Chapter 12: Learn not to be Helpless
Stella:
After the meeting with the Chief, Slim took me right away to join his Fledgling class. Along with monitoring vampire rogues, the V.V.P.A also saw to it that the younger generation understood how to live without having to attack us poor, defenseless, humans. Slim was responsible for teaching the youngsters the way of the conformists.
"Everyone, this is Stella Rossi. She'll be listening in on our classes for a while." He introduced me as we stood in front of the class. The fledgling vampires, both young and old, stared blankly at me, some with the dark, wildly shifting eyes of the fresh turners, and some with the bright red of the mature vampires.
A cute fledgling girl with pigtails and a cowboy hat raised her hand.
"Yes, Cat?" He asked with a charming, all be it geeky, smile.
"What's a human doing taking vampire classes?" She asked with the classic Texan drawl, a pale brow raising over red eyes.
"She's in our protection program. A very dangerous rogue is perusing her and my superiors think that she'll be better prepared to defend herself if she knows more about our kind." He explained, matter-of-factly. My eyes moved around the room at all of the fledglings' faces. The older ones' expressions were docile, distant, almost entirely blank and void of emotion. The younger ones however, wore pinched faces, their teeth gnashed together. They looked as if they were in pain.
Slim touched my shoulder and I jumped in surprise, letting out a frightened yelp. This made several of the fledglings burst out in laughter. The girl in the cowboy hat glared at them. "Shut up." She growled, flashing her teeth at them. The youngsters immediately shut their traps.
Slim pointed to a desk over in the corner, away from the others. "You can have a seat there." I sat down and he gave me several books that were all hand written and filled with hand drawn illustrations. There was a history text and a biology text as well as a few novels. I suppressed the urge to laugh out loud when I saw that "Dracula" by Bram Stoker was one of the required readings.
Slim began his class with some history. He explained that vampires have always existed, since the dawn of man. Where exactly they'd come from was a mystery. In centuries past, the vampires had been hunted mercilessly and the vampires responded by hunting humans with just as much enthusiasm. However, humans greatly outnumbered the vampires and soon their numbers were dwindling in the low hundreds. To stop the genocide of their entire race, the leaders of the vampires struck up a treaty with the human governments, agreeing to conform to certain laws in exchange for their lives.
Law 1: A Vampire must never attack, rape, maim, or kill a human being.
Law 2: A Vampire must not drink human blood unless it is from a consenting donor.
Law 3: A Vampire must not actively hunt or stalk a human being.
Law 4: All new Vampires must register with the respective government of their native country.
Law 5: Vampires can only court and/or marry another of their kind.
Law 6: Not under any circumstances is a Vampire to turn a human being.
Any vampires who are caught breaking one of these rules, are listed as rogues and are either forced into hibernation or executed. So far Shade had broken, or at least attempted to break, almost all of those rules.
We then moved on to Biology. Biologically wise, vampires aren't that different from humans. They still have their human bodies of course, it's just that certain organs and body parts have been altered in the turning. For example, the digestive track changes to allow for the digestion of large amounts of blood. Vampires can still eat other foods, but their bodies can't extract any nutrients from it. It simply passes through their system and their body gains nothing from it, weight included, which I think is a good thing. Their eyes too change, becoming more like cat eyes or those of other nocturnal animals. It is uncertain why the eye color changes to red, though. The shifting eyes of the juvenile fledglings is from the changing process. Changing takes a long time. Sometimes over a year to fully complete. The "shifting phase" as it is called takes two or three months. The whole body goes through this metamorphosis. Muscles become stronger, the spine becomes more flexible, and of course the fangs come in. All of these changes turn weak, omnivorous humans into carnivorous predators, the best killers in the world. However, it comes with a price. The change is understandably painful and most do not survive it. Half of the younger fledglings in the classroom would probably die within the next couple of weeks. Once they were out of the shifting phase and their eyes turned the red shade that the adults sported, they could breathe a little easier. Once they got to that stage, they were pretty much home free.
Aside from the basics, I also learned some helpful tips. There's only a couple of ways to kill a vampire for good, as they have a remarkable ability to heal themselves, even re-grow whole body parts. To put a vampire down for good, you must take off the head or destroy the brain. Then you absolutely must burn the body, even one little finger can regenerate the whole body. This is why executions were usually done by securing the rogue to a stake and then lighting them on fire. It wasn't pretty or painless, but it worked well.
We read a few chapters of Dracula before finally ending the class.
"Have a good afternoon, everyone. Don't forget to stop by the clinic for your check ups before you go home. Oh, and please do the reading! You'll be having a quiz on Monday!" The fledglings let out a huge groan at Slim's announcement.
