Origins (A Demonkin Novel) (10 page)

The last recruit had a personal escort by marines in a matte green SUV with the initials M.P. stenciled on it with black paint. Out of the van stepped a willowy young man in his early twenties. I thought him cute in a boyish way, but his hair left something to be desired. I'm sure it passed the length set forth by some FBI standard, and it looked like it hadn't been combed or washed in a while. He entered the front door and walked up to the counter, nervously glancing all around him. I watched him as he gave his name to Agent Walker (Brian Watson) and then began the routine. I waited while Walker found his name and room assignment, then I took him to medical. I waited outside during his physical and when he returned I took him over to the dorms. I wished the newest and last recruit good luck and then headed to my own room for the day. I still had a few hours of night to enjoy, so I pulled my book out of the closet. I had no idea where my roommate could be, nor did I care. I enjoyed the solitude I had grown accustomed to and read.

I felt the sun just below the horizon, and I knew it would rise any moment. I put my book down next to my bed and lazed on my back. I had one leg over the side and let it dangle a few inches from the floor while I felt my thoughts drift from the events of the day to a certain hunky agent named Walker. How they drifted to the unkempt dirty haired youth I'll never know, but I dreamt of him while I slept.

Chapter 9

The next night came and I woke to Walker pounding on my door. I heard him move on to the next room and pound their door as well. On and on he went four or five times and then he began the process again. I looked over and my roomie sat at her desk pecking away at the keys of her sleek little laptop computer. It made me homesick. My computer at home had been a desktop and way too large to have taken with me. I resolved to buy one of the sleek lightweight computers as soon as I finished my training.

I rose from my bed (not crypt) and walked over to my closet. I gave a mumbled "good morning" to Rose, who mumbled something back to me. I wasn't sure if she said, "good evening" or "go fuck yourself", nor did I care. I opened the door, stripped my clothes, and jumped into a new pair of underwear, sports bra, socks, sweats, and T-shirt. I laced up my new tennies and grabbed my toothbrush, hairbrush, and toothpaste and headed to the community bathrooms.

Five minutes later I had stowed my gear and waited outside my bedroom door with Walker and several others. Five recruits stood ready and we had to wait for five more. I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms. I knew Rose was completely dressed and playing with her computer, so the fact we had to wait on her irked me to no end. Our number rose from five to nine over the course of two or three minutes, and only after the ninth came out, did Rose make her entrance.

Walker raised an eyebrow at her for being last and I saw her smirk behind his back. I realized what it was I didn't like about her. She was a bitch. I rolled my eyes from behind her and followed the others following Walker out of the building after hollering a, "We're going to start off with a little run, so follow me."

We ran for an hour, covering gods knows how many miles. Everyone kept up the pace except for willow boy Brian, who kept falling behind. During those times we would keep running in a circle about the size of a house with Walker in the lead while Brian caught his breath. I wondered what kind of supe he might be. Maybe a weresloth, I giggled to myself.

We finished the run at about eight thirty. Everybody seemed winded by the time we finished, except me. Let's hear it for not needing oxygen. I felt my familiar hunger raise its ugly head though. I was going to need a juice pouch from the doctor pretty soon. As everyone stood around panting and stretching after the run, I happened to glance over at Rose. Sweaty and disheveled she stared at me. She looked pissed off six ways from Sunday, and I couldn't figure out why.

"People, you received water bottles for a reason. I ran you a little extra hard tonight because I didn't see a one of you wearing them," a winded Agent Walker called over everyone's bowed heads. "Get to your rooms and fill them, and I'll see you back here in five. Go!"

Everyone scrambled for their rooms, even Rose. Walker walked over to me and shook his head smiling. I heard him mutter a "show off", but he never lost the smile so I didn't think I had earned myself another lecture. "Please tell me you're a little tired," he said.

"Please don't ask me to lie to you, Agent Walker," I replied and smiled. "I don't have to breathe nor do I sweat, so sorry. The only thing this does is make me hungry."

