Chapter Two

 

An hour had already passed since we split up to patrol and Dimitri hadn't said more than a sentence to me. He was completely absorbed with hunting. It was fascinating to watch and also very intimidating. He really just a whole 6'2" of pure menacing terror. I was letting myself get distracted and tried to focus again. I was still aware of the sounds around me so I wasn't caught of guard when the hybrid came up behind me. I didn't think twice before puling my Sai out of my boot straps and swiftly striking it in the heart. It dropped to the ground with a thud and then slowly started to turn to dust. The bonus to hybrids and vampires is that if you kill them they turn to dust. Easy clean up, everything else is a little harder to clean up or take care off.

"Nice reflexes," Dimitri said with a smile full of pride and praise. I think he still sometimes thinks of me as a student not an equal. I mean he did teach me everything I know, however I learned and now I know how to take care of myself and my team

"Thanks."

"No problem. You're a million times better than the girl that first joined my group three years ago."

"I know. I had a good teacher, but you know what they say. The student surpasses the master, or something along those lines."

He just laughed and we continued our patrol. It got quiet again after the hybrid attack. So we figured after two hours of hunting and one successful kill that we could take a five minute coffee break. There is a really small little café on the outskirts of town that not many people know about so it's hardly ever busy and has the best coffee in the world. I walked up and ordered two mochas and then found Dimitri outside on a park bench. I handed him his coffee and sat down beside him. We sat there in silence sipping our coffee.

"Do you want to head to the abandoned buildings?" I asked in attempt to make small talk.

"Yeah, sure," He said standing up and starting to walk away.

"I didn't mean right this second, but okay. This works too."

"We can drink and walk. Besides we should still be patrolling," He said behind his coffee.

"Did I do something? You're fine and seeming happy and then the next you're acting all weird and not seeming happy?" I said in a rushed slur.

"I don't know. It's hard to be around you and patroling and seeing you fight. I want to protect you, and you don't need me too. And then I see you there and you radiate after fighitng. It's a second nature to you, and it’s incrediable. It leaces me sitting there wanting to kiss you. But if I kiss you then how do I know that something wont happen again like last time? I don't know how to be around you, and still stay in control and alert. You become my whole world. It's damn near impossible to be so close and have to restrain myself from reaching out and kissing you."

I stood there, stunned and in shock of his out burst. So many thoughts were running through my mind, the scars I'd given to him, the fact that he wants to kiss me, that he said I'm his world, he's just as incredible to me and he thinks I am. Three years of hiding feelings of him leaving the group and assigning me to be the new leader. After all the things that happened in the last three years that the two of us have worked so hard to avoid where bubbling just before the surface and about to spill out. I tried to catch my breath so that I could reply to him.

"Dimitri, we need to talk about this, but not now. We can't get caught off guard and we need to finish up. But we will talk, I promise. We will figure all of this out whatever this is. And for the record I think you pretty incredible yourself."

"Let's get going then. Thanks though," He smiled but started walking again, and that was the end of that conversation.

 

Tess

 

"Watch out!" Eric yelled. I tried to get out of the way before the vamp could land a blow to me but only managed to scoot enough to not feel the full force of the blow. We had managed to stumble across to vampires feeding, just our luck. Vampires fresh from feeding are always so much stronger than any other time.  Eric was wrangling with the other one and doing a pretty good job of holding him off for the time being. I on the other had was having a hell of a time with this particular vamp. He was older and therefore stronger in general. He had managed to hit me hard enough to put me off balance, and I was slowly regaining from it. Seeing that he was getting ready to try to hit again I blocked his attack and managed a punch to his lower jaw and the shoving him far enough back to pull my dagger from my belt. I concentrated on the blade and lit it on fire. Normally daggers don’t kill vamps, but the fire takes over and lights them up from the inside. It’s really a handy little tool. The vampire was now aware of the flame but he didn't know about the magic in it so he came surging forward and I plunged the dagger straight into his heart. He burst into flames and I turned just in time to see Eric being pinned down by the other vamp.

"Hey undead walking over here!" I yelled throwing a rock at him. He shoved Eric down hard and leapt off of him and ran towards me. Eric recovered himself and sent an arrow flying at his heart. It hit the vamp right in his heart, he turned into dust and Eric started at me with wide eyes.

"Nice shot, you alright?" I asked walking over to him while securing my dagger back into my belt.

"Yeah, no, yeah I'm fine. Just kind of in shock. That vamp was old, and twice your size, and you took him out like he was nothing. Then I let myself get pinned by a little scrawny thing."

