Fairytales

Chapter 18 - Chase

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Hey guys! Wow! Really getting into the story now. Don't forget to comment! I'd really appreciate ya'lls input and feedback :) Enjoy!

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"Stop being such a wuss. You're a predator now. Act like it."

Chase turned to glare at Emilia between the trees but otherwise kept his mouth shut. A nasty temper was about the only thing he'd learned to count on from his pseudo mentor. He'd witnessed it once already, when he'd tried to push her for more information about his mother that she, apparently, didn't have. He wouldn't push her again, not when he still had so much to learn.

His weekend had been a whirlwind of what others might have called insanity. Emilia had given him a shotgun tour of his new existence: the drawbacks, the dangers, but, most importantly, the perks. Their kind had a name, a place in the supernatural underworld living right under human noses. They called themselves Virs, though most everyone else, human and supernatural alike, had taken to calling them something a little more fashionable: vampires.

Which wasn't entirely accurate. Emilia had been quick to tell him that. Sure, they drank blood to survive, and were stronger and faster than your average creature, but they weren't dead, or immortal for that matter. No, Chase and Emilia, along with the rest of the Virs roaming the earth in secret, were not those kind of vampires.

But they did exist.

The history lessons—what he was, what he could do and why—had ended already, just about the time he begun to ask too many questions. Emilia had moved him on to practical training.

The little park Emilia had taken them to, just on the outskirts of the city, was not particularly impressive—only about two acres in total—but, by this time of night and without any sort of lamps or path lights to lead the way, it was pitch dark.

Following Emilia mutely, Chase hardly noticed the dark. Sure, he was aware of it, could see it in a way, but it didn't affect him. He could see the world and all its intricacies as easily as if he were walking in the sunlight. Maybe better.

He'd long since stopped being surprised by his new senses. They were a part of him now, one of the many perks Emilia had been sure to tell him about.

A knee high fence separated the trail laden side of the park from the less family friendly section. He stepped over it, feeling his heart rate start to increase. Emilia was wrong. He wasn't hesitating because he was afraid or because he was a "wuss." While his mind might not have caught up yet, the rest of him had become very aware of what he'd become. A predator. A good one. Maybe too good.

"Hurry it up, would you?" Emilia snapped from between the trees on the other side. Her hands were on her black leather covered hips, the outfit she'd chosen to "fit the occasion." "There's a stag nearby. You'll want that for your first kill. Big and meaty. A good challenge for a fledgling."

Chase nodded. So that's what that musky scent had been. He tucked the scent away in the back of his mind for future reference. His enhanced senses were basically useless if he had no idea what all the new input was trying to tell him.

"This'll be good practice." Emilia said, lifting her thin face to scent the gently blowing breeze. "Doesn't matter if you screw up and kill one of these."

Chase nodded again, ignoring the sarcasm. He'd become newly acquainted with the consequences of killing a meal, a human, he corrected himself. Emilia had been right. He'd rather die than...that.

He scanned the forest, feeling the adrenaline begin to pump through his veins as he turned off his brain and let instinct take over, opening up his senses to the world. It was lucky their kind had such an uncanny ability to focus their strength or else the constant noises, the bombardments of scent, sound and sight all the same time would surely drive them all mad. Now though, now was the time to use them.