| Chapter 18 Tracy sat in her office and looked through the files on her desk. For some reason she had woken early, and decided to come up and look at the old file she'd had Lana pull out. She stared at the picture, chills running down her spine. Brian and Theophilus could have been twins. She sighed, shaking her head. Why she didn't look at the file before she agreed to help was a gross oversight on her part. But now that she was in it, she couldn't leave Brian, no matter what he reminded her of. As much as she wanted to believe that the resemblance was just coincidence, she knew better. And it was only a matter of time before Brian learned the truth, the whole truth. She just hoped that she could instill in him the confidence in his abilities he needed to fight it. The intercom buzzed, nearly scaring the hell out of her. Tracy pushed the button, "Yes?" "Miss Tracy, Mr. Brian is awake," Nancy said. "Thank you, Nancy. I'll be down in a minute," she said, getting up. She closed the files, putting them in the drawer, then headed downstairs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jennifer sat on the park bench, throwing bread to the ducks. Howie sat next to her, watching. She peered over the edge of her sunglasses, "You're doing it again." Howie smiled, "I know, I can't help it." She smiled, reaching over and taking his hand in hers, "So, how come a good looking guy like you isn't already taken?" Howie felt his cheeks flush, "Um, I don't know. Guess I just haven't found the right person yet." "So what's your right person?" she asked, staring over the lake. Howie sighed, following her gaze, "I don't know." She laughed, looking over at him, "Then how will you ever know who the right person is, if you don't know what's right for you?" He shrugged, "I just always thought that I'd just know." She cocked her head sideways, staring at him intently, "You mean like a soul mate or something? Someone so compatible that it's just obvious." "I guess. Why, don't you believe in soul mates?" he asked, returning her gaze. Jennifer shrugged, "Um, I don't know. I guess they're out there, but I've never found mine." "Neither have I," he said, squeezing her hand. She smiled, moving closer and leaning her head on his shoulder, "But who knows, maybe we have and we just don't know it yet, huh?" Howie smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, "Maybe." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tracy lead Brian into a large room in the back of the house. It was bare of furniture, with hard wood floors that shown like the sun. "Alright, we'll start out in here," she said, taking a few steps away from him. "Ok, what do I do?" Brian asked. "Let's work on your speed first. That comes in handy a lot," she said, "So what you need to do is pick a spot on the other side of the room that you want to go to. Then I need you to concentrate on that spot, picture yourself there." Brian nodded, and looked to the opposite wall. He found a place on the floor to focus on about a foot from the wall. "You focusing?" she asked. He nodded, still staring at the spot. "Alright, take a step towards it, but as you're doing so, picture yourself already there," she said. Brian took a deep breath, then stepped. The next thing he knew he was on the other side of the room. He turned to Tracy, "How'd I do that?" She smiled walking over to him, "It's all in the mind. If you focus, picture it in your head, then you can do it. But if you lose your concentration, you'll mess up." He nodded, "Can I do it again?" Tracy chuckled at him, "Sure, practice all you want," she said, stepping out of the way, "And soon you won't have to focus so hard on it. You'll just be able to do it when you want." He smiled, one of his goofy grins, then was suddenly on the other side of the room, "This is fun!" Tracy leaned against the wall and rolled her eyes, laughing. Maybe training him wasn't going to be that bad after all? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Hey Kev, what do you think about these?" Nick asked, pulling a pair of drumsticks from his backpack and handing them to him. Kevin took them, noticing the tips had been sharpened to a fine point. "That's nice Nick, but they're too small. They'll break," he said, handing them back. "That's the idea though. They can't pull them out," Nick said, looking a little disappointed. "Well, let's wait until we can test them first before you use them, alright?" Kevin said. "Ok," Nick said, still disappointed, as he tossed them back into his pack. "So where we going tonight?" Nick asked, laying back on the couch. "Thought we'd go check out the park. I heard some of the slayers at the meeting talking about it," Kevin answered as he looked for his jacket. "Sounds cool," Nick said, then jumped as someone knocked on the door. Both men made sure their backpacks where zipped and out of sight before Kevin answered it. "Hey guys," A.J. said, walking in and plopping down on the couch next to Nick, "Wanna go out tonight?" Nick glanced at Kevin. "Sorry Alex, me and Nick have to be somewhere," Kevin said, "Howie can go with you." A.J. shook his head, "Nope, he's out on another date with the elevator girl." Kevin looked at him confused, "Elevator girl?" Nick laughed, "Yeah, some girl he met in the elevator. She asked him out last night. By the way, J, did you get any details?" Nick asked. A.J. shook his head, "No, he said they talked, that's all." "Darn," Nick said. "Nick, did you meet this girl?" Kevin asked. "Uh huh," he said. "Was she Ok?" Kevin asked, staring at the younger man. Nick looked at him for a moment before he got the question, "Ohhh yeah, she's fine." "Damn right she's fine," A.J. laughed, "Fucking knock out." Kevin laughed, "Well, as long as she's pretty, that's all that matters." A.J. stuck his tongue out at him, "Oh shut up," he said, as he got up and headed to the door, "Well since you party poopers won't go with me, I guess I'm on my own. See ya!" "Later J," Nick called, as he left. Kevin picked up his bag, "You ready?" Nick jumped up, slinging his own over his shoulder, "I was born ready." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Tracy, this isn't funny! Get me down!" Brian yelled. Tracy was laughing so hard she couldn't breathe. Tears ran down her cheeks, and she had to sit on the floor to keep from falling over. "Please" Brian begged, giving her his best puppy dog eyes. She shook her head, "You got up there, get yourself down," she laughed. Brian looked at his situation. He'd gone from running from one side of the room to the other, to climbing the walls, literary. He'd made it about halfway to the ceiling before he really realized what he was doing, and now he was stuck. He was scared of falling, and looking down made him dizzy. He didn't want to turn around and go back down face first, but he was to scared to back down too. So now, here he was, halfway up the wall, and Tracy was laughing at him. "Brian, just come back down the way you went up," she said, finally getting her giggles under control. "I can't," he said. "Why not?" she asked. "I'm scared," he said, feeling stupid. She walked over and looked up at him, "Brian, you have to get over your fear of heights. A lot of times we use roof tops and the like to avoid being seen. You gotta get over this, or you won't last long at all." He sighed, staring at the wall just inches from his face. Slowly he stepped back. "That's good Brian," Tracy said. He was in the middle of another step when she spoke, and it threw his concentration off. He grabbed for the wall, but couldn't keep his hold on it, and fell to the floor, landing on his back. "Ow," he whimpered, as Tracy ran to his side. "Brian, are you alright? I'm sorry," she said, helping him sit up. He rubbed the back of his head for a moment, then laughed, "Kevin always told me not to climb the walls when I was hyper, I guess he was right." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin walked down the trail, listening as he went. The feeling in the pit of his stomach told him they were close, he just wasn't sure where. He turned to tell Nick something, when he realized he wasn't there. He looked all round, in a panic. "Nick!" he whispered, fiercely. When no one answered, he got even more worried. "Shit, shit, shit!" he muttered, as he topped the small hill and looked down into a clearing. There they were, sitting on a bench, talking. Kevin's heart jumped into his throat when he saw Nick come out of the woods and walk towards them. "Oh God Nicky you idiot!" he grumbled as he moved into the woods and ran toward them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The two vampires stopped talking and stared at Nick as he approached them. Both stood. "Well, what have we here?" the man asked. The woman smiled, baring her fangs, "A lost slayer I believe." Nick stood a few feet from them, his hands inside his duster pockets. He watched the two as they moved, one to each side of him. "Are you lost boy, or just stupid?" the man asked. Nick glanced at him, "Neither." Both vampires laughed. The woman took a step towards him. Nick went down on one knee and pulled his hands out of his pockets. In one sweeping motion he drove the stake into her chest, then rolled out of the way, and was back on his feet again. The woman's scream filled the night air. Nick watched as she staggered back, then pulled the stake out of her chest, throwing it on the ground. He didn't hit her heart, damn. "Oh crap," he muttered as both vampires came at him. Nick ran to meet them, punching the woman in the face, and sending her flying backwards, then turning to face the man. Unfortunately, he turned right into a punch, and staggered back. Both where on him before he knew what happened. He struggled, as they threw him to the ground, hard. The man held him down as the woman ripped his backpack off and emptied it, the contents falling to the ground next to him. "Silly slayer," she laughed, picking up the drumsticks, "You can't kill us with these toys." She tossed the sticks to the ground, just within Nick's reach. He grabbed one, stabbing the man in the leg with it. He screamed, and let Nick go. Nick quickly grabbed the other and lunged at the woman, driving it deep into her heart. She fell backwards, gasping for air. Desperately she tried to pull the stick from her chest, but it broke in her hand. She glared at Nick, as she took her last breath. Suddenly the man was on Nick, grabbing him from behind. Nick struggled against him, but the man was to strong. He pulled Nick's head to the side and sank his fangs in. Nick screamed, the pain unbearable. Suddenly the man pulled away and pushed Nick to the ground. Nick looked up, seeing the end of a stake sticking out of the man's chest. He fell to the ground, dead before he hit it. "Nick, are you alright?" Kevin asked, running to his side. Nick sat on the ground, trembling. "Nick?" Kevin asked, staring at him, "Oh Christ, you're bit." Nick nodded, his eyes as wide as dinner plates. He was in shock. Kevin quickly pulled his cell phone from his backpack and hit the speed dial, "This is Richardson. I need a pick up, quick. My apprentice just got bit." Chapter 19 |