Uh oh. She was late, yet again. The late nights were staring to take their toll.
Katrina shot down the path towards the school doors. The wind whistled in her ears and her rucksack bounced on her back. She was the only one who was clattered down the hall towards maths, panting madly. The door of the classroom was thrown open in the attempt to tempt in a breeze but to no anvil. Katrina halted at the doors.
"Sorry," She huffed as she slid into a seat. The teacher frowned disapprovingly and returned to the sums she had been scribbling on the board.
"If your late again they will give you a long detention," Hissed Cass from next to Katrina. Katrina was too tired to reply. Instead she rested her head on the desk and closed her eyes, but quickly opened them. She couldn't doze off in the middle of class again.
"You need to get more sleep," Insisted Cass half an hour later as they left the classroom with the jumble of restless students.
Cass was a levelheaded, particle girl who only ever believed in what she could see, touch, and smell. Her dark green eyes were full of wise ness before their time and her rich chestnut hair twisted around her shoulders. She was taller than Katrina by a good hand span, slender and surprisingly quick.
"I cant help it...I have...things to do," Said Katrina mysteriously.
"Well find another time to do those things," ordered Cass, "It's not healthy to miss sleep."
"That's what my Mom said," Said Katrina, "But she's not looking to good herself."
"Maybe there's a bug going round," Suggested Cass.
"Maybe," Replied Katrina.
But even if there was she knew it hadn't gotten her. She hardly ever got sick and even when she did it wasn't bad. It was mild to what most people suffered. She supposed it had something to do with her strong resist technique.
Her Mom and Dad never got sick either. None of the family did, not even the servants. It was odd but maybe it had something to do with the special concoction Dad made everyone drink. The one that tasted of honey.
Well it did its job that was for sure. She was healthy but exhausted.
The school day dragged on as usual and was sweltering hot. Katrina was grateful of shadow and the cool indoors. She raced home, wanting to escape from the head ache causing sun.
Redfern mansion was a sight to behold. Thirty-five rooms of ancient art and priceless family treasures. Antique wardrobes and dressers along with the grand table and grandfather clock. Every room was magnificently decorated with fine wallpaper and enormous rugs that had to be cleaned every day.
Katrina bounded across the tiled hall, clambered up the stairs and rushed to her bedroom on the east side of the house. Her room was just as beautiful as the rest.
The sunlight couldn't reach her here. This was her own little private space, her heaven, and her hiding place. For here she hid secrets that nobody in her life could understand.
She stalked over to they draw and whipped out a pointed wooden stake.
"Am telling you man!" Said the vampire dramatically, "This is one slayer you don't wanna mess with."
"I have killed slayers before, what makes this one so different?" Demanded Gabriel.
"Once she targets you there is no escape. That's why they call her The Terminator, like the guy out the movie. She is like that, but human," said the vampire. Gabriel sighed and shook his head.
The club was seedy; nothing like the Nightworld clubs back home in San Francisco. Everything in this pokey little town was to small, or to dirty. Why vampires would want to hunt here he had no idea. Unless they were after the slayer. The Terminator. The one he had come to dispose of.
"He's right," added a female vampire with stunning green eyes, "She saw my brother feeding from a vermin kid. They had to mop up what was left of him."
"Did you ever think that maybe she has help? One vermin girl could not be that powerful," suggested Gabriel, "Maybe there is other forces at work here."
"Perhaps," Said the female, "But the sooner she dies, the better for the Nightworld."
Gabriel sipped his vodka and blood and stared out across the crowds. The music was annoying; it had nothing of the catchy thumping rhythms he was used to. Even a vermin club was better than this filth hole.
"So where does she like to hang out?" Inquired Gabriel.
"Mostly around St Louis cemetery," said the male vampire, "That's where I found her, kicking the crap out of a massive vampire."
"Well. She will not bother you for much longer. Killing slayers is my speciality," bragged Gabriel. He drained his glass and slammed it on the bar, "Got to go to work."
"Watch your back." Warned the female vampire. Gabriel ignored her. They were pathetic for being scared of a vermin girl.
The night was cool and clear, the stars twinkling overhead. The streets were busy with activity, he could have easy of fed on a stray human teenager but he wanted to save his appetite. He was going to glory in the death of this slayer.
St Louis cemetery was situated in the centre of town. For some reason the area was deserted. Maybe the cemetery had gotten itself a bad reputation for attacks. Gabriel vaulted over the high wall and landed steadily on his feet, like a cat. His senses were acute and he could hear the scuffling of a fox leaving its burrow. And he could smell vermin.
Well well, thought Gabriel, the hunter is about to become the hunted.
