Chapter 10 – The Covenant
After school Jayden was waiting alone for me. I wonder where Sarah went? I had a few moments to observe him while he was still unaware of my presence. He was leaning against the wall, staring at nothing. His hand flexed. The wind tossed some of his long white hair. As if suddenly sensing me, he looked up, his blue eyes meeting mine. Then he did something I didn't expect from mister-all-serious-and-no-fun, he smiled! Gosh, he had a stunning smile! Is someone perhaps behind me? I looked just in case. Nope. No one… Perhaps I am hallucinating?
"Hi," I said, feeling a blush creep up my cheeks.
"Thank you for coming. There is much to discuss and even more to be done. Are you ready to go?"
"I guess."
"Good. Let's get going."
We walked to his car.
"Where is Sarah?"
"She has been sent to see other executioners…she'll join us later."
I didn't realize that there were others in the same boat as me. I felt very confused. All of this stuff sounded like something from la-la land to me…
"I like to come here to think or sometimes just to be alone," Jayden explained as we stopped at a now empty parking area with a nice view of the ocean. The pale moon reflected on the water, in-between waves breaking. The windows were rolled down, so I could also hear the sea and smell the saltiness.
"How much do you know already? That way I can fill you in on what you don't know."
I told him what I've learnt from my father. He listened patiently.
"…so here I am now sitting in a car with my class-mate Jayden, who also turns out to be my watcher…"
"Your watcher?" he asked with a lifted eyebrow. I realized what I've said and blushed. Thank goodness it was still dark!
"er…you know what I mean, you are supposed to tell me what to do, isn't it?"
"Not exactly. I gather information, and watch...as you say. The ancients will give you your instructions, whether through dreams or negotiators, like your father and Sarah."
"Oh…so Sarah should tell me what to do?"
"Enough with who has to tell who already! This is not a simple get a task, complete it, collect your reward kind of thing, Holly. This is much more serious. As you've heard, the ancients seems to finally have returned. Whether or not they are going to show themselves remains to be seen. So many years have passed in which they did nothing…" I noticed Jayden sounded quite bitter when he said this, "now they put it on the shoulders of persons like you to do the dirty work..."
"Hey, what do you mean persons like me?"
"I didn't mean it in an offending way, I meant that you are still so young, so inexperienced."
"I've been training."
"I know...but that may not be enough…Holly, I've been watching the Covenant and its movements for four hundred and twenty three years now. For years they have been planning world dominion, but there were always rebel vampires who prevented this from happening completely. The Covenant is ruthless when it comes to anyone standing in their way. Many…have died. In the last two hundred years the Covenant has succeeded in brainwashing more and more vampires to believe that the world is doing them injustice, forcing them to alienate themselves from human society, having to hide what they are. They believe that vampires are the superior being, and deserved to be treated as such. They want to enslave humans, to become a controlled food source, and werewolves to act as their servants. For that reason they could never tolerate half-bloods."
"Wow…I never realized…then why did Blade not kill me in the first place if I am such an abomination?"
"Because he used you…to get to me. I was working undercover as an assassin. He somehow got suspicious, and followed me here…"
"Has he told on you to the Covenant?"
"No…not yet…we have an agreement."
"Agreement?"
"That's nothing for you to worry about," he said patting me on the head like a child.
"Hey, don't do that!"
"Sorry."
Jayden withdrew his hand.
"Why did you come here?" I asked to break the awkwardness.
"I had a dream that urged me to come here. At the time I didn't know why, but I came and watched. I now believe that it was the ancients' way of guiding me."
"If you were under cover…why did you save me? It would have been easier to just ignore Blade and avoid risking exposure."
He kept quiet. Oh please, don't start with that again!
"Maybe because your father is Benedict Monforte…negotiator for the ancients and once a very powerful assassin…"
I felt very hurt and disappointed. So much for hoping…WHAT?! My dad?!
"What do you mean about my dad?" I asked.
