Heres chapter five...
Line spacing again....
and once again i own nothing but th plot and the characters i have named before...
Not Too Late For Love
Chapter five: Train Hard, Train Fast
Kaitlin couldn't sleep.
She tossed and turned but she just couldn't sleep. She looked at her watch and discovered it was only 3:00 am. All sane people were asleep right now. But then she had never been exactly sane when it came to sleep. She pushed the duvet back and sat up.
The room she had been assigned was nothing to scoff at. It was ornate and beautiful and looked more like a hotel room than anything else. She sighed. There was jus no way she was going to be able to sleep now. So she decided that she's go for a walk.
She pulled on a pair of jeans and a top she'd discarded earlier and padded out of her room and down the stairs. It was silent. The house was totally silent yet she knew not everybody that stayed there was in bed. She could almost sense their presences and wondered how that was possible then remembered that Thea and Gillian had unblocked her powers and that she was a shapeshifter now.
She remembered from reading the books that shapeshifters were good at feeling life forcers and guessed that was probably what she was doing now. Well, she couldn't think what else it could be. She wondered if she would ever get used to the fact she had powers.
Before all this powers were something you read about in books, an escapism where no one could touch her and where she could dream. But now it was all real. All of it. She wasn't sure how she was meant to deal with that. And whether she actually could. She shook her head.
There was no way around it. She had too. Period.
She walked through the mansion as quietly as a cat and down into the basement. She opened the doors and was astounded by what she saw. A full sized gym and training area. What a great idea! She could train and then maybe she could sleep.
She laughed at that. She never slept but at least if she trained it would pass the time. She got so bored on a night it was unbelievable.
She started to warm up chasing away the sleepy warmth from her limbs. Then she started punching and kicking.
Going through her routines and hitting targets with deadly precision. Hey if they said she needed to be ready, she'd be ready. There was no way she was getting caught off guard again. No way.
She'd felt stupid and helpless and that was not something she was used too. Fury laced her movements but she kept them precise. Then she spotted the weapons. Snakewood. She smiled viciously.
It was one of the hardest woods on the planet. She started to spar with it. And then headed for the sliver. It was dangerous to her. Sliver. She had always thought she was allergic to it.
Her parents had never let her wear it. They said she had a violent reaction to it. Now she knew why. Sliver was deadly to shapeshifters. Just as wood was dangerous to vampires and iron to witches. She felt as if she was walking on the edge of a void sparing with it. She continued to move using the sliver spar as a weapon to horn her movements. She refused to be a victim again.
It had made her feel helpless and vulnerable and it was not an experience she was willing to repeat. She thrust forward and back and twirled round.
And her sliver rod clanged with another.
She looked up and saw Nilsson looking intently down at her. She jumped as he swung for her meeting his swing with one of her own.
Then she jumped back and looked at him in shock. "You fight well." He said backing away slightly. "Even at 5.00am."
"What?" Kaitlin blanched. "I said even-" "No. I know that. It just means that if its 5 am it means I've been down here doing this for two hours! I didn't even notice."
Nilsson looked at her for a moment and then smiled. "Being wrapped up in your own thoughts can do that too you Miss." He said, "Nilsson please, I feel really stupid you calling me Miss. It's Kaitlin. Or Kait. But not Miss. I'm not cut out for that." "You are a Princess…" "As of last night."
She said running a hand over her face still not sure she could cope with that. "How do you cope with finding out you're a twin and you are Princess all in one night?
"Before that I was just Kaitlin Drake. A normal," She smiled "if dreamy 17 year old now I'm not Kaitlin Drake I'm Aurora Drache the fourth Wild Power and twin sister to Galen Drache heir to the First House of shape shifters. You guys can't just expect me to adjust to that. I can't."
"We never asked you too." Nilsson said not knowing what to say. He wasn't very good at this stuff. Give him a Night Person to hunt down fine but this heart-to-heart, no. Poppy, James and Thea tended to be better at stuff like that. But seeing Kaitlin so lost did something he couldn't name to him.
"You are asking me too," she said quietly. "You're asking me to without even knowing it. I can't…" she stamped her foot and turned away from him. Not wanting to show just how upset she actually was.
"I can't deal with this. I'm an ordinary person and you're all characters in books!" she turned to face him. His heart lurched. He had no idea what to say to her. "Oh God Kaitlin if I had known the pain this would cause you I would have never let them go through it.
Galen lost his sister.
Your mother and father lost their daughter but you…you lost everything. You have no memory of the Night World. No memory of all that you were meant to be. I wish there was someway I could make this easier for you. But I can't." he didn't dare add that by now her powers should be progressing and that as a shapeshifter she should have been able to sense him watching her especially since he'd been watching her practically since she began.
