by Eric Asher
“A few weeks, maybe sooner if you’re a fast learner.” He winked at me, and somehow I knew that it meant day one was nothing in comparison to what was coming. “Most of your training will happen in the field, it’s the best way. Basic training and classes have to happen here where we can monitor your progress as well as be sure that you are physically capable of continuing on.”
“Physically capable…meaning my body may not hold up to all of this?”
“It is rare, but yes, it happens.” He paused. “A few of the recruits, even though it’s in their DNA, their mental capacity and sometimes physical capacity proves to come up short.”
“Meaning what exactly?”
“Meaning, they die, or they end up as vegetables in a facility where they are kept protected.”
“That is a possible future for me?” I swallowed back the lump in my throat. I could end up staring at some wall trying to remember who I am. There were worse possible outcomes, but did I prefer to be a vegetable or to be dead?
After I got dressed in the loose fitting jogging pants and t-shirt that Vander provided me, I was escorted to my new room. One thing I wouldn’t be able to complain about was the accommodations. The inside of the room was modern and completely contradicted the building that contained it. I had all the amenities, everything except a computer and Wi-Fi of course. I couldn’t go tweeting about my sweet new pad and the vampires who owned it.
I settled in easily, though my body was healed, my mind was worn out. I looked at the clock; it was just about nine. Vander had explained that I spent nearly a full day in the healing pool. Dinner was delivered to my room a half an hour later. I ate the steak, salad and sautéed vegetables quickly and then climbed into the bed after a brief shower in the private bathroom. Bright and early the following morning, there was a knock on my door.
“Yes?” I opened the door to find a husky man standing there.
“Faith?” He asked my name and smiled brightly. I could tell that he was one of those annoying morning people. I never claimed to be one of them.
“Yes, can I help you?” I was still wiping the sleep from my eyes and trying to get my vision to adjust to the sun that invaded my room through the windows.
“My name is Simon, I was sent here to retrieve you. It is time to start your training.”
“I thought Vander was training me.” I yawned and stretched.
“In physical combat yes, but I am here to train you in other areas. The sun is up and well, the vampires are at rest. This is the time to enlighten your mind, not your body.” He smiled again and I found myself wanting to slam the door in his face.
“You’re human?” It was good to know the thing about the sun hurting the vampires was accurate. That little tidbit would definitely come in handy.
“Yes, I am.” Simon smiled warmly.
“Okay, give me a minute to change please.”
“No problem, I will meet you in the sunroom, where you last trained.”
“Okay, great.” I slowly shut the door in the smiling face of Simon. I took another shower and as promised there was more clothing for me to wear in the closet, a variety of the same sweats Vander had given me. I chose a black set, strapped on the white sneakers and headed out.
When I made it to the sunroom, which was previously dressed with mats and combat equipment, I found all of that had been moved away. Instead, sitting in the center beneath the glass ceiling was a small classroom setting. Simon stood at the head of the class in front of four others. There was one empty seat and I assumed it was meant for me. The desks were the same ones I remembered from high school. The seat was attached by a metal bar to the plank of hell that would always feel too constricting. I had just graduated from college; I was still celebrating my freedom. I was supposed to be done with studying, classrooms, and boring lectures. This was a true nightmare come to life. The moment I opened the door, of course, all eyes were on me. As I walked towards the group, Simon looked up from a large book he held in his hands and smiled brightly at me. There was something about his smile that just didn’t sit right with me.
"Ah, welcome!" He said as he gestured to the empty desk. “We were just about to get started.”
"Uh, thanks." I responded and moved forward to sit.
"Class, this is newcomer, Faith." He said to the others, all of whom shot me an awkward side-glance. "Faith, would you like to tell us a bit about yourself?"
"No, not really." I said honestly. I wasn't there to make friends. I wasn't even there because I wanted to be. I needed to learn whatever Simon had to offer and be on my way.
"Okay, we will save the introductions for later." He smiled briefly, flicked through the pages of his book again, and then started the class.
I absorbed all that I could. I even took notes in the notebook that was conveniently provided for me. I was told that this was for studying while in training, but as soon as I left, the thing would be destroyed. They couldn't have my journal of vampire training hell fall into the hands of the wrong person. Apparently it was only day two of this class, so I hadn't missed much. Simon did a quick recap of the origins of vampires, the witch who created them, and her sister who would in turn create us many years later. Our bloodlines were intended to be strength and power, all the magical things that vampires were, without the thirst for blood or the eternal living thing.
Class ended, and Simon dismissed us all. The others went their separate ways, one girl, a small brunette stayed behind. I waited for her to move, but she didn’t. Simon had made his exit as well. My intention was to stay behind; soak up some of the sun that poured in through the glass ceiling, and go over the reading material that Simon had given me. I couldn’t help it; I wanted to ace the class. I was a nerd at heart.
“Did you know about any of this before you got here?” I asked after minutes had passed in complete silence. We had surpassed awkward and were inching into the realm of creepy. I wasn’t 100% sure that she wouldn’t attempt to attack me. She had that look about herself, and everyone always said to watch out for the quiet ones.
