Here is the new chapter. Longest one so far, so I'm pretty proud of myself. Mostly a long winded explanation for things, so it won't be a great chapter. But I gave some action at the end, so it won't be too boring.
Oh, and no dream sequences.
Chapter 6
"...a vampire."
My internal alarm systems went off, warning me, either this guy is really what he says, or he is ten kinds of crazy. But, instead of running away or screaming my head off, I remained there, with my head resting on his shoulder. So many questions sprang to mind. What about the fangs? Why was his body so incredibly hard? Why do his eyes change colour so frequently?
"Well, at least your mind reacted, even if your body didn't," he muttered, and I cocked my head in his direction, pulling my eyebrows in to make me look curious. "Oh, right," ASh said, "I forgot I was meant to be telling you things. Well, allow me to start.
"Us vampires are an ancient race. At the time that humans appeared on Earth, the vampires followed them almost immediately. As you probably worked out form the old style horror movies featuring Dracula and the like, we drink blood. It is our only source of nutrition. We can live without it, but the less we have it, the more we crave it, until it is at unbearable levels, and so we can't help but lash out and quench our 'thirst'." At this point he decided to check if I had managed to make much of reaction to his words, but seeing no visible signs of me being spooked, he sighed and continued. "Our pokemon receive the same gifts as we do. The theory goes, that when we are bitten, the bond between a pokemon and its trainer is also transformed, so that the pokemon itself becomes vampiric. It gets all the same gifts as we do, and we share the same thirst. If mine is 'quenched' then so is my pokemon's. Understand?" I nodded. "Good, now on to the good bit. We are abolutely brilliant creatures. We have unmatched strength, speed and brains, and our teeth are sharp enough to rip through the toughest of substances. Even our looks and our voice are astounding. And all these features are for our purpose in life. Attracting and killing humans. In fact, vampire-related deaths would be more common, if not for our sun problem."
"Do you die if you enter sunlight? Like in the movies?"
"We are immortal, so we can live forever, though that rarely ever happens. Due to the violent tendencies of our species, we kill each other more often than is probably necessary. But there is only one real way of killing us for certain. You could lop of our heads or cut is in half, and we'd pull ourselves together again...eventually. But the only way for us to truly die, is to be burned to ashes. Stepping into the sunlight would not kill us, no, stepping into the sun risks our exposure. One step into the UV light, and we sparkle like a disco ball. Exposure of our race is bad, because if vampires are discovered, the leaders of our race will send their minions to wipe out the population of vampires in a particular area.
"That's the reason my family chose this city as our haven. It rains almost every day. In fact, the sun rarely ever shows itself around here, and so we rarely ever have to fear that we may be exposed. And on those rare occasions that the sun is visible, we go hunting, allowing us to restore our ability to mingle within a human society. We, unlike the vast majority of our species -against all the strands of our beings- do not hunt humans. Although it is against our stereotypical image," -he chuckled at his joke- "we try to retain what little humanity that we have left, and try our best to preserve human life. Though, sometimes, that can be incredibly hard. For example, the first time I ever saw you. It took all my strength to stop me from killing every single person inside of that room before finally getting to you...and your blood." He stroked my cheek and brushed his lips along my neck. I shivered at his touch, and memories flooded back from my dreams. The carpark and its flickering lights, the forest and its claustrophobic feel, my room and the horrible metallic ringing screeching into my ears. All the different feelings flooded back, and strange ecstasy of the way his lips moved was held back only by the terror of what he might, and very well could, do.
"Don't worry, May, I won't bite. Well, I might, but you just smell so good." He inhaled deeply before sighing. I was terrified. "I'm messing with you, May, don't worry. Now, is there anything you'd like to know?"
Beating back the fear, I started out with some obvious ones.
"Do you have fangs?"
"Nope. But my normal teeth are razor sharp."
"Why are you so cold?"
"Everything that creates heat within humans are no longer needed within vampires, so they shut down, thus, no heat."
"Why is your body so hard?"
"Not sure. Vampires appear to have evolved that way, and the hardness of the flesh must have evolved as natural defence. Only select few things can cut through our flesh, for example, our teeth."
"Why are your eyes gold?"
