David puts down his hand swords, panting heavily. Selene still had her sword raised ready to make the final blow and end him. She looked like this was not even a fight for her. She has been training him now for a couple of months and he has yet been able to get a solid hit on her with his hand knives.
"If you are going to use your hand knives. You need to get in closer for them to be effective," said Selene.
"When I tried to get in closer you kicked me into the tree," replied David pulling off his hand knives. He was able to hold his own against Selene with a sword, but she still beat him more than he beat her. But, with the knives and close combat, he has not been able to score a hit. Swords are great at arm's length, but they normally end up stuck in a Lycan's body more times than not. Since lycans normally attacked in packs, losing one's sword could cost you your life. That is why he used handguns and knives. A handgun at close range could do major damage to a Lycan. Nevertheless, the downside with handguns his you tend to run out of bullets quickly. The hand-knives could also do some major damage; he just needed more skill to make them more effective.
"You should have seen that coming and move against it," Selene said.
"Well, I didn't," said David still remembering the kick Selene delivered to him.
He thought that he was finally going to get a hit in on Selene, she has been deflecting every thrust of his hand knives. He liked his hand knives; he could hold them similarly to brass knuckles. They had rings of steel for your fingers to go through, but instead of a metal bar going across your knuckles, they had large razor-sharp blades. During their fight, he was able to knock Selene's sword away from her. Just when he thought he had her, she twisted and kicked him, knocking him back at least thirty feet.
"I am going to take a quick shower and change. Did you call the number?" asked Selene letting him know that their training session was over. She held out her hand looking at it. The mid-morning sun beat down on it. She could feel its warmth on her hand; she was still slightly amazed that she was able to walk in the sun, even though it has been a while since she had received Alexander Corvinus' blood. She put her hand down when she realized David was looking at her strangely. She cleaned her sword off and put it back in the scabbard. David put his hand knives in a wooden case after cleaning them off.
"I have not received a reply from Peter Hale," said David following Selene into the house. "The meeting with Mr. Argent is still on for this afternoon. I figured since we have some time; we could go by the safe house and do inventory because there is no one staying there at this time."
Selene nodded her head in agreement. Mr. Hale owned some nice properties that she was interested in renting or buying. When they decided to leave the Old World for the new one, she didn't know what she was going to do. She had been a Death Dealer almost her entire vampire life. Now that she had a child, her priority had changed. Michael and she decided that they did not want to raise Eve in the world of vampires and lycans. They set out to leave when David found out they were leaving and asked to come along also. At first, Selene was hesitant, however, Michael said that he could get a job as a doctor in a hospital. Selene needed something to do also. David was a young vampire and knew more about the human world than Selene or Eve. He would be their guide so to speak, they looked at Selene's skill sets and all concluded that she would most be satisfied running a gym, Dojo, or defense classes for humans. They were on the hunt for a building to start her classes.
It was still strange for Selene to try to live as a normal human. When they left the Old World, they had not heard of any Lycan activities for a decade, though this did not mean that they were not around. She still had a gut feeling that Dr. Lane was hiding somewhere and not dead. Now with a daughter, Selene's priorities had changed. She did not realize how much having a daughter would change her. She never wanted to have a child. She had dedicated the first part of her life to be at Viktor's side. She idolized him and tried being a substitute daughter and the ever-faithful warrior for his cause, only to realize that her devotion was for naught. Viktor was not the father figured she had imagined him to be.
Then Michael had happened and from their union Eve was born. They ran putting their old lives behind them. Due to the Immortal blood, she was able to walk in the sunlight, so one day while walking at the waterfront, she and Michael were ambushed by human hunters who separated them from each other. She woke up twelve years later, only to realize that she had a daughter and Michael was missing. She had thought Michael was dead and that Marius killed him. She was so relieved when he arrived after the battle at the Eastern Coven. He could not remember much since that day on the waterfront. All three of them went back to the Nordic Coven and met up with Eve. They stayed there a while but decided to start a new life here in America and try to integrate with the humans. Michael received his Doctoral degree and was doing his residency at Beacon Memorial, Eve was in school, so David and Selene decided to start a gym or Dojo to help train. David had a degree in computers, this helped him to get through customs during their travels.
With the Lycans war over, the covens were decimated by their greed. David was their true heir; he was the last of the Elder's original bloodline. But he did not want to lead a bunch of conniving vampires who's only interest was gaining power in an obsolete society. No, David did an unusual thing, he recognized his birthright yet refused to use it to his advantage. He stated, "I am of royal blood, but I will not lead you at this time. You are not worthy of my bloodline." The shock of the ruling council's fanged face was priceless. He told them they needed to open their coven up to more modern ideas and that a time of healing was needed for all. He asked the ruling council to choose an advisory board to help aid them through the transition. He said that he wanted the advisory board to report to him on their progress. The older vampires did not like it at all. Luckily for David, they were in such disarray that they could not do anything about it. He knew that if they did not change their way of thinking and adapt, they would be extinct soon. Selene knew that some of the ruling council would not like it but would come around and others would not, and that was a problem for the future.
