Abraham shot her a look that said yes, that Joss needed to know every grisly detail. Then he leaned forward, meeting his nephew’s eyes. “You may wonder why the Society would risk losing a Slayer in such difficult training measures when there are so few of us. The truth is, we used to lose more just by sending them out on missions. By putting a Slayer to the test, we actually save lives. You may die, or you may live—that’s up to you.”
Joss swallowed again, his throat feeling tight, and said, “When does my purification begin?”
Abraham smiled, but it was not the smile of an uncle to his nephew, or even the smile of a decent human being to a stranger. It was a smile of superiority, full of knowledge beyond anything that Joss could currently understand. “It begins now.”
7
THE PURIFICATION BEGINS
The woods were thick and Joss found himself breathing heavily as he tromped his way up the millionth hill, following Malek deeper and deeper into the forest, higher and higher up the mountain. If nothing else, he was grateful that it wasn’t Abraham leading him to the watch point. His uncle had insisted it be Malek, and Joss wasn’t about to argue or question Abraham’s authority. He’d save his questions for when it was really important. He wasn’t sure when that would be, but he knew the time would come.
As he followed Malek over the crest of the hill, the terrain evened out some and Malek came to a halt at long last. Malek was barely breathing heavily—it was as if the trek was well known to him, and such physical feats were nothing. Meanwhile, Joss was scratching his head, trying to figure out why he could run away from anyone without having to stop to catch his breath, but trekking up a mountain after Malek was tiring. Then he realized it was because Malek was a Slayer and had special skills, too. He also supposed that was because when he was running, it was something he wanted to do. And this—this wasn’t exactly on his wish list of ways to spend his summer vacation. He wanted to avenge his sister, yes, but he wasn’t looking forward to three days without food, shelter, or protection. The woods scared him. The possibility of vampires in the woods scared him even more.
“This is it,” Malek grumbled, his eyes sweeping over the small, overgrown clearing. “If you look down the mountain, you can see the cabin. Our job is to keep watch, make certain no vampires approach. We can’t have them discovering one of the training facilities. If we see one, we kill it. So if the time comes, you’d better man up, boy.”
The hairs on the back of Joss’s neck stood on end as hot anger flushed over him. Malek had no right to judge him. Malek didn’t even know him.
Malek shook his head and laughed, slapping Joss on the shoulder. Through a grin, he said, “My best impersonation of your uncle. You hungry?”
Joss paused a moment, not certain he exactly understood Malek’s humor, but he was relieved it had just been a joke of some type. “Starved.”
The smile slipped from Malek’s face, morphing into a pout. “Me too. But technically, you can’t eat. So . . . what are we gonna do about that, kid?”
Joss very much wanted to say “feed me,” but he held his tongue and looked around the clearing.
Malek shoved his thumbs into his pockets and looked around, too, sighing. “Well, I guess I can show you a little about tracking, get your mind off of food. Mine too. That stew smelled amazing.”
“Sorry you couldn’t eat before we left, Malek.” The guilt weighed on him.
Malek’s smile returned. “Don’t worry about it, kid. You just worry about getting through today. And tomorrow, you worry about getting through that, and so on, and so forth. We can’t all be your superstar uncle. Some of us need practice. Okay?”
Joss’s chest felt a bit lighter. He nodded to Malek, who didn’t seem like such a bad guy after all. “Okay.”
Malek slapped his hands together, their clap echoing into the woods around them. “So. Tracking. The first thing you need to know is that tracking is about using all of your senses to learn about and locate your prey. Look around you and you might notice broken branches, footsteps in the dirt, blood from a recent injury. Inhale through your nose and you might smell a recent campfire, or maybe freshly spilled blood.”
Malek paused. “Sorry. It’s always blood with these things. You get really tired of seeing it and smelling it.”
“What does blood smell like?”
“Rotten and metallic, kid. Rotten and metallic. And when you smell enough of it, you can taste it, too.” The Slayer shook his head, as if willing that thought away. Joss couldn’t help but wonder what horrors Malek had seen. The blood seemed to haunt him. “Touch things like tree trunks and you might feel a lingering cool. And listen. That’s the most important sense you can use when tracking vampires. Keep your ears open and your wits about you at all times.”
