11
~Chapter One~
-Jake Silman-
"Move, move, move! You're going to be late!" my frantic mother trills unnecessarily at me, as I pass through the kitchen five minutes until eight. "Relax, mom. I have five whole minutes until first hour starts. I tentatively reach for a Krispy Kreme only to have my hand swatted away. "No time! Move! I expect you and Kayla to make it to training on time, no excuses. And if your late, I will find out." she moves to hug me. "I'll be working until 4, so make sure Kayla gets a good lunch before training. Love you, Jake."
She kisses my forehead and I'm glad my friends aren't here. "I'd love you more if you'd give me a damn doughnut..." I joke. I hurry into the hallway before mom smites me and head downstairs to the garage. The sector 3 garage is littered with everything from Lamborghini's to trucks that would make any true redneck poop his pants. I happen to drive a black Nissan 350z. It's no Lambo, but it gets the job done. Right when I unlock my car, I notice Sharie, my best friend and fellow Coven member, practically running to her truck with a load of books that should be impossible for a dainty girl like her to carry, and, of course, a Krispy Kreme.
I hurry over to her passenger side and open her door so she can lob her books down. She mutters thanks through a mouthful of chocolaty goodness. Before she can protest, I lean over and steal a bite. She gives me a playful stink eye before hopping in her truck and defying every speed limit to get to class on time. I take my time starting my car, wishing I had her passion for punctuality.
In case you haven't noticed, my name is Jake Silman. This year I'm, finally, a senior at Jackson high school and have maintained a 4.0 GPA since my sophomore year. (Freshman year was my rebel phase). I look like a slacker, with my shaggy brown hair, plain T-shirts and holey jeans, though I'm actually quite driven. My hair hangs just barely in my eyes to the point of obnoxious hair flipping, which really gets on my mom's nerves. My eyes are, to quote an ex-girlfriend, a striking color of green. I'm built like a football player, (linebacker, not quarterback) though instead of scoring touchdowns on Friday nights, I'm learning how to hunt and slay vampires. I'm a member, in training, of the most well-known and best vampire slayer coven known to man.
We vampire slayers are born immortal and have some cool advantages on humans. Some of the elders have even managed to learn to preform magic. Magic is responsible for our invisible border, which makes humans instantly forget what they were doing in the outskirts of the coven territory and leave. Any exceptions are killed on sight, so I wouldn't recommend wandering in. we've been rivals to the vamps for thousands of years, though they've never openly attacked a large coven such as my own before. My coven occupies the shady-looking town of Jacksonville, Colorado. Don't bother to look us up on MapQuest, were not there. Unless you live one town over or are a member, you've never heard of Jacksonville. We attend the human high-school and the Jr. high/elementary in the next town over. We could build our own school, but the elders think it's important for us to interact with humans. We have a population of about twelve hundred, and our living areas are split into six large sectors. Our elders thought it would be more efficient and tidy than houses scattered everywhere, and they were right.
After driving a couple of miles, I'm at school. I whip into the student lot of Jackson High at precisely 8:02, although I sped about ten miles over the limit and ran red stoplights the whole way. I lock my little Nissan and pocket my keys before making my way to the main doors. Inside, a few other students are still milling around, mainly the stoners, so I'm not too worried.
As I head upstairs to the math hall, two hot blonde cheerleaders strut past me. "Hi, Jake." They coo simultaneously while fluffing their hair and giving me equally seductive smiles. I return the smile. "Good morning, ladies." I say with a wink. They dissolve into giggles and hurry away, whispering between giggles.
Vampire slayers are like the quarterbacks of an immortal-occupied high school, only we have quicker wits and give off a mysterious vibe to humans. I mean, think about it. To humans, were the kids who live in the town you can't go near, who could pick up the whole football team with one hand and throw them halfway across the field, and who look chiseled and perfect from years of training and just plain genetics.
I finally drag myself into Mrs. Hilson's advanced trig class ten minutes late. She furiously stops her rant about the importance of taking notes to give me a well-practiced glare. "Mr. Silman, for what reason have you showed up to my class ten minutes late?" she bites at me while clearing her throat like an angry librarian and pushing her glasses up her nose.
