by J.J. Bonds
**********
“You need to concentrate. Whatever is going on in that head of yours today, you need to push it aside.” Nik is not happy with me. Rightfully so. I’m having difficulty focusing. The lack of sleep is catching up with me. I’ve been trying to compensate by feeding more frequently, but it’s not enough.
“Sorry. I’ll do better. Can we try it again?”
“Are you sure?” he asks, unconvinced. He doesn’t trust me to tell him the truth. He knows I’ll keep going until he hurts me or until I get it right, whichever comes first.
“Definitely. I’m ready,” I tell him.
“I told you it was a waste of time,” chides Blaine. He leers at me contemptuously from a row of chairs lined up alongside the sparring mat. His opinion of me hasn’t improved and he does nothing to hide his mounting feelings of loathing for me. “She’s not getting any better. It would actually be painful to watch if it weren’t so entertaining.”
“Why don’t you go back to writing code, or playing Dungeons and Dragons, or whatever it is you cyber-geeks do?” I shout, hissing in his direction. I seriously dislike that kid. Maybe not as much as Jade, but a lot. This happens every time we train. I know he shows up just to berate me. It’s hard to believe he doesn’t have better things to do with his time. Then again, he is kind of a creeper. Maybe he really doesn’t.
“What? Can’t take the pressure? Well, you know what? There’s the door,” he snarls hooking a thumb over his shoulder as if to suggest I should just be on my way. God, he is such a tool!
“Why is he even here?” I ask, whirling on Nik. “It’s not like his presence adds value. He hates me, and he’s a distraction since he can’t figure out how to keep his mouth shut!”
“Katia,” he starts, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. He doesn’t want to get caught in the middle again.
“Don’t bother,” I cut him off. “I’ve had enough of this. No amount of training is worth this hassle. I’m done.”
“Katia. Come back,” he tries again, as I turn my back on him and storm off the mat. I ignore his pleas. I’m not going to put up with Blaine’s harassment for the sake of training. I’ll figure something else out. There has to be someone else who will train with me. Someone who doesn’t have a pathetic little entourage to interfere.
I grab my bag in a fit of anger and head for the door, slamming it behind me as I leave. Alone in the hall, I lean against the cool stone wall and attempt to reset my bitch-o-meter. I close my eyes and breathe deeply, allowing my anger to dissolve. If I want to tame the bloodlust, I can’t think about Blaine’s asinine behavior, or how he always knows which buttons to push, or about how I want Nik to actually do something about it instead of playing Switzerland all of the time.
When I feel sufficiently levelheaded, I push off the wall and check the time on my watch. I still have some time to kill before my meeting with Anya, so I decide to head toward the dining hall. Might as well feed before I go. If my abysmal session with Nik was any indication, I’m in need of blood and lots of it.
It turns out I’m in luck. The dining hall is pretty empty, so I move right to the front of the line. “Isn’t technology grand?” I muse admiring the fountain. Nothing around here is simple. Instead of the typical drink fountain which would be perfectly adequate, the dining hall has a towering brass fountain with eight ornate self-serve taps. It’s like a bar tap on steroids. Each of the ornamental taps is labeled with a cameo to reveal the contents. As much as I long for human blood, I always choose animal when it comes to the dining hall. It’s less satisfying, but safer for me. I pour myself two glasses from the dispenser. I watch mindlessly as the thick fluid fills the glasses. Today it will be horse blood and bear. It seems the staff has been hunting, and I find I’m green with envy.
I continue through the line, pushing my tray ahead of me. I ignore most of the human food but at the last minute grab an apple as a nostalgic whim tugs at me.
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Or so I’m told.” It’s Nik. He’s followed me. “I don’t have much use for doctors myself, but it’s good advice nonetheless.”
“Don’t try and charm me,” I snarl. Maybe if I ignore him he’ll go away. I choose a table by the window and make myself comfortable. He follows, much to my vexation. I watch resentfully as he grabs the chair across from me and spins it around backward so that he can straddle it.
“Stalk much?” I ask, sighing loudly in a futile attempt to further reinforce the message that his company is unwanted. “You do know that stalking is not considered polite behavior, right?”
“Well, then I’m in good company. You’ve never once been mistaken for someone with good manners, so I doubt you’d expect any better.”
“Huh. You may have a point,” I concede, lifting the first glass to my lips. “So what’re you doing here?”
“I spoke with Blaine. He won’t be bothering us anymore. I promise.”
I roll my eyes in response. I doubt his word is worth much. Besides, he’s still convinced he can woo me with his charm. But I’m not giving in. “I told you I’m through.”
“I never make a promise I can’t keep, Katia,” he says seriously. “Trust me.”
“Right, Nik. Like I’m supposed to believe that working with me takes precedence over your friendship with Blaine.”
“I never said that,” he corrects me. “What I said was that he won’t be bothering us during your training sessions anymore.”
“Why do you even care if I come back?” I still don’t understand his motivation or why he’s invested so much time in helping me.
“You’re good, Katia. With a little more work I can get Garcia to bump you up to a more advanced class. Don’t quit on me now.” Like any good manipulator, he dangles that which he knows I want most in front of me. I suspect it’s a last ditch effort to change my mind.
“I’m not planning to quit, Nik. You give yourself a little too much credit. I’m planning to find a new trainer.”
“Good luck then,” he says pushing his chair back from the table. Before he goes, he leans in close, leaving me with one final seductive message. “But you won’t find anyone here better than me.”