Hey guys, hope you are enjoying this so far...please let me know if I need to change the rating to M at any point in my story, I know in later chapters that my language gets worse so please leave a review.

You don't know a thing about me
You ain't got the right to tell me
When and where to go, no right to tell me
Acting like you own me lately
Mr Know It All – Kelly Clarkson

Chapter 5

I knew there were a lot of strange things about vampires; drinking blood, strange eyes, rock hard and deathly pale skin, incredible speed and strength, special gifts, heightened senses. You would think that vampires were unable to be weakened or overcome. Never able to be taken by surprise or jumped upon without the consent of the vampire being jumped on.

That is what one would think. But as I felt the body of another vampire, I knew that even the indestructible have their weaknesses.

"Oh my god, you must be Isabella! I've been waiting forever for you to get here. I could smell you on the bed but I knew that you weren't here so I went and chose the other bed, I didn't know if it was because you chose the bed or just touched it but i presumed that was your bed. Not that we really need to sleep or anything but its nice to just sit and be by ourselves for a while don't you think? Oh, I have been blabbering on for so long, I'm Charlotte by the way; but if you want you can call me Char." When she finally stopped talking and took a breath, she held her hand out to me, and I returned it shaking her hand.

"Umm…hi. I'm Isabella but you already know that." I remember Peter's conversation from yesterday. "But you can call me Izzy if you want." I meekly smiled at her, unsure of what to do.

"Izzy, I like it! So they told me that you are really new at this too right?" When I nodded, she continued. "So…well I don't know about you but the change is so big and different, and I was thinking we could help each other with it right?" I caught the other meaning; our lives have just been turned upside down, wanna be friends so we don't have to break down or lose our minds and eventually die? And I totally understood.

"Yeah, what are friends for right?" I smiled again, but more genuine this time, and I actually meant it, which gave it a whole other level of significance.

"Right," she giggled. "So, I'd give you a tour, but it's really on one room." She motioned around herself, changing the subject. "This is my bed, and yours is there. We can share that bathroom in there; okay then two rooms, and we can share the closet over there. At first I was shocked, share the closet? But I think that because we will be in a war for goodness sake, so I don't think that we need many clothes." She kept talking after that but I zoned out.

She seemed nice, genuinely nice, not just because she's alone with no one else to talk to. I felt that even though it may not have been my first choice, she seemed like a good person to have around, and could actually be a really good friend one day. She was taller than me, but only by a few inches. She seemed a few years older as well, but no older than mid twenties. She had gorgeous hair, almost a golden brown colour, and her eyes were a blood red, like I presumed mine were.

She continued as I walked over to my designated bed and sat down. The mattress wasn't completely comfortable, lumps everywhere, but it wasn't like I was going to sleep on it.

Charlotte seemed to realise that I wasn't listening, so she stopped talking and sat on her bed. It was quiet for a few moments until I spoke.

"So, how's the life of a vampire treating you?"

"Well…I don't know really. I haven't been one for long. What about you?"

I shrugged. "It's okay." I thought of the Major's interesting training techniques. "Have you started training yet?"

She shook her head. "No, I just went hunting before and came back here and waited for you…I'm supposed to go down to one of the barns to train with some guy called Peter?" I nodded my head.

"Yeah, Peter took me hunting before. He's nice, you'll like him. He's a bit laid back, follows the rules but he still has fun, you know?"

She nodded, and we both fell back into a comfortable silence. Obviously it lasted too long, Charlotte started speaking again.

"Well, I am going to head over now. I need all the training I can get if I want to survive the next few months at least." She quickly stood off, straightened her dress, identical to the one I woke up in, and started walking towards the door. I quickly jumped to my feet and followed her.

"Yeah, I'll come too. Can't be dying and leaving you here alone now can I?" I smiled at her, which she returned. We linked our arms for a moment before heading out towards the barn. It wasn't that far away, but then when you run at vampire speed nothing generally is. It's almost like you have the entire world at your finger tips, which is almost true as well.

