Is it wrong to love a vampire?

Chapter 46

Aly's hand gripped desperately to her quarterstaff as she followed the bouncing black bags in front of her. She felt the tip on an arrow graze her blonde hair, slicing off a few stray strands and she stared at the arrow as it planted itself into the dirt in her path. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears and resisted the urge to see where the arrow had come from. She focused on Chad's tanned legs as his brown sneakers kicked up a patch of dust, hovering in her path.

This was nothing like she imagined fighting would be.

Her back tensed as every sound hurtled its way towards her. She was overwhelmed and under-prepared, her brashness had grown quiet as she was chased across the bush land. Aly veered left, her feet pushing against the scattered rocks as she cautiously made her way up the rocky terrain. She shoved the quarterstaff behind her back and scrambled up the last few rocks. She glanced the way she had come and saw a small group, clad in black, rushing after Chad.

She pulled the reflex bow over her head and notched an arrow.

Aly paused to take a breath, searching the flat outcropping for any signs of trouble. Her eyes turned to Chad as he ran, the bags balanced as he pushed himself further, the swords sitting perfectly straight down his back. In the corner of her eye she watched leaves rustle. It was unusual as a breeze hadn't made its way through the low trees. She started her sprint across the ledge, her eyes trained on the tree. An arrow popped out of the foliage and passed near Chad, embedding itself in a tree just past him. Aly's mind spun in rage as she sprinted faster, her legs aching as she propelled herself off the ledge, loose stones tumbling toward the ground and released her arrow towards the tree.

Aly didn't wait to see what happened as she landed with a roll and took off after Chad.

'We need to get out of here soon.' She panted and focused on her movements, her feet pushing her forward.

Chad signalled to an overlapping patch of trees and Aly followed, stumbling as she tried to keep up. Aly was swallowed by the branches, their leaves scraping at her limbs as she watched the black bags in front of her.

The clear blue sky opened up before them, fluffy, white clouds floated sleepily across the vast expanse and the golden sun poured down on them, its rays highlighting the clouds that dared to float close to the sun. White daisies sprung up across the grassy field, scattered in clusters that followed the trail of the sun. Aly fractionally slowed down, forgetting the deadly chase, she wanted to sit down and feel the brush of petals across her fingertips, the warm sun as it darkened her sun kissed skin and enjoy the nice day blooming around her.

'Ready for another good shot?' Chad panted in her ear.

Aly was brought out of her mind and nodded her head, she tightened her grip on the bow and carefully notched an arrow. A sweet breeze swept itself across the clearing and she gazed at Chad. There was a darkness to his gold flecked hazel eyes that wasn't there this morning and his eyes constantly flicked across the clearing, searching for their followers. The wind picked up and Chad took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Aly copied his movements, stretching her senses wide. She could feel the pressure on her fingers as they held the steel arrow in place, the synthetic feathers stroking her twitching fingers. She took a steady breath out, trying to calm her tense mind into the stillness that Chad had stressed in her training sessions.

'For family.' Aly whispered to herself, letting the words settle on her tongue and spread throughout her body.

Her body felt solid as she raised the bow and pulled it taut, the feathers tickling her cheek as she took another deep breath. Determined to prove Chad's training and sort out the smells that assaulted her nose.