"I'm very sorry, Mrs. Hilson," I put on my best nice guy face and apologetic voice. "I had some car troubles this morning. The transmission, actually. I had to walk." I lie smoothly. Her expression lightens slightly and she looks me right in the eyes. "Fine. Take a seat and don't let it happen again." With that, she turns back to the half-asleep seniors and picks up her rant once more.
Any human to show up late to her class would get an automatic hour detention, no questions asked. Vampire slayers are special cases. If you ask me, it shouldn't be that way, but I don't make the rules. Humanity is obsessed with us because we are supernatural. We're something right out of a teen fiction novel, and they want to be us. They want our advanced anatomy, speed and strength, and are too caught up in that to actually see us as people. That's why I could never date a human girl. She wouldn't want to be with me for me, just the blood that runs through my veins.
I stride victoriously to my seat in the back, and feel a small truck crash right into my left bicep the second I get comfortable. I automatically turn toward the source of the pain, and find it wasn't a truck, just a fist of Sharie. I give her a look of pretend shock and rub my arm. "Dirty liar." She whispers furiously. I display another look of shock and silently mock laughing at her. She rolls her eyes and turns irritably back to Hilson.
Sharie Criston has been my best friend since we started training for vamp slaying eleven years ago. She's short, about 5'1, with curly red hair that falls naturally to her hips. Her eyes are an innocent baby blue and they remind me of those of a baby deer. She has a dainty but curvy frame, naturally making her a bombshell, though she's never dated anyone. She's repeatedly said dating is a waste of her time, and I admire how she has no problem turning guys down nicely. Her biggest pet peeve is people who don't take school and training seriously, go figure.
51 minutes later, the bell rings and all of the sleepy seniors perk up instantly. They all stream out the door in a rush, but I wait for Sharie to take her time and give me a lecture about the importance of honesty. As if on cue, I get the lecture the second we're far enough away from the hawk-like ears of Mrs. Hilson.
"Jake, you really have to stop treating Hilson's class like free time. Are you trying to screw up your 4.0 and get a bad assignment? The council won't even consider considering you for a position without a 4.0." she nags with sincere disappointment and concern. I sigh and shake my head. "Sweetie, the woman spent an hour talking about how you will end up a plumber if you don't take trig notes. I highly doubt I'm going to ruin my GPA by not taking notes on taking notes. Even if I did mess up my 4.0, I'm at the top of the class in training and my dad's on the high council. I could probably get a position if I wanted." I finish.
Sharie considers my answer for a second before turning her back on me and walking away to English four. I don't even bother to remind her I have virtually no interest in becoming a councilman. Of all the jobs you can get as a vampire slayer, sitting in an office all day as a member of the council doesn't really sound appealing. I personally like the idea of an assassin. Assassins travel the world and track down vampires, whereas all of the other certified vampire slayers only attack the vampires posing an immediate threat to the coven.
Unless you have a vacation cleared or are a certified assassin, you can't really leave Jacksonville. The assassins get to spy for the council and kill vampires left and right, but the best part is getting to see the world. Only the best of the best end up as assassins, and I'm hoping that's me when I graduate.
I head off to advanced physics, thinking about how I'm going to make Sharie get over me telling Hilson a white lie. It's not like I'm the first teenager to lie to his high school math teacher. I can't help but think about immortality. We don't even live forever, we just have extremely long life spans. We have to eat, sleep, and bathe, we just don't die if we go three days without water. We do have super strength and speed, and a cool sixth sense that alerts us of a vampire's presence. It's not like a cool robotic alarm or anything, just a feeling.
A Vampire would be stronger than a slayer in a one on one battle, but they are independent, and that's the only thing keeping them from assembling and wiping us out completely.
I make it to adv. Physics on time and am secretly proud of myself. My human lab partner, Courtney Cooke, is already in her seat, twirling a lock of blonde hair around her finger. I try not to disturb her while she's smacking on pink bubblegum and staring blankly at the wall, but as soon as I sit down she lights up. "Jake! Hey! How are you? Did you get the section review done? I couldn't figure it out but I….." I tune out of her babble, but am sure to nod along and make sympathetic noises at the appropriate intervals.
Courtney is a sweet girl, but she's one of those people who doesn't know when the conversation is over. Our teacher, Mr. Phil, (yes, that's really his last name. we made him show us an ID last year) clears his throat to get our attention.