A sliver of fear wedged itself into Joss’s brain then. It slipped in through the base of his skull with an icy tingle.
Malek led him down the trail some, and crouched where they saw a pile of deer scat. “It’s very important that you remain observant and pay attention to detail. For instance, in order to learn everything we can about this deer, we place a hand over its scat and feel that it’s still warm, which means the deer isn’t far from here. We can see some pine needles, so we know where it’s been by what it’s been eating.”
Then, much to Joss’s horror, Malek picked up a pebble of scat and popped it into his mouth, gesturing for Joss to do the same. Joss looked up and down the trail, hoping he could spot the stupid deer and end their lesson already, but the trail was empty, except for the two of them. Holding his breath, Joss plucked a tiny bit of deer scat from the pile and placed it on his tongue.
He immediately spit it out. It was all he could do not to vomit.
Malek wore a smirk on his face. “What have you learned from this? What’s it taste like?”
Joss spat into the grass several more times. “It tastes like crap!”
With a chuckle, Malek spit a pebble into his palm. It wasn’t scat at all. It was a small stone that had apparently been lying next to the scat. Joss hadn’t been watching closely enough. “My young friend, this is a lesson that you will never forget. Attention to detail is everything.”
Lesson learned. Joss spat into the grass again. “Can I have some water?”
Malek patted him on the back and handed him a bottle of cool water. Joss rinsed his mouth repeatedly until the bottle was empty.
“I’ll be here between meals and while the sun’s up. You’re on your own the rest of the time. And so help you if you fall asleep.” Malek’s mouth closed into a tight, white line. “Not only will Abraham be royally ticked off, but it could jeopardize your training and our lives, kid. Don’t let it. And don’t think we won’t know. A person has a look about them if they haven’t been sleeping. I’ll see it on your face if you sneak so much as a catnap, and I’ll be forced to tell your uncle. Even though I’d rather share a nice steak with you and send you off to bed. The Society comes first, though, and we can’t forget why you’re here. Okay?”
Joss slowly released his breath, and when he spoke, his voice came out eerily calm. “Whether or not you believe it, Malek, whether or not any of you believes it, I’m up for this. I can handle anything that comes my way.”
Malek chuckled and dropped his gear at the base of a large elm tree. “We’ll see, kid. We’ll see.”
Joss hadn’t been given any gear at all—no rope, no tent, no tools. After all, this was to be a spiritual journey for him. It was meant to prove that he had what it took to be a Slayer, that he was loyal to their cause. And it was meant to purify his soul, in some weird way. He was supposed to unlearn everything that life had taught him about empathy and learn a new way of thinking. He wasn’t sure how starving in the woods was supposed to teach him any of that, but he was willing to go through the motions to get to the real training.
But then ... wasn’t he training already? Maybe it wasn’t hand-to-hand combat, but Joss had already learned some things from Malek. Valuable things th
at he was sure he’d carry into the field with him in the future. He was in training, despite what Abraham had said. And this was only the beginning.
Once Malek dug into his bag and proceeded to set up a small tent meant to protect him from any potential rainfall, Joss took a seat at the opposite side of the clearing and watched the so-called cabin below. A bird flew from a tree not far from the cabin, breaking up the monotony of Joss’s vision, but after he’d been sitting there for about an hour, Joss’s butt had lost most of its feeling and complete boredom had set in. He hadn’t been tired until there was nothing to do but sit and stare down the mountain. Now he was exhausted and fighting off a yawn. He couldn’t let Malek know his resolve was weakening already. It had only been an hour. What kind of Slayer would he make if he couldn’t even last an hour in the woods without dozing off?