"That's a good question. The colour in our eyes is, essentially, an indicator to how thirsty we are. The more vivid the colour, the less thirsty. The blacker the eyes, the more thirsty we are. So, for future reference, don't mess with us when we have black eyes."
"But when Cassandra was about to attack me, her eyes were perfectly golden. So why was she so intent on killing me?"
"Cassandra has less self-control then the rest of us. In fact, she has less self-control that almost all vampires out there. That flask she has contains reserves of animal blood, and she drinks from it continually through the day to prevent her from lashing out. She ran out in the bathroom, and even when she is at her least irritable, she still lashes out at people, in hope of blood. So, maybe you should stay out of the way of Cassandra when her flask is empty, okay."
I nodded in agreement. "What happened to Cassandra that day?"
"I made absolutely sure she didn't hurt you. The whole Cassandra disappearing thing was me getting her away from you."
"Well, thanks. And one last question. How do you become a vampire?"
"I don't want to answer that question, as I don't want you to get any ideas of becoming one of us. It isn't as nice as it seems, even with the bonus of immortality and eternal youth."
"Well, that answers all my questions. So I guess you better head off, because I have an essay to write."
He picked himself up from the bed and began climbing out the window, but he turned around. "There's one last thing you should know, May. Only vampires who hunt animals have gold eyes. The vampires that hunt humans' eyes are red. Blood red."
And he jumped out the window. And a the image of the red-eyed Drew standing inside that burning building entered my mind again. I just knew what he had become. Don't tell me how I knew, but I knew.
He was a vampire.
The next day, I decided to leave early so I could walk. I had a lot to mull over. Like how I was able to create the image of Drew as a vampire before I even knew vampires existed. And why Drew was a vampire.
"See ya, Mum," I called out as I walked out the door, but I couldn't hear the muffled response. I walked out the wooden gate and headed down the road, barely giving a thought to where my feet fell on the footpath. Not a good thing when you're a klutz like me.
I tripped, and I was sent sprawling, but a hand caught me. Cold to the touch, I knew who it was instantly.
"Why are you out in the middle of the day, Sunshine Boy?" I asked cryptically. He pointed to the sky, and I looked up.
It was overcast.
"Smart ass," I muttered before walking off at a brisk pace. He matched me easily.
"Need a lift?" He asked. Eh, may as well, I thought to myself. "To the car then!" he turned me around and pushed me in the other direction.
"Wait, I didn't say yes!" I struggled in his grip, but like that would work.
"True, but your mind said it." I stared at him. That was exactly what my mind said.
"You can read minds now?!" I practically shouted at him. He held a finger to my lips and continued to push me to his car.
"Tell you about it in the car," was his answer. Pout face, on. "Promise. Don't want to talk about it in the open, if you don't mind. We take the secrecy bit seriously you know."
"Fine," I promised nonchalantly. We walked in silence for a few minutes, before we reached his car. It wasn't the same car from the day before. This one was a sports car, the other one had been a SUV.
"New car?"
"Nope. Had it for a while. Just haven't driven it to school. The rest of the family took the SUV." I nodded in silence. These vamps must be loaded or something, because they can afford some good stuff. "Yeah, we are loaded. Seriously loaded to put it simply. And so we like to treat ourselves."
"Okay, out with the mind reading thing. It''s really getting on my nerves now, to be honest with you."
"Fine. There are a few more things about vampires you don't know, but they don't concern you. On rare occasions, vampires are granted gifts, either as forms of offence or defence, or for other means. I am one of the few who do have an ability, and mine has to do with the mind. I can read minds, as you've noticed, and I can project thoughts."
I raised an eyebrow and he grinned. "Like this," said that nagging little voice next to my ear.
"That's what that was! You have no idea how scary, not to say annoying, that was!" He grinned again, and I pouted again. He was already nearing the school. The car ran so smoothly, I could barely hear the engine running, even when he was smashing the speed limit.
"Well, at least you'll know what it is next time a voice decides to nag you in your sleep." He pulled the car into a parking space, was out of his door and opening mine within the blink of an eye, quite literally. I snatched a quick glimpse around the front of the campus to make sure no-one was looking before pulling myself out of the expensive car. Ash closed the door behind me and I stealthily sneaked away from the expensive car. It was early, so there weren't very many people around, and I really didn't want to be seen near a car like that.