He paled a little at the last comment, and I wondered if I had shared a little too much, but he swallowed and shook his head in understanding. The others started returning one by one and shockingly Rose made her way back last. She had obviously dried her face, changed her shirt, and brushed her hair, but the water bottle sat in its sling on her side.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be doing this every day so get used to it. Brian, I suggest you quit smoking, and don't tell me you don't because I can smell it on you. Now if you will all follow me we will be heading to a classroom for weapons safety," he said and ignored the groans from the rest of the recruits. I had never held a gun in my life, so I thought maybe learning about it before shooting it might be a good idea.

So it went for the remainder of the night. We learned proper shooting techniques, weapons care and cleaning, and the basics. We also learned when to use deadly force (you can't shoot someone for running a red light, damn it). After weapons safety, we had administration classes on the chain of command, proper procedures and so on. By the time they released us to head back to our rooms I felt exhausted and starved. Sun up wouldn't be for another four hours, but I decided to just take a shower and relax. I figured I could hold out on eating until tomorrow, so I did.

Chapter 10

The second day Agent Walker roused us in the same fashion, pounding on our doors repeatedly. Again Rose exited into the hallway last, and everyone had their water bottles. We exercised for an hour before being led to a large gymnasium. A new instructor stood in the middle of the large room. Mats covered most of the floor, the standard blue ones seen in most gymnastic competitions.

We filed in behind Walker and he motioned us to stand along one side of the makeshift arena. He introduced us to Darenthalis, weapons master and combat trainer. It took me a minute to catch my breath (figuratively) from his beauty. Most men you would use the word handsome to describe, but not him. I realized he wasn't a man. At least not a human male, he had long blond hair down to his waist and poking out from those golden tresses stood the points of his ears. He belonged to the race known as the fey, an elf or maybe even one of the Sidhe. He wore a traditional martial arts gi, the kind you find in every karate class, but his resembled black silk and probably cost a small fortune.

"I am Darenthalis, and you will please address me as such. My name is not Daren, nor master, nor sir. I will instruct you in hand to hand combat techniques, mundane weapons, and firearms. Many of you are wondering why I will teach you mundane weapons, and the answer is simple. As entities of the non natural world yourselves, you will be required to enforce your laws on many of those who dwell in this land. I shall teach you to use swords and knives of steel and of silver, but more importantly I will teach you which one to use against which enemy. I teach you these for the simple reason many things in this world a gun won't kill. That is lesson number one," he said as he walked up and down the line and spoke to each of us in turn.

He asked each of us our names and what made us supernatural. When my turn came I stated my name and told him "vampire". I could see the look of surprise on his face as well as hear the mumbled surprise of most of my class. The two recruits standing closest to me sidled away a step or two unconsciously. Darenthalis shocked me by not stepping away. I learned the willowy Brian practiced magic, and Rose was a werewolf. The remainder of the class hailed a mix of werewolves, lions, and bears and one oriental gentleman claimed to be a weretiger.

He told all of us to sit and watch while he and Agent Walker faced off against each other, and I swear I heard Walker groan before stepping on the mat. Walker crouched while Darethalis stood straight and waited for Walker to make the first move. I heard Walker growl and lunge at the tall elven warrior and then Darenthalis held up his hand and a flare of blue light struck Walker in the chest, blasting him back and landing him on the hard floor outside the matted area.

"The second rule of combat, is always expect what you don't see. All of you would have made the same mistake as Agent Walker. You see a warrior, so you expect to fight with your hands, but remember this, there are many beings out there who would much rather attack you from a distance and then close in for the kill. I need another volunteer. Perhaps you, young vampire," he said and pointed at me.

I gulped and stood from my little section by the edge of the mat. I slid off my tennis shoes and stepped onto the mat in only my socks. I had pulled them on loosely to not rip through them with my talons and the ends remained intact. I have gone through a lot of socks and shoes in my seventeen years.