Luckily, I'm saved from Courtney babble for now. Halfway through a review, Phil hands out our assignment, a three page study guide, front and back. I breeze through mine in ten minutes and help a struggling Courtney. Surprisingly, she thanks me with a tight hug and I can't help but think of how her hair smells like strawberries.
One of the good things about living in the coven is we only have school for half a day. In order to have time for training, we have four core classes from 8 to noon, leave campus for a quick lunch, and go to training from one to five. After English 4 and Spanish 4, I'm walking through the student lot to my car with Sharie and a herd of immortal teenagers.
Before heading off to her diesel, Sharie gives me a sweet smile and a friendly peck on the cheek, which is our best friend code for 'I'm sorry I was a jackass.' I smile back to let her know I forgive her and hop into my own car. Before backing out, I pop in 'The Eminem Show' and carefully select my favorite track, 'Business'. The traffic slowly crawls through the campus exit until we reach the tollbooth like building where they check our student IDs to make sure were not humans cutting class.
The guy waves me on and I follow the line of traffic leading to Jacksonville. Our human and vampire repelling border is magic produced by Robert, our head elder and founder. The border is invisible, so we have a huge wrought iron gate and a fence. Normally, the gate is locked up tight, but now it's open for us to get in. a control station equipped with surveillance sits in the middle of town, so the gate can be operated with ease. I think it's just for show, but the council says it's necessary.
I personally admire Roberts's ability to produce the magic border. Not only does it take a large amount of concentration, but in order to keep it from faltering he must stay concentrated on it 24/7. He told me at first it was terrible, but with practice it becomes second nature.
Past the iron gates there are three main streets with no signs. If you don't know where you're going here, you obviously don't belong. Visitors aren't taken lightly. The street to the far left leads to the council headquarters, which is like a city hall only much larger and much more serious. It's like the government of the coven.
The street to the right leads to our one and only training academy, which is like a college. The only difference is we learn how to kick parasite ass, not calculus. The middle street is more or less the main street, because it leads to the heart of the town. Down this street our the six sector housings, which are like giant hotels with permanent residence and much larger rooms, a lake, grocery stores, gas stations, malls, a Wal-Mart supercenter, etc.
I take the middle street and pass a few miles of pastures and cows before the street splits off in seven different directions. The seventh street leads into the main part of town with stores and whatnot, but the other six lead to the housings. I take the third street and coast downhill to the underground parking garage, build underneath each sectors housing to save space and, well, to look cool.
Our parking garages are like the public ones, minus the greasy hobos and that hovering feeling that your about to be raped. I take the 'in' ramp and whip into my spot next to Sharie's diesel. On the far side of the garage is a wide set of stairs that leads to the largest patio you'll ever see.
It has a view of the humongous lake and a beautiful canopy of trees that gives shade and privacy. A rope is hanging about five feet from the deck off of one of the trees, and it's perfect for swinging ten feet above the lake and dropping into the murky water. On the nearest wall is a set of sliding glass doors that leads into the main floor. The main floor is painted deep blue with a white carpet that surprisingly stays clean.
A wide hallway to the left leads to the rec room, movie theater, pool, and a dining room equipped with live music weekly. The rec room has some arcade games, TVs, a library, and squishy bean bag chairs that swallow you butt and pocket change if you're not careful. Our movie theater gets new movies before regular theaters do and is free to residents. The other sectors have them too, only everyone's sector has different things.
Sector two has rock climbing and five has bungee jumping, but anyone can go there. Our pool is complete with a diving board, a slide, and a fifty foot diving simulator. I hear it was a mess putting it in with the garage in the way, but somehow they worked it out. The dining room is overrated. It's mainly full of classy middle aged parents who get sick of cooking in their own kitchens.
I head for the elevator to the right of the glass doors and push the' 4' button that will take me home. At room 215, I slide my keycard in the lock and it flashes green. The medium sized kitchen is complete with a dining area and stainless steel appliances. The kitchen is connected with the living room, which has a 58 inch plasma screen and a fluffy couch, complimented by a dainty glass coffee table.