One hour turned into two. Two turned into six, and by the time Joss’s stomach started grumbling loudly, demanding to be fed, he was well into his twentieth yawn. He’d gotten up and walked around the clearing to stay awake, but it wasn’t really helping. The woods, while pretty and peaceful, were also incredibly boring. He was almost wishing a vampire would show up so that he’d have something to do, other than watching the cabin, and watching Malek watching the cabin, his thoughts perhaps drifting off to memories involving blood. Neither of them spoke, which was probably a good thing, but Joss was quickly tiring of the silence between them. Just as he was about to try his hand at conversation, Malek sighed and took to his feet. “Time for me to turn in, kid. Sit tight. I should be back before the sun rises. Maybe I’ll bring a deck of cards or something.”
Joss’s heartbeat picked up. “What do I do if a vampire comes?”
“Kill it.”
Joss furrowed his brow, completely enveloped by the enormity of the potential situation his imagination had dreamed up. “How?”
Malek grinned. “Any way you can, kid.”
He began his descent down the mountain, but turned back suddenly. Joss was sure he was going to give him some clue, some hint at just how to deal with a monstrous fanged creature. But he was wrong. Malek said, “Hey, kid. You need help, you scream, okay? I mean it.”
Then Malek was gone, and Joss was left in the woods. In the dark. Alone.
It surprised Joss how quickly the temperature dropped once the sun’s rays were no longer filtering through the trees. His skin prickled with goose bumps, and after some time, he began to shiver. He hadn’t thought to bring a jacket with him. After all, he was spending his summer in upstate New York. He hadn’t exactly gotten the impression that it was jacket weather up here in June. But in the mountains, exposed to the elements, without an ounce of food warming his belly, Joss could believe it. His head ached from not having eaten. He felt nauseous. And tired, oh so tired. His eyes drooped as he leaned against a tree, and it wasn’t long before Joss had to force himself to walk the clearing’s perimeter in order to stay awake.
Several hours passed before Malek returned, rested, with a full belly and bottle of water for Joss. He tossed the small plastic bottle to Joss and pulled a deck of cards from his pocket, shuffling them as he sat. Joss chugged the water and, though his stomach ached from drinking the cool liquid so fast, his parched throat and dry tongue thanked him profusely. They played several hands of rummy before the sun came up. As Joss was gathering the loose cards back into a deck, he said, “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure, kid.”
“If vampires are such a huge problem, why doesn’t anyone on the outside know about them? I mean, there are movies and books and stuff, but no one really believes in them. Why don’t we just tell people about them? Warn them, ya know?”
Malek smiled and took the deck from Joss’s hands. “People need to be protected, kid. And the sad fact is that most people aren’t smart enough to be trusted with the facts. Most people would panic at the knowledge that vampires are real. Then we’d not only have vampires to deal with, but crazy mobs of people, too. It’s just easier to do our job by keeping them in the dark.”
Joss mulled this over for a bit before responding. “I guess that makes sense. But what if a few people did know? Seems like we could make some money that way. I mean, the Society must need funding, right? Wouldn’t that be an easy way to raise funds?”
“I like the way you think, kid. But we’re not allowed to take private jobs.” Malek grinned and slapped him on the back. “Anyway, it’s time for you to return to your post and keep watch. We’re not out here playing around. This is an important part of your training on the road to becoming a better Slayer. Less chitchat. More eyes on those woods. And more importantly, what’s lurking within them.”
They didn’t speak for the rest of the long day, and Joss walked the perimeter of the clearing more times than he could count. Then, as the sun had begun its descent once again, Malek gathered up his gear. As he was doing so, Joss dared to ask him a question that had been burning on the edges of his curiosity since they’d climbed the mountain. “Hey, Malek. What was your purification like?”
Malek shook his head, laughing it off. “Let’s just say you don’t want to know, kid.”
“No, really. What was it like?”
Pausing, a momentary serious expression came over playful Malek. “It was pretty rough. I had to be pulled from the mountain and purified the old-fashioned way, with a whip. I don’t recommend it.”
Joss tried to imagine being whipped by another human being, but couldn’t. That wasn’t something that happened to real people. It was the stuff of movies, the stuff of books. Not real.
Without another word, Malek retreated down the mountainside, leaving Joss to fend for himself for a second night.
