Golden light lit up the carriage, filling it with a sense of warmth and happiness James had not expected. The other carriages had been dimmed to encourage the students to sleep, although sleep was becoming more and more impossible, as they moved ever closer to their final destination.
This empty carriage was very unlike the cramped, seated areas the students had to occupy. To James it seemed more like a long, rectangular office, cast in soft, golden light and carrying a strong smell of furnish polish. There was a large, gleaming table running through the centre of the carriage, surrounded by chairs on all sides. Crystal glasses and decanters rattled and clinked on a large sideboard, as the train trundled across the darkened landscape, following the snaking track.
The door slid shut behind them with a hiss and James watched as Charlotte took a few uneasy steps forward into the empty carriage, trailing her fingers along the cold, condensation covered windows. He could see she was lost in thought, lost in her worry. James ran his hand through his blonde hair, gritting his jaw as he tried to think of how he could help her, but he knew she wasn't telling him everything, and he could hardly help her when that was the case.
"Can you sense him? Ramsey, I mean" he asked trying to figure out what had her so on edge.
She tensed at the sound of his name and turned to face James, her bright, blue eyes wide. "No," she whispered. "I can never sense him anymore".
James frowned. "Why?" he asked, afraid to hope she was going to allow him a peek into her mind for the first time in weeks.
She shrugged, turning back to the window. "He's an empty shell. He feels nothing. He fears nothing".
"He fears nothing?" James repeated with an uncomfortable chuckle. "That's... I mean... wow, that would be convenient".
Charlotte turned and scowled at him. "Everybody fears something, James," she breathed. "There's something wrong with him. You can't just be... empty. It's not possible".
"But maybe he..."
"No, he's just good and hiding it," she whispered. "He has to be".
"Have you looked?"
"Of course I have. I look every chance I get. I can't find anything anymore," she replied.
"Is that what you're worried about?" he asked taking a few steps towards her.
Charlotte cast her eyes to the ground, her tell-tale blush creeping up her neck.
"You didn't think I could see it, did you?" he replied. "Charlotte you can't hide things like that from me - I know you too well".
"I know what I felt the night he arrived. I know what I felt when I met him first... he fears us. That doesn't just vanish. I know you're not worried, but..." she trailed off, her forehead puckering.
"Charlotte from the moment Annakiya woke me that night, the night you lost control of your alteration, I have been worried. I'm worried about you. I'm worried about Ramsey and I am terrified you are right about him. I am frightened about what is yet to come, about having to leave you, about leaving you with strangers that are supposed to be your family," he pressed. "How can you not know that?"
Charlotte's blush deepened, colour flooding her pale cheeks. "I didn't look," she whispered.
"Well look now," he snapped, taking her hand and pulling her around so she had to look at him.
"No," she replied. "I don't need to. I believe you".
"And I believe you," he smiled. "I have from the very beginning, but I need you to trust me and tell me what is happening - everything".
YOU ARE READING
Feared
Science Fiction'Play the game, she thought, remembering the only three words that had helped her to survive at Kingston. Only back then she had known the game, she had known what they wanted her to be, what they had wanted her to do - this man was different. She d...