"Just what I said…I am not sure if this is my place to tell you this…since you are being pulled into this thing by the ancients I might as well. The Covenant wanted to rope him in to work for them, but he refused. They consider him an enemy and there is currently a high bounty on his head. No one has been able to assassinate him yet."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My dad was constantly having to watch his back, no wonder he looked tired at times…
"He had to make very hard decisions and push those he love the most away from him to protect them…"
Was he talking about mother and me?
"Sorry…I don't think I should say any more about this."
"Can you at least tell me how you know so much about my dad?" I asked.
"We all work under the guidance of the ancients, Holly. It is inevitable that our paths would cross and interchange on many occasions."
"So…your saving me was just because you are so in awe of my awesome dad," I said sulking.
"Perhaps it also had something to do with my getting to know you better."
My sulking face immediately shape-shifted.
"Really?" I asked before I could stop myself. I felt like an idiot…How stupid, why would a vampire who is over four hundred years old feel anything for an almost-seventeen year old girl? No wonder he was treating me like a child…
"You are a very good person, Holly. There are few with a heart still as pure as yours."
Huh…is that it? I saw his hand flexing again. He's nervous.
"Jayden? Can I ask you something?"
He hesitated for a moment. "Yes?"
"I um…eh…" Dang, how am I going to ask this without making a total fool of myself? I so much want him to like me more than just a 'good person'.
"…do you…"
"Don't," he suddenly interrupted, "Holly, I know what you are thinking. It…cannot happen…as one of those who have to execute judgment for the ancients you cannot allow yourself to have any emotional attachments…there must be nothing that the Covenant can use against you. Believe me, the first thing they use are the ones you love…"
Again I could sense bitterness as he said this, which made me wonder if he perhaps lost a loved one? A girlfriend? A wife? I felt like screaming and dumping myself in the ocean from embarrassment. How could I expect him to never have loved in all his years? How stupid could I be?
"Holly, it doesn't mean that I don't have…affection for you…but I am sure you realize how important the task that awaits us is? War is brewing, one that can alter the world as you know it forever. The Covenant has built a very strong force. Your father has succeeded in rallying many vampires and several werewolf clans as well. The fact that you were chosen as an executioner means that you will be one of those spear-heading the war effort."
My eyes must have looked like saucers; I doubt they could have stretched any further.
"Me? Lead? I can't do that!" I said laughing nervously.
"It is not for anyone else to say, Holly. We trust in the wisdom of the ancients. They have their reasons."
My dad didn't make it out to be such a big thing…but then again, I think he was too shocked at the time… I am so going to die…great… Now going to mom's wedding seemed like a grain of sand compared to a brick, a very hard, heavy one...
"You father has asked that Sarah and I help you prepare as much as we can. Training starts tomorrow night at seven-thirty."
"What about school? Wait…I guess that's a stupid question to ask, hey? Do I need to bring anything?"
"Just yourself."
"Oh, there is something else I wanted to ask you. Why didn't my dad know I am to be an execu-thingy? He though it was a bond ring?"
"I had also thought so initially… That is part of what makes you a special case. Normally those who are "chosen" by the ancients have a certain…aura around them which makes them visible to others like them. Your aura is very weak, at times even invisible. I only noticed because I was looking closely. Your speaking of a ring seemed unlikely to be anything else but a bond ring. Also, like your dad said it is very unusual for a half-blood to develop special abilities, let alone be selected to work for the ancients."
What did he mean with that? Why did the ancients choose me? I don't know much about anything and I sure as strawberry fudge weren't ready for this!
"I guess it will be easier for you after you turned seventeen. Then your vampire legacy will have a much stronger influence on your senses. This should help you greatly in whatever task the ancients will lay on you."
"Okay…"
I didn't know what to say so I kept quiet. After a while Jayden broke the silence.
"Are you hungry?"
"I'm starving!"
"I'll get you pizza on the way home. Sounds nice?"
"Yeah!" I replied, trying to sound cheery.
Strange, one would think after learning I am to be some army captain or whatever it is, I would not be able to eat a bite...or perhaps this was an excuse so we could get going. I needed to think...
