Challenging a Cold Heart

Chapter 7: Dynamics

Vincent's POV

"We are here." The guard said and I looked up to see a small cottage house. It reminded me of the Hobbit lands in the Lord of the rings. How the greenery mixed in with the wood working of the house was fascinating.

The guard knocked on the door and it was opened by an asian looking woman wearing her hair up in a bun. She reminded me of the Smallville actress Kristin Kreuk from the way she smiled at me.

"Hi. You must be Vincent. Come in." She said. The guard left me with her when she told him she would take me back to Luc's home.

I entered the cottage and realized that the entrance area was dedicated to a modern looking small saloon with two seats. I could tell, the place was also her home. The home area was separated by a multi-coloured beaded curtain behind which was a door.

"Is he gone?" Someone asked, as they emerged from that door. I recognized the girl named "Lisa" from the council today as she smiled widely at me.

"Yeah. He's gone." The girl named Lorraine said.

Lisa came out into the saloon area and she walked around me.

"My name's Lisa." She told me with a grin and I nodded.

"I am Vincent." I told her nervously.

"I know." She said.

"God, I wish I was there in the interrogation chamber last night. But unfortunately I was out with my brother on a mission. Stupid Kronos didn't tell me much about what happened. But guess what, I still have my ways of knowing what happened." She said with a giggle.

"Tell me truly, do you love Luc?" She asked me and my uneasiness grew.

"Yes." I told her and she smiled.

"Will you die for him?" She asked me and I blinked at that.

"I..don't know..Probably." I said truthfully.

"But you still did the stove fire test and managed to come out of it alive." She said.

"Stove fire test?" I asked with a frown.

"Yep. It's a test of trust. Unless you are willing to put your life on the line for the person conducting the test, you couldn't make out of it alive. You see, it really is a fire stove but there is a mechanism that could move the stove tunnel to lead to a different path that would not burn. You couldn't really tell the difference because it's extremely hot either way. But the test tunnel gives you the illusion of fire around you. Since the stove tunnel is not that far, it is still hot and the mechanism is built to burn if you remain stagnant for more than fifteen seconds. However if you keep moving, it doesn't burn and there is an anti-burn gas bursting out at random, creating a protective layer on your skin to protect you from the heat. As I said, it's a test of trust. You had no way of even knowing there was a test tunnel there. Were you out of your mind to climb in?" Lisa asked me.

"Er, Luc said it wouldn't harm me." I said nervously.

"But you saw a man burn in the same stove. If Luc told you fire wouldn't burn, would you believe that?" She asked me and my cheeks burned in embarrassment.

I couldn't tell her the full truth. Yeah. It was madness, now that I think of it. But at that moment, I was ready to do anything to escape being locked up until death. An immediate death was far more preferable than that. I knew I was taking a chance but deep in my heart, I also trusted Luc blindly. It was a combination of all that and the fact that my hand didn't burn when I put my hand in the tunnel which prompted me into going in.

"When you are in love, you trust blindly, stupid." Lorraine said with a slap on the side of Lisa's head.

"I still haven't taken that test even when I know it wouldn't burn. Honestly, only the phantoms take that test. Yet, you did it without even a guarantee that you would live." She told me, looking amazed.