She shook her head indicating that she had not and her shoulders slumped forward.
“Yeah, neither did I. Truth be told, I am not sure I even believe any of it. Sure, all this time I have been some superhero kick ass and I just never knew it? Yeah, that makes so much sense!”
I could have sworn the girl giggled, or it could have been a cough. Either way it was better than complete silence.
“Are you hungry? Where can we get food that isn’t laced with blood?” I made a disgusted expression, assuming she was also aware of the dietary staple. The food and drink were always paired with fresh human blood unless otherwise requested.
She smiled, stood, and paused as she looked at me expectantly. I lifted from my seat, grabbed my books, and followed her out of the door. Silent girl apparently knew the full floor plan of the castle. She navigated the halls with no problem. I wondered how long she had been there. Simon indicated that he was starting things fresh with class but that didn’t mean that everyone attending were newbies like myself.
Eventually, I got her to open her mouth. I didn’t get much information from her but I did learn that her name was Shay. She was from Canada and had come to America after college. She was terrified of what was happening to her but felt it best (as did I) to get it over with. She’d already been at the castle for nearly two months and had no idea why they hadn’t sent her home yet. We talked briefly between bites and once our meal was done, a short woman came to retrieve her. I headed back to my room and was shocked that I hadn’t gotten lost.
The sun was still up, so I assumed that I would have time to rest before Vander would awaken to brutalize me again, but there was another knock on the door. I pulled myself from the comforts of my cozy new Queen sized bed and opened the door. A small woman, similar to the one who had retrieved Shay stood there. She said nothing.
“I assume I am supposed to come with you?” I said with a yawn. She nodded, and turned to walk do
wn the hall. I stepped out of the room pulling the door shut behind me so that I could follow her. She led me to a small room down in the lower level of the castle. It was disturbing to be underground. Shay told me that it was where the vampires slept during the day. Two levels below the surface was where they laid at rest. Being beneath the ground rejuvenated them in a way that sleeping above ground couldn’t. The further away from the sun, the better. The room was draped with black curtains similar to that of Hani’s room but they weren’t velvet. . A small bed stood in the center of the room. It was dressed in white linen. The silent woman handed me a towel and pointed to a wardrobe shade that stood at the back of the room.
“Undress?” I asked, to be sure of what I was supposed to do.
She nodded again. I did as she wanted and removed my clothing. I reappeared with the towel wrapped around my body. She pointed to the bed and I climbed and laid flat on my back. Above was a dull light that put my body in the spotlight. I heard a switch flip and the light became brighter, almost blinding. The woman appeared at my side and snapped on a pair of gloves. I stared at her not sure what to expect from the mute. It was obvious to me that this was going to be the physical checkup that Vander told me about. Apparently, this would be happening every other day during my first two weeks, bi-weekly for the two weeks after that, and then once a week until it was determined that I could go home.
She began to inspect my body closely. From foot to head I was poked and prodded by rubber-covered fingertips. Every so often, she would stop to scribble notes on a pad and then continue. I felt like a piece of meat. My body was average, nothing spectacular, but I had always gotten good results from my doctor when it came time for physicals. The way she examined me made me wonder if I had something to worry about. I felt a needle pierce my arm and I looked up to see blood being drawn into a syringe. The contents were then emptied into a small vial that contained blue liquid. Upon contact, the two substances burst into a dazzling dance within the bottle. She said nothing, but her eyes told me she was very pleased with the results. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. She sat the vial down and turned back to me, checked my eyes, nose, and throat, back to the standard checkup and then moved away into the shadows. I lay there and wait.
She returned with my clothes and handed them to me, pointing once again to the back of the room where I was meant to change my threads. I complied and when I returned, she was gone, the door left ajar. I figured that was my cue to leave, so I did, but instead of going back to my room, I wandered the halls.
I found myself on an empty balcony that sat outside of an empty room. It seemed the most peaceful place I could find. Inside the walls of this protector-training facility was the noise of all the humans who apparently worked with our vampire counterparts. I still couldn’t figure out where we were, but I knew it was near the ocean. I could see and smell it. I watched the sun drop beyond the horizon and took a deep breath of the salty air. Moments later Vander approached me.
“Time to train, Faith.” He said plainly. I could tell he was waiting for my argument but I wouldn’t give him one.
“Yep, let’s do it.” I turned my back to the darkness and followed him quietly to the sunroom, which had been reverted to the workout room it was before. Eventually, I would find out that this was Vander’s doing. Everyone else trained in a different part of the grounds inside of a ready-made facility but he didn’t want to be there. He wanted zero distractions.
The next two weeks were the same. Every day was a repeat of the day before it. Wake up, shower, class, lunch, poked and prodded, random walking, get ass kicked, healing pool, dinner and snore. On day 18, I was fighting Vander toe to toe. He was an awesome trainer (though I would never tell him that) and just as Hani had promised, my hidden talents all came to the surface. My strength increased dramatically, and my other senses, sight, sound, and smell, all became heightened beyond my imagination. This caused me to spend almost a full day in a dark, soundproof room until I was able to adjust thanks to the aid of a witch that I never actually laid eyes on.
