The Vampire Hunter's Academy: The Darkness (6 page)

“But this time Maya,” Sanaya began as she paced the room. “This time I think things are different.”

“How so?”

“I don’t know…I just do. Something’s telling me that all of this just ain’t right.”

Suddenly, the door swung open drawing both girls’ attention. Eve poked her head in with a warm smile.

“Are you girls alright?”

“Yeah, uh…we’re fine,” Sanaya said mentally pleading for Maya to remain quiet.

“Just know that are you are safe Sanaya,” Eve assured her. “Things will be back to normal before you know it.”

“As if any of this is normal,” Maya mumbled underneath her breath.

“Well, I will be in the other room if you need me. Tia is on her way and…” Eve held Maya’s gaze. “If anything out of the ordinary happens, call me.” Eve closed the door behind her, leaving the two girls alone once more.

“Sanaya what are we gonna do?” Maya asked, nervously picking her nails.

“I don’t know…I think I should convince Archer to take me on the hunt and allow me to put him down.“

“But Sanaya, you’re nowhere near ready to go up against a master!” Maya gasped. “Are you insane? If I can recall everything correctly, Archer and Eve had to bring you back.“

Sanaya yanked off her scrunchie that held her thick hair in a single ponytail and threw it at the wall in frustration. “Ugh! I know!”

Maya stood up and walked over to her friend, wrapping her arms around her and resting her head on her shoulder, something she instinctively knew to do whenever Sanaya is in panic mode.

“Just chill out ‘Naya,” she whispered. “We will be kicking vampire ass in no time. But, we can’t take unnecessary risks that could get more Guardians killed. You think you’re having issues now? Imagine how you’d feel if more of them got hurt because we did something stupid. Just let them do their jobs.”

It was rare that Maya offered such sound and rational advice. However, Sanaya welcomed it. She knew her friend was right. Even if Archer did allow her to go out, she was not experienced enough yet to not be a liability of the team and she definitely did not want to be labeled as that. She gently eased her friend away and ran her fingers through her hair.

“Sleeping in here with me tonight in case I get a little coo-coo?”

“You should have known that already,” Maya chirped.

“Alright then, well I got first dibs on the shower. I think the SyFy network has some sort of a werewolf marathon coming on in an hour. We might as well get comfortable.”

“Girl, you and those freakin’ werewolf movies,” Maya chuckled shaking her head.

Sanaya paid her friend no mind as she dug into her duffel and pulled out a pair of purple sweats, a tank and her personal toiletries and made her way into the hotel styled bathroom, sending a silent mental prayer of protection around the guardians with the hope that each of them make it back by dawn safely. However, her intuition told her otherwise…

Chapter Eight
 

Archer eyed the team of seven guardians that stood before him, sending a silent prayer to the heavens that each one of them makes it back to the campus at dawn in one piece. This was not his first time tracking a master level vampire.However, for two of the members of his team; it was pretty close to it. Shoving his Berretta into its holster, he took one last look at the group of men and women before nodding his head for them to follow him. Times had definitely changed, not only for the Vatican but for the guardian teams around the world. The Slayer was alive and well on the planet during this millennium, not to mention a few years shy of selecting members of her own guardian team and the shit had not even hit the fan yet. It was one thing protecting students and staff from low level vampires, a few demons here and there, and maybe a werewolf gone feral…but now, the threat level had increased tenfold with a master vampire in such close proximity to the adolescent slayer. The stakes had definitely been raised. No pun intended.

They walked quickly, each member hanging closely behind the other only to separate once outside in the parking lot to their own means of transportation. They knew when and where to meet along with the rest of the rules of the game such as no solo hunts or no bringing anything home with them unless it passed the daylight inspection. Two members of the guardian team decided to accompany him to the destination: Halo, the newest addition to the Guardians and fresh out of the Vampire Hunters Academy; a young African American woman in her twenties with a head full of long, platinum dyed locks standing at 5’4”, deep mahogany skin with the body of life. Gifted as a tracker, she probably had the best nose on the planet, able to break down scents to their compound levels. Plus, the girl was a master in various styles of martial arts which would indeed render her effective in a fight against the Darkness. The other newbie to the team, an arrogant and former apprentice of a wizard from the dark arts, Stefan, was also new to the battlefield with a master level vampire. The kid was in his mid-twenties and was used by the Vatican more often than not to handle business affairs for the local parishes. Why the Vatican decided to add this kid to the team was a mystery to him, but according to Tia, the kid had some serious skills in hand to hand combat. However, Archer secretly suspected that this kid may end up being the weakest link. Physically, the kid looked like he was born for the warrior class: standing at almost six feet, with a lean swimmer’s build from years of participating on the swim team and running track. He kept his dusty brown hair swept back, making sure to keep it no longer than the base of his neck. The kid didn’t have any troubles in the lady’s department; from what Archer could remember the kid was the talk of the school for quite some time. However, Stefan was a recluse and tended to prefer his own company…and Halo’s. Still, whatever skills this kid had at his disposal, he better put them to use tonight.

