Chapter Twelve

Cathartic though that night in the alley had been for Calder, Angel knew the boy was still working through some issues—one conversation and a vampire slaying wasn't going to solve everything. Even so, Calder began visiting again with William, and any discomfort around Angel all but disappeared after Angel announced that he'd decided to train both boys to fight.

Several days a week, Angel would take them to a park or cemetery somewhere outside his neighborhood to teach them the ways of martial arts and swordsmanship, and-when luck was with them-give them first hand experience with newly-risen vampires. They would have had more luck finding real fights in Merlin Park Woods, but that was in Angel's southeastern corner of the city, and leaving his self-delineated borders was important in a way that was more of a vampiric territorial thing than Angel wanted to admit. He'd told the boys that he had his neighborhood (he had to stop himself from calling it a "nest") well under control and it would be better for the rest of the city if they learned to fight and patrol elsewhere. And it was true… It was just more true that he deeply disliked the idea of allowing more hunters into his territory.

Their training sessions were cathartic, too, for all of them, and it came to the point where, after a few months of working together in this new capacity of Angel as a true teacher to the boys, Angel half-wondered if Calder was still struggling with the same questions he'd voiced—and the ones he didn't—during that walk.

His answer came in a cemetery just beyond the northern edge of town one late-summer night as the three of them searched for a new grave marked with a name Angel had noticed in the obituaries. The victim was young and had died of strange animal bites. Angel wasn't positive that she had been sired, but the beautiful ones were often turned as companions; and the picture of this 20-something told Angel that she was not lacking in the beauty department.

"Angel?" Calder asked hesitantly from somewhere to his right.

"Mm?"

But Calder didn't continue right away.

"Cal!" William called. Angel and Calder looked over to Angel's left, where William was standing with his stake out, ready for the vampire that was closing in on him. Calder dashed his side, ready also.

Angel watched intently, staying out of the way, but close enough to intervene if needed. It was only their third or fourth real fight. Angel wanted to stick with the new vampires for a while, even though there weren't often many. Usually, the cemetery just provided a good, open, quiet space to practice with each other. But not tonight, apparently.

Angel worried, of course, if he was doing the right thing in training them. If he had been thinking when he met William and Calder, he would have shut the boys out completely before they could become too involved in his world. Humans had a tendency to not be able to extract themselves from the world of demons once introduced, and they also had a tendency to die early as a result. But they were already involved. When it came down to it, Angel knew neither of them would choose to back out, so what was there left to do, but prepare them for it? He was just lucky that Mrs. Cole had agreed, however reluctantly, with this point of view.

He circled the boys, occasionally barking out instructions on their balance, their postures, where to strike, when to block. He tried to keep from giving it all away, wanting them to learn from mistakes, but Angel shuddered at the thought of William going home to his mother badly bruised and bleeding.

He had to admit, though, they were doing well. They both worked hard-Calder especially-and hadn't even complained when Angel gave them books to read about martial arts. Soon, Angel just stood and watched.

If he had to guess, this was the vampire that had sired the one they were going to meet. He had that look about him: that, desperate-enough-to-kill-a-girl-to-get-her-to-like-him look. If that free-spirited glint in the girl's eyes from her picture was any indication, their relationship wouldn't last the night. And speaking of…

Angel swore quietly under his breath as he noticed the newly-turned vampire claw her way up from the earth a few graves away. He took one last glance at the boys. They would be alright for now. He made his way over to the young vampire, who was stumbling to her feet, holding her ears in a way that would have been peculiar if Angel couldn't empathize with her.

"It's loud, isn't it?" he asked as he neared her.

She jerked up, clods of dirt flying from her loose blonde hair, already baring her fangs and testing out her new growling capabilities. She lowered her hands and narrowed her eyes.

"What?" she snarled.

"The world," he said. "It's different with all your heightened senses. You get used to it after a while. But you'll have to take my word on that."

"What?" she asked again. "Who are you?"

Angel ignored the question. "You're not getting out of this graveyard," he said. "They need the practice, you see." He indicated Calder and William, who, by the sound of it, were still unharmed. The vampire's eyes narrowed.

"You think a few kids can take me?" She laughed. "Do you know what I am? What I can do? I feel it now: more power than any human ever dreamed of having."

"Yeah," Angel said, "it's kind of cool, isn't it? Don't underestimate humans, though." He turned to look at William and Calder and made up his mind. He would be right there, ready. "Tell you what," he said, turning back to the vampire, "have a go at them. Even the odds a bit, help your old sire. That is your sire, right?"

"He…bit me…" the girl confirmed, watching the figures. Angel stepped back and spread his arm out in invitation.

"Go test out those new skills of yours."