“You’ll be leaving soon.” Vander told me as we left the training room with our usual sweat drenched looks. It had been just over a month. I was assured that my apartment was taken care of. My job was a loss of course, and apparently, a lovely note had been sent to friends and family from my email address telling them that I had decided to take an impromptu trip as a “growth experience.” All I could say was that they were thorough. I had even been allowed to write a few letters myself, to send to my mother who worried about me nonstop.
“I will be?” I had assumed my training would go on for months.
“Yes. I discussed it with Hani yesterday and she agreed. You’re acing all of your evaluations and physically you have progressed faster than 98% of the protectors we’ve trained. We both believe that you are ready. I will be shadowing you for a while, so you won’t be on your own completely. It’s protocol.”
“Shadowing me?” I dabbed the sweat from my face as we walked towards my room.
“Yes, to make sure you can handle yourself and that you aren’t ambushed at some point.”
“I see.” I thought about what he said and for a moment felt like I wanted to run and hide.
“What, do you not want to leave now?” He asked jokingly.
“I do, of course.” Did I?
“So, what’s with the hesitation?”
“From what I hear, training is nothing compared to the real thing. Actually having to go up against the monsters of your kind. Not sure that I am actually ready for that after one month.” It was the truth. Even with Vander in the shadows, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to face the real world. Not when that real world came with its own variety of hidden immortals who wanted to kill me.
“Great!” He was grinning at me like a proud father.
“Great? What is great about that?” I nearly laughed at his expression but kept my composure.
“I have arranged a trial run of sorts for you tonight.”
“A trial run, meaning going out on a mission with you?” The idea both terrified and excited me. I was thrilled for the chance to get out of the castle and go further than the edge of the light that worked as its boundaries. The idea of going up against rogue vampires was a tad less appealing.
“It’s time to see what you really got.”
“Right, okay.”
“Ah, don’t be so worried, I told you, you are already ranked among the best.” He threw me a black leather bag. “Suit up.”
MISSION ONE
This wasn’t just a standard training; it wasn’t a dry run as I had assumed it would be. Vander had taken me on an actual mission. There had been reports of a nest not far from our location. The assholes had begun terrorizing the locals and of course breaking all the good vamp rules. After three mysterious deaths were reported, it was time for Vander and the protectors to step in. The protectors weren’t just my kind, the magically charged-up human variety. The good vampires worked with them as well. Vander was the leader of his group and the men followed his command without question. I would become a part of his team at some point in time I’d been told.
Vander didn’t hover or baby me. He issued orders to me just like every other member of our squad. I appreciated that. I needed to be treated as an equal to be sure I could handle my own. We approached the abandoned warehouse from all angles. The vampires on the inside would already sense our approach so we had to act quickly. The inside was dark and smelled of rotten food and raw sewage. Quickly we moved in our designed formation and trapped the members of the nest inside the center room. It wasn’t long before they began to attack. I watched as they leaped in bounds and took on my team. Each person fought hand to hand with the enemy.
One came at me. Fangs bared and sharp nails stretched in claws ready to rip my flesh apart. My instincts kicked in; paired with the intense training I had received for the past few months. I kicked the mad looking woman in the stomach, grabbed her by the arms, and used her weight
to flip her onto her back. My moves were faster than they were in training because now they were fueled by true fear for my life. Quickly I pulled the stake from my holster and jammed it into her chest, center, and right into the heart. She died quickly, her body withered beneath my weight. I heard the screams of others and with the adrenaline already pumping through my veins I took off.
I’d taken down four vampires when it was all finally over. Vander appeared announcing that we were victorious. The team rejoiced, as apparently it had been a larger nest than they’d expected, one of the biggest ones they had ever encountered. We took a moment of silence to pay respect to the one man we’d lost, a vampire named Ty. Vander made sure that everyone showed respect for Ty’s sacrifice. His body would not be burned like the others. The team was already working to destroy the evidence of the rogue vamps, by piling their bodies in what would become a large bonfire. While they worked, I left with Vander and a few others. We carried Ty’s body back to the castle where he would be laid to rest, surrounded by those he fought with and his mourning wife.
“You did amazing.” Vander found me as everyone was dispersing, the sun would be up soon.
“What?” I turned to him surprised that he was still around.
“I watched you. You took down four men on your own. You even saved Stacy’s ass.” He smiled with pride.
“Oh, so I did well?” My body was still in shock, coming down from the rush of the fight.
“Good? You did great! I don’t think a newbie has ever done that on a first run, at least none that I have ever witnessed.” Vander was glowing with pride. I must admit watching him grin like a proud papa made me feel good. I never thought I would ever see him break his stoic exterior.
“So I take it that means I am ready to go home now?”
“Yes, Faith, you’re ready.” He reassured me and I smiled trying to convince him that I believed him.