Master vampires were no easy kills.

With the three of them strapped in, he pulled out of the parking lot, and into the night. The club district would be a war zone and he could only pray that it wasn’t one of those popular nights that drew every young person eighteen and older out to play.

The Guardians arrived one by one in front of the crowded two story structure, facing the narrow street. The fast pace beat of techno sounds blaring from the speakers to deafening volumes while adrenaline, perfume, and sex tainted the air, filling the team’s nostrils and bludgeoning their palates. Despite all of the normal night life sounds and the electricity that filled the night, the hairs on the back of Archer’s neck stood at attention. Halo anxiously checked her revolver multiple times before replacing it on her hip. Congo tensely folded his arms as he rested against a nearby streetlamp and hocked spit onto the sidewalk. Halo scowled at him with disgust but kept her opinion to herself. Archer pretended to feign interest in the club, nodding appreciatively at a few young scantily clad women as they walked by before turning to face his team.

“Earlier today Tia and Eve canvassed the area. The vibe I’m sensing is real thick and seems to be increasing by the minute. Blend in. Keep your eyes open. Watch for any fledglings in the area because as we know, where the masters go the slaves follow. Send a mental SOS should you come across the master, but do not attempt to engage with the bastard solo. We have a couple of newbies rolling with us on their first real hunt so let’s show ‘em how it’s done.”

Congo said nothing as he stalked off behind Olivia, Shawn, and Paul towards the entrance of the club. Halo and Stefan remained with Archer as he motioned them to follow him in the shadows where they would lie and wait.

Sanaya dozed off minutes into the American Werewolf, comforted by the fact that her best friend was in the room with her. The sound of the television blaring was the perfect recipe for a lullaby as she nestled deeper underneath the beige comforter. She vaguely heard Maya’s fingers tapping against her phone, obviously engaged in a serious text convo with Sanaya assumed to be the new kid Trent. With her body completely relaxed and her mind drifting away into the welcoming nothingness, it was not long before the voices from the television and Maya’s extraordinary texting abilities were no longer her lullabies. She’d completely melted away into the mattress, her mind expanding, stretching well beyond the horizon of the living, creating its own nightly rhythm of worlds ready for her to explore.

From the safety of her own body, she watched herself stroll through the city of Los Angeles, her hometown, recounting the days when her mother was alive and in a rare moment of contentment. Her mother smiled at her as they stopped in their favorite ice cream joint-Cold Stones-and Sanaya’s face lit up as she ordered her usual white chocolate ice cream dripping with caramel syrup, peanuts and whipped cream. A quiet longing filled her chest as the memory stabbed into her consciousness, but she refused to give into mourning. Instead, she pretended that all of this was real and she was not the Slayer, but a regular girl having some much needed mother and daughter time as they took a seat in a corner of the eatery overlooking the street. Taking a huge spoonful of the specialty ice cream, she moaned with delight. Her mother watched her, still smiling, having yet to taste her own and that is when Sanaya realized something wasn’t right.

Her mother’s once beautiful brown skin melted away into a creamy white, almost porcelain complexion. Her radiantly brown eyes shifted into a pale green, and her immaculately styled coils transitioned into blonde tresses that were slicked back into a long ponytail. A handsome face adorned with highly chiseled cheek bones greeted with a sly grin. Her instincts began firing off, but something else held her in place. He made sure to sustain an image where his perfect pectorals were on display through an opened silk shirt, exposing smooth unmarred flesh that simply begged for her touch. Her breathing became hitched at the full vision of this vampire, a master of illusion and she wondered how she would free herself from this dream turned instant nightmare.

“Good evening Slayer,” he said, widening his grin. His heavily accented voice sent a shiver down her spine.

“What do you want?” She demanded, summoning the discipline to resist the call that this vampire’s silent message triggered within her body.

“The question is,” he began slowly. “What do you want?”

She looked away, gazing out of the window of the familiar street that once brought happiness to her bleak world when everything she knew was normal.

“Cat got your tongue?” He teased, gracefully sliding his hand to where her abandoned ice cream waited. He snatched it effortlessly, taking her spoon and scooping up a mouthful of her favorite ice cream and placing it into his mouth.

She glared at him, bile building up in the back of her throat as she watched the vampire imitate her pleasure that confectionary desert had given her as he moaned, licking the spoon dry.

“I can see why you would appreciate this so,” he said sticking the spoon back into the cup. “This particular brand of ice cream is indeed heaven for the taste buds…sinfully sweet…but, nothing compares to the sweet taste that makes you, you…”

Sanaya’s heart raced as her adrenaline spiked, giving her the fuel she needed to jump up and break the leg from the chair to brandish a stake. The master was on his feet instantly, and before she could act with the stake in his chest, he gripped her wrists and transported them through any dimension of her dream. She was naked, and pinned beneath his massive body in what appeared to be his lair. Black marble met crimson velvet while she struggled against his grasp.

