PROLOGUE
Knowledge is power.
It is they key to survival, the key to her job.
Her name was Lujuanna Deverell, but known and remembered as Lara McAvoy.
Her job?
She tracked and killed Blood Hunters; or Vampires as they're more commonly known. Vampires are not just myth, they're very real, and in most cases immensely scary. If you see one, it'll be the last thing you do.
She viciously hated her job, but she had no choice but to do it. Her boss had given her mother the money to disappear, never to see her daughter again.
It was just as well. She didn't want her mother to know that she was a killer.
1
"Lara, wake up. Lara!"
Lara groaned, waving a hand dismissively. "Go away…" She said sluggishly.
"The Boss wants to see you in the exercise room. Immediately." Stefan stressed half-heartedly.
"Fine, fine Stefan, I'm up. What does he want?" Lara sighed as she stood up. She was in the sweatshirt and sweatpants that had the Kejin Logo on it. Her hair was down, hanging to her shoulders, but a little sleep tousled. Stefan had always appreciated her natural beauty and his thoughts strayed to the nights they walked around in the back garden together. Stefan shook his head to stay on the task at hand.
"You probably have another assignment, but how should I know? He just told me to come get you." Stefan said, rolling his eyes. Lara scowled in disgust.
"Great. This is going to be so much fun" Lara said sarcastically. She stood up and followed Stefan to the exercise room.
The Boss was waiting for them by a mat. He was in a black suit with the Kejin logo pinned to his lapel in gold. He was of a lean build, with black hair that was so dark it had a blue tint.
"Agent McAvoy. You're to get onto the mat with Agent Krieger." The Boss gestured to the mat and Stefan stepped onto it, taking off his shoes and setting them aside.
"Why are we doing this?" Lara demanded. The Boss looked at her. More like glared at her.
"Its instruction for your next assignment. Agent Krieger is best at combat in field operations. You will practice fighting tactics with him until you have no feeling in your limbs, understand?" The Boss looked down his nose at her. He hadn't raised his voice, but Lara felt like she was in military camp and being drilled. She felt like she was expected to salute him.
"Yes, I understand. Get back to your so called JOB." Lara scowled, then stepped onto the mat and set her shoes aside. The Boss shook his head as if disappointed and left the room. Lara smirked; she knew he wouldn't punish her. She was too valuable to the organization.
Lara waited for her instructions from Stefan, challenging him with an eyebrow raised.
"Get into your defensive position." Stefan said, running a hand through his hair; distracted, as if he had other things to do. He sighed. Lara got into position. There was nothing wrong with it that Stefan could see; she could block her body and move quite easily.
"Alright, now let's see your offensive position." Stefan said. Lara eased into it with a lithe, feline grace, and Stefan shook his head. It would never be effective.
"Bend your knees a bit more, so you're in a slight crouch." Stefan instructed. Lara did so with ease, her muscles not quivering beneath her weight at all.
"Turn your palms toward you a bit more, and have your less dominant arm facing me." Stefan instructed, and Lara shifted her position.
"Exactly. Now we're going to face off and I'm going to teach you some moves. Of course, Blood Hunters are a lot faster than the average human, but if you have fast reflexes you're better off. Now, let's get to it." Stefan said. He taught her how to do a few crucial kicks and blocks, and then they got started.
He eased himself into an offensive position, while Lara switched to her defensive as Stefan charged her. They switched sides on the mat, and Stefan charged her again, but this time faking to the left, then going to the right and rushing her to the ground. Lara squirmed under him, trying to bring her knees up and get leverage; but Stefan was allowing her none whatsoever. He forced Lara to turn onto her stomach and pulled her arms back, applying a little pressure to her back with his knee. All Lara felt when Stefan twisted her arms back was a sickening jolt in her right shoulder, and immense pain. She yelled loudly as Stefan put more pressure to her back. Lara's breath came out in short bursts.
"Stop it!" She managed to shout, following with an uttered Transylvanian curse under her breath. Stefan stopped almost immediately and knelt down beside her. He pulled her to her feet gently. Lara swayed in his arms. She looked pale.
"My shoulder…" Lara murmured. Stefan turned her around so she faced him, and had a look at her right shoulder. It was slightly off angle. Dislocated.
Lara was in too much pain and her vision went black as she collapsed against Stefan.
He swept Lara into his arms easily, remembering the times they used to sit by their favourite willow tree, Lara's head on his shoulder, and his arm around her. He remembered when they started to drift apart…
FLASHBACK: 5 months ago
Lara settled back against Stefan, sighing, Stefan rubbing her arm soothingly. They were sitting by their favourite tree, its long leaves trailing to the ground, giving them a curtain of privacy.
