Compared to fending off a vampire with nothing but a pair of scissors, college was easy. Here in the human world, people didn't watch for weakness all the time. Everyone here was blissfully unaware that they were at the bottom of the food chain, and vampires were just a story. And sometimes sparkly.
The classwork was a breeze, and college students were friendlier and less prone to stab a girl in the back than trigger-happy mercenaries. For the first time she could remember, she found herself relaxing all the time.
College was good.
College was boring.
It was that boredom - and maybe a bit of nostalgia - that made Alysia stop and watch the archery club members practice their shooting as she passed the field. She eyed one of the shooters as he aimed with concentration. His stance was too wide, and a shapeshifter would have crossed the distance and crushed his skull by now if he was shooting for real. She could only imagine what Christian would say.
After the boy shot, he glanced at her, noticing her attention. "Hey!" he called. "You want to have a try?"
"Sure," she said. Why not? She hadn't held a recurve bow in a while.
The boy (his name was Jeremy, she learned) offered her the bow and explained to her how to shoot. She fought a stab of annoyance, not even sure why it needled her so much to be mistaken for a beginner, and let his explanation of the basics of archery wash over her.
When he finished speaking, she stepped forward. The boy was slightly behind her. It didn't matter; he wasn't carrying a weapon and she knew six ways to disable him if he tried anything.
Her body still remembered archery. Automatically, she shifted into the proper stance, her arrow aimed right at the bullseye. With a smooth motion, she drew the string back - and then froze. Alysia Marks was a college freshman, good with books and computers and definitely not good at stabbing vampires and shooting shapeshifters. Alysia Marks didn't know how to use a bow.
She turned the bow slightly to the side before she shot. The arrow veered off, landing in the grass. She made a face, pretending to be disappointed, and returned the bow to the boy.
"Hey, that wasn't too bad for a first try," Jeremy said. "Most people can't even get the arrow to fly. Though next time, you want to make sure you're aiming right before you shoot. It's not as easy as they make it look in the movies, you know?"
"Thanks." She had to look away to mask her contempt. He'd misunderstood, completely. Someone more observant would have noticed how she'd handled the bow with ease at first. She hadn't stopped to aim because she didn't have to. She was Bruja, after all - except she wasn't.
"Are you thinking of joining the club?" He grinned at her, hopeful. "We could train you up, if you're interested."
She froze. Possibilities opened up before her.. Alysia Marks didn't know how to shoot, but Alysia Marks could learn. No one would blink an eye and wonder where she'd learned her skills from, because she'd have an excuse. She could practice with a weapon in public and not have to worry about exposure.
And then what? she wondered. Her mercenary days were over. Shooting wooden targets and playing hunter wouldn't bring her old life back, and what was the point of winning against kids?
"So what do you say?" the boy prompted again.
She glanced up at him, shaking her head. "No, but thanks for letting me try, though. I'll leave the weapons to all you people who know how to handle them." She grinned to make a joke out of it, but her smile felt false.
Alysia wasn't sure what she was going to do with herself, but she did know this: she wasn't going to cling to her old life, or spend all of her time wishing that she was back at Bruja.
Alysia moved on.