"Hi." Cat piped as I was stacking the books into a manageable pile. I looked up and saw her trotting up to the desk in her awesome cowboy boots. They were made with weathered leather and they definitely looked like they were used for more practical reasons than fashion.
"Hi." I replied, "Thanks for telling off the others when they laughed at me. That was nice of you."
"No problem. They're all idiots. I swear it's like they've forgotten what it's like to be human and scared shitless." She shook her head with a roll of her eyes. "I'm Katie, by the way, but you can call me Cat. Everyone here does." She said.
"Why do they call you, Cat?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
With that her body began to twist, shrink, and bones started to pop out of place and rearrange themselves. It was a sickening sight, let me tell you. Finally, there sat an orange, long haired, tabby. She almost looked like a normal cat, except that she retained the vampire's red eyes. "This is why." She chirped with her fuzzy cat lips. "I'm a Shape Shifter type vampire. That means that I can take the form of anything I like: animals, people, plants, you name it. I like being a cat the best, though. They're my favorite animal besides horses."
"Do you really have to do that in the classroom?" Asked Slim. He leaned against his desk with a heavy sigh. His eyes remained light with humor and a hint of mischief twisted his lips. "I don't think the Chief will take kindly to one of my students prancing around the place in the nude."
"Sorry Slim." She laughed. "Turn around. I'll change back." He did as he was told and she readjusted her skeleton until she was back in her human form. I was really starting to get worried about my current psychological health. Here I was standing in a classroom with two vampires, I'd just watched one of them contort themselves into a cat, now she was standing in front of me, naked as the day she was born, and none of this really bothered me.
She quickly redressed in her cowgirl attire and started to twist her orange colored hair back into pigtails. "Hey, Stella, right?"
I nodded.
"If you ever need someone to talk to, just come find me. I kind of know what you're going through. I used to be in the protection program myself."
"You were?" I gasped in surprise.
"It didn't turn out all that well, right?" She laughed, but I could see a bit of sadness flicker through her eyes. "They may not have been able to stop what happened to me, but they've taken care of me all this time and they executed the guy who got me. If it weren't for them I'd probably be dead by now. Like I said, if you ever want to just talk, come find me. We can hang out together if you want some company."
I smiled graciously at that. "That would be great. Thank you, Cat."
"No Prob!" She glanced at the clock and started for the door. "I've gotta go! I'm late for my appointment with Candy. I'll see you later, Stella!" She said and skipped out the door.
"She's nice." I said, noticing that Slim was staring at her as she walked away.
He tore his eyes away and frowned at me. "That she is. It's a pity she's here though. She was one of the highest ranked female barrel racers in Texas before she was turned. Now everything she worked so hard for, all her life, is destroyed. It's a real pity."
"What happened to her?" I asked him, a bit hesitant as I watched his features tighten with distress.
His red eyes steeled. "I got the chance to pull the trigger and I didn't take the shot. That's what happened." He growled. He turned away from me and busied himself with a pile of paperwork on his desk.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Drop it! It's none of your business!" He spat at me, his teeth bared fiercely.
"Fine." I squeaked and stepped slowly away from him. I got the feeling that Slim wasn't nearly as in control as he made himself out to be and I wisely decided to get the hell out of there. "Sorry." I said and rushed out of the classroom.
Skulls, Wild's partner, was waiting outside the classroom door and I nearly crashed into his imposing form. "Come with me." He ordered gruffly. I followed him into a gym type room. There were all kinds of exercise equipment and some matting on the floor. The red haired woman, Icy, was there waiting for us. She was dressed in a pair of stretchy shorts and a sports bra, the red waves of her hair pulled up in a ponytail. "I'm going to give you a few self defense pointers. Since I'm a Brawler type and am naturally stronger than normal vampires, I might kill you if I try to fight you myself. That's why I've asked Icy to help me. She'll be your sparring partner. I'll tell you what to do from the sidelines. Got it?" Asked Skulls.
I bobbed my head. He could kill me by accident?
"Good. Icy, stand here." He gently took Icy by the arm and dragged her over to the middle of the floor, then had me do the same.
"How long is this going to take? I'd like to go home sometime today." Icy groaned.
"It won't kill you to put in some overtime." Skulls retorted. "Your cats will be fine."
Icy swatted him in the chest. "Shut up!"
Skulls went on with the lesson, completely ignoring her. "Okay, Stella, Icy is going to come at you and I want you to kick her legs out from under her." Without touching her, he showed me how he wanted me to swing my legs around against Icy's legs.