It was obvious that he had bruised only his ego. I laughed and just shook my head at him.

"You are such a guy. I've been doing this longer, and I had two really great teachers. Mia and Dimitri taught me how to fight. And then my grandmother taught me everything I know about element magic. Where it comes from, how to use it without abusing it. She gave me my dagger and taught me how to infuse it with magic. I trained and studied. If you did more than just brute force, and weapons you might do a little better."

"Could you… Well uh.." He stammered looking shy.

"Yes, I can teach you how to do the same with the magic, and yes I can help you defend yourself." He smiled and I laughed. I guess he wasn't so bad after all.

"Thanks sugar, guess we better head over to the buildings?"

"Yes, and stop calling me sugar," I huffed and started walking to the buildings. Eric followed close behind and then started asking a million questions.

"How did you find out you element? How does the magic in the dagger work? How long have you been Mia's second in command? Did you volunteer or were you recruited? How long have you been a Protector? Do you like being a protector? Is this what you would have thought you would have been doing?"

"Is this what you thought you'd be doing?" I shot back. No one really chose this life, but here we are.

"No, but I wouldn't change it. I'm doing something important. I'm helping people, saving them."

"I get that. I agree, though. I'll tell you about element magic and how to use it better at the next training session, and maybe we can make a couple more so that you can catch up faster. Also, I volunteered, Mia needed someone and I didn't trust anyone else to have her back like I would," I said simply.

"You guys are so close."

"She's my best friend. She's my family, all I have really."

"No family? What about your grandmother?"

"She's still alive but not really there. I take care of her, my parents, they died along time ago."

"I'm sorry Tess," He said with so much sympathy it hurt. I looked at him and I just knew. No one can apologize with that level of sympathy unless they know how it feels.

"Eric, did you lose your parents?"

"I was adopted, but my parents died before I met them, and now my dad is sick."

"I'm sorry."

He just nodded and we continued walking quietly until we got to the abandoned buildings.

 

Mia

 

 

We had managed to hit about 2 out of 4 of the buildings and were working on the third when we heard a noise. I turned to listen in the direction that the sound came from and saw that Dimitri had done the same. He looked at me and nodded to head towards the sound. We slowly crept forward and then I jumped out of my skin when Tess' voice appeared in my head asking if we were here yet. I told her we were, and that we were possibly hunting something and to keep her eyes out for anything. We also made plans to meet at the fourth building.

"We're meeting Tess and Eric at the fourth building."

He nodded and we continued searching for the source of the noise. Nothing was showing up in the third building so we headed over to the next one. We met up with Tess and Eric in front of the last building and headed into the building. It was more like a barn though. There were hay bails everywhere, and a second level. It honestly looked like something out of a horror story. But I suppose most of everything in my world is out of a horror story.

We continued to walk into the barn and just when we all got to the center a loud crash behind us at the entrance, we turned around to see the doors closed and two people in front of it. Another thud and there were two more people in front of us. And another five wondering through the rafters. We were definitely out numbered and needed back up fast. Someone started laughing and then dropped down from above.

"Long time no see pip squeak, little brother," The new guy standing before us said. My breath caught in my throat as I realized who it was.

"Damon," Dimitri said sounding haunted.  Damon Drake. Dimirti's older brother, the leader of the Rouges. Rouges are Proctectors who didn't want to follow the rules anymore, they chose to go rouge.

"Yeah, yeah, we all know my name here. Well except you," He said pointing to Tess. She gave him a dirty look and then I heard her in my head, asking who the hell this asshat was. Before I could respond to her Damon started talking again.

"Well who is this newbie?"

"Her name is Tess and none of your concern," Eric scoffed. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Tess smiled at his comment. I made a note to my self to talk to her about that when we weren't in the middle of an ambush.

"Eric really? You don't need the macho act. You couldn't get a girl that looked like in a million years dude," Damon said while laughing.

"What the hell happened to you? That made you so cold?" I asked him staring in disbelief. I knew Damon before he went rogue. He was the leader of the San  Deigo group before Dimitri was. Dimitri may have taught me all that I know but, Damon, he was like a big brother to me. He helped me adjust into this life style, but who would have guessed he was having the hardest time of all.

"Nothing, I just like being bad better baby."

I just shake my head, the Damon I knew is long gone, and that, was a damn shame. I look over to Dimitri and see the pain in his eyes.

"Look is there a reason you're trying to ambush us? Cause this is getting boring and it's late," I said trying to sound impatient.