The vampire's eyes glared suspiciously at Angel, but she took one hungry look at the inexperienced fighters and was won over. Angel followed behind her. William noticed her approach.

"Calder!"

Calder turned and swore. "You take her, I'll stay on this one!" he ordered.

William nodded and shifted his attention to the female vampire. Angel circled intently, ready to jump in at a moment's notice. It was their first solo fight, and each had yet to work without the advantage of one distracting so the other could swing in for the kill. Angel was so alert to any indication of trouble that he completely missed the expression on Calder's face, though he did notice that Calder's aim was becoming increasingly erratic and vehement with every attempt to stake the vampire. Angel barked out corrections, but Calder didn't seem to hear.

"Calder!" Angel finally shouted. "Focus! Don't let him-"

"Hold him!" Calder interrupted. His eyes caught Angel's, commanding him rather than asking.

"What?"

But Calder wheeled around and marched across the grass toward William. Angel grabbed the vampire mid-lunge, staring at Calder incredulously. A few seconds later, the female vampire turned to dust and Calder returned, William following bewildered behind.

"Prove you're no different from them," Calder pointed at the snarling, yellow-eyed monster struggling against Angel's grasp.

A brief silence fell.

"What?" Angel's voice was low.

"Prove to us," Calder repeated, crossing his arms, "that you're no different from the vampires we came to kill tonight."

"Cal," William started, confused by Calder's strange behavior, "we already know he's different."

Calder turned his head back toward William, making it clear from his stance that the words were still also directed at Angel, and said, "He says he's different. But he can't possibly be as different as he claims. He's not. I know. I saw it… I saw something…" Calder turned back to face Angel. "What if I never found that book, Angel? What if we never found out that you were a vampire? It wouldn't be much different. You would have changed the stories some, hidden the blood in the fridge. But that's it. We've never seen you drink that blood. We've never seen your vampire face. We've never seen what happens when you touch a cross or walk through a beam of sunlight. Until that night with Zeus, I'd never even heard you growl. You've told us you're a vampire these past five years, but that's the only evidence we have to go on." He paused to take a breath.

"Maybe that was okay for kids, but we're not kids now. I won't accept what you tell me anymore just because you said so. We're old enough to fight with you, and we're old enough to be in your world. So we're old enough to know who you really are. It's time for you to stop hiding."

Angel stared at Calder more in shock than anything else. So this was it, then. Calder was finally piecing together everything that had happened since the night Angel had helped him. And this was his conclusion. Angel glanced at William, who stepped forward next to Calder.

"I agree with Calder," William said quietly.

Angel looked back at Calder. "I've been waiting for you to figure out what I am to you. Are you still afraid of me?" Calder gave a half-shrug, then a slight nod. Angel turned to William. "Are

you?"

"No."

"You should be. Calder's right. I'm not much different from other vampires. In fact, there's only one thing that separates us: a soul. If it's ever taken away, you'll have to kill me, just like this one here; like every other one you'll ever come across. No different." Angel paused for the briefest second.

"Alright, Calder, you win. No more hiding." Angel glanced down at the vampire he was holding and let his vampire visage appear. Looking back up at the boys, he said, "Look at us and remember this: it's just the soul." And suddenly, with a deep, startling growl, Angel ripped the head off the vampire's shoulders and flung it away over the graves, where it dissolved into dust before hitting the ground. Angel strode toward the boys, his eyes still yellow and his teeth still sharp. He stopped directly in front of them. Their hearts thudded fearfully, but they did not back away.

"I'm not going to put myself on display for you. I'm not going to cut myself to show you how fast I heal. We're not going to go home and talk about my evil vampire days over tea and blood. I'm not going to hold a cross to show you how it burns my skin. But I'm not going to be careful anymore, either. Things will change, but not as much as you think. There's just one condition to this: if anything about me bothers you, tell me. Deal?"

Calder nodded. "Deal." He reached out and shook Angel's hand.

"Deal," William repeated, and did the same.

"Good," Angel said. He reverted back to his human face. "Now. William, you seem a little off-balance when you're dodging and it slows you down when you want to come back on the offensive. And Calder, if you keep planting your foot that way when you kick, you'll eventually twist your ankle."

"Okay," Calder said, "let's fix it, then."

Angel heard a vampiric snarl somewhere far behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he could make out a movement a little more than 100 meters away. "We're in luck," he said. "You two up for another one?"

Calder bent to pick up his stake from the ground while William pulled his out of his pocket, nodding in affirmation.

"Oh yeah," Calder agreed.

"Let's do it, then." Angel turned on his heel, flanked by William and Calder, and together they strode toward the vampire through the darkness.