by Eric Asher
"It's time for you to meet Hani. She will brief you on all you need to know, and then we can begin your training."
"We?" I laughed. "So you're stuck with whipping me into shape huh?" It wasn’t as if Mr. V looked all that excited to be around me as it was, and now he was telling me that he had been assigned to stick by my side for an undetermined amount of time. Perfect!
"Apparently this, you, are considered a special case, and when special circumstances arise, I am called forth to step outside the boundaries of my normal role." He turned from me and continued walking away.
"Yeah, okay." I followed Vander down the tall corridor, past doors that hid things that I probably didn't want to see. You know that feeling that tells you that it would be a bad idea to look, but still you kind of want to. In order to avoid getting blindsided, I kept my eyes focused on his backside, but as I reveled in the glory that was his glutes, I had to stop myself. What the hell was I doing? My legs carried me forward as I tried to rationalize my actions. Yeah, it was perfectly fine that I was following the man who had just ripped me from my calm little life. It wasn’t normal to not be kicking and screaming bloody murder. Why the hell had I just so easily accepted what was happening to me? Even then, as I mulled over all the facts and recognized all of the moments that I should have lost my marbles, I just walked calmly. I wanted to follow this strange man, but why?
We finally reached a large pair of stone doors etched with shimmering swirls of gold and fitted with a pair of gold handles. Vander easily pushed the doors apart and I waited for him to signal me to continue. Once again, I went on, without panicking. I wasn't even the least bit anxious about entering the strange room. I felt my wrist for a pulse as I floated past the threshold like a zombie, yep, still beating. Therefore, I hadn’t simply died and begun the trip to the other side.
"Hani, we're here." He announced plainly to the empty room. A smooth echo resounded as his deep tone bounced from wall to wall.
"It took you long enough." The voice that returned was that of a small child, but it seemed odd, as if it knew too much. No voice so young should contain that heavy undertone of an older soul “Well, you always seem to give me the...difficult ones." Vander sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Ah yes, but that's because you are the very best there is, Van!" The voice squeaked with delight around his name.
"Please don't call me that." He shook his head.
"One of these days you are going to accept my display of camaraderie and when that day comes, all will be grand." The voice was getting closer to us, but I still had no form to pair with it.
"Yeah well, that day isn't today"
"Oh well, and I got my hopes up. Shall we begin?" I could hear the slight pout that would have been displayed on her face.
“Please." His response was one of exasperation. I listened on to their exchange feeling more intrigued than ever.
At the point that I thought my curiosity would boil over, a small frame appeared from the far left shadows of the room. A small girl wearing a short red dress and no shoes stepped forward. Atop her head were two pigtails of thick black fluff, each twice the size of her own head. She reminded me of Minnie Mouse. The way she moved seemed more like a bouncy dance across the floor. My eyes were glued to her.
I stared at the girl because what else could I do? She was youth; innocence and all things pure wrapped up in a sweet little package of chocolate skin and the largest brown eyes I'd ever seen. There was something there though, behind her eyes, a maturity only seen in the elderly. It told of all they'd been through in their long lives. I was dumbfounded, because this girl was much too young to have this show from within her.
"Faith." She spoke my name and I jumped because once again her voice held dual identities, youth and age.
"Yes." My response was a whisper.
"I am so glad that you decided to come. I have been waiting so long to meet you, but of course we had to wait until the time was right." She moved closer to me and I became stone. I couldn’t have moved my body if I wanted to. The strange thing was that that odd sense of calm was still layered over me like a thick blanket.
"Okay..." I wanted to tell her that I hadn’t chosen to come. I wanted to scream about how this was all kidnapping and that I would call the police the moment I broke free. I wanted to act all badass and shoot off more of my witty, sarcastic remarks, but with her, I simply could not.
"Yes, and now you and I must spend a bit of time together," she turned to Vander, "you can go now. I will call for you when we are done." Vander looked to me for a moment and then exited the room without another word. I watched the heavy doors slide into place to announce our seclusion with a heavy thud. "Shall we begin?" Hani spoke and I returned my attention to her with a simple nod in response. "Great! Now I'm sure our dear Vander hasn't told you much if anything at all. He is so good about being...elusive. Yes, so that means all explanation needs to come from me." She started to walk away towards the shadowed corner she came from.
When I didn't follow, she turned and stared at me with expecting eyes. Once again, I felt my body relax in that eerie way, and my limbs moved forward without pause. At the back of the room was a small passageway. Hani slipped through easily but it took a bit of maneuvering on my part. Once through, I found myself inside of a velvet dressed room. Long stretches of fabric in shades ranging from blood red to the calming orange of a sunset hung from the ceiling in heavy sheets. Hani ran her hand along the fabric as she passed and sighed softly. In the center of the room were two plush sofas of the same velvety texture. Hani gestured for me to sit on one while she took the other.
