Test

"This was given to me in secret by a good friend," Roy said, placing a black box with no openings and a single button in the middle.

That was when they were first starting work with the organization. The first day of their move-in.

The button was so small that it was almost invisible.

"What is this?" Lily asked, looking at the box in her hands. "What does it do?"

"I don't trust the people we work for. And I have no intention of letting them just do whatever they want to us." Roy said, not even keeping his voice to a whisper.

"Roy!" Lily shouted, looking around them with concern. "Don't say something like that. You can get us killed. If they even detect rebellion, they will not hesitate to take us out."

Alby stared at the blinking red light, "Is it on?"

"Yup. That is why I can talk like this." Roy said, grinning at the two, picking up the device in his hands. "This creates an illusion of the people in the room. So it looks like we are doing something while we three can do whatever we want."

"Does it even really work?" Lily asked, sceptical. "What if that was just a scam?"

Roy shook his head, "There is only one of this in the world. The one who gave it to me ... he died protecting this.

"As he was dying, he gave this to me and exchanged it with a faulty one. So they think this is destroyed."

"They?"

Roy fell silent, pursing his lips as he stared at the table in front of them blankly.

"Oh, Roy. I am so sorry."

"That is why I said that I do not trust them," Roy said, looking at the two, determination on his face. "I will keep this where you two will be able to find it. Use it when you need to.

"But do not tell anyone about it. For now, this is our new life and we will live quietly. BUT, if anything happens. Remember, we owe them no loyalty. Ok?"

Alby and Lily agreed with Roy, making a promise to not draw any attention to themselves and also to not get too comfortable with their new lives.

They would not be very fortunate for long.

___________________

Ever since that day, Roy has been the only one to use to and that too, only when he was looking for something about the other creatures.

Just in case he finds something, he says that he doesn't want to put those living in secret and not bothering anyone in danger, even if it might be by mistake.

Now that I think about it, it seems like Roy knew that not all the creatures were going to be crazy. Osbert thought, looking at the device in his hands. He was always looking for something or someone. I really should ask him about it, one day.

Osbert stood in the middle of the room and turned on the device, watching as the blinking light turned from green to red.

I just hope I don't destroy this or anything. He placed it on the table, letting it do its thing as he walked into the changing room.

"Now what?" he mumbled, taking the gem out of his neck and looking at it.

All the research I did about the Vampire stone sounded either like a made-up story or someone's overactive imagination gone wild.

It is said to be able to bring the dead back to life, to give someone immortality, to give the holder some properties of vampires. The last one I believe, because Jel said that too.

But immortality? Bringing a dead back to life? Wouldn't that be a necromancer?

I have not seen any necromancers here but I am sure there are some out there. But even if a necromancer can bring things to life … the rotting body comes back, not the person.

That is a little far-fetched.

Then again … the woman in the pond said that she came back to life because of the stone. So … can it bring someone to life?

But she wasn't dead … Ugh. I am so confused.

Let's just see what it can do first.

He placed the gem on the table first. Summoning the sword he always carried, Osbert placed the blade on his skin and cut it, a little deeper than he intended as blood seeped down his arm, onto the floor.

I'm going to have to clean that up. Sigh. Should have placed a paper or something.

Reaching for the gem, Osbert held it in his open palms and watched as the gem started to glow. The blood dripping on the ground changed its course of direction and went into the gem instead.

The line made by the train of blood began to glow and become warm, until it reached the cut. Watching silently, the wound closed up, not leaving a scar behind.

"Wow." He mumbled, looking at his arm. "That was fast. Almost faster than my own body's ability to heal. Ok, that is one."

He looked at the blade and then the gem and then the blade again, thinking.

I am not risking my life to see if a gem can bring me back to life. I'll just have to ask that man about this.

Vampire abilities. He paused for a second, thinking. What are Vampire abilities? Uhhhh … They can … what can they do again?

Osbert had to search up on the internet, "What can Vampires do?"

"Vampires hunt at night since sunlight weakens their powers. Some may have the ability to morph into a bat or a wolf. Vampires have super strength and often have a hypnotic, sensual effect on their victims. They can't see their image in a mirror and cast no shadows"

Osbert stared at the sentence, confusion written all over his face. Huh? He can turn into a wolf too? Are they shapeshifters as well?

But … I think we are all weakened with the sunlight. Not just Vampires. And hypnotic?

He thought back to the way the man's warm breath brushed absent his bare skin before he bit into his neck. After that, he was filled with heat and an ecstasy that makes him weak on the knees.

Not that he would ever admit that to Jel. He couldn't tell if he like that feeling or not. The heat was not fun but there were some tingly sensations he could not forget.

Well … Osbert thought, clearing his throat. I guess he can be a little bit sensual. I guess? Is that being sensual?

I don't know anymore.

Is that it? He thought, looking at the gem again. What about that thing he did back at the collapsing house? With the kids?

That golden smoke. What was that?

Can I do that? If I don't know what it is … can I do it?

It would be great if I was in some kind of romance novel … at least he would appear the moment I thought of him. Wait, that would mean that I am the love interest?

That would be an awful romance novel.

(Author: Ahem. Yeah. Right. I DEFINITELY didn't add any romance in the tags.)

"Ok, from what I know, since the internet is not helpful at all, Vampires can read minds. They can also control people almost like Sirens can. I don't know about transforming but Jel had wings.

"And that girl could scream loud enough to break an entire house down. Maybe different Vampires have different abilities?

"I have not met another shapeshifter. I wonder how they are like."

Osbert twirled the gem in his hands thinking hard. I don't know my father and my mother was the shapeshifter. She never had the chance to teach me anything about this though.

Everything I know about me is because Roy was able to procure a book about us. Some confuse us as werewolves but they can only tell turn into wolves.

We can turn into any land creature, that exists and that doesn't exist.

The only problem is that it takes a bit of energy to turn into a creature, not to mention the pain. The bigger the creature is, the more painful it is to turn to them as our skin, bones and flesh morph and rearrange themselves.

And you need intense concentration otherwise you forget how to turn back and ... well, you are stuck like that for the rest of the night.

With morning, you go into your default state and that night, you go back to your normal form.

Annoying but it happens.

Let's see how many things I can transform into with the help of this gem.

He got to his feet, clasping the gem tightly in his hands. This is going to hurt just a little bit, isn't it?

Ok. First ... a ... tiger? No, let's go with something a little simpler. A ... rabbit?

No. that's going to hurt a lot.

Fine, I'll try a ... Dog?

No … I'm always a dog in the mornings already.

Will I … will I ever get to try this out?