"Izzy!" I heard someone yell, when I entered the barn. I glanced around and noticed Peter waved at me before going back to duelling with another male vampire.

I glanced at Charlotte, "That's Peter?" She asked. I nodded quickly, before grabbing her arm and leading her over to him.

Looking around, I noticed the barn was split into about five different sections, each separated by wooden beams that looked like they had been pulled from the actual structure. In each section, two or three vampires were circling each other, colliding or just plain throwing punches. In one way, shape or form, everyone was training. Whether they were actually joining in or just carefully watching other fighting, or looking completely out of control and thirsty, they were all busy and trying hard to either practise not being killed or practising other ways to kill. I was surprised at the organisation of a bunch of out of control, bloodthirsty newborns.

We stopped walking a few feet away from the edge of the section Peter was training someone in. He was trying to catch his opponent by surprise, while dodging and deflecting his attacks. I couldn't tell who was winning, neither looked at any sort of disadvantage, until Peter grabbed the other vampire by the wrist and bit into his neck. He stopped before any permanent damage could be done and released the vampire. I looked over at Charlotte to see her reaction. I was completely surprised at what I saw.

Instead of being scared, hurt, disgusted, or shocked, when I looked at her, I saw amazement, admiration, wonderment, and complete awe at the man she saw in front of her. I knew there was something else behind her expression.

"Hey there, Izzy. How are you doing? Come to try and challenge me?" Peter walked over to me as his defeated opponent walked away, holding his neck with a pained expression on his face. I smile at Peter. I was really starting to like him.

"No, not quite. Peter this is Charlotte. You are her trainer and I thought we could train together?" I said to Peter, a half question, unsure of how these things worked. Peter walked over to Charlotte who now looked nervous and frightened out of her skin, partially hiding behind my body as if I would protect her.

"Hello there, ma'am, it's a pleasure to meet you, my names Peter." His voice was just lathered with his southern accent and even I would admit it sounded awesome. He held his hand out and looked in her direction.

Charlotte, still shyly, came out slowly from behind my back and greeted his hand shake. "I am Charlotte, but I prefer Char." She looked down nervously and you could see her hands twitch, tempting her to twist them around each finger anxiously.

"Char…" He seemed to run the names over his tongue, as if testing to see it if fits. He looked back down at her, "Well, we better get started; you never know when we could be attacked."

Charlotte and I shared a worried look. Peter on the other hand seemed unfazed.

"We can train over here, we won't be bothered as much here, and it's quieter and easier to instruct you, see?" He turned and led us over to a training area on the far side of the barn. We followed, avoiding partners or groups that threatened to injure us in any way, even dodging a few flying bodies at one point.

Peter stopped in the middle of the cleared area and gestured Charlotte to the other side of him before turning back in my direction.

"Sorry, but the Major is your official trainer so I can't do anything with you without his permission." I frowned. "Sorry, he should be over there if you want to train too." He pointed towards the barn next door.

"Okay, well bye." I smiled at Peter and waved at Charlotte before I left them to it and went to go spend another few hours in pain. Training, right, more like torture.

It took less than a second for me to be walking in the doorway of the barn next to the other one. I pushed open the doors and it let out a loud creak. I turned to close them and tried to ignore the stares of other newborns being trained.

One particular fight caught my gaze. I slowly crept over to take a look, not that much could be seen. Blurs collided and separated spinning and whirling around. I tried to focus my new enhanced eyes on specific details. As I concentrated I noticed they were both males, one was sloppier in his movements than the other who had brilliant grace but was fierce some at the same time. I moved closer still, being wary that they may fly out and hit me at any time.

After a few more minutes of kick, punches and dives at one another, a painful crack rang out across the whole barn, and one of the vampires went flying across the room. I watched as the wall broke under the pressure and daylight streamed through the huge gaping hole it made. My skin began to feel all warm and tingly; it began to sparkle as it reflected the sun over my invisible pores. The glare that met my eyes signalled that all the other vampires were alit as well.

