It's weird, you know, childishly wishing for something pretty much your entire life, and then one day waking up to find that it has actually happened. Everyone wishes more than once in their life that they have some kind of super power, me included, but to wake up and find that you actually have more than one is just a frightening shock, something that still hasn't set in after two weeks.
I'm now able to run faster than any human alive, I have vision so perfect I can see every fibre of hair as if it were under a microscope, I can hear a pin drop up to 1000 miles away from where I'm standing, and my sense of smell makes the best hunting dog in the world seem like he's got a bad cold. On top of that, I can see into the mind of anybody I want at will, so I know if I'm being lied to or not, I know if anybody is planning something I didn't know about, and if they're asleep I can see their dreams. As with all vampires, I have the will to achinaed, which means I pretty much dissolve and vanish on the spot are then reappear wherever I wish. Teleportation, as it's known in books. I have one more gift, that no other vampire, or any other dark creature, has ever possessed before; telekinesis at its best. If I can see an object in my mind, I can move it, no matter where it is, but of course there's a catch. I have to have been near it, touched it, or used it or whatever to do this. I can't, for example, move the Statue of Liberty to the middle of Central Park in New York because I've had no "personal contact" with it. I need personal connection to move something that isn't near me, or it just won't work. In fairness, I'd say I'm now a better Jackie Chan than Jackie Chan himself. I am the most powerful being in existence, the ultimate fighting machine, and anyone who dares cross me is either the most stupid thing alive or begging to be killed.
Ok, to you that may sound like a very big load of bullshit, but when Logan told me all about it, I nearly ripped his head off because I thought he was lying, but then I actually tried it out, and bingo! it's all true, whether you believe it or not. Shall I give you a little example of testing one of my new gifts? I was stood in the middle of the wood in Preston Park with Anya and Logan in the middle of the night when I awoke and was told everything. This was two weeks ago on Thursday, and it's a Sunday today. Logan was instructing me to branch out my hearing.
"You have to relax your mind completely, Ryan, otherwise it won't work at all. Relax it right to the very last pore. Push away any thought that comes to mind as soon as you think it." Kinda hard when you keep talking, mate, I thought to myself. "That's good, very good. Now listen to my mind and hear that cat call. Take that sound out of my mind and focus on that sound alone. Don't try to explain it or analyse it, just listen to it." To me, the sound of the cat call sounded hollow, like someone had recorded it very badly, but I continued to listen nonetheless. "Carry on listening to it, Ryan; it's getting stronger in your mind. Focus on the change in the sound. That's right, you're doing it. Keep up and stay focused. Keep pushing away any thought that comes into mind. Stay calm and relaxed. Hear that cat call. Pinpoint it, listen to where it is and feel the sound. Can you see the wild cat?" And strangely, the more I listened, the more I focused on the call of the wild cat, the better I could hear it. Then I could see the cat that was calling. It started coming into my like someone turning on a switch to an energy-saving light bulb; it slowly appeared. As soon as I could see this cat properly, as soon as I felt the vibrations of call in the air, I knew exactly where this cat was. It was sat on a very small rock three inches away from a rock to its left, a foot away from a tree that had fallen over, slightly east in a forest up in Dartmoor. The forest in question was a half hour drive from anywhere inhabited by people, so it was a wildcat making these calls. When this knowledge hit me, I was instantly shocked at myself. I lost all concentration and instantly the image and sound of this wildcat shrieking in the night vanished, and all I could now hear and see are the trees surrounding Anya, Logan and myself. The night was still, not even an annoying cricket could be heard, and certainly no breath or heartbeat, because there was no living thing instantly nearby.
"Did-did I just actually see that?" I asked aloud, even though I didn't need to.
