“For the last few days a master level vampire has been tracking our slayer and desperately trying to figure out a way in, and last night he was almost successful. He came in as a projected image of himself and attempted to snatch her. He banked on her being too young and not fully matured yet to activate whatever powers she has to defend herself. Slayers are not just fighters ladies and gentlemen. They are living, breathing weapons. Sanaya’s scent alone is a weapon. Her blood is a weapon. She was born to hunt and kill vampires as easily as she breathes.” He paused studying their faces. “And last night, she reminded the fucker just who the fuck she is.”
“What did she do?” Lisa asked glancing at Sanaya.
“We are not sure how she did it, but Eve says her eyes burned bright silver and burned the bastard’s retinas out. He fled before she could finish him off.”
A sense of awe blanketed the room and now all eyes were on Sanaya.
“But that’s not everything,” Archer continued. “Sanaya was able to get him off of her, but that did nothing but piss him off even more. He attacked her again mentally, which all vampires are capable of doing. He forced himself into her mind with the goal of driving her out of the safety of the group with his call. Had it not been for King, it would have been one hell of a night for the Slayer.”
Now all eyes were on King, with Maya offering a knowing smirk. He shot a glance to Eve who simply smiled at him which made him stand a little taller.
“I am telling you this because even though all of you are highly gifted, you still need each other’s backs. It is important for you to be aware of one another’s strengths and weaknesses but one of you might be person who either saves your teammate’s life or be the cost of it. For instance, we all know Maya can summon demons at will and has proven to be a strong Clairvoyant. Summoning demons is a bit of a struggle for Guardians to accept, but think of the possibility. Imagine all of you trapped in a known hell cavern surrounded by legions of demons. Eight against thousand, you figure out the odds. With her ability to summon, she can also control them which may give you enough time in your fight to get the hell out of dodge.” Archer shrugged. “Just sayin…”
“And Charlie is no slouch either,” Eve added. “Telekinesis is her talent. She can manipulate all forms of matter with her mind. So if the day comes when it is raining bullets, she can project a force field around you. Just like with all of your gifts, the possibilities are endless.”
“Lisa is our other fighting machine,” Archer stated planting a firm palm on her shoulder. Lisa’s slanted eyes surveyed the group around her nervously. “Don’t be shy about your gifts Lisa. You are the group’s Seer. You can look into past and present events and paired with Sanaya the both of you can warn the group of pending doom or look to the past for answers to present questions. Plus, the girl has moves like Jet Li in action.”
Lisa’s grin widened when Archer moved next to King who eyed him suspiciously. “And this is our diamond in the rough,” He added evenly. “This guy came onto campus already equipped with experience from fighting vamps and demons. Not only can he sense them like our Slayer, but he can smell them-which I may add, sucks. This guy is a strong Clairvoyant which is how I suspect he managed to back that master off of Sanaya. Plus, he has some tactical energy in palms he can manipulate. If any of you want someone to have your back other than Sanaya, this would be your guy.”
“And let’s not forget about Trent,” Eve said approaching the young man with a grin. “He is our audio who can hear a pin drop a mile away. Not only that, he operates like a reverse audio which you all witnessed him do when he threw his voice across the gym which confused all of you. In a fight that can come in handy when you are targeting a vampire or a werewolf.”
“Last but not least,” Archer said as he approached the kid everyone called Bullet. The twitchy kid bounced from foot to foot, his blue eyes lit with anticipation as the group faced him. “This is our superhero. He may be faster than Sanaya, but that won’t be determined until I clock them. Last time I checked, Bullet can reach speeds of one hundred miles per hour. He can outrun the fastest land mammal on the planet with ease. Honestly, we have never seen anything or anyone like him but the problem is, he can only maintain that speed for a short period of time before his body threatens to overheat…Sanaya requires some time to build her speed and she does not utilize it as often as she should. Bullet, on the other hand is twitchy as hell. It’s almost as if he is required to move at that speed constantly just to keep his organs functioning properly.” Archer offered the lanky boy a grin along with a power bar which he greedily accepted. “Now that you all know who and what each other can offer to the team, start acting like a team. Bullet could be useful in a rescue mission when seconds count. Help each other to grow and expand your gifts. This is the first time a Guardian team has been assembled before the Slayer decides who she wants on her team. Prove us right that you deserve your position because we have a hundred other students to choose from. Understand?”
