Ability Test

Aurik felt his heartbeat speeding up as excitement filled his chest. The thought of being able to use supernatural powers was something that would make anyone feel this way, especially if they were told about it in advance and had been thinking about it all day.

Horace and the two beside him pulled their hands away after allowing some of their blood to fall into the small glass bowls, filling them about half way. Aurik watched as they each used a handkerchief to wipe their hands clean and his excitement turned to amazement when they finished and their hands came into view.

'There's no cut... each of them has healed completely, like they were never cut in the first place!' A smile threatened to spread across his face but Aurik forcefully suppressed the urge and kept a neutral expression.

"Come closer boy." The old man said as he gestured towards himself impatiently.

Aurik looked at Horace for a moment and seeing that there were no objections he walked towards the old man and stopped at the edge of the table right in front of him. The old man noticed the interaction that just happened and snorted while shaking his head.

The old man produced a second knife from somewhere in his robes and placed it on the table. "Cut your hand and let the blood fall into each of the bowls." 

Aurik's eyes flickered between the old man and the blade hesitantly for a moment before he picked up the knife. Cutting into your own flesh wasn't something easy to do but he knew it had to be done, even if he didn't understand the reason.

All he knew was that this was meant to determine what abilities he possessed and that alone was enough motivation for the young man. Aurik placed the tip of the blade against his left palm and pressed down, allowing the metal to pierce his skin as he dragged the knife to the side.

The pain was more intense than Aurik expected but he made an effort not to show it on his face as he pulled the knife away and placed it on the table. He held his hand over the bowl in front of the old man and allowed his blood to fall, mixing with the blood already inside the glass container.

He quickly moved his hand over the other two bowls and repeated the process before stepping away slightly and standing in the middle of the three figures once again. He now held a handkerchief in his left hand, one that Horace handed to him a moment before, and clenched it tightly to stop the bleeding.

'I think I cut a bit deeper than I needed to...!' The pain was starting to bother Aurik quite a bit but the voice of the red haired woman gave him some distraction.

"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting this..."

"Looks like you were right, Horace, he is special! Hahaha!" The old man burst out laughing like he had just heard the most hilarious joke.

Aurik heard the word 'Special' and felt a tinge excitement welling up within him again, allowing him to completely forget about the pain in his hand. He looked at Horace expectantly but his joy faded when he saw the look on Horace's face.

Disappointment. There was no mistaking it. The excitement inside of Aurik withered away like a burning leaf as he waited for an explanation with anxious breaths.

"Before I tell you the results, let me explain something to you." Horace said in a serious tone. "There are three clans within our society and each clan is filled with members who all share the same abilities, the same set of abilities. When a new vampire is created we test them to make sure which abilities they have and then they will go on to join the corresponding clan." He took a deep breath before continuing.

"Each of us is from one of those three clans, which means we each posses one of the three sets of abilities that vampires can use. When the blood of two vampires with the same abilities mix there is always a reaction, the blood begins to bubble or swirl or something similar."

Horace looked at Aurik with regret filled eyes and sighed once again." I'm sorry, Aurik, but there was absolutely no reaction with any of our blood."

"No reaction...? So then, does that mean that I..."

"Yes." The woman spoke before Aurik could finish. "It means you don't have any abilities."

Aurik felt as though a bucket of ice cold water had just been dumped over his head. The disappointment he felt was so extreme that he thought his chest was about to fold inward from the heartache. "But why... I don't understand..."

"Hey! I'm the real victim here!" The old man shouted while trying to hold in his laughter. "The guy who turned you was from my clan, so you not having our abilities means we don't get a replacement anymore! But maybe it's- pfft! Maybe it's worth it now that I'm looking at you!" He finally couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.

The woman simply shook her head. "I'm sorry, it's always a shame when this happens but there's nothing that can be done." After saying those words with an apologetic tone she stood up and walked out of the room through one of the doors to the side.

The old man got up as well and stumbled out of the room while giggling to himself like a child, completely ignoring how his actions had affected Aurik who was still standing in the middle of the room with a frozen expression.

Horace slowly walked over to Aurik and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm truly sorry. The odds of this happening are so small that I didn't even think to tell you about it beforehand. If you want to place some of your feelings onto me, such as anger or resentment, I'll understand."

Aurik shook his head and spoke softly. "It's not your fault."

Horace could feel how depressed this had made Aurik and wanted to do anything to make him feel better. He took a moment to think and finally remembered something that he believed might help.

"Just because you can't use the clan's abilities doesn't mean you should lose all hope." Horace's words attracted Aurik's attention so he continued.

"After all, there are still abilities that all vampires are able to use."