Chapter 1
I felt the first burning pain shoot through my legs as I crouched down and inhaled sharply before leaping from the rooftop to the one adjacent. With a quick roll I sprang back to my feet in a near seamless motion that propelled me back into a run. The sound of running footsteps was carried to my ears on the breeze, and two loud thuds, right on top of each other; sounded behind me. I increased my pace; ignored the burning in my chest, and gathered myself for another leap, this time to a pitched roof that I could slide down, forcing my pursuers to the ground.
Every muscle screamed at me as my target came into view. Running headlong through the gate of the large viaduct and into the stone tunnel, I skidded to a stop in front of an electronic panel disguised as a rusted out and moldy conduit. The door slid open and I threw back my shoulders and controlled my breathing. I strode purposefully toward a woman dressed in a sensible brown skirt suit, her hair pulled back into a severe bun at her neck. She glared balefully at me over horn-rimmed glasses and sighed as she jotted notes on her tablet with a stylus.
“Taking your new assignment a little seriously there, aren’t you, Simi?” I snickered, finally leaning against the stone wall at the woman’s back and puffing out my cheeks as I tried to fill my aching lungs with oxygen.
“What? I’m trying out a new look. I call it ‘Van Helsing meets nurse Ratchet’.” She did a little turn and then cleared her throat as the hunters that had been tailing me, Clayton and David, joined us in the alcove.
“It looks very professional and scary, but I for one will never forget that you are way scarier in black leather leggings than you are in a skirt,” I informed her. She giggled and arched an eyebrow at the boys.
“Do you want to know your times?” She asked. Clayton groaned and shook his head. “Not if Caroline’s been in here long enough to not even be breathing heavily.” David shook his head too.
“I’m not especially interested, but if we tanked, I need to know where I screwed up,” he confessed. “I straight lost her for a good thirty seconds. That’s life or death, man.” Simi smiled at David and batted her eyelashes, while Clayton and I rolled our eyes at each other and exchanged a fist bump on the low. It was no secret that Simi, and every other female he randomly encountered, was half in love with David. My apparent immunity to his dark brown eyes and long eyelashes was probably the reason we were still best friends. No one needed to know that I couldn’t crush on him, because what I felt was so much deeper than his dark, brooding looks.
“Well, Caroline did shave five seconds off her time, which is a new best for her.” I bowed at the neck and David laughed, putting his arm around me and squeezing me affectionately. I flushed and dropped my gaze, hoping he didn’t notice my racing pulse, or at least credited my run for the breakneck thrumming in my veins.
“Awesome Care-Bear. You are already the fastest of us, now you’re about to beat the standing record.” I rolled my eyes at the childhood nickname I abhorred, but the compliment made my face warm with pleasure. A new best was worth the burning pain that was still fading in my lungs and thighs. Training with Clayton and David, two of the best overall students of the Venatores Lamiae, the society of vampire hunters, had pushed me to heights I hadn’t imagined were possible when I first arrived.
“Clayton, your stats show that your jumps were some of your best, and you had a personal best by almost three feet in total footage. Well done. Now, if only you weren’t panting like a vampire on the edge of sunrise, I’d tell you that you should be pleased with your performance.”
“Well, if we’re ever forced to chase a vampire with Caroline’s speed and stamina for twenty miles on foot, there damn well better be a team on the other end to take over the heavy lifting,” Clayton shot back as he pushed off the wall and headed towards the dormitory. “See you for lunch after I shower,” he reminded me, pointing at me with both hands.
“You’ll probably see me in the shower,” I stammered as he wiggled his eyebrows, “I mean, in the bathroom. Ugh, you know what I mean, now go wash the stink off and stop grinning, you idiot.” His cackle floated back to me as he disappeared around the corner of corridor that led to the student dormitories.
“Do you want to tell me something, Care-Bear?” David’s face was a careful blank, but his eyes danced with amusement.