"Well see now, why would I tell you? Maybe I just wanted to pick a fight? Or maybe you just happened to walk into our hangout spot caused this whole mess on your own."

All I can think is well s**t, and I hear Tess start laughing.

"Jeez Mia," She said while shaking her head still laughing.

"Am I missing some private joke?" Damon asked tilting his head to the side trying to read Tess' expression.

"Actually yes, and emphasis on the word private. Well we best be going then. This was just all a crazy miss understanding and we don't want any trouble."

"Ah, but my dear sweet Tess, we love trouble."  After those words from Damon all hell broke loose. His lackys started attacking us and we had no choice but to fight back. None of us were really prepared to fight against other humans like this. It's not how we train, and these guys, they're stronger because they have let go and given into the dark side of our magic which gives them a different kind of control on it. Makes it deadky to everyone.

We're completely out numbered, and not up to this at all. Everyone is in combat, Tess lands a good kick to some guys face, and spins out to land another kick on the other guy behind her. Eric and Dimitri are handling a few others and I'm dodging all attacks to make my way to Damon who isn't doing anything but laughing.

"You think this is funny?" I asked at the same time I jammed my fist into his gut. He doubles over slightly but recovers quickly and manages to hit me hard enough to knock me over.  I tried to get up but he kicked me in the stomach again and I went flying across the room and crashed through a support beam.

"MIA!" Tess and Dimitri yelled in unison. I tried getting up but I couldn't. It fell like my ribs were on fire. The room was spinning a little and then I noticed a figure closing in on me. As it got closer I saw that it was Dimitri but before he made it to me a guy tackled him to the ground. Damon was right behind him smiling like a maniac. I tried to pick myself up but still wasn’t' able too. I could however scoot, and so I did. I managed to prop myself up against the wall. I looked around and saw everyone pretty much getting there asses handed to them. Damon was standing in front of me now with that crazy grin on his face.

"Why are you doing this? That's your brother that you're letting your lackys beat up on. We used to be friends. What happened to you Damon?"

"I realized there was more potential in being this way then there was in being good. I was never one for following the rules. You know that better than anyone. "Just end this, let us go home. Please Damon, you've had your fun. You proved you're an all mighty badass now you can move on."

"Only if you beg me sweetness," He said coly, but he walked away from me waved at his buddies and told them he was bored. After they got in a few more punches his followers left behind him.

No one really moved for a while. We all took a beating and now the embaressment was setting in. We are some of the best fighters on the west coast and we just had our asses handed to us. I looked at Dimitri and we silently agreed that it was time to tell everyone about Damon, the rouges and everything we've kept in the dark.

 

Tess and I pulled into her driveway at 3:30 am. Her grandmother would already be asleep, though she wouldn't care if we came home this late. Her grandmother has her own link to the supernatural world so she knows about us, so she lets us do what we need to do. We walked into the house and went to the kitchen. I went to the fridge and grabbed the left over chinese I found, and Tess met me at the dinning room table with forks, a bottle and two shot glasses. When I looked at her skeptically she said, "I think tonight is one of those nights." We sat at the table in silence for a long time, passing the chinese back and forth and taking shots.

"Who knew Mr. Jack Daniels was so good. Or maybe it's the Chinese food," Tess said while pouring herself another shot.

"Or maybe its just that you're drunk."

"Am not," She giggled. And then took off running to the bathroom. I looked at the bottle and decided it would numb the pain in my ribs, and in my head. I took a good long swing and then cleaned up the mess we made in the kitchen. After a little while Tess groaned from the bathroom and I went to see how she was.

"Not liking Mr. Daniels so much anymore," She muttered from the toilet. I just laughed and handed her a glass of water, and told her I was going to lay down. She mumbled something in response and went back to puking.

Once I was in Tess' room I took off my shirt to see the damage done to my ribs. They were bruised horribly, and the color of the outside of a plum. I touched them gently and winced at the pain. Tess came in while I was looking it over and gasped a little.

"Oh f**k Mia."

"It's not as bad as it looks."

"Yes because an almost black bruise on your ribs is not that bad. Mia you know they're broken, at least a couple. You might actually have to get that checked out," She said looking at in more closing.

"You know I can't because then my dad would freak out. We heal faster than normal people anyways, I'll be fine seriously." She just glared at me but dropped the subject, for now at least.

"We should sleep, we have to meet everyone tomorrow night and tell them what's going on," I said crawling into Tess' bed. She nodded and got into bed too. She fell asleep almost instantly but sleep didn't come for me. Instead I got lost in my own memories. I was having a flashback that kept me from sleeping.