He stepped back to allow me to try my hand at it. Without giving me time to put up my guard, Icy rushed at me at full speed, clothes lining me to the floor. I coughed and gasped, the air having been knocked out of me. "You're going to have to be quicker than that if Shade comes after you again. Vampires like to ambush their prey. He'll grab you when you least expect it. You can't afford to let down your guard. Ever." Said Icy as she circled me. Anger boiling up in me, I spun my legs against the back of her knees as she made her pass around. She fell to the floor, just as Skulls had shown me.
"Good work. Now back to your feet." Skulls barked. Icy and I circled around each other, each eyeing the other up as he continued calling out orders. "Vampires have the same weak points as humans: the eyes, throat, nose, and groin. Get a good jab in those spots and you can at least stun him long enough to run away."
I went to punch Icy in the face, but she caught my blow and flipped me over her shoulder. I landed back on the mat, the air knocked out my lungs once more. "Don't be so obvious!" Skulls yelled from the sidelines. "You have to be sneaky. Go for the move they least expect."
The lesson went on until Candy arrived to tell Skulls it was time to go home. I was black and blue all over and my lungs ached from getting thrown down over and over. I was understandably relieved when Skulls brought the lesson to an end. Icy was in such a rush to leave, she was out the door as soon as Candy appeared.
"Remember all the rules and try to do some practice drills at home, if you can. You'll get better with more practice." Said Skulls.
Candy came up behind him and gave him a peck on the cheek as she wound one arm around his waist. "How'd it go?" She asked. She took me in and gasped in horror. "Honey, are you alright? You look like Skulls used you as a punching bag!" She jabbed Skulls in the side and he gave a fake grunt of pain. "Do you need me to get you a cold compress or something?"
"Nah, I'm good." I sighed, holding my side, where I was sure a nasty bruise was going to be by morning.
"Alright. Well, you can call me any time." She said with a smile. "Wild has me on speed dial."
"We're going to head on home now, but I think Wild's waiting for you in the firing range. We'll take you to him on our way out." Said Skulls.
Wild:
I fired off a few practice rounds into the paper target 100 yards away from me. Three shots. One in the head, two in the chest. I popped out the spent cartridge and slid a new one in automatically, my mind on other things. I'd just spoken to Chief. Seems there was a murder down in a safe house called Dragon's Den. It was a new one. I'd never heard of it before. Those things tend to pop up over night sometimes. The girl was a Scarlett Throat, humans with an unhealthy interest in the vampire underworld. None of them really understand the danger they've put themselves in just by entering a safe house. They think that the vampires are humans that are just delving into the occult, that they're pretending. The idea of vampires, immortal beings that remain young throughout time, is understandably seductive. It's been growing in popularity for years and it's led to more deaths than I care to count. We usually get a call like this one at least once a week, if not more. More often than not, vampire related homicides involve Scarlett Throats. However, there was something very worrisome about this one in particular, so much so that the Chief felt it was necessary to inform me personally. The victim looked strikeningly similar to Stella. According to witness reports, the man last seen with her matched Ezra Shade's description. Was it him? Was this Scarlett Throat and Stella connected in some way? I was almost certain they were.
"I'm here." Stella called out as she entered the firing range. I turned towards her as she was waving goodbye to Skulls and Candy.
I handed her the spare gun I'd already prepared for her. I set her up in the booth next to the one I was using and showed her how to use the gun. She fired off two rounds, totally missing the target. "Dang." She huffed.
I stood behind her and eased her arms slightly higher. "Fire between breaths. It'll keep your aim steady." I said, tightening her grip on the gun. I felt her tense slightly. I could hear her heart pounding faster and faster. Guessing that she felt a bit awkward with me standing so close to her, I backed off. She took a breath, held it, and fired, hitting the target all three times along the torso. They weren't kill shots, but they were fairly good for a beginner. "Nice job." I said, taking the gun from her to show her how to load it. As I was working, I decided to ask her about the recent case. "Stella, have you ever been to a safe house?"
She blinked at me in confusion. "What's a safe house?"
"It's sort of a bar for vampires. Humans, which the vampires call Scarlett Throats, are lured there, either by money or an interest in the occult. They allow themselves to be fed on by the vampires there. Have you ever been anywhere like that?"
"No." She shook her head fervently. "Of course not. Why?"
"Do you know anyone who was into that kind of thing? Someone who talked about a place called Dragon's Den?"
At this her face went void. She stared at me blankly, all color draining from her skin.
"Stella, if you know something about this, you need to tell me. It's very important." I pleaded, touching her shoulder reassuringly.
She looked down at the floor, her eyes welling up with tears. "D-do the Scarlett Throats wear red scarves?" She asked, her voice trembling.