"Great!" I mumbled as I frantically tried to get my stuff together for school. I quickly pulled a brush through my tangled hair, clenching my teeth. I grabbed my grey sweatshirt on the way out. I was late, again…Tomorrow I would turn 17. I didn't feel particularly different. My training was going well, but I couldn't do anything major. No super-speed or strength. No superior sense of smell or sight. Nada… All I had were weird dreams, a silly ring I still couldn't see and Jayden seemed to be annoyed out of his cotton socks…or whatever socks he's wearing. I thought I once heard him say something about me going to get myself killed… how inspiring, right? Sarah was a bit more sympathetic…if she was thinking along the same lines at least she kept it to herself. I hated feeling helpless; I wanted to be able to fight at full strength. I knew Jayden held back majorly when we trained.
My homeroom teacher wasn't very impressed with me for being late, and handed me a piece of paper. I already knew what it meant…detention… It just keeps getting better, doesn't it? It's not my fault that the ancients chose me to fight in some war. Gosh, I'm so tired…I haven't had a decent day's sleep since forever. Juggling school and training classes had been hectic. I really think they got the wrong girl. Whoever put the ring on me must have been bonkers or needs glasses. I wish things could just go back to normal…or at least to when my greatest worry had been mom's wedding… I'll admit, the whole being a half-vamp thing is cool. I am excited and at the same time nervous about how I will change, if I change… I've read that some half-vamps die within the first week after the actual change begins. Usually somewhere around turning 17…Perhaps with me being a 'special case' and all, I'd live a bit longer? I'm pretty sure the ancients wouldn't have bothered choosing me if I was destined to kick the bucket next week, surely? And yeah, I still thought Jayden was the greatest thing since facebook was invented, but somehow having to spearhead bringing down the Covenant, currently the most dangerous organization of psycho vampires who wants to turn all humans into snacks, wasn't part of my future plans…
I sighed as I plopped down in my seat. Lily winked at me and tossed me a crumpled note when the teacher was writing something on the board.
"Hey, are you okay? You look like a zombie!"
I replied: "I'm fine. Just been a lot going on lately with training and stuff," and tossed the note back. She read it and scribbled some more.
"I understand...saving the world can't be an easy task."
There was a smiley drawn next to this, sticking out its tongue at me. It made me smile.
"I have something to show you during break."
I put the note away just in time as the teacher turned around and embarked on a long speech about how important understanding and communication is between species. This school tried very hard to get vamps and wolves to get along. And overall I think they did a good job. Not that the likes of Luna would pay attention...speaking of which...I haven't seen her at school lately? I wonder why?
In Biology class, we studied the werewolf anatomy. Mr Spruce had a life-sized model of a werewolf put on his desk, showing the bones and muscles. It was quite interesting. I learnt things I didn't know, since the only werewolf I've seen before was Luna and there is not much to tell besides that they are huge, have very sharp teeth and lots of fur. A werewolf's neck was longer than a normal wolf and set lower on the shoulders, making it look like its neck and head was one with its spine. This, Mr Spruce said, is a great asset to werewolves, as its neck is well fortified and this again protects the head. Basically the spine runs straight into the neck, then into the head like a solid iron bar.
Lily was very excited to see me during break.
"I've done it! I've finally done it!" she said almost jumping up and down.
"Done what?"
"You know my experiment I've been doing on invisibility? Before it only turned whatever it was on invisible, but the danger was that it could wipe or wash off. Now I've taken it a step further...I've worked on the formula and gave some to my hamster, Pepper, and he turned invisible for a whole day!"
"What? You just fed the stuff to your hamster?!" I asked shocked.
"Don't worry, I did my research before testing it on him. I would have taken it myself, but I was only unsure about the dosage. You know, I can't exactly afford to be invisible right now, with exams coming up...which reminds me, I am very worried about you, Holly. I don't understand the whole ancients vs the Covenant business, but I've been watching you closely the last couple of days. You are wasting away. Tell you what, after school it's you and me. We can watch a movie or even just chat if you feel like it. You need to wind down a bit."
"Thanks Lily, but I can't. Training, remember?"
"So? You said your powers hadn't manifested yet, so what difference does it make? Besides, it's your birthday tomorrow, isn't it? Surely you can be allowed a bit of fun?"
"I guess you're right."