He followed the scent almost losing it for a moment but capturing it again. There were the sounds of a struggle, of heavy breathing and fierce snarls coming from beyond a clump of black bushes. He crept closer.
There. A vermin girl, about 5 ft 4, beating the hell out of a smaller male vampire. Her blond hair plastered to her cheeks with sweat and her bright blue eyes burning with fury. She was dressed completely in black and was wearing gloves to keep her hangs warm. The vampire lunged at her but she whipped a stake in front of her. It hit its target. The wood sunk into the chest of the vampire, straight into its heart and it collapsed to the floor. With a series of splutters and gurgles it died, the light fading from its eyes and the skin toughening.
The girl pulled the bloody stake from the body and wiped it clean on its clothes. She swiped at the hair stuck to her sweaty cheek and reared her head up.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Gabriel left the shadows and sauntered into the clearing beyond the bushes. The girl didn't retreat but held her ground, griping the stake so hard her knuckles turned white. Her body became ridged as she assessed the danger and prepared for the attack.
"Good show," Mocked Gabriel, "You are strong."
She gave him a questioning, confused look. He smiled wickedly.
"But I am stronger..."
She hardly had time to manoeuvre as he sailed through the air and landed in front of her. He let out a feral his and shot for her neck. She managed to shove him away. He came at her again, kicking at her legs. But she jumped and he missed and she put more power behind her attack and struck him. It caught him under his jaw and forced his head back.
The girl took this chance to retreat a little, to find more space to move. He growled irritably, his fangs pricking his bottom lip. The hunger rose in him, like a fiery beast that was fighting to escape. But he didn't need that fire. He was powerful enough.
"Who are you?" He demanded. She frowned.
"Yeah right. How stupid do you think I am? As if I would tell an animal like you my name," she spat. She had her own fire; he could feel that even if he couldn't touch her mind.
"I think you are very idiotic," he said, "Especially for not running from me. Do you not know who I am?"
"I don't care!" She snarled.
She charged at him but his reflexes were quick enough to ready his body. He simply stepped out of the way as she shot by him. This seemed to enrage her more. Obviously she didn't like playing games. Her blue eyes boiled with anger and she was breathing heavily like a winded rhinoceros.
Funny, he had expected it to be him who got angry. She was a strange human.
She came at him again, slower this time, letting her fury control her speed. Stupid vermin. He caught her and wrapped his arms around her warm body. She struggled against him, but he held her tight. He squeezed her wrist and she dropped the stake. He heard her gasp in pain.
"I am Gabriel Blackrosé," He breathed in here ear, "And you are dead."
"Better dead then one of you," She said through clenched death, preparing herself for the pain of the unwilling feeding.
And that's when it happened.
Katrina couldn't breath properly. The filth was restricting her breathing pace. Grey spots were started to dance in front of her eyes and she felt her head droop, but she had been about to shoot off her mouth at him.
She felt the smoothness of his lips and warmth of his mouth on the flesh of her neck. And then nothing but silver light.
It was beautiful, it was dazzling, and she was lost in it. Her whole mind pulsated with mystical energy trying to drag her in, pulling her from her own body and into a new world were only she existed.
No. Where only she had the leech existed.
He was there, Gabriel. It was just they in their own little world. And she could feel things that weren't her feelings. She heard thoughts that made no sense.
Kill...drink her blood...rip her to shreds...Of course. This was the notorious Gabriel she was dealing with, named after an angel but far from it, who viciously killed his victims and tore apart their bodies, mangled them so badly they were unrecognisable.
But she was in his mind. How had that happened? She had never experienced it before.
Soulmates...soulmates...soulmates...The word echoed through the world, his thoughts repeated. He was throwing up walls to keep her out of his mind and she knew she had to do the same, to protect her identity.
Then, suddenly, they snapped out of it.
Gabriel shoved her away and she was so unprepared she fell hard to the ground. The aftershock rocked her brain. Glancing up she saw the vampire leaning over her, the moon behind his shoulder, his eyes glowing with silver light and his canines extended so they brush his chin. Disbelief swirled in his eyes.
Katrina shuddered and got up, her legs shaking like jelly. Suddenly she felt weak, not like her usual in control, powerful, confident self. There was a strange shyness in her movements and she felt intimidated by what had just happened. The air vibrated with the after effects of the connection.
Because that's what it had been. For some reason their minds had met and bonded, connected to create a world just for the two of them were nothing else could touch them.
Gabriel didn't say anything. He just stared at her for a few moments. Then with a blur of speed he was gone, disappeared into the night like a true creature of the dark.
Katrina coughed and brushed her throat with her fingers. It was surprisingly dry. There was no bite.