In the dark wilderness, it didn’t take long for paranoia to set in. Every cricket’s chirp was a vampire. Every breeze through the trees was a vampire. Joss slumped against a tree, his heart beating softly inside his chest, his tongue so dry inside his mouth, his stomach ripe with hunger pains. There had been no vampires—not even a single little sign of the creatures—since his purification had begun. He was beginning to think he’d imagined Cecile’s murder, as well as the vampire he’d stopped from killing Kat. Maybe he was crazy, and all of this was simply a part of his imaginary world. Maybe everyone—all the Slayers, even—were part of his imagination, too. This thought crept into his hungry, exhausted mind, and disappeared again like a whisper. Vampires were real, he knew that much. It was just his lack of food and sleep that was making him wonder such ridiculous things.
He watched the sun setting behind the trees, and it wasn’t long before darkness took him over.
8
PICKING FLOWERS
In the distance, Joss could hear someone humming. The sound was soft and sweet and reminded him of home. Though he was certain it had been night just a moment before, daylight filled the clearing now, illuminating every inch of the forest as far as he could see. Standing, Joss followed the lyrical sound of the humming until he came upon a field of wildflowers. A young girl was crouched in the middle of the field, plucking purple flowers from the ground and placing them in the bunch grasped tightly in her left hand. Her blond curls were pulled up in a ponytail that just barely brushed against her tan skin. She was wearing a yellow sundress that reminded him of the color of his mom’s kitchen.
He knew the girl, but feared speaking her name out loud. Because something was wrong with this scene, but Joss couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was. “Cecile, what are you doing out here?”
She turned her head to the side at the sound of his voice, but didn’t speak. Joss wasn’t certain why, but he was relieved to see her cheek clean and tan. When she went back to picking flowers, he crossed the field, daisies bouncing against his ankles as he moved closer to his sister. “Cecile, what are you doing here? Mom wouldn’t want you out here, you know.”
“I’m picking flowers, Jossie.” She turned her head to the side again to glimpse her brother.
Joss’s heart skipped a beat. Somethin
g was on Cecile’s cheek. A dark line. It looked like blood.
Then he remembered. Cecile was dead. She was dead and it was all his fault.
He slowed his steps, stopping just a few feet behind her. His fingers were trembling. “Why are you picking flowers, Cecile?”
“To take them with me.” She turned around then. Once again, her eye sockets were black, soulless tunnels. Deep within those dark tunnels, Joss could see flames. When she opened her mouth to speak again, a large centipede crawled out. “There are no flowers in hell, Jossie.”
Joss shoved his sister away. He felt terrible for doing so, but he was so frightened, he could hardly breathe. His chest tightened in panicked breaths and he backed away. “You’re not in hell, Cecile! You’re not!”
Cecile crawled after him in a twitching hurry, her mouth oozing all sorts of insects, her eyes devoid of all life. She clutched his ankle, crying. “Oh, yes I am. And you put me there, Jossie. You did this to me.”
Her tears disappeared quickly as her mouth contorted into a grin. Inside her mouth were fangs. Fangs covered in blood.
9
A SIMPLE MISTAKE
Joss woke with a start. Warmth, glorious wonderful warmth covered his cheek, and he sighed in relief that he was no longer in that field of flowers. But his relief didn’t last.
Joss sat up and whipped his head around in a panicked frenzy, his mind focused on one thought—a thought that echoed through his head repeatedly. Abraham’s going to kill me!
His heart raced. He’d fallen asleep. Somehow, despite walking around for hours, despite promising himself that he wouldn’t even doze, he’d fallen asleep and it was now morning. Sun filtered through the trees above. The clearing was alive with the energy of daytime ... and empty, but for Joss, and Malek’s unused tent.
He moved quickly, searching the clearing with his eyes, then physically walking it until it was clear that Malek wasn’t there. Then he moved outside the circle, searching carefully, all the while wondering if Malek had returned to the house to tell Abraham of his failure. Or maybe worse. Maybe the Slayers had left him here in the mountains alone. He turned toward the trail that led down the mountain and just as he was about to begin his descent, he noticed something on the trail.
The Slayer Chronicles: First Kill Page 6