Come In

Chapter Ten

I was immediately swept into his arms, and within milliseconds, I felt the harsh cold of the air scratching along me as we flitted through the forest. The trees streaked past me in a blur of darkness, and I couldn't catch a breath. Luckily, we were at the graveyard before the lack of air became uncomfortable. He set me down, and brushed the back of his hand against my cheek. The icy feel of his hand was almost uncomfortable under the bite of the cold air.

I looked around and saw a multitude of crumbling gravestones and mausoleums. There were a few new ones- you could tell because of how pristine they looked- their colour luminescent in the moonlight, against the chalky, darkened stone of the older graves.

Cam stood in front of me, taking both of my hands in his. He stared intently at me for a few seconds, frowning.

"There's something about yourself that you don't know. Something... important. I'm not quite sure how to go about explaining this..." he said, looking away, frowning even deeper. Suddenly, his eyebrows rose up and he turned back to me again.

"You remember Ms Georgio?" he asked, guiding me through the graves by my hand. We stopped at a bench. He sat down with me, and folded me in his arms. Somehow, although his skin was freezing, he managed to keep me warm.

"Yes. You knew her, didn't you?" I accused him. I was surprised at the jealousy that had managed to leak into the tone of my voice. He chuckled, but it was half-hearted.

"I did, yes. I knew her. You see, when she was sixteen, I was her friend. I had been going to school with her. We were incredibly close, until the day that I got turned. This was around a century ago.
"You see, the day that I was turned, was the day that she was told her destiny. Anna, she was a vampire slayer.
"Now, a vampire slayer is someone- always a girl- who is plucked from a normal life, and taken in by someone called a Guardian. A guardian is the person who trains her, and helps her protect the Earth from the threat of anything demonic. They learn a hatred for demons- vampires especially.
"Slayers are endowed with strength, speed and the instinct of a very experienced fighter. These... powers, shall we say, only make themselves known in fractions, before the slayer is properly trained." He said, still holding me, stroking along my arm, leaving a blazing trail of invisible fire in its wake. I had forgotten that I was still only wearing pyjamas.
"What has this got to do with me?" I whispered, afraid of the answer, because I knew what it would be.
"Anna, my love. You are the slayer. It always starts with prophetic dreams. And then other things make themselves known. Normal humans don't see true vampiric faces- at least, they never remember them for long after seeing them. But you remembered Elios' face in detail, and I bet you still do. There are other things that may begin to make themselves known, but I'm pretty sure. I realise now, though, that I never finished my story of Ms Georgio, and it is an important one, because you've invited her into your house."
It clicked into place. Ms Georgio knew Cam a century ago. Ms Georgio was a vampire slayer, a century ago.

Ms Georgio, is a vampire.

I gasped. Panic struck me- she had been invited into my home. She could come and go as she pleased, just like Elios. My only real defence against them was gone now!

I then realised something. It wasn't really my only defence. I could be my defence.
If what Cam was saying about me was true, then I could unlock a power inside myself, that I could use as my own protection. I could learn to fight them off.

"Cam," I said, my voice trembling- from the cold and the terror at the same time.

"Don't worry love! I'll be here. We'll find a way." He said, trying to comfort me, but his fingers running up and down my arm were too rigid, their movements too deliberate and too fast. He was as calm as his façade suggested.

"No, I mean... Cam... I want to learn to fight." I said, my voice stronger now. It didn't matter if I really was this slayer- either way, I'd know how to defend myself against something.

"Anna, I'm not sure that I'm the one to teach you." He said quietly. I was confused- he seemed like the perfect person to me. I frowned and looked up at him, plastering a quizzical look onto my face. He smiled, causing my heart to skip a beat.

"I mean... when I fight, I focus on fighting, which means I focus less on... well... not killing you. It's harder than it looks. I always have to be careful around you. If I start a hunt, it's purely instinctual, and it's difficult to pull myself out of it. I couldn't lose control like that with you there." He said, running his fingers through my hair again.
"Well I need to learn, don't I?" I said. He didn't answer for a while.
"You're right. I don't understand why your Guardian hasn't contacted you yet. It's meant to happen a week after your sixteenth birthday. They're usually very prompt and punctual." He said. I shivered slightly in the cold.
"Time to get you home. You've been woken up enough tonight. Sleep in. I'll be there to protect you. Come to think of it, Anna- why haven't you been at school?" he said, collecting me in his arms. I snuggled into his chest, perfectly content.
"I'm not going in this week." I answered.
"Why not? You need your education." He said, but I could hear his smile hiding in his tone.
"My education is fine. Besides, they know about Elios and Ant. They told me to take all the time I need, so that's what I'm doing." I explained. My voice sounded tired, and I was just about ready to forgo consciousness for the entire week, especially in Cam's arms.
I curled into Cam's chest to hide from the harsh wind, and the sound of his even breathing comforted me, and I began to drift off when, mere seconds later, Cam stopped at my house.
Instead of going to the door, he walked around to the back, and stared up at my open window. Was he going to jump?
He leapt up through the air, and landed, somehow, in my room. He even managed to maintain his usual amount of impeccable grace. I stared at my alarm clock and noticed that it was five o'clock in the morning. The sun would rise soon, and all I wanted to do was fall asleep.
Cam laid us on the bed, and began running his fingers through my hair again. It didn't take long for me to drift off.