"Yes. That's where the nickname comes from. You know about the safe houses?"
"I…my friend Julie…she took me to one once. She made we wear a red scarf. I thought it was just a club. I didn't stay very long. This guy asked Julie and I to come to the back room with him. Julie went, but I didn't like the way the guy was looking at me, so I took off. I think the club was called Dragon's Den." Her eyes lifted to mine and I saw that her pupils had dilated with fear, the tears fell from her eyes in a torrent. "Wild, what is this about? Did going to that place have something to do with what happened to me?"
"I think it might have." I started to hold my tongue, but seeing how upset she already was, I knew I had to tell her the full story. She needed to know how dangerous Shade was to her. "A Scarlett Throat was murdered the night I took you from Shade's house. She looked a lot like you."
"You think it's Shade?" She asked, her brows angling over her eyes.
"I have little doubt." I said truthfully. "Listen to me, obviously Shade's obsessed with you. If he's going as far as killing anyone who looks like you, then there's no way he's going to stop on his own. He'll do whatever it takes to get to you. He'll go after your parents, your brother, and your friends. If Julie is still mixed up in the world of the Scarlett Throats, then she's the easiest target."
Shade:
After Marybeth kicked me out, Christine got me a room at a local motel. It was cheap. The carpet was dingy and the bedding had stains on them whose identity I'd rather not know. Vampire senses can be a pain at times.
I waited until nightfall, then went out on the town. I had some new prey to track down. Dragon's Den was being swarmed by police. They'd found that Scarlett Throat I killed a few days ago. I could see the human cops whisking in and out of the old building. Among them I spotted one of the V.V.P.A, the red head. She was talking to a detective, tossing her hair flirtatiously and entrancing him with her eyes to get out all the needed information. I ducked into another ally to find a way around the crime scene tape, where they wouldn't spot me. Dragon's Den was my prey's usual hang out, but I knew of a few other places where she liked to go. One was called Ark. It wasn't too far away, just outside of Dragon's territory.
I told the Brawler outside the password and he let me inside without any trouble. Ark was more…upscale than Dragon's Den, more like a popular night club than a sleazy bar. The place was swarming with Scarlett Throats, everywhere you looked you saw flashes of red. I sat at the bar and discreetly scanned the room. I watched the Scarlett Throats from beneath my hood as they danced on the dance floor, their hips gyrating to the low pulse of the music. The room was dark, save for the multicolored lights that spun over their twisting bodies, lighting their faces in crimson, violet, and sapphire. I could see that others were watching them carefully as well, picking out the ones that best suited their taste. In the short time I was there, I watched as several vampires made their choices. They always approached in the same way: charming smile, seductive eyes, the women swaying their hips alluringly and the men walking with a confident swagger.
I eyed each of the Scarlett Throat girls, looking for one in particular. Finally, I found her, entering the club alone. She wore a corset top and a miniskirt that left little to the imagination. I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat at the prospect of having to seduce this whorish girl. I'd had enough of her kind in my human life, being the son of a whore myself and being raised in a brothel. Girls like the one in my crosshairs reminded me far too much of those days. I hated them. Them, I killed for the sake of vengeance. Girls like Stella, who were pure and good, uncorrupted, I killed for pleasure. Stella was the pinnacle. My sweet, sweet Stella. She, I would keep and the endless pleasure that I sought would finally be mine as well.
My eyes followed the whore as she sashayed over the dance floor, her hips swaying far too much. She started to dance provocatively with some other Scarlett Throat girls. She giggled and tossed her hair flirtatiously. I felt my blood begin to boil. I tasted copper, my teeth having dug into my bottom lip. I slid off of my bar stool, my muscles bunched and filled with power, a leopard ready to strike from the shadows. I rolled my shoulders to ease the tension and switched on the lure.
"Hello, beautiful." I whispered huskily into the whore's ear as I eased up behind her. I put my hands on her hips and held her against me, our hips swaying together with the beat. She giggled sickeningly sweetly and twisted in my arms so that her chest was pressed up against mine. "What's your name, cutie?" She asked, batting her fake eyelashes.
I smiled a charmingly lopsided grin, a friendly sparkle in my eyes. "Ezra Shade. You're Julie, right?"
Her glossy lips shaped into an "o" in her surprise. "How'd you guess? Do you know me?" She asked.
"Sort of." I began. My grin widened and I could tell by the slight dilation of her pupils that fear was starting to ease into her core. My grip on her hips tightened. "I'm a friend of Stella's."
Author's Note: I just want to thank all my reviewers for continually encouraging me to continue this story. I apologize for the long wait. This chapter was difficult to write for some reason.