Understanding Serina's powers (1)

Author's note: this chapter is from Seraphina's point of view

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I was vexed that Aldus put me in this situation only to perform a test.

I remembered that for Aldus, I am a successful experiment of reviving the dead.

Aldus says that I am his daughter, but the only thing he cares about are tests and results, and there is a high probability that once tests are exhausted and he collects all the data, I will not be interesting, and he will discard me. After all, it seems that my own family does not care about me. Why would he?

Where would I go? Even if I have boatloads of money, I have no place where I would go. Sure, there is London, but as much as I am curious to find out what kind of life I left behind, I am fairly confident that going there will bring me heartbreak. Aldus is my home now, and if he abandons me, I would be no better than that dirty puppy I saw in the alley at the fair.

Without a goal, purpose, people who care about me, or a place to be, is it worth living at all?

"What are you thinking?", Aldus's question pulled me out of my dark thoughts, and I saw that he directed that instrument again toward me.

"Nothing", I lied.

Aldus looked at me with a complex expression. "I apologize, Serina, for not telling you in advance what awaits for you here."

He surprised me with this statement, and I wondered if he can read minds or if am I so easy to read. I hoped that he didn't read my mind, at least not the last part, because I was pathetic.

Without probing further, Aldus continued talking: "In my defense, if you were aware of this, you would not react this strongly, I would not be able to do this reading properly, and we would still be in the dark about what caused Lazarus to act strangely around you or the mob from the fair."

I knew that his explanation makes sense, but that does not mean that I don't feel cheated.

"Apology accepted.", I said stiffly. "You know what caused the incident from the fair?"

Aldus's eyes lit up in excitement. "Your pheromones are off the chart."

"My what?"

He showed me the device in his hand. "Normal human has anywhere from 1 to 3. Your usual reading is around 5, which is about double than normal for humans. When you tried remembering the incident from the fair, it was 9, when you saw Krob, it was 23. Also, a minute ago when you looked sad and said that it's nothing, it was 14 and that told me that you lied. You were obviously thinking about something that was upsetting."

I didn't want to talk about the last part. "I don't understand. Pheromones?"

"Pheromones can impact the production of chemicals in the brain of creatures around you. Think of it as your special perfume that others can detect. Various animals use pheromones to attract a partner, mark their territory, or to signal danger. In your case, you normally have 5. This device tells me that people will find you attractive not only because of your looks, but because of the pheromones your body produces. With this reading, I confirmed my suspicion that when you are emotionally compromised, your pheromone production increases. We will need to do more tests to investigate what emotions are causing this phenomenon. At this point, I am suspecting fear and sadness."

It didn't make sense to me. "You said that others will find me attractive, but I didn't see anyone trying to woo me. Lazarus smelled me, the mob wanted to tear me into pieces, Krob wanted to eat me, and you don't seem to be impacted. Also, the puppy at the fair was completely normal."

Aldus thought for a second before responding. "The puppy was too young to process what is happening and react accordingly. I have my shields on and I am keeping myself in check no matter what stimuli come my way. As for Krob, he does not count either. He would think of you as a meal no matter how you look or smell. Pheromones impact the brain, and Krob does not have one."

My head was buzzing and I didn't notice when Krob moved, as he was not in front of me anymore. "He does not have a brain?"

"No. Krob is a ghoul. They don't need brains."

This was too much information. He does not need a brain? Maybe one of those jars has Krob's brain in it. But how can he move around and talk without a brain? "A ghoul… what is that?"

"Undead. Usually, they have a more human-like appearance, but when I found Krob, he was on the verge of disintegrating. I helped him replenish his energy and since then he is following me around and calls me Master."

I struggled to keep my poker face on. There is a werewolf, an immortal, and Aldus is some kind of creature as well. What is one ghoul more or less in this circus from nightmares?

"You have a zombie following you around. How come I didn't see it before?"

Aldus frowned a little. "Krob is a ghoul, not a zombie. His appearance is hideous, so I got him to stay in this lab. He keeps it neat. Krob is quite reliable."

"Thank you, Master.", Krob's wheezy voice sounded right next to me and I got goosebumps when I realized that he is caressing a strand of my hair.

"Will he eat me?", was the first thing that came out of my mouth.

"No.", Aldus responded and then looked at Krob with annoyance. "Stop touching her!"

Krob didn't let go of my hair. "She is not food and I can't touch. Why did you bring her here?"

"She is my daughter, my apprentice. I want her to know about the things I am doing here. You are serving me, and you will serve her as well."

Krob didn't look happy that he needs to serve me, and I didn't want to have anything to do with him either. And why is he still holding onto my hair?

I saw that Aldus's attention went back to the thing in his hand and I hoped that he will not tune out and focus on his research because I had many questions pending and there was also Krob right next to me.

"Aldus, even without you and Krob in the picture, Lazarus's behavior toward me can't be described as an attraction, and the crowd from the fair didn't seem friendly either. How do you explain that?"

Aldus shrugged. "I will write it down and see if I can make sense of it. Krob can show you around the lab."

Aldus sat at the desk, opened a notebook, and started writing down things.

"Does Krob eat people?", I asked Aldus, irritated that he is leaving me with this creepy corpse called Krob.

"He is right there. Ask him.", Aldus responded without looking at me.

I realized that I am out of options. I turned toward Krob slowly and tilted my body so that my hair slips out of his grasp. I was glad that he didn't reach for it.

"Hi Krob, I am Seraphina."

He didn't respond, but I could see that he was watching me.

"What do you eat?"

Krob's mouth opened slowly and he responded in a wheezy voice. "How can you be Master's daughter when you don't know the difference between and zombie and a ghoul?"

I blinked when I remembered that a minute ago I called him a zombie. It seems I hurt his feelings and this creature holds grudges. "I apologize. Can you tell me what the difference is?"

"Zombies are mindless creatures that are driven by the most primitive urges. Ghouls are intelligent."

I nodded in understanding. "I will remember that."

Krob seemed pleased with my response and he addressed my original question (about what he eats).

"I feed on life essence. Humans call it a soul or a spirit. What are you?"

I was not sure how to respond to this. "Aldus said that I am unique."

"That you are. I have never seen anyone like you. Did Master grant you life?"

I glanced nervously at Aldus, who didn't seem to be bothered by the question Krob asked me. Or maybe Aldus was too busy with whatever he was doing to notice.

"You can tell me. I am bound to Aldus with a contract. I can't betray him.", Krob urged me.

"I am bound to Aldus by gratitude. He told me to keep my origins a secret.", I responded.

I was proud of myself for coming up with this answer, which was the truth.

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