What really scared me though was that the energy almost pulsed as if it recognized me. Welcomed me. Was I fae too? Was that why this place was offered to me?
Zane punched a code into the security pad, and the gate opened. We followed him into the building, and appearances were truly deceiving. What looked big on the outside was twice as big on the inside. The foyer seemed to extend far beyond the length and the width of the house, opening up to numerous rooms on either side of the house. Most of them were closed off. But there was a library that looked more like a study from the hallway to the left, with the door slightly ajar. A chef's dream kitchen was straight ahead beyond the foyer with an island parallel to us. And then a cozy couch-filled family room was to the right of that before a hallway that led to more areas that were closed off by doors. Both the left and the right corridors seemed to have no end in sight.
The manor itself seemed warm, but yet cold at the same time. The color scheme was warm, but because it was so dark, it gave off a cold feeling. The floor was a dark wood, and the paint in the foyer echoed its darkness with a burgundy and gold color. Old candle looking lamps were attached to the walls, and in the blink of an eye, they turned on. Was it Finn's doing? Zane's? Or the house itself?
Certain dark paintings were situated variously on the walls. Some of them I had seen at the local art museum, and if I were more educated, I would know their titles. Most were medieval themed, but one caught my eye. On the one wall, there was a portrait of a woman in a white gown. Her expression was earnest, but it wasn't the expression that stood out. It was the dark skin and the gypsy-styled dark hair. Or it could have been the dark green eyes that stared back. The woman could have been Sera’s twin. I glanced down at the bronze title: Pari Muaz.
“Coming?” Sera’s voiced disrupted my thoughts, and I realized that I was alone standing in front of this painting while she and the others had begun to exit out of the foyer to stand by an open door for someplace else.
“Sera, come here for a second,” I whispered in awe, still staring at the portrait.
I heard her move towards me and felt her when she stopped next to me to see what I was looking at.
“Doesn’t this look like you?” I looked back toward Sera, noticing that the guys had disappeared through the door.
“Actually, I think she kinda looks like you,” she smiled.
I frowned in response. “I think you need to get your eyes checked.”
She shook her head and pointed at the painting.
“You have the same eyes and lips. Even her cheekbone structure. She may be darker skinned and darker haired, but you have her features. Come on,” she gently elbowed me.
I shook my head out of the daze it was in and joined her at the door. The doorway led to a barely illuminated staircase down. The only lights were the candle-looking lights along the wall. It felt like we were descending from more than one flight of steps. Almost into the underworld or a dungeon.
We finally reached the bottom after what seemed like a five-minute trek down and entered a room to the right of the staircase. The walls were split horizontally with color; the bottom color was a dark grey, and the color above was a lighter almost white grey. Zane snapped his fingers, and the lights came on in the room. I didn’t hear the snap of the fingers earlier, but it could have been Zane who had turned on the lights to the house previously. The lights were not warm, but a gym like illumination that lit up the floor covered with grey mats. Along some parts of the walls held a row of weights. The other side of the room was lined with weight and cardio machines. The room itself was the size of a mini gym.
“I wonder what part of the Fae would need a gym in their home?” I questioned, astonished, looking around.
Finn looked at me intently. “It’s not for the Fae. It’s for you. This basement has been renovated for you.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
“What am I to the Fae?” I breathed to myself. It should not have been audible to anyone, but Finn had heard me.
“Let’s just say the Fae have an interest in you,” Finn’s voice was but a whisper back. So low that I had barely heard it.
“Does this particular house belong to a particular Fae?” I gulped loudly.
Zane glared at me. “I wouldn’t ask too many questions, Hunter. Accept the offer and move on.” He hung his jacket on a coat hooks attached to the wall, and I followed suit.
“Can I ask ‘how long do we have this building for’?”
“As long as you need it,” Finn responded, taking a seat on a side that had a single row of bleachers, against the wall with the door opening. I glanced at him apprehensively, expecting more, but his lips were tight. Sera followed his lead, displaying her anxiety on her sleeve.
Zane walked to the center of the room, beckoning me to follow him.
“This is preliminary. Let me see what you’ve got, Hunter,” he taunted.
"I don't have anything." I frowned at him, and he scowled back. I could already sense his frustration.
“I meant, let’s see your fighting technique.”
“I know what you meant, but I have none.”
He stood dumbfounded and shuffled his feet edgily. “What do you mean you have none?”
I threw up my hands in exasperation. “Raised human, remember?”
Sera’s face reddened with embarrassment.
More frustration from Zane exerted itself, and he rubbed a hand over his messy hair. He looked at me with those eyes, only they were flattened with worry.
“I don’t know how I’m going to get her ready. Hunters have trained since childhood for this.”
I knew what he was thinking. “You make it sound like I am a dead cause.”
“This is a battle between you and a soon-to-be new Master vampire to the death. The vampire that you are going to face will only get his status as a Master once he has defeated you and sucked you dry. Vampires are naturally faster and stronger. So, yeah, I would say that you’re a little screwed. Especially since you have absolutely no fighting experience, and you just received your Venatrix abilities.”