“Shut up.” He scoffed at me and followed Clayton towards our rooms. Simi arched an eyebrow and handed me her tablet so I could review the route I’d taken and my vitals at each of the check points I’d passed.
“That was the longest training chase on record that I can see. Although, I’ll have to look it up in the archives to be sure.” Simi grinned at me. “You’re such a badass. I can’t wait until you swear in; I’m going to make you the scariest thing to come out of the Lamiae, like, ever.” She placed one coffee-colored hand on my arm. “You did really well. I know you won’t do it out here in front of the guys, but in your room? You’ve earned a victory dance.” I chuckled and leaned into her.
“Once I can feel my legs again, I’ll be sure to do that.” I said goodbye and went to my dorm, keeping my pace steady and making sure I didn’t favor my aching right knee, which was jarred and painful from my last drop. I’d mistimed the last step and almost blown the kneecap. Weakness wasn’t permitted among the Lamiae, and us students were careful to show ourselves to be capable to face the demons we aimed to eradicate. I wanted to graduate top of my class just like David was about to. Those who scored the highest marks were given highest priority in assignments and the best hunters with which to train. I had top marks in every subject; from History, to Chemistry, to Vampire Anatomy. I wasn’t about to let a bad landing screw it up for me.
I stripped down to my bra and panties, and iced my knee while I pulled the course up on my laptop and reviewed my weakest moments. Aside from my last drop from roof to ground level, I had three other major slows, all in places where I had to make a choice. I opened a scheduling tab and reserved a few blocks of time in the reflexes chamber. Quick on my feet, but slow to decide. Sounded like me, all right.
I took the ice pack off my knee and threw it back in the freezer compartment of my first aid cabinet in the corner of my room. I took out my Xanax, and slipped a single pill into my pocket; out of habit more than necessity, since I hadn’t had a panic attack I couldn’t control in months. I wrapped my knee with an Ace bandage and put on sweats to wear to the shower, so the bandage wouldn’t be visible.
David and Clay were done with their showers and were primping in front of the mirror when I arrived. Between them, they had as much hair and skin product as Simi, and she was a theatrical genius and a master of disguise.
“Hurry it up, slow-poke, or we’ll have to eat without you, and you know, the cool kid table isn’t cool when you’re the only one sitting there.” I flipped David off and walked away without answering. Chances were they’d still be doing their hair when I got out, and he knew it.
David was just packing up his hygiene kit when I stepped out; back in my sweats, with my wet hair soaking the back of my shirt. He tossed me his brush and I smoothed the wet tendrils into a respectable ponytail at my crown, stealing some of his moisturizer for my face and hands before we walked out together. A couple of younger students shot daggers at me as we passed them in the hall, but my skin was thick when it came to other women’s hatred. It came with the territory, being raised alongside God’s gift to women. Sure, he had chocolate eyes that looked right through you, a six-foot frame under the build of an all-American, and a perpetual tan, courtesy of his Brazilian heritage. Okay, so he was bloody beautiful, and sometimes, he was a little too aware of it.
But David wasn’t just my best friend; he was also my big brother. When I arrived at his house, I couldn’t speak. I was so little, and the horror of watching my parents mutilated and killed for sport was more than I could process at the age of three. He was only one year older than me, but even then; he’d protected me and kept me safe. When I was old enough, David’s parents; my new family, had explained the truth behind my memories and nightmares. That was when I learned that vampires were real. It was also when my foster father showed me a photograph of a face I could never forget, no matter how hard I tried. This time though, the vampire’s eyes weren’t glowing red with hellfire like they were the night he visited my home: they were lifeless and clouded, his head lolling in a basket, severed from the rest of his body.
David had held my hand, trying to protect me from the image, but it didn’t hurt to see the vampire’s death. I’d felt such a fierce joy that it frightened me. My foster parents were hunters, members of the Venatores Lamiae, an elite cadre started by the Roman church millennia before to observe, hunt, and eradicate the scourge of vampirism. David had always been the one to stand between me and the world. The more I stood on my own, the more he made me feel like I could do anything.
