Runaway Girl - The Secrets of Avelina Chronicles 1

Chapter 5

The regular commotion in the living room barely penetrated Matthew's thoughts as he walked through. The eyes of his friends and trainee soldiers followed him along with curious whispers. Nothing of the large vampire community made it through to his brain: not the three giggling blondes huddled in the corner beside the fireplace, drinking and dancing to music playing in the background, nor the seductive looks from some of the girls closer to his own age as their eyes followed him through the room, ignoring the other men talking to them, waiting for the day when he would chose his bride. He didn't even take note of the random games the other men were playing. Some were busy with a game of pool in front of the bay window. A few stared at each other intently as they sat in silence with their noses buried in their card game. Each movement in the compound was noted in his subconscious as it scanned for danger, but there was no threat from the men he was surrounded with every day.

Their small community of almost fifty vampires living in the mansion took residence in the main hall during daylight hours. However, the elders remained in their own wing. But the younger vampires didn't like living up to the stories so often told in movies and books by staying in all day. The daylight never really caused them any problems that a pair of high quality sunglasses couldn't take care of, but with their community all living under one roof, they saw no reason to leave the grounds.

"What's going on, Captain?" Shaun asked curiously as he and each of the five other trainees under Matthew's command followed him. They passed by the large living room, up the first flight of stairs and convened in the training room. They had been training for six years to better hone their hunting skills and to gain psychological strength to enhance their abilities, ensuring that no one took more than they needed.

Matthew's plan was to rid the clan—and eventually the entire vampire race—of physically hunting their prey for blood. A small vampire unit had already been implemented to gather intelligence and support from a few local humans and to create a partnership instead of using them as play toys, like the elders preferred. Mathew didn't approve of using humans as things to be tortured or as regular blood donors and sex toys, especially when their role as supporters could be put to a much healthier use. He found that it was possible to gain more cooperation from the local community by developing blood banks run by local supporters. They simply collected blood from willing donors and delivered it to the mansion to be stored and kept. It was true though, that in the particular case of turning someone into one of their own kind, a fresh wound was necessary, as was true with Kasey. She was important to them and Matthew's feelings for her were already as strong, which he would share with her when she was ready. But they had to find her first.

No one dared answer Shaun's question until the doors to the training room were sealed and they had the privacy they needed. As he closed the large, heavy wooden doors behind him, he was ready to give his team some real action, putting their daily training of karate, kickboxing and tai chi into practice. They were finally ready to undertake the tasks he was about to set before them. He had trained them to the best of his abilities with specialist instructors in each of the arts, taking them to a higher state of physical, mental and spiritual well being.

"All right, guys. Here's what's going to happen ..." Matthew began with a decisive sigh. He walked across the room, crossing in front of six large, spaced out exercise mats that were placed randomly across the wooden floor. He stopped behind a desk across the room. It was his personal space for keeping their training documents and rough notes for their plan that they had discussed multiple times over the past few weeks. There was little else in the room except two racks on opposite walls.

He opened the single desk drawer and took out three maps and laid them flat on the desk. His companions gathered around, each eagerly awaiting their orders in anticipation of finally being permitted to do something other than feed and lay about the house. Tension was building up after having spent so long planning their moves. They had been waiting a long time to reach this level, but none was more excited than Matthew.