Nausea lodged in my throat, and I looked down at my feet.
“However,” he continued, “you, hunters, are lucky. You receive your gifts before your challenger. The Scelesti competitor receives his or hers after winning the challenge from your blood.
This may feel like an initiation fight for you. But for the Scelestus, it is their initiation fight for Master status. Whoever wins has the upper hand in the war between Good and Evil.”
“How will I know who the vampire is?”
“He or she will find you.”
My suspicions threw me for a loop. “Are you the vampire?”
Sera scoffed with ridicule behind me. “No, he’s not.”
"How do you know this, Sera?" I questioned her not sure how she could know this one fact, but not anything else.
“Because he is already a Master vampire. Most people know the legends of Sani.”
My mouth went dry, and I began to feel sick again. It finally truly dawned on me that this vampire before me was once a part of this Scelesti. And I was supposed to learn from him. He must have sensed my emotions.
“I said that that was a very long time ago and I have spent the past hundred years trying to change my fate!” It was his turn to snap at Sera, but I just heard her shout a "hah," and the rest was silent.
A hundred years? A long time ago? How old was he? I wanted to ask him, but this was not what I was brought here for. The room was silent. It was difficult to talk after that comment. He apparently felt remorse to go through a hundred years of repentance, but still to have the knowledge that he had been Evil. He had killed a Venatrix Malorum.
“Where can we go from here?”
I expected him to look pissed, but he was saddened.
"I guess the only place we can go . . . forward," Zane responded.
“What more do I need to know about the Challenge? Is there a specific day, time?�
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“We will know from the weather patterns. After a period of time where day turns to night, the vampire will initiate the Challenge. It’s between you and whoever the vampire is. No one else can physically interfere.”
“Yeah, Finn told me about the darkness.”
“At least you aren’t completely clueless.”
“I was told that the darkness was Obscurus.”
“You’re not wrong.”
“Have you ever met Obscurus?”
Zane’s face ashened, but he didn’t respond.
I felt a shiver crawl up my spine.
“It’s probably best to focus on the here and now,” he stated. “What I could tell you would give you nightmares.”
I crossed my arms and glared at him. “I already have nightmares. Up until recently, Obscurus visited me in my sleep often.”
Zane looked shocked. "I promise to tell you one day, but I truly want to make sure you have a future ‘one day.'"
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. How do I kill my challenger? What are a vampire's weaknesses?”
“You may use any weapon at your disposal. You can kill Scelesti vampires with sunlight-”
“How come sunlight doesn’t affect you?”
He bared his teeth at my interruption. “It does affect me, but this is not the time to interview me. You will need to know how to kill your rival. Evil cannot stand the light. Sunlight is an option, but there will be no sunlight when the Challenge is issued. Crosses can keep those vampires at bay because they are holy objects, but it won’t kill them. Holy water works like acid for Scelesti vampires, but it is not enough for a kill. You would need a pool to drown them. Decapitation will work and a silver stake through vital body parts.”
“That’s it? That’s all I have to work with?” I was so very screwed.
“You can beat them down until you can decapitate them or stake them. Silver bullets slow down anything Scelesti because it is seen as pure. Knife wounds help to slow them down as long as it is silver, and can kill them if they puncture the heart. Any silver weapon can be used to slow them down, but to finish the kill, it will have to be decapitation or a silver piercing weapon through the heart.”
“But silver is too malleable. How can it be used as a weapon?”
"Silver weapons infused by magic are like steel. I am not a mage so I could not tell you how it works, but whatever I give you will be magically infused. And you will always be able to get more supplies from the Venatrix Casti Council once you are initiated.”
“She will not be initiated at the Council,” Finn said sternly.
Zane took a step back in surprise. “Okay, then I will make sure you have supplies here. Is this something when need to talk about later, old man?”
Finn gave him a bland look. “No. There is nothing to talk about later.”
While they bickered in the same language they used earlier, I pulled my list from my pocket that I had printed out before we had met Zane and started crossing off or modifying certain items. Eventually, the room got quiet, and I looked up to find them looking at me a little dumbfounded.
“Caden, when did you make that?” Sera asked.
“Around the same time I met Zane.”
Zane came around and peered over my list, grinning to himself. "You're right. Our skin is thick. Not exactly steel, but not flesh," he said reading from my list. "That is why it needs to be a metal, and because of silver's purity, it has to be silver."
I suddenly wanted to feel his skin; partially for my own desires, but partly for the knowledge. I might even get to touch him during sparring.
Still peering over at my list, he said, “You forgot something . . . We are quick healers. The more blood we have taken, the faster we heal.”
I gasped loudly and imagined my face becoming as green as how I felt. Sera’s face matched my emotions.
“You are right on some of the abilities. We are created with strength and speed. Each one brings a special ability into the vampire community. But until we are masters, we can’t do much of anything else.”