He had been entranced watching her train. There were only two others, excluding himself, he knew trained with that amount of concentration. Rashel and Quinn.
Although he would be lying if he thought the others were not a valuable asset to the organisation. Each brought their own brand of help.
But there was difference here. The training sessions with the circle were a fun time, a time for the circle to bond and work as a team. Nilsson although he was part of the team he always felt alone.
And if he was honest he preferred it that way. Love and friendship, as important as he knew it was he felt it made him weak.
And that above everything else was something he feared. He watched Kaitlin watching him and she smiled through her tears. "This is so stupid! Shapeshifters are meant to have powers.
And I know I have them. I can feel them now that that Thea, Gillian and Illiena have worked their magic but I have no idea how in hell I am meant to use them. And blue fire…don't even get me started. I have no idea where to begin. I know blood has to run. But I just can't believe that I've had all this power and have had no idea about it." "That will come."
He said quickly. "That was how I felt when Thierry felt gave me the chance to be a vampire. I had all this power and I had no idea how I was meant to use it. But it will come. I promise you."
"It just seems a long time in coming." She sighed. "It will come."
She smiled and then whipped round. Narrowing her eyes. Every sense on guard. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end. "There's something out there Nilsson."
He looked outside through the double doors. His vision was better than hers but he still couldn't see anything. "I don't see anything." Nilsson said,
"Yes. But that doesn't change the fact that there is in fact something out there." She fell into a fighting stance as the windows exploded.
Nilsson reacted on instinct and dived for the floor picking up the first weapons he could. The sliver bar he had sparred with Kaitlin with and a wooden sword. He dived in front of Kaitlin.
This was his job. He had to keep her safe. Thierry and the First House would have his head if anything happened to her.
The first wave came in. Five vampires dressed as Ninjas to avoid the light making their sight weaker. Nilsson went into attack mode. The wooden sword became his primary weapon he dived at one and staked him.
Kaitlin was forced into the splits to avoid being hit with sliver. She felt sick. They knew she was of Shapeshifter blood.
She fought him off and kicked out and jack hammered up from the floor. Someone kicked at her and she blocked the kick aiming for the joints to numb their limb. She glanced over at Nilsson.
He was fighting like a tiger but as soon as the first wave came in another came. "Galen!" She screamed.
"Intruders in the basement. We need help!" as she thought it the doors to the basement slammed open and Quinn, Rashel, Jez, Morgead, Keller, Galen and Thierry piled in.
they took in the scene and then dived into action. Rashel dived at a vampire with her samurai sword and he keeled over. Quinn moved so fast no one saw him. Morgead just looked at one and they collapsed
Galen and Keller were changing as they ran and bore down on two that had surrounded her and Thierry had changed and lunged at someone else but Kaitlin didn't have time to watch as she thrust forward with the sliver and ducked as another thrust a sword headed for her chest.
She rolled around in time to meet another thrust and pushed back against it before thrusting herself. They yelled and fell back. She turned round and threw the wooden sword she still had hold of into the back of a vampire who was stood over Galen who was currently in his half-half form. He looked up and smiled before charging at another.
He gave a coughing yell and the vampire went down under 160 pounds of leopard. "Kait!" Nilsson screamed. She turned and barely sidestepped a lunge from someone behind her.
She felt the wood make contact and pain exploded around her mid section but she managed to pull her assailant round and deliver a numbing punch into their own mid section.
She felt weak and then she saw something that almost stopped her heart. Three vampires were stood over Nilsson getting ready to stake him. She was moving before she knew what was going on
"Kaitlin No!" Galen screamed but she was in the air before anyone could stop her and she was on top of him. She ripped out his throat.
The other two looked at her in surprise and then hissed and dived on her. She threw one off and kicked one in the head as she flipped backwards out of their line of fire.
She stood up and retrieved a wooden stake and threw it from her right hand to her left hand she threw it with deadly accuracy.
The other dropped as Jez threw a ball of blue fire at her. Then as if someone warned her she jumped in the air and did a 360-degree spin and hit another hit a sickening crunch in the back of the neck and broke it.
She landed as the others tied up the lose ends.
Most of the intruders were dead.
There were seven out of the twenty that had tried to attack still alive and they were all knocked out and controlled by Quinn and Thierry the strongest of the telepaths among them.
As soon as they woke up the interrogation would begin. Kaitlin walked through the basement picking up the broken glass ready for some of the others to replace the windows as soon as the clean up was complete.
