Night After Day

Chapter 25: Favours and Gifts

I pinched my arm in front of the mirror and smiled. Despite the situation I was in, I was in the best shape I had been in for years. Mostly because Jason refused to let me slack off. Not that I was complaining. Though I did miss the hours spent on YouTube in my room when I should have been studying.

I tied my damp hair back in a messy bun and pulled a light blue singlet over my head. There was a slight knock on the bathroom door. "In a minute!" I called and walked over, pulling it open to reveal Angeline. Today the vampire was wearing a very sparkly purple top and black jeans. I turned away from the glare of the shirt.

"Closed doors usually means that the bathroom is in use."

She smiled and moved back from the doorway, sitting on the window seat and waiting.

I sighed, knowing that she would not leave until I heard what she had to say. I sat on the armchair opposite her seat and stared. There was a few seconds silence then she spoke.

"I wanted to give you something." It was the way her voice quivered with excitement that made me sit up in interest. I was so bored.

"By all means, do go on."

Suddenly she was holding a large box, gift wrapped in rather loud paper. I would have made a rather rude comment on where she had pulled it out of but I stopped. "What's this?"

"Happy Sixteenth Birthday Hayden."

I froze and let my mind make the calculations. It was the 16th of June? Already? That meant.... It had been three months and a bit since I had been kidnapped?

"Three months?" I asked hesitantly, just to make sure and Angeline nodded.

I ignored the anxiety building up inside me as I tried not to think about how my family would be feeling on this day. "What's in the box?"

She grinned and I was under the impression that she was enjoying this a lot more then I was.

"Open it."

I went to grab hold of it but her hand came down on mine and I looked up at her questionably.

"Along with this gift. I will also grant you one favor. Just one, and it has to be within reason."

Within reason being that I couldn't ask to leave.

I nodded and she drew her hand away and gestured to the box. "It's for training purposes only."

My interest at an even higher level, I nearly ripped into the paper, tearing it away and opening the box.

A bow.

I sat back in shock. My own bow? After I shot her in the stomach she was really entrusting me with a weapon?

I pulled it out gently and stood, laying it on the bed. Next came the quiver. Each arrow had a black shaft and grey feathers.

My mind immediately went through all the different ways this could assist me in my escape, none of them seeming very reasonable. But I would come up with something.

"Don't get to cocky with this bow. Even with the weapon, any vampire, no matter what age, will still be able to take you down. Just remember that."

I nodded. It would take a lot more than a bow to get out. I would need a plan. A very good plan.

"I believe I owe you a favor?"

My head snapped up. Favor? What could I possibly want apart from to leave?

"Think carefully Hayden. A chance like this is only going to come around once. If you want I can let you have some time to think it over and come back another time?"