When the group mumbled in agreement, Eve, Tia, Archer, Congo, Tatsu and Asim lined up in front of them wearing serious expressions.
“Now let us begin,” Eve growled as her fangs lengthened.
Petronius smiled as he watched from his HD 60’’ flat screen the master vampire known as Ronan moan in pain as he fed from another victim hoping to repair his eyes. The damage was done. Silver burned his eye sockets to mush and it would not matter how much he fed, his eyes could never be repaired. The poor bastard might as well step out into the sun and allow daylight to finish him off. Taking a seat on his leather office chair, he reclined to face the moonless night sky view from the twenty fifth floor vantage point, remembering the days of old when vampires were worshipped like gods and could roam the infant cities and streets freely until the day the very first Slayer stepped onto the scene. Since then, vampires and all supernatural entities alike had to retreat to the shadows where they have operated ever since, and it will not be until a day walker is born that the offense of the sun may be remedied.
Alex was supposed to be here for their meeting. Daemon had not been invited as it were discovered that his dear and ambitious brother had other plans of his own. The Beast had called a meeting to discuss the future of the vampire race and what their plans were to deal with the new Slayer. Smoothing out the lapels of his blood red suit jacket, he misted into the atmosphere to the second tenth floor where the board room was located to find The Beast, disguised as a human from European descent, dressed in a black Tom Ford exclusive suit, with his chestnut brown hair slicked back exposing his handsome features seated at the head of the table. Alex materialized soon after opting for the tuxedo and bow tie look, as if he were on his way to a ball. The Beast scowled as soon as the vampire took a seat across from Petronius.
“Did you be sure to drop the princess off at midnight?” The Beast murmured with narrowed eyes.
“Actually, there is a blood bath ball over in New Orleans tonight,” Alex chirped. “Humans have organized the event with the hope that immortality would be offered as a gift from members of our kind. I thought I might attend.”
“Humans should not be aware that we even exist unless they happen to fall victim to one of our encounters,” Petronius snapped.
“Ah, but these are no ordinary humans-witches, I might add.” Alex began to cough and sputter up blood which he hacked on the floor to The Beast’s dismay.
“I could have healed you,” said The Beast. “It would have cost you several hard bargains and half of your life, but I would have healed you none the less. However, any vampire that is foolish enough to find himself stabbed by a blessed blade by a Guardian nonetheless deserves his fate. You are proof that I made a serious error in selecting the vampire race as my true heirs.”
“Which is why we are here to discuss our plans to rebuild the race, Your Majesty,” Petronius added quickly.
The Beast relaxed against the office chair, and offered Petronius a sly grin exposing several rows of sharp point
ed teeth. “Enlighten me.”
“We have located the Slayer. She is approximately four years away from maturity and we have already implemented a strategy to weaken her resolve in preparation for phase two of our plan-“
“Let me guess,” The Beast leaned forward, creating a tent with his hands. “You want to attempt to make another day walker. That is your plan to rebuild the vampire nations and to give me reason to sanction turn bites. Am I correct or am I so far off the field I need an escort to find my way back?”
When neither vampire spoke, The Beast laughed. “As old as you are Petronius, you still have dreams of building a day walker empire. Well, I hate to break it to you my son, but I have the power to turn both of you into day walkers. You don’t need to sire with a whore of Light to do so. But you two idiots have done little to strengthen my cause. Sure I’d love to see her broken and every Guardian around the world either dead or on their knees begging me for life, but I have much bigger fish to fry. This is a new millennium gentlemen. I will sanction the turn bites because I need an army. Hell, I give you full permission to target every Guardian detected until there are none left. Turn them into the very thing in which they hunt. I will align you with the werewolf clans to strengthen your numbers until we have enough vampires to turn nighttime hours into a field of nightmares. But I want you to do something for me…”
Petronius swallowed thickly because when The Beast made a request one delivered…or suffered the extremely painful consequences.