"Yes, Ryan, you did." said Logan. "That is just one of your gifts. If you wish, I can teach you another before the night dies. Or was this too much for you?" His ending words sounded like a taunt to me ears, and I wasn't willing to be taunted. Without a word or thought, I ran as fast as I could, which is incredibly fast, no human would have seen me move, out of the woods, along London Road, through the Old Steine, along the Pier and flung myself off the end of it. The water that would have been deathly cold to any human or other land-dwelling animal was not even mildly refreshing to me. I barely felt the ice cold freeze of the water as it covered every exposed part of my body, making my clothes stick to me as if they were holding on for dear life. Although I couldn't feel the temperature, the fluidity of the water around me I felt perfectly. To think, you're always having a bath, or putting your hands in water, or even going to Prince Regents or another swimming centre for a swim, but you never really feel the water. Imagine jelly, lots and lots of jelly, but not as solid as it is. Actually, it's not like jelly at all. You can feel every particle that makes the water. You can feel the hydrogens that desperately cling to the oxygens, trying their best to stay together so they stay water. You can feel every combination of hydrogen and oxygen and the float around each other, not quite touching, but not being complete strangers either. It was a very weird experience, but I'd instantly accomplished what I'd set out to do by jumping off the end of the Pier into the sea. My mind was clear, so a mere second after I jumped in, I jumped out again and ran back to where Anya and Logan stood, running so fast that my clothes dried with the sudden gush of air, and every last drop of water that clung to my hair was ripped away by the force I was running with.
I had barely left them when I stood with Anya and Logan again. Cool, I thought to myself, Time-saver or what!
"Enjoy your dip, Ryan?" Anya asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. How did Logan put up with her?
"Yeah, I did actually. You should take one. It might actually calm you down a bit; take the sourness out of you. Oh, wait; it's always there isn't it? Sorry, my mistake." I laughed loudly, but that was cut short, because I was rammed onto the floor by Anya.
"Take that back, you jerk! Take it back!" she shrieked, as she tried to rip chunks of my face off with her nails and punching my chest pretty much at the same time. Now, I like feisty women, but this is just taking the mick a bit. "Take that back right now, before I rip you to shreds, you beast of nature! Take it back now!" As she carried on trying, and failing, to rip chunks of my skins out of my and simultaneously punching my chest, I was finding it so hard not to laugh right in her face, but it almost tickled, what she was doing to me! I couldn't take any more, so I grabbed hold of her wrists before she could attack me face again, rolled her onto the ground so I was stood up, then I launched her at a tree. I didn't care what tree, and I didn't care that she almost hit Logan as she passed him in the air, and I certainly didn't care about the thunderous crack that rumbled through the air as she collided with a tree.
"Lighten up and take a joke, please. You're pathetic. I'm not going to take anything back, so deal with it. What else have we got, then, Logan?" This was a great distraction, as Anya never put a toe out of line when Logan had his mouth or mind open in speech.
"Achinaed, Ryan. I will show you to be able to put yourself next to the wildcat, and then bring yourself back. And please don't taunt Anya; it really won't end well for you. She has a temper that stems to her creation." I stared at her, suddenly sorry, but Logan's voice snapped me away from my thoughts before I thought them. "Now, relax your mind again, and remember the wildcat. Empty your mind of any other thought, empty it of any emotion. Focus as quickly as you can. Stop hearing and smelling and seeing these woods, Ryan," Logan snarled. "Focus on that wildcat in Dartmoor. Can you see that it hasn't moved? Now slowly branch out your focus to a meter radius of where it is. Feel every surface of rock and grass, feel every particle in the air, and feel all the vibrations around that cat. Focus, now, Ryan. Don't let yourself slip now. Now visualise yourself within that meter radius of the cat. See yourself there, feel yourself there, know that you are there and not here, Ryan. Focus on being there. Can you..." His voice was now not part of my subconscious thoughts. My surroundings felt different, so I opened my eyes, only to see the vision that was in my head, so I was spun out.
"Logan?" I called out. "Anya? Are you guys here?" I didn't get to shout anything else out, because the shrieking call of the wildcat behind me shut me up. It was nearer than I'd thought it would be, but instead of being proud of myself and my accomplishment, I was nervous, because I wasn't sure if I could get back on my own. Logan had coached me here, and I had yet to do it alone, but it was my first time being able to achinaed, so I wouldn't be able to do it alone without assistance yet. Don't think like this, something shouted at me in my head. If you have confidence like the beast you are, you can do it alone. So I stood as still as I could and I fell into the stupor needed to get back to Logan and Anya. Before I could become completely entranced, I felt something on the back of my neck. I was sure it was the feeling of someone stroking my neck, but by the time I'd opened my eyes and took in every single detail of my surroundings, whatever or whoever had touched me had vanished from the area. I put it to the back of my mind, closed my eyes and sank back into my trance. This time I was undisturbed, and quickly managed to focus on where Logan and Anya were, then within seconds of mentally placing myself there, I was stood beside them once more. This accomplishment I was proud of, and it was clear that the other two were, too, as they hugged me and slapped my back in reward. The very first time of being able to achinaed will never leave my mind.