Fates Intertwined

5. | "Get down!"

The five of them sat down in a booth, Nara, Lina, and Eric sitting opposite Aurora and Zyran. They quickly ordered food, but Aurora was looking around in wonder. It was a typical diner, retro with red and white accents everywhere. A bar where people sat eating, red booths, metal tables with red tops. Waitresses in white and red uniforms. It was unfamiliar. New.

"You've never been to a diner before, have you?" Zyran asked, looking at Aurora.

She shook her head. "They only had taverns."

"What was it like to live in the eighteen-hundreds?" Nara asked, eyes lit up with excitement.

"Not as fun as you'd think." She answered. "Women were looked down upon most times. Barely had any rights."

"Oh." Nara frowned.

Zyran reached to grab one of the appetizers that they ordered, and Aurora noticed the rag wrapped around his hand. "What happened to your hand?"

"Huh?" He looked. "Oh, it's from cutting my palm. To give you blood. It's probably healed by now." He said, beginning to unravel it. She stared confused. How could it be healed? She thought to herself. But he removed the rag, revealing a red stained palm. "See? Healed."

"How?" She asked, confused.

He shrugged. "I've always been quick to heal. Kind of like a gift."

She furrowed her brows. Grabbing a fork from one of the silverware wrappings, she grabbed his hand, stabbing it through.

He let out a yell. "What the hell?!"

"Aurora!" Lina yelled. Nara stared wide eyed, slack jawed, while Eric had to turn away, holding down the urge to vomit.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" He yelled. She ripped out the fork, tossing it on the table and moved to look back, but he moved his palm away.

"Let me see it." She demanded, staring him dead in the eye. Hypnotically, he moved his hand to her and she opened it, studying his wound. Or, she would if it was there. "It's gone."

"Gift, remember?" Nara reminded.

She looked up. "No human has the power to heal within seconds of opening a wound."

"What did you just do to me?" Zyran whispered.

"It's called compulsion. Vampires can use it to make humans do what they want." She explained.

"Freaky..." Nara muttered.

"How do we prevent it?" Eric asked, moving to rest his arms against the table.

"Vervain. Or a non cogere."

"What's a non cogere?" Zyran asked.

"A spell to restrict compulsion." Lina answered, fidgeting with the charm of her necklace. Aurora gave her a weird look, but the others looked at her confused. She shrugged. "I picked up a few things while in the occult."

Their waitress set their food down on the table, cutting off their flow of conversation. She smiled kindly at them, then returned to behind the counter.

"So," Lina spoke, chewing on a fry. "What will this lab do to us now that we're with you?"

"They won't care for you." She shook her head as she took a bite of her burger. "You're humans." But then she looked at Zyran. "Well, mostly."

"What does that mean?" He asked, confused, and glanced around at the others.

"As long as they think you're humans, you'll be fine." She shrugged. "Don't give them a reason to think you're not. You're better off that way."