"Come with me." A voice said she turned and it was Galen. "There's still things to do." Kaitlin said, "I'm needed here." "They can wait. Thierry wants to see you now." Kaitlin shrugged and turned and followed her twin out of the room. She walked through the doors and into Thierry's study.
Thierry and Hannah were sat huddled together in the same chair mulling over something in front of them when she walked in. Nilsson was also there pointing out something. Her heart tipped over seeing him. He was okay….
Wait, why did it matter to her so much that he was okay? Sure she was pleased he hadn't been hurt but it went deeper than that…
"Kaitlin, please come in." Thierry said Galen followed her in and shut the door. "Now we have some things to discuss. As I am sure you are aware after tonight's events." Kaitlin nodded.
"Now I've decided that as you seem to be the primary targets in all of this you will have round the clock guarding in all of this. No arguments." "Sir I am capable of taking care of myself."
Kaitlin bristled. "No one said anything against that Kait." Nilsson said "We would be fools to think otherwise there are few that can move the way you can. But we need to make sure that you won't be hurt in the process as you were tonight." "That was a scratch!"
Kaitlin said outraged. "Illiena healed it in a second." "Yes but it could have been more." Thierry said worry lines etching his brow.
"Where did you learn to fight like that Jez, Keller and Rashel are in shock and to shock them you must be good." Hannah said bluntly.
Kaitlin started to say that she learned it. But some of the moves she'd pulled tonight she had never attempted in her life. "I learned a lot of it in my lessons. But tonight was different; it was as if someone was letting me know what would happen.
I knew they were going to attack before the windows blew out, I knew when someone was behind me and it was as if someone was prompting me to do the jump tonight, as if someone was holding me up. I know that probably makes no sense what so ever." She finished sighing.
"No it does actually." Thierry said, "I've been waiting for this." He said. "You're the Chosen one! The Old Powers have chosen you to lead in the battle." Kaitlin was drinking water at this point and sprayed it all over.
"WHAT!" Hers wasn't the only voice that joined either. Galen's joined in as well. "No. Thierry there has to be a mistake." Kaitlin choked out past the lump in her throat. "I mean- I can't even- I can't even sense people. I have no idea how to use my powers.
I mean how are you even sure you've got the right person?" The thing that had been bothering her ever since she had got there came tumbling out of her mouth in the rush and the shock of Thierry's latest revelation.
"You forget the only reason you weren't here in the Night World were you should have been for the past 17 years is that there was an attempt on your life. You can't help that."
Thierry said "and besides we intend to show everything you need to know." "I'll teach her everything she needs to know." Galen said, "She's my sister and she is going to learn everything I took for granted."
"But what if you've got the wrong person?" Kaitlin stuttered again. She couldn't believe that she could be the One Thierry was talking about how was that even possible? She started fumbling with her necklace.
Thierry and Nilsson saw this and smiled. "Okay Kait. We'll take you up on that. So what if your not who you say you are." "But" Galen spluttered. Thierry held up his hand to silence him.
"Tell me what does Drache mean." "It means Dragon." Kaitlin said, "What's the shapeshifter logo in the Night World?"
"A foxglove." She said "and why can't they use sliver, or be in contact with sliver?" Nilsson said, "Because we're allergic."
She said "but what's that got to do with anything?" "Well that piece of jewellery you happen to be playing with right there." Kaitlin looked down shocked "has a dragon on."
"The Drache family crest." Galen whispered,
"Only the First House are allowed to be seen wearing it." Kaitlin did a double take. "It has on a foxglove, the flower that shows lets the Night People know who you are." Hannah said quietly. She'd been sat watching this exchange in silence.
"And it's made of gold." Nilsson said "Your parents give it to you, to protect you and help you find your way when we took you from them." "So you see Kaitlin. You are Aurora Drache. You know you are. You feel it don't you?" Kaitlin was about to answer no. But stopped.
At her hesitation Thierry and Nilsson smiled "The Night World has already claimed you as one of its own Kait." Thierry said "and now so have the Old Powers." Kaitlin stood gaping for a few moments and then her gaze was snagged by Nilsson who was watching her with an intense expression.
She caught his gaze and was shocked by the amount of heat she felt when they connected. He broke the gaze first.
"Oh God! What do I do now? She whispered. "We Train hard and we train fast. Because without it there is no hope for any of us. You're the key Kaitlin. You're the one that has to lead the others. You're the one who will hold the torch for the entire world. This isn't about the Night World anymore.
This is about survival, and stopping the end of the world. Only the Wild Powers can do that. But you…you have to want it. Without you it just won't work." "No pressure then." She said faintly she glanced at Nilsson and he sent her a smile that gave her courage. She squared her shoulders and said, "Okay. I guess I have no choice. What do I need to do?"