“There is an entity that has been around for almost as long as I and when I say he is long lived and hard to kill, believe it. He wears a mark that offers a ward of protection from his enemies. He is on the path seeking redemption, and after the shit he’s done well, I seriously doubt the Light will even consider giving him a second chance, and I am not even talking about that little incident when he killed his brother. Find him. I need him our side. His blood is valuable as his allegiance.”
“Who is it?” Alex whispered.
The Beast stood up, straightened his tie and smiled coolly. “Cain.”
“But-“
The Beast disappeared before Petronius could finish his sentence.
Petronius and Alex shared an uneasy glance.
“The Beast wants us to locate the father of all vampires?” Alex wheezed in horror.
“It appears that he does,” Petronius added grimly.
“What have we done dear brother?” Alex buried his face in his hands. “What have we done?”
Chapter Nineteen
Sanaya collapsed in the middle of the gym floor bloodied and bruised like the rest of her teammates. The Guardians once again proved to be extremely formidable and she mentally kicked herself for ever doubting them. But her team proved to have some potential. Lisa kicked serious ass today when she went against Tatsu. It was like watching lightening in motion. The Japanese student showed little fear and when Eve slammed her into the gym floor, creating a small splinter, Lisa flipped off her back and went after her again. When she was too busy blocking punches from both Archer and Congo, King had her back when Asim moved on her with feline agility and hit him with the tactical energy supercharged by Bullet and knocked him out of the way. Charlie and Maya fought well together against Eve, when she turned her attentions against them. The two moved as a unit as they tag teamed Eve with kicks and punches and when Charlie lifted Maya for a spin, Sanaya watched with amazement as her best friend landed multiple kicks to Eve’s face, neck and abdomen before Charlie finished her off with an uppercut. It was gloriously brutal. Eve stumbled back before she collapsed, but when she sat up, she gave the girls two thumbs up.
Everyone fell silent when Sanaya faced off with Tatsu after Lisa had taken a hit which left dazed on the floor. The assassin’s name alone meant “dragon” and the fierce fighter demonstrated how dragon like she could be. She used a series of telepathic hits that sent Sanaya flying into the brick plastered wall of the gym. Slightly dazed and disoriented, Sanaya was on her feet before she could blink, eyes burning silver and enveloped in complete and total fury. She snatched a long blade from the table near the bleachers and Tatsu matched her with a sword in each hand, illustrating her dexterity. Sanaya could dig it. She would learn how to use both hands in a fight soon enough. Tatsu was not nearly as fast as Sanaya but she was much more agile and managed to dodge a number of her swings, until Sanaya sliced Tatsu’s swords in half like butter. In the far corner of her mind, Sanaya could sense the need for blood spill over into her psyche and that is when she knew Tatsu was in trouble. Unfortunately, there was not a thing she could do to turn it off. She could hear Archer and Eve screaming her name. And then someone else stepped in. Eve. And she fought them too. It wasn’t until Archer hit her with a blow from behind, right in the center of her spine that she collapsed onto the floor, exhausted.
Thankfully, Tatsu had just been knocked unconscious, suffering only a few bone fractures. Breathing hard, bloody and aching in various parts of her body, Sanaya shook off what was left of blood lust before attempting to stand. Today was brutal. King and Bullet offered their hands to help her onto her feet.
“You all did very well today,” Archer said breathing heavily. “Sanaya, we still need to work on guarding your mind and exercising control of the bloodlust. But, I’m proud of you Slayer. I’m proud of all of you. Let’s head on over to the dining hall so we can grub.”
Everyone mumbled in agreement and while Archer led the way with Congo and Eve trailing behind, Sanaya walked arm in arm with King. Maya, naturally found her way to her best friend’s side, as did Charlie, Lisa and Bullet.
