Slayer Traits First Year

Prologue

There was a corpse.

Mangled, disfigured, and shredded with blood cascading down torn skin like a waterfall, staining the chipped sidewalk. The air was tainted with the strong copper scent. The sound of bone crunching and wet grunts ripping flesh was already making my dinner churn in the pit of my stomach. The heavy and hungry panting disgusted me, but I had to fight my grimace to show some respect for the recently deceased.

The monster towered over me; long-limbed and incredibly thin, with sickly dusty pale skin stretched over bone-like plastic wrap. Its eyes were blacker than the night that surrounded me, the type of darkness that swallowed everything whole. When they flashed to me, I held my breath. It tore the destroyed body from its gaping mouth and dropped it to the ground with a heavy wet thud.

My eyes darted between the monster and the corpse. Both nameless. Both faceless. And both worse than dead. Damn.

"Move, Kyria, move!"

I turned on my heel, boots hitting the asphalt as the monster lunged after me. The sound of its massive teeth scraping against the tar hurt my ears. I could feel the ground tremble from the force of its claws gunning for me. I needed to pick up the pace before it grabbed me.

The smell of blood and dirt inched around me just as the Vampire's shadow crossed over mine. Dad then rushed right over me, throwing a massive shoulder right into the Vampire's chest, twisting until he pulled the Vampire's arm free from its socket, forcing it to the ground.

"Get in the car," Dad grunted, avoiding the Vampire's razor-sharp fangs by planting a foot against the monster's temple.

"But Dad––"

Clearly, this was no time to argue as the Vampire roared loud enough to make the dim streetlights flicker. Dad bared his teeth, and that was case closed. Time for me to go. I obeyed and bolted across the empty street, scanning for any unsuspecting witnesses. I leaped over the curb when a bloodcurdling howl echoed off into the night.

Well, crap.

I jumped the fence that surrounded the parking lot, aiming for the only car to fill the space at two in the morning. I just reached the handle when something grabbed my ponytail and slammed my face into the metal door. Once. Twice. And then I was on the floor, choking on blood. Before I could let my body register the pain, I rolled right off my back and onto my feet and faced a man with greasy hair and translucent skin, and with the same black eyes that swallowed everything. At least this one was still human-looking. And I couldn't be around when it decided to shift into the long-limbed, big-ass-fanged beast with an even bigger appetite.

The monster lunged forward, tackling me to the ground, trying to pry my flailing arms away from my neck so it could sink its growing fangs beneath my flesh and drink my blood. I managed to thrash my legs between us and kicked the monster off me and away from the car. The Vampire landed effortlessly. I quickly swept its legs from beneath its too-skinny body and smashed my knee into its face. I turned again and threw myself into the car, locking it with the back of my heel just as the monster slammed against the metal, claws scratching across the glass.

The Vampire began shifting. My stomach rolled, and my toes curled as the Vampire's bones broke and splintered. Soon its arm snapped in awkward places and was elongated. Long, sharp fingernails punctured through its fingertips and scraped across the windshield; while the other long-limbed hand clawed the roof of the car. The Vampire now resembled the one that Dad was fighting. The monster towered over the car and was rocking it as if it weighed nothing. Long arms pushed the car almost onto its side. Sharp fingernails started to pierce through the glass while wild eyes leered hungrily at me.

I heard it before I felt it — a roar. A gust of wind slammed against the other side of the car, shattering all the windows and sending the vehicle back bouncing onto all four tyres. I shielded my face from the debris of glass, papers, and even blood as the gale coursed through the car like a mighty current until the snarls of the monster were wholly drowned out by the sound of rushing air.

When the air finally subsided, I let out a painful breath, slowly moving my hands away from my eyes. The parking lot was free of thirsty Vampires. Dad was standing beside the door. Every capillary – every vein and artery – was glowing a soft, warm light. As if his blood were sunshine, beaming through his skin, following the path of his blood vessels, fading from the crook of his elbow right down to his fingertips. He held a large Norse styled War Hammer in his hand, glowing fingers flexing on the wooden hilt. Dad's eyes were brilliant, neon green. Luminescent and bright, casting shadows over his strong blood-smeared face. He was in Slayer Mode.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly. His large hands were coated in blood and dust but were so steady, and so still as he ruffled my dirty blonde hair, unlike mine that had a slight tremor. Dad wiped the blood from underneath my nose and whispered, "That's got to hurt."

I smirked. "You should've seen the other guy."

Dad chuckled, shaking his head as he walked around the back of the car and climbed in. The car shifting with his massive weight. His hammer was nowhere to be seen. The glowing veins had vanished, and there was nothing but healthy skin. He turned to me, the luminescent green fading until just an ordinary green stare locked onto me.

"You fought off that Vamp well." Dad moved to open the driver's side window and froze when he noticed the shattered pieces of glass on the door-frame. He sighed, running his hand through his short dark brown hair. "Your Mom is so going to kill me."

"I think she'll let you off for killing two Fallen Vampires, Dad." I chuckled, buckling my seatbelt before I turned back to him. "Now, back to the conversation, we were having before we were so rudely interrupted."

Dad rolled his eye, "That was not a conversation. That was you being difficult," he started the car, but it took two tries for the engine to rattle to life. The corner of Dad's mouth lifted. "Do me a favour, though. Don't tell Mom you saw a dead body. Lord knows she'd have a fit."

I gave Dad a cheeky grin. "I won't tell Mom, on the condition that I can go to the Academy without having to attend that dinner tomorrow night." My smile faltered when Dad scowled at me, eyebrow raised. I frowned, "Hey, I could've rehashed the avoid-the-She-Devil discussion, but you asked me to stop."

Dad gave an exasperated sigh and ruffled my hair. "How about dropping it completely? Huh?"

"But, Dad––"

"You wanted to go to the Academy, Salyeria," Dad put the car into gear. "I have no issues with that. I said, yes. On the condition that you talk to the Slayer. Who – by the way – can teach you a hell of a lot more than your mother and I can. It'll be good for you. For both of you."

I rolled my eyes, smiling, and crossing my arms over my chest. "So that's a no on the dinner, right?"

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