David finished his shower and dressed in jeans and a grey T-shirt. He walked into the living room and saw Selene was already waiting for him. She too was wearing a pair of dark pants and a white button-up blouse. David could tell that she wanted to don her trench coat. David knew that she was not comfortable with wearing 'civilian' clothes. He was sure she had enough weapons on her, but he knew that with her trench coat she could carry more. She was still getting acclimated to being a regular person and not looking over her shoulder for a threat. He knew the transition was hard on her, but Selene took in on like a challenge. She was especially hard on herself to be a good mother.
"I will drive to the safe house," said Selene as she left out the house with David following behind her.
The ride to the house was uneventful. David reviewing the safe house's cameras for anything out of ordinary. The safe house was normally used to store weapons and blood, but they turned this one into an Airbnb. It had a secret basement area that only someone with vampire blood could access. David had the camera feed set to replay at high speed. With his enhanced vampire senses, he was able to see everything clearly. Vampire senses had helped in educating Selene on human customs and idiocy. She was able to watch movies and TV shows in fast forward and still understand what was going on. This helped not only her but David and Eve also. Michael who could still relate to humans suggested it. Since Eve had spent her formative years in a Lycan laboratory, she took to the learning eagerly. Selene was somewhat bored with the pop culture, thankfully they knew enough about pop culture to be able to blend in with the humans without sounding like someone who had lived in a cult.
They arrived at the house. Selene gets out and gives a quick glance around making sure no threats were around, she is satisfied that the area is free from possible threats. She goes towards the house and unlocks it. The house's furniture is setup neatly to welcome the next guest. She walks through the living room and down the hall to the first bedroom on the right. She throws back the area rug on the floor and takes out her knife and pricks her finger. David walks in behind her and heads towards the windows closing the curtains. She spills a drop of blood onto the center of the tile floor. The blood slowly absorbs into the floors. There is a click and tiles drop down an inch and perform an intricate disappearing act only to reveal an iron door with a safe combination knob on it. David reached down and did the combination opening the door. There is a dark stairway leading down to the basement. David walked down the stairs turning on the light as he did.
The light revealed a space that had two large refrigerators on the far side wall, with a stand-up freezer to the right. On the left and right walls had beds running alongside them. Above the beds along the walls were cabinets that housed the various guns and ammunition. In the center was a high white table with six chairs around it. David went to the refrigerators checking the blood supplies.
"Do you think Michael will be successful in getting more human blood?" asked David
"Yes," Selene said without any hesitation. "We should have enough of Ziodex blood to last us for a while." Ziodex was a company that manufactured and supplied synthetic blood to hospitals in the Old World. The Old-World Coven created it and would have been their latest cash crop, but the raids by the Lycans and the infighting between the covens made it so that it was mostly run by humans who had no idea what its real purpose was.
"With Eve able to eat human food and not needing blood as often we should be able to make what we have on hand last for about a year possibly more," said David.
Eve was the hybrid child of Michael, who is part werewolf part vampire; and Selene who is a vampire that had tasted Alexander Corvinus blood. He was the original immortal. His blood changed Selene making her stronger than ordinary vampires. She used her blood to bring David back to life. Now he too had enhanced strength and was able to walk in the sun. Michael being half-werewolf the sun did not bother him. But he needed blood to survive, human food made him sick. Eve was the only one who could eat human food without getting sick.
David picked up three blood bags and put them in a mylar insulated bag. They would last him, Selene, and Michael almost three weeks if they were frugal. They could hunt animals to stave off hunger, it was not as filling. They would have to hunt a medium-size dog every day to get the nourishment that they needed to stay alive. If they did that people in Beacon Hills would be up in arms trying to figure out why all their animals keep disappearing or coming up dead. A human could last them a week maybe two, but they did not want to have the local police after them. Normally the Elders would supply the Covens with blood because they owned several human blood banks that supplied blood to the local hospitals and outpatient surgery centers. But here in Beacon Hills, they were hoping that Michael would be able to get some blood bags to help them out. None of them wanted to feed off a human. It would raise too many questions if they hunted humans and left them alive. They would report the attack. If they killed humans the authorities would become suspicious at the dead bodies piling up, even if was just homeless people at first.