The Major stood there, sparkling like the rest of us, looking as proud and arrogant as usual. He knew he was the best and he let everyone know all the time.

"I see your back for more." He stalked over to me, looked me up and down as if he was judging my new attire.

I subtly narrowed my eyes at him before replying. "No, I just value my life too much to sit around and do nothing to try and save it." He seemed taken aback by my response. He seems like the type of person to intimidate others and not take any crap from anyone. Other than maybe Maria.

"Well then, you seem eager. No need to waste our time then." To my surprise, he looked at me, then turned abruptly and walked out of the hole he had just created in the wall.

I didn't want to seem vulnerable, so, casting a look at the other confused newborns in the barn, I quietly followed him, taking extra care to watch his movements and make sure that he wasn't going to pounce without giving me a warning and throwing me once again on the ground.

He stopped when we reached the centre of the small camp. It was a small clearing, free of trees and buildings, circular in shape and looked like others had trained or fought here. Logs lay around the outside. I couldn't decide if they were the markings of the edge of the area or seats for vampires who wanted entertainment. It slowly dawned on me that he had taken me to an arena of some sort. The Major was either showing my skills off for assessment, or planning to kill me in public so others would stay in line. I certainly hoped it wasn't the latter.

With a quick glance around myself, I realised I was in the exact centre of the clearing and the Major was starting to circle me, his eye once again looked me up and down, looking instead this time for a weakness or a starting point.

I kept my feet planted, and unconsciously I found my knees bent, bracing my body for an attack. My eyes began to take him in as well. I noticed how he kept his torso faced towards me as his legs moved across themselves. He walked with caution as if he was testing the ground before he stepped on it. His hands hung loosely beside him, but they would twitch every few seconds, letting me know they were alert and ready to be used for attack of defence at anytime. As my eyes made my way to his face I saw that he had a perfect poker face, except his eyes. And that's when I found it.

His weakness lay within his eyes. You look see his every intention there. Where he was looking, where he planned to move next and the different solutions to the current problem he was facing. Me.

Just as I caught the different sort of sparkle in his eyes, he pounced towards me, arms reaching out at the last second.

I predicted his movements as my eyes remained glued on his. With no time to spare I ducked between his hands, lying on my back in the dirt, in kicked my feet into his stomach sending him flying across the clearing. I placed my palms against the ground above my head and pushed, sending my body up standing on my feet again.

I saw the Major on the ground, body lying across one of the logs around the outside of the arena. He seemed startled for a minute but quickly got up on his feet again, crouched and ready to attack. Instead of staying put, I met him, step for step. We circled each other, trying to feint attacks and fool the other person. We were both unsuccessful.

Giving up our attempts of tricking the other we both launched ourselves at the other. We collided in mid air, letting off a huge explosion-like sound; like thunder. I reached for his shoulders the same time he reached for mine. We both tried to throw the other to the ground but ended up sprawling on the floor, rolling each other over.

We eventually made it to our feet, but that didn't stop our fighting. We started throwing punches and kicks, aiming for throats and faces and stomachs; trying to get the upper hand. Major managed for get his hands on my shoulders once again and head-butted me at least halfway across the clearing. I flew back, shocked but also relieved that something had happened in our duel.

I landed on my feet and immediately started running towards him. As I did, I noticed some of the logs around the outside were occupied with others viewing out fight, and they seemed to enjoy the entertainment in front of them. I pounced back on the Major, turning him around so I was positioned on his back, legs and arms wrapped around him. I squeezed hard to get him to stop struggling but I fell backwards on the ground, my head banged against the hard ground.

I cried out in pain, but I didn't let my grip around him become slack. We rolled yet again as he tried to release himself from me.

I kicked on of his legs and he flipped backwards until he was faced up on the ground. I lent over and ever so slightly, just to make my point, I placed me newly grown fangs at his throat.

