Light flooded through the large balcony window into their suite, bathing the furnishings in a warm golden glow, trying to give the day an appearance of carefree happiness. However the tension that polluted the air indoors spoke little of carefree happiness.
Charlotte teetered on the edge of the sofa, her knee bouncing with unrelenting irritation. She rolled her bottom lip between her teeth until it began to pain her, a shadow of a bruise developing on its swollen form.
James paced back and forth, almost wearing the carpet away beneath his feet. His hair was becoming more and more dishevelled with each step and with each uncomfortable, angry movement of his restless hands.
"It was not that bad," Ramsey sighed, opening his hands before him and gazing at James. He was sitting in one of the armchairs watching them with an unreadable expression, while Fiennes stood leaning on the sideboard and Maxwell reclined on the sofa beside Charlotte.
"You told us that the world would not be willing to accept our alterations," James retorted, running his hands through his blonde hair again.
"They haven't a clue about your powers," Maxwell grunted. "We aren't that careless – what was said at the interview was all hearsay and conjecture".
"It was damn accurate conjecture," James snapped.
"Maxwell is right, James," Fiennes nodded. "The reporter who pushed those questions is notorious for conspiracy theories and..."
"Why on earth was he allowed question us then?" Charlotte asked, failing to keep the irritation and worry from her voice. She wasn't sure if she was more worried about what had transpired at the interview or by James' panic. He had been calm and reasonable up to this point, even when she had failed to see reason. Yet now it seemed as if his resolve had crumbled, making way for his stubborn anger once more.
"I..." Fiennes frowned. "He must have had an appropriate question, but changed it last minute?"
James started to laugh coldly, pressing his fingers against his eyes. "You don't even seem to know what happened, or how you let it happened," he said. "I thought you were supposed to be in control of this. How could you be so naïve to allow this to happen?"
"James, please. We have taken every measure to ensure your safety. It's just sometimes we overlook simple things," Fiennes sighed. "It won't happen again".
James laughed again. "You had better hope not," James growled. "If it does we won't cooperate anymore. We are not going to allow you make fools out of us, to make us into the enemy".
"I don't know why you are so worried about it," Ramsey exhaled. "To begin with they seem to be far more caught up by your relationship than anything else. Secondly, the reporter is a conspiracy theorist – nobody will take him seriously, or at least nobody who counts. And I think you are all forgetting the most obvious fact – reasonable people do not believe in inexplicable powers such as yours. They would invent every possible excuse before accepting such a far-fetched truth. This will die down soon, if it hasn't died down already," he dismissed, waving his hand.
"It only takes the smallest mistrust to create a far bigger problem. If they doubt we are what we are now, time will only feed that fear," Charlotte said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Miss Owens, you mustn't have such a negative outlook," Ramsey chided.
"It's the truth. I know how this works, Mr Ramsey. I just think it's very convenient that this reporter had access to police files and autopsy reports," she shrugged, watching him carefully. "I find it hard to believe they are that easy to come by".
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...