"How was training?" He asked her. His eyes were closed
"Tiring. You?" She asked him, resting her head on his shoulder, but looking up at him. He's been looking so sad lately. She wondered why…
"Same. Busy." He replied. He took a deep breath. "Look, Lara, I've-"
They were interrupted by an agent running across the grass. "The Boss wants to see both of you." When the couple seemed reluctant, the agent added. "Now." with a sigh, Stefan stood, pulling Lara to her feet. They walked back inside HQ and followed the agent to a room in the very centre of the building.
"Sit down." The Boss said once the agent that had escorted them left the room. Stefan sat, but Lara remained standing.
"What do you want?" she asked The Boss, folding her arms over her chest.
"We need you to flush out a vampire in a distinguished setting. You'll be invited to a party, which will be arranged in one of our many public venues. You will notice him immediately. McAvoy, you'll lure him away from the crowd, Krieger, you'll take him by surprise and then you'll both kill him. This'll happen next week."
Lara started to shake her head slowly. "I'm not going to do it. If it takes two of us to take him down, it'll be dangerous. We'll get caught. You said he was distinguished, so no matter what if he goes missing or dies; there'll be news on it. People are going to worry. I'm not going to do it." Lara said. She also didn't want to endanger Stefan. She didn't want to work with him on assignments. It would completely cloud her judgement. Stefan looked over his shoulder at her, looking at her hard. Stefan nodded, understanding.
"I could do it myself, or have Kelly sub for Lara…" He shrugged. The Boss shook his head.
"Remember what I said would happen if you disobeyed my orders Krieger. You can't be trusted to go solo anymore…" He said ominously. Lara was confused.
"Stefan… what is he talking about?" She asked him. The Boss laughed.
"This is rich. You haven't told her yet? She has a right to know, it was her mother…" He smirked, an evil gleam in his eye. Lara looked from one to the other.
"What are you talking about…?" Stefan shifted uncomfortably in his chair under Lara's gaze.
"You mean he didn't tell you?" The Boss leaned back, comfortable in his chair. "He just stood there while Agent Romachnov stuck a knife in your mother's throat, didn't-" Stefan interrupted, standing.
"Stop it! I didn't want to do this to begin with! You forced it on me." Stefan protested. Lara pinched the bridge of her nose with thumb and index finger. She exhaled slowly, shakily.
"Why?" Lara asked The Boss. "She was no threat to you. You silenced her with money, you didn't have to kill her!" her voice had escalated into a shout. Stefan placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down, but she shook him off, and spun around to face him.
"And YOU! You did nothing…?! Just stood there? I can't deal with this right now." She turned to The Boss. "Get someone else to do your precious assignment, asshole." She stormed out of the room. Stefan glared at The Boss then followed Lara. He knocked on the door to her room.
"Go AWAY Stefan. I don't want to talk to you." Lara's voice muffled behind the door. Stefan dug into his pocket and found the passkey to her room. He opened the door. Lara cursed herself for giving him that now. She angrily wiped the tears from her eyes. She hadn't expected to feel anything… but she did.
"Go away…" Lara said. She felt the couch she was laying on move as Stefan sat on the edge. She looked at him to see him tapping his foot and fidgeting with his hands. He took a deep breath.
"Look, Lara… he told me to go. I didn't want to. I protested and tried to stop Kane, and I paid for it too." He pulled down the collar of his shirt to show her a ragged scar on the hollow of his neck. He knew she was looking at him, could feel her gaze.
"If you don't believe me, ask Kane yourself; he'd be happy to tell you about it." Stefan said bitterly. "I also took everything from your house that would lead the police to look for you. They have no clue where you are. I'll give them to you when you want them. There's also-" He stopped talking to take a necklace off his neck that was hidden underneath his shirt. "This. It was on her bedside table." Lara was sitting up now, looking at the locket on the chain, frowning. She allowed Stefan to reach behind her and put it on.
"This still doesn't change anything." She said; her voice cold as ice. Stefan understood. She didn't want anything more to do with him.
"I'll bring your stuff tomorrow." He left. Lara curled up on the couch, and opened the locket. A picture of her and her mother looked back at her. A teardrop landed on the photo before she realized she was crying. She tore the picture out of the locket and tore it methodically into little pieces.
"Goodbye, mom..." She whispered as she burned the torn pieces of paper.
End of flashback.