Might be good for my image. I like low profiles the best.
"And why might that be? Your dislike for a public image?" Ash asked, fairly sincerely, but with a slight hint of snideness cutting into his tone. He really enjoys picking on me.
"I find, that if I am identified as rich, or hanging out with rich people, I begin to get swarmed by randoms who I don't know. Being the daughter of a gym leader and all, I am fairly monitored, not that I want to be. So I go out of my way not to be spotted in some controversial situation. And you, my friend, could be easily mistaken for a rich model. So I'm trying to make photos hard for any lurking paparazzi, in case they cook up some half-baked idea of me going out with some rich, punk-ass model. You get?" I might have bent the truth a little, but the swarming bit was right at least. But I'm not really targeted my the paparazzi.
"Did you forget I read minds or something?" He asked as if I was stupid, "I heard that entire line of thought afterwards, so most of that was a lie. Secondly, why would you be monitored? You're not a celebrity. Thirdly, someone could easily click a photo of you right now, with me, your very own 'beautiful model'."
The nagging little voice became known again next to my left ear. "I'm not sure on whether to take that as a compliment or not?"
"Now, what's your real problem?" I sighed. This was going to take some getting used to.
"I purely just don't like attention. I can get freaked out if people start harrassing me. If anyone saw me climb out of a car like that," - I nodded in direction of the car behind us - "People would start to ask questions. And I really don't want that."
"Fair enough. Now why couldn't you just tell me that before? There must be a reason?"
I blushed in embarrassment. The reason flashed through my head, but I told him just to make sure he heard. "I didn't want to think of me as a wimp, or a pansy, or some other form of a weak person. So I told you a more plausible story, as lots of people are annoyed by the paparazzi."
"Is that all?!" He chuckled jollily and wrapped an arm around me. "You're hanging out with a vampire and you're worried that he might think your weak?! You are the strangest person I have ever met!"
We were walking through the corridors at this point, but very few people were around. "I don't view as a vampire. I view you more as an incredibly beautiful guy who is used to the best, so I have got to be my best."
"So you think I'm shallow?" I shook my head vigourously, but he continued anyway. "Trust me, when you have been around as long as me, and known the people I've known, you are never shallow."
"That's probably true, but I've always viewed really good looking people as shallow, always looking for someone as good looking as them to make a perfect pair. I've known shallow people, and found the best thing to do is avoid them and be the best you can be while they're around, so they have nothing to pick on you about. Shallow people, at our-" I corrected myself, "my age, are usually bullies, unfortunately."
"I see what you mean. Well, don't worry, I'm not a bully, and I don't get angry unless you do something to piss me off, or if I have low blood pressure."
I giggled at the joke, but people began to flood into the hallways, so we diverted onto another topic as to avoid suspicion. "What have you got first period?" I asked him as we strolled at a leisurely pace towards my locker. We still had a while before the first lesson.
"First? I have Advanced Battling with the seniors." Ash answered.
"Advanced Battling witht the seniors!" I exclaimed, "You must have been toying with me?!"
"Just a little, I swear. And not at all with that Snorunt. I was battling a Salamence, and that's hard, even with an Ice pokemon." The vampire did a little crooked half-smile, to tone down my attitude a little.
I nodded, a little too incoherent due to his smile to talk yet. Ash had somehow managed to open my locker, which astounded me. "When did you learn my locker code?" I asked once I managed coherency again.
"Just then. I cracked the lock."
"Is there anything you can't do?!"
"Not that I know of." And he was gone.
I saw Saori trudging towards me, sighed, then prepared for my first class of the day.
Later that day, after being thoroughly interrogated by Saori on the new details of the relationship with the elusive Ash Ruriko, I found myself once again in the gym with Miss Lynch and the rest of my Battling class. I picked up my six pokemon from the rack and trundled over to the rest of my class, formed around the teacher.
"Okay class, today I will partner you up for you first battle. But the second battle you are allowed to choose your own partners to battle with." So Miss Lynch began to pair us off. I landed with a boy called Harrison Hazuki, as we were both considered to be two of the best in the class, the best being Ash, who was sitting on the sidelines, Miss Lynch deciding not to partner him up with anyone.