“What can you do besides turn the light on with a snap of your fingers?” I whispered, not sure I could trust my voice.
The corner of his lips pulled into a smirk which made my stomach do flip-flops.
“Nothing that I plan on telling you,” he whispered in my ear without Sera or Finn even noticing.
I swallowed hard.
“So here is what I require of you. You need to report here every day. We will start off with some kickboxing for some immediate offense moves. Then I think it would be important to learn escape holds and of course grappling. I would like to work on blocking and defense, but that should be worked in with kickboxing and grappling. Those will be the basics. If the Fates have given us more time, I would like you to learn some weapon and martial arts training.”
“I’m going to learn karate?” I’m sure my eyes were as big as saucers.
He just raised his eyebrows at me. “If there is time. And your training will continue after you win because Scelesti challengers won’t stop. Unfortunately, this isn’t a one and done type of thing.”
I suddenly felt depressed. This was going to be the rest of my life. It wasn’t taking too much to realize why my parents had tried to hide me.
He clapped, bringing my attention back to him, and began warming up his arms. “Let’s get started. We need to warm up our bodies first. Follow me.”
I blushed at the thought about warming up our bodies and followed him. Thankfully he didn’t comment, but I saw Sera in the corner of my eye squirm uncomfortably.
We stretched for what seemed like forever, but it was probably fifteen minutes. Zane put me in unnatural bendable positions, and when I didn't flex all the way, or my arm didn't go across all the way, he made it until tears stung my eyes while grumbling about my inflexibility.
“Hunters need to be flexible, agile,” he would say and push some more.
I personally believed it was punishment. When it was time to get physical, I was sitting on my butt in a human pretzel. I just glared at him as I tried to undo my limbs which were like jelly and then, stood on my wobbly legs.
“Now, when I say go I want you to try and give me a quick jab with your right fist to my face.”
I balled up my fists ready to swing.
He shook his head. "No, you are holding your fist wrong. You hit me like that, and you'll break your hand." He moved my hand around to properly show me what a fist looked like. His hands were rough from fighting over the years but soft in a way that it was hard to explain. I couldn't feel the thickness of his skin just by his hands. "Good. Now, when I say go, try to hit me."
"You mean like this?" Giving him a playful jab to the chin. I didn't strike him hard at all, barely making contact with his face.
He looked at me, annoyed, and I could see the frustration build in his body. "Yes, but not until I say ‘go.'"
Again, I hit him in the jaw.
“I didn't say go yet.” He was getting a more aggravated.
I went to jab him again, but he was ready. He grabbed my fist and flipped me over. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt as much as what I thought it would when I hit the ground on my back. It still hurt, and shards of pain spiked throughout my spine, but I was expecting whiplash and broken bones or even a concussion.
He looked down at me with a smug look on his face.
"Are you done now?" He mocked, raising an eyebrow in the way that I wished I could. "Hunters don't let their guard down. You can't, or it will mean death. Got it?"
“Got it, sensei.”
He rolled his eyes at me as he helped me up. He waited until he felt the mood swing into a more serious manner and told me to try to hit him. Of course, he blocked it, and it felt like my fist went into a cinder block, but it was practice. There was no way he would let me hit him. I listened to everything he had to say, and we went at for two hours while Finn and Sera watched. Not in any real style. He was testing my weaknesses and my strengths. Each ti
me I got knocked down, I saw Sera cringe. After those hours we were both sweating and smelly. I didn’t even know vampires could become sweaty. His skin was solid, I found out. It wasn't steel, but whenever I came into contact with him, it felt like I was hitting a brick wall and he didn't even flinch.
“You’re weakness is in your right arm. You are going to have to strengthen it. You need more endurance training too. You can’t get winded like this.” He wiped the sweat off his forehead with his arm.
"Me? You are just as smelly and sweaty as me." I was leaning over with my hands on my knees for support.
“I’m not the one who has to kill a soon-to-be master vampire,” he huffed. “Also, we are going to have to work on your pain tolerance.” He grimaced.
“What was the look for?” I asked him, still leaned over.
Zane glanced at Sera and Finn. His gaze fixing more on Sera, expecting some reaction to what he was about to say.
“You are going to have to hit harder and receive some of my punches. I can’t have you get hit once and become unconscious.”
I didn’t need to see Sera’s reaction because I felt the tension swell around the room. Even Finn’s face tensed and his teeth ground at the information. Zane straightened up and grabbed a towel to wipe off the sweat from his forehead.
"So, do you think she will be ready?" Finn inquired the first words out of him this entire time.
“Well, she's a smart ass, that's for sure, but she’s strong. If she is a quick learner, she might have a chance,” Zane responded.
The severity on Finn's face didn't fade, and the males glared at one another until Zane said something in that foreign tongue. There was a pause, and Finn responded with something stern and to the point with which, Zane just nodded. After another pause, he glanced at me.
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