Rivals

Training Like No Other

   All the best-known slayers around the area were here now. We only had one month left before chaos broke out.

   Throughout this month, me and Kyle kept hanging out. I, of course, still had to train occasionally as well. School was almost over as well. Testing was over too. Thank God. Our last day was May 29th. The war, however, was May 20th.

   "What's up, Kate?" Kyle asked me as we jogged around the track during Gym. "What does it look like?" I breathed out. It wasn't like I was in bad shape. We just had been jogging for 20 minutes. Other kids in my Gym class were either playing football or frisbee. I decided to jog.

   "If you're tired we can stop," Kyle said. It was funny how he wasn't even winded. But he also just started joining me, so I guess that was normal?

   "Alright." I agreed and we slowed down to where a bench was. I bent over, gasping for air. Kyle started swatting my back like a weirdo. I wasn't even choking, gosh.

   Anyways, I should be used to running or even jogging for a long time, but it was in the 80s today. Not only that, but it was very humid out.

   After I finally controlled my breathing, me and Kyle sat on the bench. I gazed over at all the teens playing. They were all having fun. They didn't even have to worry about monsters with fangs. They didn't even know they existed. If only they knew...

   "Can't you wait, Kate?" Kyle asked me. I totally zoned out. "Wait till what?" I asked. What were we even talking about? "Till graduation, silly. It's next month." Kyle grinned at me. "I guess I can't wait, then I can leave this hell hole." The sun shone brightly and I put on my sunglasses. Kyle did the same.

   We headed inside after about 10 more minutes of being outside. The bell had sounded throughout the halls. It was time to go to our last class now.

   Me and Kyle grabbed out stuff and headed off to our class. The school's air-conditioning blowing the heat off my body. It was nice.

   I sat by the window in the back corner and Kyle sat next to me. The teacher went on and on about the lesson for today. I partially didn't care.

   After school I headed off to the cabin. Today we were going to practice fighting with a partner. Of course we knew how to fight, but since we're the best, it's better practice. Vampires are fast and strong. Normal slayers could take them on, but we could take on more without getting too tired like the average slayer.

   I made it to the cabin and Michael greeted me. "Good evening, Kate." He smiled down at me. "Hey, Mike." I returned his smile and we walked around to the back. Most of the slayers were already practicing.

   "Alright, Slayers. Today we'll be practicing our fighting techniques." Mike nodded towards Andrew. "Every 45 minutes you'll be fighting a new partner. The goal is to knock down your opponent in 45 minutes. If we can do that then we can take on the bloodsucking army." Andrew stood tall and held everyone's gaze. "Yes, Sir!" Most of us said while others nodded.

   We each got into our stances. We were all paired up and we'd go clockwards when we traded partners. My partner was a girl around 19. She was tall and slim, blonde hair and blue eyes. Your typical girl. "Ready?!" Michael called and looked at his watch, after a minute he called out again. "And...go!" Everyone started fighting. We weren't supposed to be soft on anyone. We had to give it all we got to become better. Of course we all knew we didn't mean to hurt each other, since it was practice.

   The girl lunged at me. I pounced at her and side kicked her in the stomach. She ended up getting up and punching me in the face which caused me to go back at her. It went on for awhile, me throwing a punch and her back at me. Towards the five remaining minutes, I finally got her on the ground and held my stake above her heart. "Times up!" Michael called. We all stopped and I helped her up. "You were good," I said being polite. "You too." She smiled at me and we rotated partners.

   It went on like this for two hours. We ended up taking a break afterwards. We all ate sandwiches and made jokes. It was pretty fun. At around 7:30 I ended up going home. Each day would be like this. School, training, then home. On Sunday's we didn't have training though. It was our break day.

   I walked into my house to see my mom on the couch watching TV. "Hi, Mom." I began walking upstairs when she called out to me. "Did you want something to eat?" She said. "I already ate, thanks." I said back at her and headed to my mom. It had been another long day and I was extremely tired.

   I took off my shoes and fell on my bed. It didn't take long before I fell asleep.