The Trust

Chapter Five

“Trina, wake up!”

“Huh?” I sat up, my wings flittering. Pushing the hair out of my face, I looked up to see Seth standing over me. He was holding a red, sphere-shaped stone that seemed to emit a dim glow.

“You’ll never guess what happened,” he beamed, sitting down beside me and placing the rock on the ground.

“You were dropped on your head as a child?” I said grouchily, wanting more sleep.

“This morning, I went to inspect the razorback carcass thinking we could use the scales as a knife or something,” he bubbled on excitedly, an emotion I guessed he rarely showed.

“Anyway, I found this around his neck.” Seth held the stone out, and I saw that it was attached to a golden chain.

“A ruby necklace?” I asked.

“Better! A transforming stone!”

“What?” I was lost.

“Whoever is wearing this can turn into virtually anything!” He dropped it around his neck, and in a weird flash of lights, he was a midnight black panther.

My jaw dropped, amazement filling me. Using his paws, Seth tugged the necklace off of him. In a second, he was a vampire again. He dusted traces of car fur from his shoulders, then grinned.

“I’m pretty sure Teron uses something like this,” Seth thought aloud, and then he pushed the chain toward me.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” I asked, running my hand over the polished gold.

“You’ll never have to hide again. You can disguise yourself with it!” The vampire stood.

I picked up the heavy chain, wondering if I would ever be able to lug something so cumbersome around.

“Tonight, you can come with me on the raid,” Seth lifted the necklace for me, putting it in his pocket.

“What’s the raid anyway? Attacking people?” I suddenly felt very angry.

Seth nodded slowly. “Only, I sabotage Tar’s plans. In fact, it’s odd that he invited me. The last time that he did, all I did was make sure no one became victims of his group.”

I flew up to a low hanging oak branch, strangely feeling empty. I missed The Fair Wood, and mostly Evan.

Seth’s enthusiasm seemed to die as he looked up at me. “Is something wrong?” He asked.

I sighed. “Before I had to escape, there was a servant… Evan.”

“Did you like him?” He inquired.

Blushing, I looked down at him. “It sounds stupid, but even though we’ve only known each other for a few days, it felt so…so perfect. Like… love,” my voice trailed off.

“You were right. That does sound crazy.” Seeing the look on his face I realized that he was teasing. I tucked my loose blonde strands of hair behind my ears, then looked at the chain that hung from his pocket.

“What should I disguise myself as?” I asked, flying down to retrieve the necklace. The moment I had it, the stone began weighing me to the ground, but Seth grabbed the rock and held it up for me.

Slipping the awkwardly large chain around my neck, I laughed nervously. Seth didn’t smile; he only concentrated on the object in his hand.

After a while, his eyes lit up. “A wolf!” He exclaimed.

“Why a wolf?” I scrunched up my nose.

“Because wolves are powerful animals. Vampires don’t mess with them that often. Only in badly written stories,” He let go of the rock, and I crashed to the ground.