“It is a pleasure to fight with you,” Lisa said softly to Sanaya. “You have no idea how much of an honor it is to me and my family.”
“Aww thanks Lisa,” Sanaya chirped. “Same here. It feels good to…have a team.”
“We bled together so that makes us fam now,” Maya added swinging her arm around Charlie.
King gently kissed Sanaya on top of her head. “Damn shawty, remind me to never piss you off.”
“You don’t have to worry about that King,” Sanaya whispered. “Please don’t. None of you don’t have to worry-“
“We know,” Charlie added offering Sanaya a smile. “We’ve heard about you. It was awesome seeing you in action.”
“Well, where was all the love before?” King demanded. Sanaya sent a silent thank you to him for asking the one thing she’s thought since Eve placed all of them together.
“We never got to see for ourselves how awesome you are,” Bullet shrugged. “Elizabeth told everyone that you were a psychopath who could barely control her powers and that incident with Ryder didn’t help.”
“Well that was stupid as hell to judge someone without getting to know them,” King mumbled.
“We are sorry for judging you,” Charlie replied solemnly. “I should have come to sit with you and see for myself instead of believing a girl who uses bullying to get her way.”
“Same here Sanaya,” Bullet added, offering his hand. “We are a team now, so we stick together.”
Maya and Charlie gave each other a pound, while the rest of the group huddled together, with the exception of Trent who remained a few paces behind and quietly withdrawn into his thoughts.
When the group made it to the dining hall, Bullet took it upon himself to snag two tables and push them together, while everyone grabbed their trays. All eyes were on them as they chattered away like old friends. Even Elizabeth’s table watched them curiously. Sanaya took a seat with King to her left and Maya seated to her right next to Charlie, and Lisa and Bullet facing them. Their jovial spirit diminished the moment, King noticed Trent taking a seat with Elizabeth and her harem.
“Wow,” King said still glaring in his direction. “I guess ol’ boy made his choice.”
“I guess so,” Sanaya agreed.
“Remind me not to have his back,” Bullet mumbled.
“Maybe Elizabeth put a spell on him,” Lisa added.
“E
lizabeth has no skills whatsoever in anybody’s magical arts,” Maya replied sharply. “She is about as useful as a regular Joe. The only thing she has to offer is money.”
“Well maybe that is what he is after,” Charlie mumbled.
“Let’s not worry about him guys,” Sanaya said finally after taking a bite of her chicken Alfredo. “Like King said, he’s made his choice. He is still a member of our team and he will eventually find out what kind of person Elizabeth is.”
The group ate in silence, with King and Sanaya exchanging a few mental caresses here and there, and when it was time to leave Sanaya felt Elizabeth’s hateful sneer at her back. She turned around and smiled out of spite before tossing her tray on the cart. Nothing was going to spoil this day. Nothing.
Something was wrong. Sanaya could not place her finger on it, but she knew it in her bones that something wasn’t right either. The Guardians had placed a barrier around her room so that if the master found a way to recover he would not be capable of successfully completing another attack. Stepping out of the shower, she listened to Charlie giggle with Maya about a time she tripped Elizabeth with her own shoe laces. King was in his own unit with Bullet. He’d sent her a text message earlier making sure she was ok and promising to convince Congo to allow him time to see her. She smiled at the thought.
She spent the next hour straightening her hair with an electric hot comb and fat iron until it left a silky, dark path down her shoulders. As soon as her monthly stipend came in, she was ordering some hair so she could maintain the braids she desperately needed. Emerging from the bathroom freshly showered and hair manageable, she still struggled to shake the nagging feeling that something was amiss. Lois and Myra had switched shifts with Eve after Archer had given the OK for Charlie and Lisa to spend the night with them. Lisa had yet to be escorted by one of the other Guardians. She tightened the draw string on her pink pajama bottoms and wrapped a silk scarf around her head and took a seat on the edge of the bed closest to the window. Her skin prickled.
The Vampire Hunter's Academy: The Darkness Page 15