"Let's have a good match, okay," Harrison said, and I quickly agreed. We shook hands and took our positions on either side of the field. I decided to use my strongest, Blaziken, against Ash, and so I released Delcatty, as she'd had little use in school so far. Harrison, after examining my choice, decided on using his Houndoom.
"Come on, buddy. It's going to be tough, but we can pull through." Houndoom growled in acknowledgement. I felt no need to encourage Delcatty. She was licking herself, and though it may not seem like an orthodox method for one to psyche up, it seemed to work for her, and I felt no need to interrupt.
"Let's start off with a bang, Houndoom. Use a Flamethrower!" Houndoom leaned back, gathering the flames inside its belly, before letting out a roar and a jet of flames.
"Dodge and use Assist to counter, Delcatty!" I quickly ordered, and Delcatty, who had still been licking herself, rolled to the side before meowing and forcing an Aqua Jet, courtesy of Blastoise, off in the direction of Houndoom. Houndoom wasn't quite quick enough to dodge the powerful attack, and so was hit directly in its flank by the cat propelled by the water.
Down but not out, Houndoom took a little bit to get up. While the Houndoom was struggling slightly, Delcatty resumed her licking. This ticked Harrison off, as it seemed that Delcatty was being arrogant.
"Houndoom! Use Faint Attack!" Houndoom began to trot towards Delcatty, swaggering in its movements. Delcatty made no attempt to dodge, and Houndoom quickly lashed out at the large cat. His paw connected with thin air, and the copy flickered out of existence.
Yowling, the real Delcatty sprinted up from behind to Double Slap the confused hound with her tail. The horned pokemon was sent sprawling across the mat, but wouldn't stay down. Its now sluggish movements lost it the match though, as I called another Assist. This time, instead of an Aqua Jet, Delcatty used another of Blastoise's moves. Hydro Pump.
The massive jet of water struck the Houndoom critically, and it was knocked out almost instantly. Harrison smiled grimly before recalling the large hound, giving a few encouraging words. We shook hands again, Delcatty still outside her ball, licking herself some more. Harrison trudged off silently to give Houndoom to Miss Lynch so she could get him healed. Many battles were still going, so I went and sat next to Ash.
"Are you up for a battle?" I asked and snuggled up close to his marble-like frame. I saw a pair of eyes divert to us and I instantly gave us a little space.
"'Fraid not, May. I'm thought you should battle someone else, and since there are an odd number of people here today, someone needs to sit out, and I suppose that can be me."
I pulled my favourite pout face, but he countered me easily with a crooked half-smile, melting my heart. "Sure."
Crap. Did I just say that!
"'Fraid ya did," Ash answered my thought, and I growled at him. "People are finishing. Why don't you go and find yourself a partner to battle with." I growled again, before setting off. I saw a blue haired girl fairly close by, so I decided to ask her.
I tapped her on the shoulder, and she spun around at a million-miles-an-hour. "Yes?" she said in a chirpy high voice.
A little taken aback, I persevered. "Hi, I'm May. I was just wondering if you would like to battle in the next round?"
"I know who you are, silly. You're May Maple, and you're one of the very few people who have the guts to talk to Ash Ruriko. In fact, you're like, best friends, ya know? In fact, most people think you are dating, ya know? Are you dating? Why aren't you battling him this round?"
My head spinning a little, I answered. "He decided to sit out battling today, so I have to ask someone else to battle. So, do you want to battle or not?"
"Sure! I'd love to battle." And so the two of us, my curiousity in the girl spiking. She was strange, to say the least, but I guess I can get used to that.
"Wait, I didn't catch your name?" I said.
"Oh, the name's Dawn Taylor. I'm pretty much the gossip queen of the school. That's why I know who you are. You're like, the flavour of the month, or something like that. Biggest subject of gossip in this school at the moment, and you have been for a while."
"I see. That explains a lot." Especially the big mouth, I thought to myself. I heard Ash project laughter into my mind, and I snickered myself.
We shook hands, well, Dawn shook my hand all over the joint to be honest, and we went to the separate ends of the field. I released my pokemon first, Blaziken, my first pokemon.
She smiled at my choice and let out a large blue penguin, better known as Empoleon. I groaned. This was going to be hard.
