

“Do what?”

“How do you stay so calm?”

I shrugged, “Maybe I’m not smart enough to be nervous.”

She looked over at me, “I don’t believe that.”

I thought about her question more seriously. Everyone else was considerably more nervous than me, even my new group of friends. Why wasn’t I anxious?

“I don’t feel the need to be.” I answered. Her eyebrows lifted so high they hid under her choppy bangs. “There’s a lot I don’t understand yet, but I haven’t come across anything I couldn’t handle. I suppose my biggest conundrum now is survival.” I still didn’t have a solution for the whole killing humans for food thing. It would make this life somewhat unbearable if I couldn’t find a solution.

“Conundrum?”

“I,” I started to explain and stopped myself. Would she understand my aversion to killing humans? Would I become a freak to her if I confessed the thought of drinking human blood was repugnant to me? “It’s difficult to explain.” I admitted.

She studied my face. My lips pulled up at the corners. I liked how she looked at me. I hadn’t felt this kind of attraction in a long time. Maybe never; at least to this magnitude.

“It was you we heard, wasn’t it?”

“What do you mean?”

“We heard one of you fighting for one of the humans, trying to protect her. It was you, wasn’t it?”

I nodded. I told her the truth, keeping my voice low so only my friends could hear me. They all stared at me in amazement when they heard my story.

“Wow.” Hector breathed.

“You can tolerate the pain she inflicts?” Laney whispered.

“Tolerate isn’t quite the right word for it. I can render it ineffectual. Present but unimportant.” I clarified.

“I don’t believe it.” Pim whispered, staring off into the distance.

“I’ll show you if the opportunity arises.” I replied.

Laney looked at me with anxious eyes. I winked at her, one corner of my mouth lifting in amusement. I wanted her to see that Jane didn’t scare me. But I understood why she was worried. Jane possessed a powerful gift.

We sat, eight of us now, quietly reflecting. The mood of the group had lightened a little bit although I couldn’t understand why. Nothing significant had changed but the aura surrounding us didn’t seem as heavy now. We were all still as statues but none of us looked outwardly depressed. Maybe it was the feeling of safety in numbers. As I glanced around the room sporadically, I noticed that the others eyed us warily. Maybe it was comradery. It was nice to know I wasn’t the only one that didn’t like this place, that didn’t want to be a part of this war. Or maybe it was just me. The others might have been just as sad as they had been before and decided to conceal it. I hoped that wasn’t the case, though. I didn’t want to be the only one feeling optimistic.

The light faded away, leaving everything perfectly visible in shades of purple. I noted there were no lights in here. I didn’t hear the hum of electricity either. We were far away from the modern world. The hours ticked by quickly with not much to show for them.

Chapter 4

When the sun started to send light in through the windows, Jane reappeared. Her brother, Felix and the young blond warden joined her today. They held a perfect diamond formation, always remaining the exact same distance from each other. Even when they stopped in the middle of the room, without a signal or a word they came to a halt in unison. They had been soldiers for a long time and based on that display, moving as a unit was second nature to them. If they did manage to turn this bunch of vampires into soldiers as impressive as them, I couldn’t imagine an army strong enough to stand up to them.

“Line up.” Her tone was soft and flat, she stared straight ahead, looking bored.

We all moved into a line, shoulder to shoulder, in front of her. I took the spot next to the unknown vampire in line, making sure none of my new friends had to worry about standing in such close proximity to someone they weren’t comfortable with. Everyone was edgy being so close to so many. The instinct to run or fight was evident on many faces.

Jane moved to the opposite end of the line from me. I wondered if she did it on purpose, not wanting to confront me right away. At the other end of the line stood the girl that had warned me not to try to escape my first day here. She looked ready to cry or scream or run or faint, none of which would be of any use to her.

“What can you do?” Jane asked quietly.

She looked confused, “Do?”

The girl shrieked and crumpled to the floor.

“I can cause pain in others simply by thinking it.” Jane sighed. The girl stopped shrieking and stood, shaking like a leaf, “What can you do?” She asked again.

“I can tell when people lie to me.” The girl replied in a trembling voice. Jane didn’t look impressed. The girl stammered on, “It’s not just what people say. I can tell if something isn’t right. If someone’s trying to trick me or fool me. I can tell when I’m being deceived.”

“A lie detector.” Jane whispered thoughtfully, “Useful in more civilized situations but not exactly useful on the battlefield.”

The girl braced for another wave of anguish to assault her mind. It didn’t come.

“Go over there.” Jane pointed to the left. The pixie like girl was over in the far left corner of the room in a flash.

Jane went down the line asking the same question and in some cases asking for a demonstration. Some had very impressive abilities: causing loss of consciousness, invisibility, camouflage. One girl could reflect or rather deflect others’ abilities. She demonstrated by sending Jane’s gift for pain back at her. There was a boy that could anticipate an opponent’s movements. He fought Felix to demonstrate. Felix gave it his best effort but couldn’t catch the boy no matter how hard he tried. When Felix looked as though he might have a fit, Jane stopped the fight. Everyone with an impressive ability was sent to the right corner of the room.

Others with less impressive talents like the girl who could communicate with wildlife, the boy that could sense where a person was anywhere on earth, the trackers, the lie detectors (of which there were a few, each talent working in a slightly different way), and the girl that could make the temperature of the room rise and fall were sent to the left corner of the room. She was segregating the valuable ones from the less valuable ones. She eyed the left corner and then the right. Then she looked over at Pim. There was something significant about her gaze but I couldn’t say what it was.

She moved on to me next.

“Adam,” She sighed, “The one with the extraordinary tolerance for pain.” She used her talent on me. I rolled my eyes at her. She laughed, “Just checking.”

There was a murmur of awe and wonder that spread from each corner of the room.

“I think you know I can do more than just tolerate pain.” I said, feeling bold.

“Like what?” She asked, curious.

“My brain processes information better and faster than the average vampire from what I’ve observed so far. I believe I can work around any offensive or aggressive talent.”

“Let’s test that theory.” She said with a smile, “Alec.”

Her brother stepped forward. He lifted his hands towards me but didn’t move otherwise. For a few seconds I waited, mentally bracing for something painful to attack my mind. Just when I was starting to wonder if his talent had any effect on me at all, everything went dark. I couldn’t hear, see, smell, taste or feel anything. This was complete sensory deprivation. My immediate reaction was panic. My body wanted to know what was going on around it. Then I observed the sensation more closely. There was something mildly cathartic about feeling nothing. I could be in danger, my mind had already alerted me to that, but I wasn’t in any pain. Even the thirst that was ever present in the back of my mind was gone. It wasn’t the mild annoyance it had been for the past few hours. There was nothing. And it felt good.

At this point, I needed to make a choice. I could give in to this and let it over take me, let it be an escape that I could retreat to if necessary or I could fight this. If Alec had done this to me when I had tried to protect the girl, I would have just given in. But now, in the darkness, my thoughts gravitated to Laney. She had to be scared for me. I had to fight this.

Feeling the impulses of my brain was difficult but not impossible for me. Everything was muted and it took me a while to find the part of my brain that controlled my sight. It felt like a fog in my mind, keeping things from moving. I pushed the fog back and suddenly I could see again. I had to go through each area individually, turning things back on as I went but