"Comfy?" She asked. I nodded again even though I wasn't sure if I actually was comfortable. "Are you hungry or thirsty? Can I get you anything?" I shook my head in polite refusal. "Okay well on to the good stuff then I suppose. My name, as you heard, is Hani. I am here to teach you about my people. We, as you may have guessed, are different from you. I won't beat around the bush in telling you what we are because it's pointless. Your reaction will be the same regardless of my timing in telling you. We are vampires. Blood drinking, eternal living, beings of the night, vampires, and you, Faith are one of the chosen. Born from a long bloodline of those handpicked to protect your people from mine."
“So you’re expecting me to fight off vampires?” This was the first time I was able to fully speak my mind as if a weight was lifted. “What I know of them, and its mostly fictional, is that they are at least one hundred times stronger than any human. Suppose I do believe all of this, how the hell do you expect me to accomplish any of that? How do I know I am who you say I am? What makes you think that I would choose to fight?”
“Well first off, you will be trained, and second off, you aren’t exactly human. What I mean by that is, you are, but your bloodline has been…let’s say, magically enhanced. Your strength is more than that of any ordinary human. You just have to unlock it. Through your training, you will find there are many more talents in that little body of yours. Sad to say, even if you don’t want to stand and protect, you really don’t have a choice. It’s the magic that’s inside of you; it will call you to action regardless.”
“How do you know I am who you are looking for? My parents are normal; they never mentioned any of this to me.”
“Now, Faith, we both know that the two you call parents are not really your own.” She looked on at me and my shoulders slumped. She was right. I had been abandoned at a young age, my birth parents were a mystery, and my adoptive family took me in without question. I never thought of them as anything but my parents. They had always been honest with me about my past but I never tried to look any further.
“So you are saying that my birth parents were like me?” I questioned for the first time with true hope of learning more about the mystery that shrouded my life.
“Yes, well at least your father was. He was a great protector too.” She sighed as if reminiscing.
“Was?” Her tone indicated that he was no more.
&n
bsp; “Unfortunately, he died. Oddly enough, it was by the hands of one of his kind. It seems vampires aren’t the biggest threat anymore after all.” She stood from her seat and poured herself a cup of tea from the kettle that I had only just noticed was sitting on a small table just behind us.
“What about my mother?” I asked, less hopeful.
“To be honest, I simply don’t know. Melissa was gorgeous, a thing of true beauty. She however, did fall off of our radar about ten years ago.” Hani returned to her seat sipping what I had previously thought was tea but with a peek just over the rim I could tell was something much more. I had never seen tea such a murky shade of reddish brown before.
“Right, so, you’re a vampire, and I am a magical…being, meant to destroy you?” I smirked. “Wouldn’t you not want to activate whatever it is that is inside of me that will turn me into a lethal weapon?”
“Don’t be silly, you can only harm certain types of our kind. I am not one of them, so I am safe from you. Our people were the ones to fund the little experiment that created your kind.”
“Right.” I paused, and she just continued to stare at me with those knowing brown eyes. “Sorry, this is just a lot to wrap my head around. I am assuming going home to think things over isn’t an option?”
“I’m afraid not.” She smiled and I felt my spine tighten. Something was off there.
“Great, so what’s next?”
TRAINING
"You ready?" Vander approached me. I sat on a large mat in the middle of what I assumed used to be a sunroom, considering the large glass ceiling, but it had been converted into a makeshift training room. I guessed that was more useful for a castle full of vampires.
"For you to wipe the floor with me? Absolutely!" I responded with dripping sarcasm.
"Let me guess, Hani said I would be tough on you?" He smiled. I looked over his attire. He had changed into black sweats and a t-shirt similar to the wardrobe I’d been given. His hair was once again pinned up in a bun atop his head.
"No, she didn't say that. What she did say was that she'd be surprised if I made it out of here without any lacerations or spitting out blood." I cringed at the memory of the thrill that I witnessed on Hani’s face. It was as if she was looking forward to my being beaten down.
"Nah, I won't be that hard on you." He paused then smiled. "Well at least not on the first day."
"Ah, thank you for your consideration." I smirked as I stood to attention.
Vander told me the truth. He didn't kill me nor did I bleed but he did beat the living hell out of me. We started with basic stances and defense moves. Most of which I had learned in karate classes as a kid. Once I let that bit of information slip, my elected trainer kicked it up a notch. I slammed the mat repeatedly and spent much more time on my back than standing. By the end of our first session, every part of my body ached and bruises had already begun to show. So much for him taking it easy on me.
It took every ounce of energy I had left to pull myself from the mat. Vander stood over me with his hand held out in an offer of help. I shook my head stubbornly refusing to take it. After what felt like an hour of grunting and struggling, I was vertical for only what seemed like 10 seconds. My head started to spin and my legs buckled. I vaguely remember Vander catching me. I vaguely remember him smiling. I vaguely remember him carrying me from the room.
When I came to, I was submerged in what felt like a thick gel. I was able to move my limbs but not very effectively. I opened my eyes to find that I was floating just beneath a smooth surface of red. My body was completely relaxed and the only parts of me that weren't submerged were my eyes, nose, and mouth. I was calm for about a second before the panic set in. I tried to move but was unable to. The more I moved the tighter the gel seemed to set around me and the more constricted my body became.
"Help!" I called out, though I could see nothing but the marbled ceiling above me and the span of the fluid in my peripherals.