I decided to get things going, and hopefully make some headway against the pokemon I knew was going to be a major problem. "Blaziken, try and get in for a Close Combat!" I ordered the fighting-type.
Dawn smiled at my simple strategy. "Empoleon, don't let that Blaziken get anywhere near you. Do whatever you can to stop it." While Blaziken was sprinting in to attempt to pummel the water bird, Empoleon let a Hydro Pump off. Blaziken narrowly dodged, but lost all momentum in doing so.
"Use Metal Claw, Empoleon!" The wing of the blue pokemon shone a brilliant steel colour, and it brought it swinging down upon Blaziken. The red pokemon managed to block the blow with its arms, but was forced to the ground.
I smiled. I had her exactly where I wanted her. "Blaziken, quickly use a Sky Uppercut, followed by a ThunderPunch!"
Blaziken pulled one of her arms out of the block she had made and forced it as it glowed blue into the gut of the penguin. Empoleon was launched into the air and the other claw of Blaziken began to glow a deep yellow and it crackled with electricity. Blaziken launched herself up after Empoleon, the powerful legs propelling through the air with startling speed.
The penguin quickly took measures into its own hands, quickly sending another Hydro Pump towards the approaching fowl pokemon. Blaziken couldn't dodge the stream and was hit by its full force. The red bird hit the ground with a sickening crunch, while Empoleon landed surprisingly gracefully for a penguin.
Blaziken had sustained major damage from the water attack, but was quickly up again due to her fighting spirit.
"Nice try, May. Nearly had me there with that combination," Dawn called out across the field.
"Great counter," I replied before returning my attention to the matters at hand. This was a hell of a match.
Both pokemon were panting heavily, Blaziken more heavily than Empoleon. "Use Ice Beam on the ground, Empoleon!" Dawn ordered the penguin, who quickly obeyed. It layered the field with a thick layer of slippery ice, including all around Blaziken. "Now use the ground as a slide, Empoleon, and use whatever attack you want!"
Not good, not good. It was a brilliant move, as it prevented me from moving, while it allowed Empoleon to move even faster. Ash's voice nagged at the back of my head. "Hello. Melt the ice!"
I am a moron sometimes. "Blaziken, direct Blaze Kick to the bottom of both your feet to help you move around!" My pokemon's feet burst into impossibly hot flames, allowing her to run around on the field.
"Nice creativity there, May," Ash projected into my mind, and I thought a thank you mentally.
"Nice counter, May. You're even tougher than I expected." Dawn said.
"Thank you, now watch why I am one of the best! Blaziken, direct ThunderPunch to both of your claws, get close to Empoleon and use it in conjunction with Close Combat!"
While using so many moves at once greatly tired Blaziken, the pokemon persevered, and ran after the sliding Empoleon, the Blaze Kicks on both feet melting through the ice as the fowl pokemon ran. Empoleon's inability to turn made life incredibly difficult for it, and Blaziken was quickly on it. Pounding away with both fists in a Close Combat move, each blow powered up significantly by the dual ThunderPunches. Unable to block the moves while on its belly, Empoleon was quickly overpowered and knocked out.
Dawn, seeing her best pokemon knocked out, reverted to one of my favourite ploys, the pout. But she cleared up quickly, recalling Empoleon and congratulating it on a great battle. Blaziken quickly fell unconscious due to the strain of the moves it had used, and I recalled her, thanking her multiple times for winning the battle.
Dawn and I shook hands and talked while we took the balls to the teacher so she could get them healed, and placed the rest of our pokemon onto the rack to be placed into storage until the end of the day.
I said goodbye to my new found friend and rival, and joined Ash on the sidelines. He was sitting, his eyes closed, non-breathing, and as still as a statue. I clapped loudly directly in front of his face, and he opened his eyes marginally, no surprise appearing on his face. "Well done," he said in congratulations, "that was a great battle. And that was very creative with the Blaze Kick strategy."
"I actually remembered I could thaw the ice when you told me, so I can't take all the credit."
"I suppose. Well, the bell will go in 3, 2, 1."
The bell rang.
"You truly are weird, you know that?" I asked Ash, and he grinned widely.
"Oh yeah, I know all right."
There you have it. Hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you later guys.