The Vampire Gene

She must have felt my relief, because she grinned back at me and waggled a warning finger at Marcus, who rolled his eyes and chuckled. He started connecting wires to my fingers and then he plugged them into a small box shaped instrument with a needle behind a glass screen. The needle wavered slightly, and then settled back to the resting position opposite a large zero.

"Right," said Marcus, "the voltmeter reading is zero, or very close to it. Normal, then. However, you did assert that you were feeling extremely angry when you grabbed James Colborne's wrist, and that is when the shock occurred." He looked at me for confirmation. I nodded slowly. I was starting to doubt that the events of yesterday had happened the way I remembered them. And it looked like the voltmeter agreed with me.

"So she has to be angry for this to occur?" Julia wanted to know.

"So it appears." Marcus compressed his lips and narrowed his eyes. "Rebecca, close your eyes." I did. "I want you to imagine that you are back in that warehouse, and James is once again standing in front of you. Remember the rage you felt..." his voice trailed off.

My eyes closed, I recalled lying chained to that metal cot, and the fury that had ripped through me. But for some reason, I was unable to feel the rage now, as I sat in this room with these people. I opened my eyes and shook my head.

"I don't feel it Marcus. I remember it, but I don't feel it." I tried to explain.

He smiled at me, and it struck me how he resembled Angus. "Never mind, Rebecca. It was always going to be difficult to reproduce a reaction that is triggered by emotion. We may have to try hypnotism eventually, but this may be one situation that cannot be simulated under controlled conditions. By definition the rage you felt was instinctive and effortless. I'm not certain that can ever be replicated here." He paused. "I hate to have to abandon the whole series of experiments I designed, but if we can't even get you to generate anger, I think we may have to."

"So no more experiments?" I asked hopefully.

"For now, no. I don't think it's possible. Sorry, Rebecca."

It was strange - I felt both relief and disappointment at his conclusion. I might never be able to harness that power again, or learn to use it with some level of control. But its absence now made me feel like something less than a freak.

It's amazing how much I appreciated that.

Angus

I carried the trussed up James down those stairs, and pulled the trapdoor closed behind us. I set him down in the chair in the middle of the room and watched his eyes widen as he took in the straps and the gleaming instruments. I reached into his mind and felt the shock and the horror, and I smiled inwardly in satisfaction. My job would be easy today. I removed the gag from his mouth and started untying his bonds.