I sighed, the ache in my knee was distracting and sharp. David didn’t say a word. He just put his arm around me, draping my arm over his shoulders. It took the weight off my knee while making it look like besties just being affectionate. Because Clayton and I had done so well, our practice times had been broadcasted through the bunker and gossiped about, thoroughly. David and I walking like a couple of drunks in the middle of the day wouldn’t even make them blink.
“So, did you hear a pop, or are you just sore?” He asked as we sat across the table from Clay.
“It twanged. Not a, full-on, pop.” Clay gaped at us then muttered something under his breath as David got back up to get us lunch. “Clayton, what’s up?” I asked.
“You ran the course injured, and you still kicked my ass.”
“Well, it helps that I treat it like it’s not practice every time. It’s not you chasing me; it’s him. Pretty damn good motivation, if you think about it.”
“Okay, that’s messed up, and probably exactly what I should be doing.”
“I’m going to ask them to randomize the course again. Will you back me up?”
“But, we’re just getting used to it. Oh; I get it; you’re a slave driver, but yes I’ll back you up. You really want to blow the records out of the water, don’t you?”
“That’s not what I was aiming for. I went over my run today, and every time I had to make a choice, I froze. I’m not like you and David; I don’t even know anyone but you guys, Simi, and my teachers. I freeze; I have panic attacks. I’m afraid they’ll stick me in a library and never give me a chance.” David slid a tray in front of me, with a salad big enough for two people, and fragrant garlic bread.
“You haven’t had a panic attack in a long time. You’re unique here, and everybody agrees that you’re special Care-Bear,” he said. I just rolled my eyes at him.
“Girls who tell me I’m worthless sing my praises to you, David. They don’t think I’m special. They want you to like them.” Clay nodded, shrugging when David glared at him.
“Sorry bro. As your wingman, I can tell you she’s on point. You two are scary together. I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like with you guys running the place someday.” He winked at me and I had to smile back. Clay’s positivity was unusual around here, where every day was life or death, by necessity. “So, are we ready for some beach time?” David beat on the table like a drum and grinned.
“I’m already packed. How about you, squirt?” Clay chimed in.
“Yes, I’m packed. And if you call me squirt again, I’m going to break your legs.” I drawled. I was as excited to get away as the guys, but nervous. It was the first time we were getting to go away without constant adult supervision, and I was anxious about losing my safety net and being around strangers at the same time. But Malibu sounded so amazing, and I couldn’t wait to spend some time on the beach. Once David was apprenticed, he’d be up mostly at night. Clay and I had already decided that when he started night training, we would too, which meant a serious limit on time to bask in the sun.
I glanced at David out of the corner of my eye and thought about what Clay had said. I had no intention of coming in second to anyone in the Venatores Lamiae, but it made my chest feel tight, and my stomach heat up, to think of spending my near future even closer to David. I’d no longer be able to stand one step behind and watch him forget I existed when we weren’t alone.
After we had finished eating, David snuck me into the nurses’ station without our monitor; Simi, or any of the teachers seeing us, and cajoled the nurse into giving me a cortisone injection for my knee. She barely seemed to notice I was there, despite me being the patient, until I asked David to leave so I could talk to her about girl stuff. When he left, she gave me a death stare, until I pulled out some tears, just enough to make her feel guilty. I looked even younger than my seventeen years on my best day. My glassy eyes and red nose only knocked a couple more years off that. By the time I left, she’d handed over an additional injection “for an adult to give me if I needed it”. I also asked for more Xanax, and oral anti-inflammatories, which I’d add to my kit for emergencies.
Clay and David were both waiting outside the triage when I walked out. My pain had almost completely subsided already. David put an arm around me and I let him, even though I didn’t need the support anymore. After all, who was I to turn down the support of my best friend?