“You smell divine young one,” He groaned, placing a kiss on the side of her throat. “Submit to me…”

“No!”

A low growl rumbled in the center of his chest. “Submit to me. I cannot take you like this!”

“No!” Tears of frustration filled her eyes as she mentally prayed to wake up.

He forced her arms above her head, his neon green eyes illuminating in the darkness of his lair.  “If you do not come to me of your own will, then those Guardians who dare themselves strong enough to hunt me will meet their end, as will every student at your Academy. You
will
bend to me Slayer or you will watch everyone you love
die!”

He disappeared the instant her eyes snapped open. She sat up with a jolt, screaming in terror. She heard Maya’s yell for help and she could feel her calming hands smoothing her messy hair back from her face. She felt like she was still trapped in the dream, despite Eve’s strong hands gripping her by the shoulders and shook her; however she struggled and fought against her hold. Tia’s voice could be heard calling her name, but nothing could break her from the cold terror that threaten to siphon all of her sanity. The fact remained that Archer and his team of Guardians were in trouble if she didn’t do something. The entire Academy was in trouble if she didn’t act.

“He is coming,” she finally whispered.

“Who is coming?” Tia demanded.

“Archer is in danger. Call the Guardians back!” Sanaya screamed, panic strengthening her enough to break free of Eve’s hold.

“Sanaya!” Maya hollered, chasing after her.

Still in a grip of terror, Sanaya dodged her best friend and ran out of the room in search of a weapon.  Eve reached her before she could yank the floorboards of the living room back and slapped her with such a force that her neck snapped back.

“Sanaya,” Eve demanded. “Sanaya!”

Although no longer caught in the panicked daze, instant fatigue blanketed her as she went limp, collapsing into Eve’s embrace.

“He said if I do not come to him of my own free will he will kill the guardians that hunt him as well as the students from the Academy,” Sanaya sobbed. “I can’t let him do that.”

Eve and Tia shared a knowing glance, before Tia finally said, “I’m calling Archer. They’ve been set up.”

Congo remained seated at the bar, his dark skin prickling from the vibrations of something that just wasn’t right. He could sense the nervousness in the other guardians as they patrolled the scene, pretending to be just regular clubbers, when he tasted the evil that tainted the air on his palate. Demons. And perhaps a legion of them were manifesting into semisolid form. Rogue wolves corrupted by the darkness and of course the freshly transitioned vampires surrounded this place. The Master Vampire clearly was a shrewd son of a bitch, and Congo flexed both of his massively thick arms and popped his joints, anxious to claim the kill of one the top motherfuckers in the supernatural food chain. Paul approached him with Olivia and Shawn behind him when all of their cell phones went off at once with a message from Tia.

Yo, fall back. It’s a trap.

“No shit,” Congo grumbled to himself. “Let’s bounce. This is some bullshit.”

Just then gun shots were heard outside, which meant that Archer and the two newbies may be in some trouble. However, as more shots rang out, the music in the club came to an immediate halt as its human patrons went into panic mode. Several rogue wolves shifted in the center of a large crowd of onlookers and immediately attacked several unsuspecting victims. Paul and Shawn were on them in an instant, hitting the beasts with round after round of silver which separated them from their victims and incinerating them on contact. Piles of sulfuric ash clouded the scene as dozens of innocents ran for their lives.

Congo spotted a freshly turned vampire, perhaps no older than twenty at the time of his death snatch a pretty brown eyed girl from the crowd and sink his four inch incisors into her throat. She screamed as Congo head straight for them with his silver dagger in hand, decapitating the vampire in the process. The young woman fell to the ground, her body undergoing multiple seizures and slipping into shock. Congo hated what he had to do next. He placed the silver dagger into the center of her chest, putting an end to the turn but also her life. He said a quick prayer over her body and secretly hoped that her spirit had been made right enough to ascend. However, he did not have time to contemplate the ramifications of what a sinful life could bring because he found himself surrounded by dozens of demon entities ranging in size and level of grotesqueness. From his holster he pulled out two mini Uzi’s and unleashed a fury of silver, their high pitched screeching causing his ears to bleed.

More screams entered his consciousness as he ushered the last remaining innocents out into the street. The dark presence, an entity stronger than those that currently terrorized the club, slammed into his psyche followed by the telepathic SOS from Olivia. Just beyond the DJ booth, she struggled with Shawn to lift an injured Paul. Apparently, Paul tried to rescue a couple of underage patrons from a group of vampires. Not only was he overwhelmed, but he ran out of ammo. Olivia was too busy working on the alpha wolf while Shawn had been on the other side of the club beating back his own vamp problem. Olivia fought back unshed tears; her heart shaped face flushed beet red with anger.