A hallway to the right holds three bedrooms, one for me, one for my kid sister Kayla, one for my parents, and two bathrooms. Another small room holds our high efficiency washer and dryer. Our home is simple and modern, but the elegance of the whole building makes up for it.
I go down the hallway and into my bedroom, the first one on the left. My walls are blue, but you can barely tell due to the mass of posters, drawings, signs and ticket stubs plastered over them. My full sized bed sits in the right corner across from my closet. My desk is closest to my door and my 24 inch flat screen is mounted on the same wall as my door.
I unceremoniously plop my books down on my desk next to my Alienware laptop and rummage in my closet for my underarmour. Efficiently, I swap my jeans, T-shirt, and converse for my shorts, a sleek muscle shirt, and some Nike Shox. After applying extra cologne and deodorant, I think I'm all set for training, although my grumbling stomach disagrees.
I lumber into the kitchen to scour for food, and find my twelve year old sister Kayla stuffing her face with a doughnut. Her back is turned to me, so she doesn't notice me come in. I sigh. "Kayla, what are you doing? I ask in my best intimidating older brother voice. She jumps and faces me slowly, attempting to hide the doughnut behind her back.
"Nuffing?" she attempts to say with her mouth full. "Oh, really? Because it looks like you were eating a doughnut right before training." I accuse while crossing my arms. Mom and dad are at work, so it's my job to make sure she gets a good lunch before training. She sighs and swallows her bite before throwing away the junk food and giving me her best innocent child look.
"Next time, take it in your room, rookie." I joke before plopping two packs of shrimp ramen into a pan of hot water on the stove. "How was school?" I ask sweetly. She thinks her answer over carefully. "It was okay. But I can't wait for training. We're starting on steaks today." She beams.
Kayla is a level five in training and I'm a level eleven, with one more year to go before becoming a certified vampire slayer. I can't wait to no longer be a novice.
We finish our mediocre noodles and shuffle out the door. When I start up the Nissan, Eminem's 'kill you' resumes, and I notice Kayla giggling in the passenger seat. Before thinking it over, I ask, "What's so funny?" agitatedly. She stops her bubbly giggles to reply, "He said bitc…" I cut her off immediately once I catch on and turn the CD off as quick as possible. "Until you can handle hearing the word without laughing, don't use it." I state. I don't even mention using it in front of mom at her age would get her a mouth full of soap. I learned this at ten.
I weave professionally through the perfectly paved streets behind a line of students heading to the academy. I finally pull into the parking lot of the academy and park in my assigned spot, fifteen minutes early. I grin victoriously and fist pump the air. Before hopping out of the car, I hand Kayla a dollar for a Gatorade and watch her light up. Twelve year olds are so easy to please, especially when you're their number one role model.
The Jacksonville Academy of Training is a colossal building where we immortals learn the intricate art of vampire slaying. The building itself is as old as dirt but has been restored beautifully. We take pride in our academy, and I even have a JAT hoodie somewhere.
We shuffle into the main doors along with a horde of novices. Kayla notices her friends waving her over so she takes off, but not without giving me a smile and wave. I spot Sharie in the lobby, picking at her nails and looking bored. She probably showed up a half hour ago. She's wearing a body hugging tank top and spandex short-shorts, which are catching the eyes of more than a few guys. She takes no notice. Her hair is in two long, intricate fishtail braids down her back as it always is for training.
Standing next to her is one of my other best friends, Trey. He has long black hair that almost completely conceals his eyes, much to our professor's dismay. If my hair flipping is annoying, his is ten times worse. He has a wiry frame and looks like a weak kid, but he could probably pick up a small truck if he really wanted to. He always has a goofy grin on his face, which is the reason everyone who knows him calls him Dopey.
They notice me and wave me over, commenting on the fact that I'm early. "Well, there's a first time for everything, dude." Dopey says, well, dopily. He probably took a nap on the lunch break and still hasn't woken up all the way.
The lobby of the academy is carpeted and radiates pride, which could have something to do with the wall contributed to the slayers who have lost their lives in service to the coven. The wall is pretty full, sadly. Grim faces stare back at you as if daring you to follow in their footsteps.
