theHeart

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

What had come over him? Fuck, Alice was really going to have a field day when she found out. Wren knew that Rose would go straight to Alice. It was as if he'd been possessed or something, for he wouldn't have taken Rose's blood otherwise. That had to be it... right?

Wren had paced the length of his room over a thousand times, sometimes walking slow other times running fast. He was waiting for Alice to bust through the door any minute and to reprimand him. All he could hope for is that she didn't become what she had the last time she punished him; he'd only ever seen her get like that once before and he could hardly remember why... or rather, he didn't want to remember. Vampires remembered everything, but they could block things out like any other creature. He'd chosen to erase it and have it locked away. If only he hadn't because then maybe he could put two and two together to find out why.

A scent floated through the air from Wren's window. He turned to see Alice standing like a goddess in the breeze.

"Why can't you seem to keep control? Why can't you seem to follow the rules?" Alice asked, believing that she already knew the answer. "Ever since I allowed you to finally make a fledgling of your own, you have caused nothing but trouble for the poor girl. Why?"

Wren swallowed hard. He felt like he could hardly move, let alone talk. Alice was the only person he feared. She had given him his life and she could take it away with the snap of her fingers. He wouldn't be able to stop her, for she had total control over him as him being her bound fledgling for life. Normally, she chose to allow Wren to have his free will, but, with this new issue between them, she had been reining him in more and more.

"I... I don't know why..." Wren said, stumbling over his own words.

In a flash she was right up in his face. Alice took hold of his cheeks and looked into his eyes. Wren's breathing quickened; he smelled danger and she looked into his eyes, not allowing him to look away. He could feel her taking over his mind, forcing him to tell her the truth with his thoughts. He could see her eyes turning red, the gold leaving them again.

Then the change stopped. Her eyes faded back to their golden brown color. Alice looked at him with wide eyes. "You really don't know... do you?"

Wren shook his head. "No, I don't. There is something wrong here, Alice. Horribly wrong."

Alice pressed her lips together and shook her head. She released Wren and, taking a step back, surveyed him with her eyes. "There truly is something different about her... isn't there?" Wren nodded. He'd known from the beginning that there was something different, as had Alice, but it appeared to be greater than either of them had imagined. "We'll have to watch her, though you should keep your distance," Alice warned. "Because you really don't know why you've been losing control, it would be safest."

Alice turned to go, but Wren stopped her. "I can't read her mind," he admitted. Alice froze in place. "I can't read her mind, or control anything she does like the other vampires can do with their fledglings. I tried the night we left Pennihook, and she was able to resist me."

"I see," she said after a moment of silence. "There is far more to this girl than we could have imagined."

"She has a name, Alice," Wren snapped. Alice spun around and glared at him coldly. Wren only backed off slightly, but stood his ground as much as he dared to. "She's not a threat to you, Alice. Like I said, I don't know why I'm acting this way. I know that changers are supposed to have a connection with their fledglings, but... this is different." Slowly, he walked up to her. "I swear, I won't let this come between us, or I'll die trying."