"Relax." The familiarity of the voice instantly returned me to that state of comfort. I could picture her without even laying eyes on her. It was the redheaded vixen that I'd seen when I first arrived with Vander. "Where am I? Where is Vander?" I called out.
"You’re currently inside of what we call the healing pool. Vander is handling some business of his own. Until he returns, you have been left in my care. Just relax; I will get you out in just a few more minutes."
“My body, this stuff is supposed to do what exactly? I don’t feel any pain so I am guessing it’s good for that.” Talking was the only way to stop the panic that had quickly begun to return the moment she stopped speaking.
“Yes, it appears you had quite a few bumps and bruises, a couple of fractures and a mild concussion. Vander must like really you.” She said. I could hear the sound of her heels hitting the floor as she walked. Once she stopped, I heard a slight hissing of a pressure valve. “Take a deep breath and relax.” I did as she said and the gel around me turned to liquid and began to drain away leaving me lying naked on top of a metal platform. The vixen appeared standing above me holding out a robe.
I reached up to grab the robe, more than aware of my nudity, but instead, I was pulled to my feet. Her strength was incredible. She made me feel like a doll as she swiftly lifted me up and stood me with my back to her. The plush black robe was wrapped around me and I slipped my arms through the sleeves as she secured the tie around my waist.
“So that was Vander being nice?” I spoke again to cover my nerves. There was something about this woman that caused a mixture of feelings in me that I was incapable of explaining.
“Trust me, I have seen much worse. Good thing we have the healing pool or well, we’d be fresh out of protectors.” She laughed. I knew that she was aiming for a joke but it only made my stomach curl into a knot the size of an onion.
“About that,” I flexed my body as I now followed her to step down from the platform. “I feel amazing, like I just left a spa. How is that possible?” I could remember exactly how my body felt when I had finished my session with Vander. I was moments from muscle failure and if I remembered correctly, my legs had actually given out on me.
“It’s a bit of magic.” She turned and smiled at me and I could actually feel my face warm with blush.
“What’s in that stuff?” I continued my questioning.
“The blood of our elders and, like I said, a bit of magic.” She shrugged as if what she had just said wasn’t completely outrageous.
“Wait, are you telling me that I just took a bath in vampire blood?”
“Yes, you did. Get over it.” Vander’s voice called out from behind me. “Thank you for watching her while I was away, Sam.” He held a black bag in his hand.
“Don’t tell me to get over it!” I yelled and shook myself as if it would erase what I had just experienced.
“I’ll take it from here.” Vander said to Sam who simply nodded, winked at me (and this time I was sure it was for me) and left.
“Take me home.” I demanded. “I am done with this! You brought me here to abuse me and dump me in a tub of blood. Am I supposed to be grateful for that? Whatever it is that you want me to do, I refuse. Take me home!”
“I’m sorry but you don’t get to go home. Not yet anyway.” Vander responded coolly as if I hadn’t just been screaming in his face.
“I am going home! You can’t keep me here!” I started for the door that Sam has used to exit the room.
“Faith, you cannot return home.” This time his voice came with command, authority. I stopped and turned to face him.
“I have a job, family, and friends who will be looking for me. How long do you think I can go missing before someone becomes suspicious?” I wasn’t sure about the answer to my own question. I knew at the very least, a missing persons report would be filed, but what good would that be? I could tell I was nowhere near home.
“That job isn’t your concern anymore. Trust me when I say that you don’t want to go back there until you are capable of protecti
ng those that you love. Now that Hani has enlightened you, those that you are meant to destroy will be coming for you. It’s their way. They like to pick off protectors when they are still new and unsure of this world. Without proper training, you and everyone you love will be killed!”
“So I am just supposed to abandon my life and my world?” I was now yelling at him. The usual sense of unnerving calm was gone. My fear for my family and for myself was overwhelming. I didn’t like being threatened with the promise of death if I didn’t stick around and play his little game.
“You need to calm down.” He said with a level tone completely opposite my frantic pitch.
“Don’t tell me to calm down! You pulled me from my life to bring me here and now you expect me to just accept all of this?” Finally, I felt the rush of anger, hatred, and fear that I should have felt all along. Whatever was there before, lulling me into a walking state of easy acceptance was no longer in place.
“Well I see compulsion no longer works on you.” He shook his head and sighed.
“Compulsion?” I paused and thought about what he was saying. “You mean that mind fuck thing they do in all the Vampire books? That’s real?
“Yes it’s real, and it is something you will learn about during your training. Now that you have been treated in the healing pool, you won’t be able to be compelled, at least not for a while. There’s a nice combination of herbs mixed in with a few other magical properties. It’s a lovely concoction from the witches that prevents vampires from compelling the protectors.”
“So you were using your mind control on me all of this time?”
“What other choice did I have? Do you honestly think any of this would have gone so smoothly if I hadn’t?” He was right, I’d suspected something was off, but I couldn’t figure it out. It was all too easy.
“How long is this training going to take? How long until I get to go home?” There wasn’t a way for me to get out of there, I knew that much. From the speed and strength that Vander had displayed during our training session, I had no delusions about being able to outrun him.