The whole building is in the shape of a giant circle, with a large arena in the middle surrounded by practice rooms. Two small hallways sit on either side of the large one descending into the arena. The one to the left is for levels one through six and the other is for levels seven through twelve. We also learn about the history of the coven and slayers in general, but that's a rare occasion. It's mostly physical work here, thankfully.
A stairwell on the right wall next to the door to the headmaster's office leads upstairs to a small cafeteria that serves questionable food, restrooms, a few meeting rooms, and a lounge that rarely gets used. The academy is a nice place where we respect our work and professors, unlike high school. Human teenagers wouldn't last an hour here with our standards. We also have advanced training, which is kind of equivalent to college for humans.
The first bell rings suddenly, signaling the beginning of warm-up. The herd of novices thins as everyone wades off to their warm up room. Sharie, Trey and I all have practice with Professor Mills.
"Good afternoon, students. Please begin stretching." Prof. Mills booms with authority. I head to the back of the room and drop onto a squishy mat, to do some push-ups and get my adrenaline pumping. I complete thirty, along with forty two sit ups before I actually start stretching out my muscles. Trey looks lost while doing his own sit ups, and Sharie is doing about five in the time it takes trey to do two.
I try not to laugh at him but fail miserably. "Okay, that should be enough stretching. Attention!" Mills booms. We all simultaneously snap into position, our backs as straight as a two-by-four, hands clasped behind our backs, chins up, and legs spread shoulder width apart. Mills evaluates us quickly before ordering us to relax, only to make us snap back into attention.
We finally get it right, and he nods at us, which is his form of praise. "Okay. Today were going to work on being prepared for ambush at all times. We've gone over this before, so today will be your test. Watching your back is essential to vampire slaying, and if it was up to me this would be one of the first things you learn here, but I don't make the rules. Anyway, if you let your guard down for even a second, it could cost you your life."
He pauses and scans the room. "Davis!" he barks. A lanky blonde in the front of the room, Maria Davis, Jumps Visibly. "Attention means you don't move! Not an inch!" he booms. I'm pretty sure she scratched her nose. "You don't break rank unless a team of suicide bombers flies through the window! Got it!? Drop and give me twenty." She falls to the ground and seamlessly completes twenty one handed push-ups. Once finished, she Jumps to her feet in one motion, salutes mills, and snaps back into attention.
Huh. I had to do fifty for sneezing once. He must be having a good day. "As I was saying," he continues while looking daggers at Maria. She looks embarrassed. "Being prepared 24/7 is essential. We're going to head down to the arena where I have set up an obstacle course for you. A few other professors have agreed to be our 'Vampires,' so their classes will be joining us. At ease." He finishes.
I relax and follow the crowd out the door. At the front of the line I notice one of Maria's friends consoling her. Two other classes are already in the arena when we enter. A black track loops around the astral-turf field, which is the size of two football fields if someone were to jam them together. In the very middle of the field, lies our test.
It consists of a line of tires like football players use, followed by a super-long line of monkey bars, which have been creatively set over a mud pit of equal length. Where the monkey bars end, there is a rope net, about twenty feet tall, leading to a wooden platform and a descending zip line heading off the other side of the platform. It has no railings. Following the zip line is a long, narrow pool of water, complete with lily-pad like floats that are cinched down to the bottom of the pool with ropes.
I'm assuming we have to jump across them. The final obstacle is a rope dangling from the arena ceiling, complete with a little cowbell tied to the top. I wonder where they got the humongous ladder to hang up the rope.
Once were done goggling at the contraptions, Mills clears his throat and all of the chatter in the room dies down instantly. "Before we begin, you each have six laps. If anyone even thinks about walking them, they will sit out and fail the test. Begin now." Six laps on our track is three miles, but were all pretty fit.
Sharie and I set off at a light jog and laugh when Trey shoots past us, using up all of his well needed energy on the first lap. "Mills really outdid himself on the obstacles. How did he manage to get the mud pit and the pool in here?" Sharie ponders. "I don't know, but it actually looks pretty fun. Much better than that week long unit about vampire anatomy." I remark truthfully. By now, we've completed three laps, so we pick up our speed to a slow run, which would be sprinting to a human.
