Come In

Chapter Seventeen

It took everything I had not to make a sound. I glared up at Victor.
"What the hell?" I mouthed at him. He frowned, gently guiding me deeper into the alley, toward the Pardos.
"You've unlocked the Slayer. We're here to put you to the test. I'll be here, ready, if anything goes wrong." He explained, his voice barely audible.
He was right- I knew everything I needed- I had my new strength and speed, and the knowledge of fighting, but to actually put that to the test? I was frightened. I remembered how strong vampires were. Could I do this? I wasn't sure.

But I had to.

I gave Victor a firm nod, lowered myself down, and crept silently toward the Pardos. My heart rate quickened with every step until I was a foot away from them. Suddenly, I was calm. My mind was calculating- I looked around to find something, but I didn't know what.

My mind shifted gear as I attacked the closest Pardo. My fist connected with the back of his neck, and he crumpled to the floor. I twisted myself, spinning my leg out, which connected with another Pardos head. He flew three feet backwards, landing loudly on a recycling bin.

I rolled under what would've been a painful punch, and grabbed a shard of wood before I even realised what I was doing. I twisted around, and felt as the shard of wood sliced easily into the chest of one of the Pardos. I was there, in the back of my mind, having a mild panic attack whilst gagging at the brutality of what I just did. The Pardo began to crumble, like a rock had been broken into tiny pieces. He was no longer there- all that was left was the dust that danced in the wind. Although I was preoccupied in the back of my mind with the panic and hysteria, by body had moved on, and had killed another Pardo quickly and efficiently. My mind was cold and calculating- clinical. Every single step, every movement, was done on purpose. I found myself running up the walls, somersaulting over Pardos and killing them with ease.

I only snapped back into my usual mind when there were no vampires left; just the blonde girl, quivering on the floor, tears streaming endlessly down her face. Her eyes were a dark, chocolate brown. Her tears carried rivers of black mascara down her face, and her lips were thin, but painted a blood red. She was beautiful.

I offered my hand, which she took gratefully. I felt her shaking, but also noticed that her hand was freezing. Not as cold as a vampire's skin, but she was in desperate need of a radiator.

I lifted her arm and let it fall around my shoulder, and walked her to Victor. He had a small smile on his face, and a look of pride. I found myself smiling back at him.

I did it! I couldn't believe that I fought a group of Pardos, and won! Suddenly, I thought that maybe I could so this. Maybe, I could get Cam back.

"I have a cab waiting. This poor young girl is in no condition to walk. Would you be a dear and walk her to the car?" Victor said, before walking out if the alley. I followed him, dragging the blonde girl along with me. She sniffled every five seconds or so, but stayed silent most of the time.

Victor sat in the passenger seat, leaving the blonde girl and I to sit in the back. When we were all strapped in, and the car was moving, I turned to her. She looked at me and I almost cried at the lost look in her eyes, mixed with pure fear. She flinched when I lifted my hand to push a stray strand of golden hair from her face.

"What's your name?" I asked, trying to sound as soothing as possible. She took a long, shaky breath.

"K-Kim" She said, and it sounded as if it pained her to speak.

"Ok, Kim, do you know what just happened?" I asked her, staring intently into her eyes, trying to communicate the importance of what was going on.

"They... they tried to kill me. B-but with their-" she broke off, wincing at the memory.

"With their teeth. Yes. Kim, do you know what they were?" I asked, trying to enunciate every word carefully. She sobbed and then nodded.

"Vampires" she managed through her tears. I nodded, and placed my hand gently on her shoulder.

"Yes. What I'm going to do, is to take you back to my house. We're gonna get you cleaned up and then we're gonna keep you safe. I promise." I stated, pouring sincerity into my tone. She seemed to calm down.

It wasn't long before we were back at home. Kim was able to walk herself to the door, but I stayed by her side, hoping that my closeness would comfort her. It would've comforted me.

I opened the door, and the three of us walked in. I let out a breath that I didn't realise I was holding, when Kim was able to pass over the threshold without an invitation.

I walked her over to the sofa, and sat down next to her, whilst Victor busied himself in the kitchen, making tea.

"Do you need anything?" I asked Kim. She seemed to be pretty calm now. She shook her head.

"No thank you." She said, her voice unwavering. I smiled encouragingly at her.

"How old are you, Kim?" I asked.

"I just turned nineteen last week." She replied. She was older than I thought she was.

"Okay, now, could you tell me what happened?"