We stayed there for a few moments, staring into each other eyes, trying to figure out how the hell I managed to best him so easily. The crowd that was gathered around us seemed just as stunned as we were, it wasn't until I heard one lone person applauding that we snapped out of our shock.

Maria was walking towards us, flanked by two other vampires, both were women, both looked at me with the same ferociousness and caution as Maria did.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here! Somebody finally bested our second best fighter. Maria, I believe you finally have some competition." A short blonde girl on the left of Maria spoke first, voices tinkling like bells.

The other girl on the right elbowed her. "Shut up, Nettie. Don't make her even more angry." She murmured quietly but there was really no point with vampire ears around. She was tall and had jet black hair that was straight and hung straight over her shoulders. Nettie looked down at her feet, and remained silent.

"Hush now, Lucy." Maria spoke to the tall one, who then stood silently like her friend.

"But she does have a point." She started circling us. "Get up, girl!" She looked directly at me when she shouted.

Up until now, I forgot I was still lying partly on the Major. I looked down embarrassed and quickly got to my feet. When I was a safe distance, Whitlock followed my lead but walked several steps away. I didn't look at him to see why; Maria was the bigger threat momentarily.

"We need some more real fighters in this army; we can't always win in sheer numbers." She smiled to herself. "Well actually we can, but I don't want everybody dying."

She paced back around to the Major. I could feel the disapproval radiating off Maria as she swarmed over to him, however there was something else mixed in with this dissatisfaction; she was somewhat impressed at what I had managed to achieve. It was a nice change for once.

"You told me to contain her, I guess I was wrong…" accused Maria. Her fingers trailed across his cheek, down his shoulders, before she slapped him in the face. "I guess a girl really has got to do everything herself,' she muttered, walking away from him towards the two girls, waiting at the edge of the clearing.

"Hold these." Maria handed Nettie the bag I hadn't noticed hanging around her shoulders, before turning back at me, looking me up and down, a look that unconsciously caused me to shiver.

"Well, if our Major here couldn't train you right, then I guess it's up to me now."

She started circling me again, like I had been before. I matched her step for step, not letting my back turn on the four hunters I could see surrounding me. Just beneath her lips, I could see her fangs sharpening and her eyes turning black as coal. Her need to rip my head off became more obvious as she waited for the first move that I wasn't willing to make.

Sooner than expected, her body became a blurry outline and I felt the first collision inside my head as I was struck to the ground. I lay face down on the ground; as I got up and wiped my face clean of dirt, I felt the venom pool into my mouth, quickly spitting it to the ground to deflect her next attack. Her move was predictable. She reached for my shoulders before biting my neck, a move that I had seen before. I knew how to block this easily.

With barely a millisecond to spare, my wrist flung out in her face and a crack like a whip met my ears as I watched her body fly over to the far side of the field, landing on a structured placement of logs acting as benches.

The newborns occupying the logs quickly sprung up, eager to watch but not wanting to experience the wrath of Maria. I was vicious now. How dare she undermine my abilities and end my life while trying to embarrass me in front of a bunch of strangers and my new found best friend. I didn't wait for her to recover as I sprang from my position in the centre of the arena. She was still lying face down over the logs as I grabbed her shoulders and threw her backwards, once again landing in the dirt.

She got up slowly, cautiously, once again looking at me and trying to figure me out. She walked up really close to me until I could feel her breath on my face.

With her lips inches away from my ear she said, "I'm glad I turned you now, we need some decent fighters around here, but I will warn you right here and now… if you so much as put a toe out of line, your life will end so painfully and I will purposefully draw it out as long as possible for all the trouble you've caused. Clearly, one vampire alone cannot take you out, but combined with a few gifts we have around here…we have our ways."

She walked away back to the Major. I glanced around and gathered that no one heard what she had said.

"She requires no more training, but I'm sure you'll want to work with her some more. Don't let her be a distraction." She turned abruptly and walked back towards a cabin on the far side of the camp. Lucy and Nettie followed her without a word.