When trey laps us he's already panting heavily, whereas I haven't even come close to breaking a sweat. We cross the line again and have only two laps to go, so I give Sharie a mischievous look, initiating a race. She understands my meaning instantly and shoots off at full speed, but not before sticking her tongue out at me. I waste no time and dash after her, catching up fast. I feel my hair flailing about and my legs pushing me fast. Two laps later, I'm glowering as Sharie gloats her victory. Trey kindly points out that I was beaten by a girl.
When everyone is done, Mills calls attention and we all jump into position. The noise echoes through the large arena. "Alright, here's how this is going to go. You begin at the white line when I blow my whistle and maneuver the tires. You then climb across the monkey bars without falling in the mud pit, anyone that does will have points deducted.
You then scale up the rope ladder and onto the platform before sliding down the zip line. Next come the floaties. You jump across them without getting wet. Finally, you climb up the rope and ring the bell. Keep in mind you will be ambushed by a 'vampire' at least once. If you fail to complete an obstacle for any reason or get 'bitten', you will likely fail your test. Once the person in front of you is halfway through, you will hear the whistle and begin.
Line up now." He finishes. We all hurry to the white line, but Sharie gets there first, with Trey and myself right behind her. Sharie grabs a rubber steak from the pile next to the white line that I didn't notice. She then carefully poises herself to begin. An instant later a shrill buzzing noise fills my ears and Sharie shoots off toward the tires, maneuvering them efficiently.
She then dashes the short distance to the monkey bars in seconds and hops like a bunny onto the first one. She swings her body efficiently to grab each bar. Just as she's jumping off the final monkey bar and onto solid ground, a figure dressed in all black shoots toward her, coming literally out of nowhere.
Luckily, Sharie hears the stealthy footsteps of her attacker and spins toward him, fumbling in her pocket for her steak. The attacker, one of our professors, circles Sharie, waiting for an opening to attack. The attacker lunges, though Sharie senses the tactic and dodges. She then goes on the offensive and advances toward the attacker, feinting to the right and catching the professor slightly off his guard. She takes advantages of the opening, and pokes the professor on the chest expertly, wasting no time in getting to the rope ladder.
The professor runs back off of the course, signaling defeat. Sharie reaches the platform in great time and flings herself down the zip line, taking care to position her legs for a nice landing. As soon as her feet touch the ground, the whistle trills once more, signaling the beginning of my test.
I shoot toward the tires and dash through them two at a time. My toned legs skillfully push me the twenty feet to the monkey bars in seconds. I launch myself at them, completely missing the first two and seizing the third with enough momentum to fly right to the fifth. I hop off the last one and rocket up the rope ladder. Ahead of me I spot Sharie shimmying up the rope. I reach the wooden platform and hop on the handle to the zip line, glad Sharie remembered to lob it back up for me. As I let go of the zip line handle, my thoughts are cut short by footsteps behind me, growing louder by the second.
I spin around to face my attacker while retrieving my steak from my pocket. I notice my attacker is Professor Lillian, and feel odd fighting a girl, other that practice fighting with Sharie. I've heard the girl vampires are feisty, and know I'll eventually have to fight one.
Still, I'm not used to it. If this were a real scenario, one of us would have to die, and I would hope it wouldn't be me. That thought gets my adrenaline pumping and switches me into fight mode. She unexpectedly lunges toward me and I manage to jump away in time, though I momentarily lose my balance.
I stumble, but quickly recover my stance. If any humans were to witness this fight, all they would see is blurs of color, due to our speed and outstanding training. My attacker tries to grab me and I sense an opening.
I lightly poke her chest with my steak and then throw it to the ground before spinning on my heels and dashing to the pool. There are about twelve lily pads and I hop across them without missing a beat. I easily maintain my balance on the shifting surface and gracefully jump onto solid ground.
I shoot toward the long, thick rope and notice Sharie standing about ten feet away past the finish line. I spring onto the rope, wasting no time scuttling up it. Gladly, I reach the top in a few minutes and ding the bell victoriously before shimmying down, taking care to not get a wicked rope burn on my hands and legs.
I plop onto the ground and go stand by Sharie, noticing Trey coming down the zip line. We give each other high-fives and move to sit on the track to wait. I laugh as Mills attacks Trey, catching him off guard and 'biting' him, causing him to fail his test. "That will teach him to mock me for getting beaten by a girl…" I mutter, feeling slightly avenged.