I stood before Darenthalis and he bowed so I did the same. I had never once in my life taken any self defense or karate lessons, but I had seen enough on television to know what he expected. I opted for something he wouldn't. I used my vampiric speed to circle around him and push him from behind. I had just made it behind him and turned to make my attack when he spun inhumanly fast and grabbed my wrist. He used my forward momentum against me and spun me in a somersault. Instinctively, when I landed I jumped high into the air and looked down at my opponent. Anger clouded my vision as I leaned forward in a downward strike. I aimed my fist at his chest as I dove. I saw the same blue glow coming from his hand and I saw the flash of light coming towards me mid air along with a smile from his face.

The blue glow struck me dead on the chest while about ten feet away from him. I expected to be blasted back just like Agent Walker. I expected a lot of things, pain, shock, or even a sizzling sensation, but nothing happened. I didn't even feel it. It felt like my body absorbed it and liked it. I saw his smile change from superiority to shock and I struck him full in the chest with my closed fist. I landed on my feet and Darenthalis went flying. He landed just before the outskirts of the mats on the far side of the makeshift arena.

I felt horrible. I hoped I hadn't hurt him and ran to his side. Walker almost beat me to the fallen warrior. Darenthalis looked up at me with fear in his eyes. He must have thought I was attacking him because he swung at me. It must have been the look on my face that halted his swing mid strike.

"Are you okay?"

"Have you ever fought anyone before?"

"Not until recently. I'm sorry I hit you so hard."

"Stay with me after class. We need to see exactly what your limitations and strengths are. For the rest of the class, please just observe," he said with a grin and raised himself to his knees and then eventually to his feet.

I turned and found the rest of the class staring at me like I had several extra appendages and heads suddenly sprout from my torso. I blushed and walked over to a small set of bleachers set aside one wall of the gymnasium. I sat and watched the remainder of the class in silence. Walker took my place as the other recruits paired off for fighting techniques. I watched as the others rolled and punched and threw each other across the padded surface. Darenthalis walked around each of them and gave pointers and pointed out errors. I thought I detected him walking with a little limp and felt another twinge of guilt.

Soon Walker called an end to the class and lined them up to head to more administration instruction. He motioned me to stay put. I saw Rose glare at me angrily after she saw the motion. After everyone had left, Darenthalis walked over to where I sat forlornly on the bleachers. He stared at me for a few moments and then made a motion for me to follow him. We left the gymnasium and up the stairs to a loft like area with weight benches and a small armory. I looked around at the gleaming axes, swords, and nunchucks. It surprised me to see such a variety of weapons.

In the back of the room sat a small office. Darenthalis turned the handle of the wood and glass door so I rushed to catch up with him. He held the door open and ushered me in the small room. A small silver CD player pumped soft melodious music over its smallish speakers. I found the music eerie and beautiful at the same time, and unlike anything I had ever heard before in my life.

"Sit please," he said to me, breaking me from the spell of the music.

I did as he asked and sat in a comfortable chair made of wood. "I'm sorry," I began, but quickly silenced me by raising his hand. "You have nothing to be sorry for, child. You simply reminded this old fool to follow his own first two lessons. How is it you had no idea of your own strength, nor have lived in the world of the vampires and never had to fight? Are you recently turned, and what of your master?"

Apparently no one had clued in Darenthalis about my unique lineage, so I eased back into my chair and told my story yet once again. I could see the interest he had for my tale in his beautiful green eyes. I found myself hoping maybe he could provide me with some answers. When I got to the part of my tale when I shared the differences I had noted between me and regular vampire subspecies, he held out his hands to inspect my hand. I slipped my cool skinned hand into his fiery grip. He turned it from palm down to palm side up and ran his finger along the length of my index talon testing its strength and sharpness.

The intimacy of the gesture sent a chill down my spine and sent stirrings to other parts of my anatomy I'd rather not mention. I had never before been this close to a male human, let alone elven warrior. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and he released my hand. I pulled it back and placed it in my lap as I finished my tale.