The Masked Stranger

Chapter 15

Jade’s P.O.V

It’s been a week since I met my father, and honestly, I can say that I absolutely love it here, it’s quite peaceful, at least compared to when I was living in NYC. I’ve been training with Apollo all week long, and I gotta admit, he’s a really tough trainer.

“Again,”

“Huh, you want me to do that again?” I ask Apollo. He just nods his head. I take the sword in my hand and keep swinging at the thick wooden dummy. On the post.

“Ugh, you're swinging all wrong, you need to have a good technique when you swing, it gives more power to your blows, and weakens the opponent, like this,” He drew his sword from his holster, and relaxed his body, before pushing the blade clear through the wooden dummy.

“Like that,” Apollo says before walking back to the bench to watch.

“You’re doing it wrong, it’s like that,” I mock him. I relax my body, feeling my tense muscles relax I feel the cold air blow. I lift the sword so that my hand is touching the flat part of the blade. I release a breath. Before I open my eyes and slice the dummy’s head clean off.

“Good, now try it without the attitude,” He tells me.

“Oh, yeah that’s a problem, you said for me to do it without attitude, well that’s a problem, that’s against my moral code, I always have an attitude, it’s part of my charm,” I tell him.

“Charm my ass,” He says as he rolls his eyes.

“Hey, you said I should ask my father what he is, so what exactly is he?” I ask.

“As I said, I don’t know how exactly I should explain it, without you freaking out, it’s not exactly my secret to share, although considering you’re half of what he is you should probably know. I just think you should ask him about it, not me,” He says.

“Okay, so where is he usually at around this time?” I ask as I put my sword in the holster, and take off the belt and give it to Apollo.

“Umm, he’s usually in the gardens right about now,” He answers my question.

“Okay great, bye,” I yell before I run off towards where the gardens are.

“Jade, w...wait,” I hear him yell, but he doesn’t follow me, he just groans really loudly.

“If you fall I’m gonna laugh,” He yells to me,

“Good thing I won’t fall,” I yell back to him.

I spoke too soon, next thing I know I’m on the ground, because like the idiot I am. I just had to run backward. I’m too stupid for my own good. I quickly stand up and continue to make my way to the gardens. Once I see my father I stop.

“Hey,” I say.

‘Hello,” He says before standing up.

“Umm, I have a question for you,”
“Okay, what is it?” He asks.

“Apollo said that I should ask you what you are, He said considering its half of what I am, he said I should know.” I sigh.

“I guess I just wanna know what I am, so what are you?” I ask.

“I figured eventually you’d ask me that,” H says before sitting back down on the bench motioning for me to sit beside him.

“Jade, your mother was a witch, but me, I’m a vampire, and so are you.” He tells me.

“Wait, what do you mean? I thought I’m a witch.” I ask obviously confused.

“Oh, no, sorry, no you still a witch, it’s just your also a vampire. You're a hybrid, part witch, part vampire,” He explains.

“Oh, I think I get it. It’s like how dog breeds can mix, right?” I ask.

“Sort of, but let’s not go into details,” he mentions.

“But, wait, if I’m a vampire, how come I’ve never had to drink blood to survive?” I ask him.

“See, when the witches bound your powers, they also bound your vampire side, that’s why you’ve never had a lust for blood,” he explains.

“Wait, does that mean that once I turn eighteen I’ll be a-” He cuts me off.

“Yes, you’ll be a fledgling vampire, but you won’t be a fledgling for long. Because you will have to drink human blood,” he tells me.

“Wait, what day is it, not here, but in the world, I grew up in?” I ask.
“Umm it’s June 19th,” he says.

“Wait, my birthday is tomorrow,  I was born on the summer solstice,” I tell him.

“Well then I guess we better get you inside the castle and to some blood, I don’t know when exactly your transformation to a vampire will take place, but I do know that you’ll be hungry,” he says as he leads me into the castle.