"Freak like me" Chapter 1
It's 7 pm and I'm on my way to meet Larten, my mentor, to resume my training for the day. Tonight's lesson: flitting. That's running so fast you can be across the state in minutes. It's so cool! I think that's the coolest trait vampires and vampaneze have. I just love it.
Larten is waiting for me beside a tree and as I approach him I see he's grinning. That's never good. I'm one step away from him, when he flits and he's on the other side of the field.
"Too slow, kid" he calls.
I shake my head and run towards him. I'm fast, but it's still not flitting. He stops me mid-run and unfreezes me with a snap of his fingers.
"What are yoy thinking?" he askes, pacing around me, hands clasped behind his back.
"About running?" I answer hesitantly. I can just tell he's going somewhere.
I can also tell I gave the wrong answer.
He shakes his head. "You're not supposed to be thinking about what your're doing"
"What then?"
He throws an ice glare at me for interrupting him. By now, I should know better. He takes his time, but he always explains. I just can't help being an impatient brat. He makes sure to remind me of that. I don't mind though, cause I know he cares about me. Or that's what Madame Truska tells me.
Larten continues to pace pensively, staring at the ground. I'm starting to get impatient again, but this time I just put up with it. The last thing I want is an encounter with the back of a vampire's hand.
"The only thing that should be on your mind, is your destination" he finally says, and looks up at me.
I nod and take a deep breath. I close my eyes and then I'm running. And this time it's different, I can tell by the way the air feels against my skin. I try to focus my eyes on my surroundings, but everything's gone faster than I can look and I'm just running blindly. It's fun and exhilarating, my heart's beating a thousand times faster than usual, my hair's wild in the wind, my eyes are blind with tears from the force of the air hitting against my face.
And before I notice, something hard is hitting against my face. I fall back forcefully, everything's spinning and it's difficult for me to hear. But even in my confused state I can make out my mentor's laughter.
When I can finally focus my eyes and breathe again, I see him clutching at his chest with one hand, the other hand supporting him against a tree, face completely red and his mouth open so wide I think his jaw might crack.
"Ahhahahaha... oh, kid, that was hillarious haha" he's still gasping for breath, unable to let go of the tree trunk.
I scoff and stand up, totally embarrased and a bit pissed that he finds my misfortune so entertaining.
"Oh, lord, I haven't laughed that hard in decades" he sighs, and wipes at his eyes.
I continue to glare at him but it's pointless. He's completely absorbed in his enjoyment. I prove at his mind to see what I did wrong, but even in his thoughts he's laughing his ass off.
"Watch your language, assistant" he manages to gasp out between chokes of laughter.
I decide that I'm not going to just stand there and wait until he gets it together, so I walk away and sit under a tree. I hate it when he does that. He's always making fun of my mistakes. I bet he screwed up a lot when he was an assistant, and now he's just taking it out on me.
"I told you to watch your language" he says, standing over me like a shadow.
"Are you done now?" I ask, irritation evident in my voice.
Larten grins and motions for me to stand up. He doesn't like me moping around.
"OK. Let's see. What went wrong?"
"You tell me! I did exactly as you said!" I reply defensively.
My mentor shakes his head and grins again.
"Just because you need to think of your destination, it doesn't mean you should compeltely disregard your surroundings"
"I tried to see where I was going, but I just couldn't focus on anything. Things just went flying by me" I protest.
I know I sound like an annoying little kid, but I just rammed my head against a tree!
"So you need to look ahead of you, not behind you, kid"
Oh. That actually makes sense. Instead of trying to focus on what I've already passed by, I should be paying attention to what's coming. I can do that... I think.
Larten nods and stands back. "Are you ready to try it again?"
I don't answer. I just start running. This time, it's different. The sensation isn't new, so I can fully focus on what's ahead of me. I manage to avoid trees as I zig-zag through the forest. I don't think I'm going to get anywhere conciously yet, but it's a start.
By the time I finish flitting, Larten's ready to go back to camp. We take the usual route, and he takes a detour, taking the highway instead of going through the forest. I look at him in question and he shrugs.
"You need to feed. That's a lot of energy you spent"
He stops abruptly and points across the road. There's a car stopped with the hood popped and a woman leaning against the side. She looks like my mum, kind of chubby, wearing a long dress that does nothing to favor her, long blond hair tied in a pony tail. I sniff at the air. She smells nice.
Larten nudges me on the ribs and I flit to the car. One puff of breath and the woman is limp in my arms. That's another neat trick. I call it the "snooze". All I have to do is exhale near a human, and it sedates them. Then I can feed quietly and they don't freak out. I take the blood I need and lay her in the back seat of the car.
"Well done. I see you've mastered feeding" Larten says, and takes his turn with her.