Sinful Capture (On Hold)

Chapter 5

"You know, I'm having second thoughts about this now," Elyss gulps down as she eyes my attire. "I didn't think you would directly go for the offensive."

It's around two-thirty in the morning. The circus ended a while ago. Everyone has had their food and gone to sleep. It was then that I decided to take Elyss and Vanessa out for a little training. 

Nothing much, just checking the forests around for danger. From animals and vampires alike. But my sisters seem to have pissed themselves at the very sight of me.

I'm wearing a simple white shirt and the black jeans gifted to me by Sarah after she saw how good I am at throwing a knife. I have not yet tested the full capacity of these jeans, but till now, it has been able to hide every blade that I've pushed into the slits. The girls know I wear this only when I promise a bloodbath.

"Come on, we are getting late," I finger the handles of the top most knives, pulling down my shirt to hide those. The rest are so well hidden that no one will even suspect that I have thirty five inch silver blades along me. It's really good to have a thief as a friend sometimes.

There are downfalls also. For example, disappearance of every of your things that the said person finds attractive or useful.

"Is this going to be really dangerous?" Vanessa asks. "For then I better take the crossbow."

I turn around to look at her. "Sometimes. I had to use twelve knives at Havelfort. I would not have been here otherwise. I hope that answers your question."

She grumbles but goes back inside to bring the bow. "Take the silver arrows." I call out.

"You're gonna pay me if I lose even one," she hisses furiously.

I roll my eyes and enter the tree line. They follow me wordlessly. I just earned more than a thousand dollars today itself. Surely I can spare some.

It's a good thing that the moon is clear tonight. The trees are too tightly knit together to allow any light to enter, but occasional fallen trees clear the canopy enough to enable some light to illuminate the surroundings. We are depending solely upon our night vision to see the treacherous roots that threaten to trip us.

"See here," I stop and run my finger along the bark of a tree, three feet off the ground. "These three vertical lines. What do you think?"

Vanessa places her hand alongside mine. "Scratches. Probably done by a carnivore. Damn, these are four inches deep."

"Probably trying to climb," Elyss muses. "It is not unnatural for jaguars to live in these tropical forests."

"Good," I continue walking. "That's a threat. But I doubt it will venture so far into civilisation. I hear the town is five hundred years old. They don't get to live so long if the youngsters are picked off by cats."

"But we are literally staying by their home!"

"Hmm," I pull on the vines growing on a thick trunk. These are stronger than ropes. Anyone will be able to climb easily. I look up. The branches are thick enough to support a person. "I'll light fires around the perimeter tomorrow."

"Will it be enough to ward off the unwanted visitors?"

"It must."

"We should have come in the morning," Elyss states as she blocks a bough from smacking her in the face after I pass underneath. "And why did we not bring a flashlight?"

I raise my left hand above my head and allow it to get engulfed in a flame, caring to cool it down so that it's not blue but a bright yellow. Trusting the plants to be damp enough to not catch fire, I answer her, "Because idiot, now we either catch a predator sleeping or hunting. Both are favourable. We can kill it without trouble while it is sleeping. Or we can see how dangerous it is if we catch it hunting."