In the last years of the war, the Lycans would hit the blood supply of the coven they were going to attack. Weakening the coven allowing them to be overrun easily when the attack came. They would hit safe houses also, the few that remained. Now the supply of blood that flowed to the safe house had stopped especially here in Beacon Hills. David was able to get Cassius to supply this safe house with blood before they came here.
David looked around one more time making sure everything was where it needed to be. He followed Selene up the stairs closing the heavy iron door and spinning the lock and pulling the handle to make sure the door was completely locked. Selene pricked her finger again and this time dropped a drop of blood on the door. The tile reformed over the door and raised into place making a seamless seal. David put the throw rug back in place and Selene opened the curtains.
They got into the car and David punched the location to the place they were meeting Chris Argent. The navigation system gave them the directions which Selene followed. They arrived at a two-story beige building in downtown Beacon Hills. The parking lot was half-filled with cars.
They entered the building and saw shotguns and large caliber rifles lining the walls behind a glass case showcased the Handguns. There was a middle-aged man with black hair and a salt and pepper beard wiping down one of the display cases.
"Hi welcome," the man said greeting them. "If you are interested in using the gun range. We should have an opening in twenty minutes."
"Thanks, but we are here to see Chris Argent. His he here?" asked David.
"Jorge!" screamed the man to someone who was in the door behind him.
"Yeah?" said a Hispanic male coming through the door.
"These folks would like to speak with Chris. Go tell him that he has people here who are wanting to see him," said the man. Jorge disappeared through the door that he just came out of. "He might be a minute; Chris is in a meeting with someone."
Selene and David admired the different weapons that the gun range had. She saw a Beretta 93R, it was similar to hers. She remembered using it at the subway station the day she saw Michael.
"You like that one?" asked the man with the salt and pepper beard.
"I had one once," said Selene.
The man pulled out the gun from the display case, checked to make sure the chamber was empty, and handed it to Selene.
"A woman as good looking as you should always carry a gun. Do you have a concealed carry permit?" said the man. "If not, we offer classes here on Tuesday night and some Saturdays if there are enough people who could not make the Tuesday class."
Selene looked at the gun smiled at the man "May I?" she asked. The man nodded his head not quite sure what she was referring to. Selene took the gun and broke it down into its individual pieces. She had each part laid out in perfect precision on the table. The man just gawked at her at how fast she took the gun apart. Selene smiled again and put the gun back together at a speed that left the man slack-jawed.
"I'll be damn, I have never," said the man taking the gun from Selene shaking his head in disbelief at the speed she used to strip the gun down and put it back together. He pulled the slide back and checked the chamber. He shook his head as he put the gun back.
The door opened and a tall man with short light brown hair with some grey starting to show appeared. He had light blue-gray eyes. He was wearing olive drab cargo pants and a solid green t-shirt. The man seemed dangerous to Selene and David; they have both been around dangerous humans before. Followed behind him were Jorge and another guy with a bright pink shirt on who had an angry scowl across his face.
"Hi, I am Chris Argent," said the man as he stuck out his hand in greeting.
"Hi, I am David, and this is Selene. I am the one who called earlier about the property," said David.
"Yes, of course," said Chris.
Selene stayed quiet while David talked with Chris and their needs. She notices that there were a lot more people that worked here than she realized. She can tell that the people all have some sort of weapon on them, they looked like they were doing busy work. Her years of training tell her that they have recognized her as a danger but not necessarily a threat yet.
The door opened again and a teenager with sandy blond hair walk out the door and around the display cases. He was moving towards the door when his blue eyes looked at Selene. There was something extremely dangerous about him. David turned, noticing Selene's change of mood. He also saw the boy and concluded that he was a danger. The boy looked at them wide-eyed and looking like he was going to be sick at any moment ran out the door.
"Don't worry about him. He is not old enough to buy a gun yet," said Chris who had his hand on his back gun. He too noticed the tension in the room when Selene and David looked at Jake. He knew that they were supernatural by the scrying rock. He had gotten the rock off some witches; it would change color when someone of the supernatural world was in its vicinity. It was kind of like a mood rock. "Now you were interested in the property near the hospital?"
Selene and David did not answer right away. They kept looking at Jake as he got into his car and drove away. Selene did not understand why her instinct and years of training recognized the boy as a threat. Selene was quite sure that he was not a Lycan. Her battles with them had dismissed the boy as one. Yet there was still something about him though that made Selene's danger sense go off.
"Yes, I want to open a gym to teach self-defense classes to people," said Selene from a pre-rehearsed speech she and David had come up with on the reason they were looking for a piece of property.