 

It was the day I met Damon and Dimitri for the first time. I'd been out jogging in the middle of the night, stupid I know. Of course I didn't know about all the things that go bump in the night at that point. I'd missed my chance to go running earlier that day so I decided to go at night. See I used to be on the track team at school, and I was pretty good too. Well, anyways, I was running through a different path through the little woods off the south end of the park, a place I never really run. I heard a noise coming from the bushes and trees a few feet in front of me, and me being the crazy girl I am thought it be so smart to go see what that noise was. At first I thought it was just a couple making out, and then I realized that this guy was biting the girl he had pinned to the tree. She was starting to turn an unnatural shade of white and the life was draining from her eyes. I stood there horrified and then something inside me stured and before I realized what I was doing I was lunging at the man with a branch I didn't even know that I grabbed. I only barley hit him since he was apparently lighting fast and scary strong because we barely touched me yet I slammed into the ground with an alarming amount of pain.

The guy was now hovering over me with the most terrifing look I've ever seen in someone's eyes. He had blood dripping from his mouth and his canine teeth  were longer than any humans ever could be. Then this crazy thought struck me, this guy was a vampire. I tried to shake the thought away because it was absolutely ludacris but I somehow knew it was true. I realized in that instant that I was seeing something unvelivable and I was going to die before I could tell my best friend. Only I didn't die. The vampire was about to bite me, but then he wasn't there anymore. There were to guys grabbing him and wrestling him down to the ground before staking him and I watched as he turned to dust. I knew that I was starring with my mouth wide open but I couldn't seem to figure out how to close it. Until I noticed that both of the guys were now staring back at me. And boy were they hot.

"Are you alright?" The taller of the two asked me. I just nodded still unable to speak. I stood up though and just kind of stood there awkwardly.

"Hey, pip squeak, you know how to talk or are you just to stunned by our stunning good looks?" The other guy asked looking at me.

"Who the hell are you calling a pip squeak?" I asked slightly offended. I had my hands on my hips and was trying to give my best b***h look but I was struggling to keep it together. They both broke into a raging laughing fit. I started to walk away not wanting to deal with anymore of this when one of them was suddenly in front of me.

"Look, you can't just run off yet. You saw something tonight that we need to talk about. What you saw was a vampire. Yes, they are real but you can't tell anyone. For their safety, and your own. Speaking of which are you crazy or just stupid?"

"Excuse me? Where do you get off calling me that?"

"You attacked a guy twice your size that was hurting someone. You almost died!" The first guy yelled.

"Well you both attacked him two so really this is the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it?" I asked a little feeling a bit annoyed.

"Yeah but well, uh.." The first guy stammered.

"And you both keep saying things and running your mouth, yet I don't know who you are nor do you know who I am, and my mother always told me to never talk to strangers," I said with as much attitude and I could muster since I was feeling like I was about to pass out.

"How rude of us," the second guy said, "I'm Damon, and this is my younger brother Dimitri." He said pointing to the taller guy beside him.

"I'm Mia. Now that we’re acquainted, would you like to tell me how you did that?"

The guys looked at each other and then Damon sighed.

"You're going to be a big pain in my a*s pip squeak. I can already tell," He said and then he turned to walk away but then called over his shoulder, "Well are you coming or not?"

 

After that Damon sat me down and told me all about the protectors and what they were about. He was so charismatic and goofy. He didn't sugar coat anything, and he was honest. Nothing like the Damon I saw tonight. I hadn't seen him since he left over a year and a half ago. I couldn't begin to imagine how Dimitri felt tonight when this was his real brother, and not just a big brother figure like he was to me. I fell asleep wishing I could help Dimitri somehow. 

Reviews

[xbxbzdvdsv]

I love your writing, i liked the coffee scene a lot for some reason, just seems peaceful, Damon going from a good person to bad, makes me think what did he experience that was so life changing, other than being cold is easier, i also like the part where she is looking at her ribs, how she is bruised up & the fact they heal faster than normal people, i kinda think its funny Tess got sick,(weird sense of humor) we all know not to eat while drinking! well most of us, she's brave attacking the vampire not knowing her abilities just yet, it makes me wonder why'd they would just open up and tell her everything right away. Good story, i enjoyed it! i'm glad you're sharing your work ! (:

[Simplydreaming]

Thank you, so glad you're enjoying it!

[xbxbzdvdsv]

No problem:D Its keeping my attention!!

[Simplydreaming]

That's good!