"Well, I believe that one of the best defenses for a woman is a gun, it seems to deter many assailants," said Chris. "But this town could use someone to teach them physical self-defense."
"Boss, you should see this woman strip down a Beretta 93R," said the gray-streaked bearded man who seemed unaware of the tension in the room.
"So not only do you wanted to teach self-defense classes, but you know guns also?" asked Chris.
The gray-streaked beard man reached down and pulled out the Beretta 93R and handed it to Selene. "Watch this," he said aloud. "I believe she can do it faster than you boss and you are the fastest person I know."
Selene took the gun. She looked over at David, not sure how to respond. If she were in the vampire world and a young death dealer came up to her and ask to see her take apart a gun and put it together again, she would have sent the vampire out of the coven for such an insult for wanting to see such a menial task. Selene had to remember she was in the human world and these were not young death dealers looking to learn. No these were humans that were impressed with her handling of a gun.
Selene took apart the gun and placed the parts neatly on the display cabinet again. Chris's eyebrows shot up at the speed at which she took apart the weapon. She put the weapon back together again. This time getting a whistle from the gray-streaked man, mumbling under his breath how impressive it was. As more guns thrust towards her hands, Selene took them apart and put them back together with amazing speed.
"Where did you learn how to do that?" asked Jorge clearly impressed.
"I am not here to talk about guns, but to look at properties," said Selene putting the last gun down on the display case.
"Alright, shows over get back to work. I am not paying you to watch a show," barked Chris. "Jorge you and Mitch will accompany me while the rest of you back to work. Also, I want the gun range nine cleaned and ready for the next customers." People started to go back to work, Selene did not realize that she had gathered a crowd. She had to remember that humans could be dangerous. They were the ones that separated her and Michael. For centuries she ignored humans, now she knew better so she is more vigilant.
Chris gave David the address to the property that they were interested in. Chris said that he would meet them there, he just needed to get the keys to show them the place. David and Selene got into the car. This time David drove to the place after Selene plugged the address into the navigator system. She saw Jorge and the guy with the pink shirt get in the black SUV with Chris. Selene knew that they had more weapons on them for some reason.
They arrived at the building which was three blocks from Beacon Memorial Hospital. The property was on the corner spot of a newly built strip mall. It was on one of the main streets of Beacon Hills. Selene liked the outside it overlooked a park that was across the street. It had several other tenants in the building also. She was not sure if Chris Argent owned the whole building or just the space they were looking at. But if he owned the whole strip mall. He wasn't doing too bad. The place had a pet store, a yogurt shop, several apparel stores, and a dentist's office.
Chris and the others arrived shortly after and lead them to the storefront. Chris gave the keys to Selene letting her open the door. Selene took it all in. The place was not that defendable. The walls outside walls were thick but a Lycan could break through them easily. Chris spoke about how he could tear down the walls and put them up in any design that they needed. He could make the space suitable for their needs.
Selene let David and Chris talk about the particulars of the terms and arrangements of the least. Selene enjoyed this area. It was close to the hospital, and not that far from the school. She would have like to have a space closer to the school, but none was available. They agreed to meet up with Chris next week and sign the papers so construction could begin. Chris was confident that he could have the place ready in about a month to move in.
Chris watched as Selene and David got into their car and drove away. He had been a hunter all of his life, he knew that they were supernatural. Which type of supernatural he was not sure. The stone in his office had changed colors and let out a warning hum when they had entered the gun range. He knew that the stone was not always exact. If someone had been around a supernatural for an extended period of time. The stone would change color. But the humming always meant that there was a supernatural in the vicinity.
"So, what do you think boss," said Jorge fastening his seatbelt. Mitch was in the back with a scowl still on his face.
"They are supernatural and dangerous," replied Chris trying to reason out why he felt that way. The rock had changed color and hummed. But the door at the rental place had mountain ash in it. He knew of no supernatural that could break through mountain ash other than witches, Ashwood weakened their magic.
"But they came through the door without any problem. Plus, the woman was smoking hot," said Mitch from the back seat.
"Well, that smoking hot woman could probably kill you before you could blink," said Chris. "She scares me more out of the two of them. The way she stripped down the guns and put them back together. I have never seen someone do it that fast with so many different kinds of handguns. Have you ever heard of any supernatural's using weapons, Jorge?"
"No, I have not. They all seem to rely on their own personal enhancements," said Jorge.
"I say that the stone is wrong, they walked through the mountain ash like it was not even there," said Mitch.
"Yeah, that is what worries me. Not only did the rock go off. But their background check came back squeaky clean. But we could get nothing from their time in Europe where they said they were from and every time I tried to get them to tell me something about themselves. They avoided the answers.," said Chris.
