To Seduce A Siren

21. Kiss And Tell - Part 2

Raz had been shivering, the abandoned apartment he squatted in had no heat. No running water either. Who was there to pay the electricity and water bills? He had just come back in from jacking the tires of a car with the older boys in the building next door. The oldest boy gave Raz twenty dollars for his troubles and Raz was contemplating if he should go and treat himself to McDonald's for dinner or save the money and eat the packet of chips he had shoplifted at a gas station.

Then Theron had come in with the wind slamming the door open, his head sky high looking like an important person. It was rare to see that in Raz's neighbourhood. He thought Theron was a contract killer, coming in to murder him. It had seemed that way with Theron's silent footsteps.

Theron had laughed at that saying, "No one would waste good money to kill you." Raz's face had been flushed but he was too scared to say anything. It was a dumb thing to say even for a fourteen-year-old.

Theron didn't waste time. He tossed him a jacket and beckoned. That was all it took. Less than a minute to abandon his life for the immortal world.

Theron had been surprisingly patient in the coming years. He had tutored Raz himself in learning about the Redeemers way of life and when the time came, he had trained Raz too. Although Theron had been cold and aloof, he had never been unkind.

Except for when Raz had mustered up the courage to ask him when they had started training, why Theron had picked him to be a Redeemer.

Theron raised one regal eyebrow, looking him up and down. "I certainly didn't pick you. I took pity on you."

"Pity?"

Theron walked along the length of the sparring room, his shoes echoing in the empty room. He took two sets of daggers from the mount on the wall that held guns, spears and even arrows. Theron threw a dagger for Raz to catch. "You were the most pathetic half Redeemer I had ever seen."

Raz almost dropped the dagger onto the concrete floor. Redeemers didn't believe in holding back punches. Theron had pointed out a real fight could occur on hard surfaces and he must be prepared. "I'm half Redeemer?"

Theron raised his eyes towards heaven. "No, you're just some human I picked up - Of course, you're part Redeemer."

"But my mother -"

"Your mother is human," Theron said, jutting his dagger in the empty air beside Raz's torso. "Pay attention."

Raz swung his dagger around, crouching, anticipating another move. "I never knew my father."

Theron poised his dagger in the air before swiftly bringing it down towards Raz's chest. Raz blocked the maneuver with his arm but Theron sneered and brought his dagger further, stopping just before Raz's sternum. "You're not strong enough to block it like that. Yet."

He raised Raz's arm in the air, copying his action from before. Then Theron blocked Raz's hand by sidestepping and blocked the movement at Raz's elbow. "That's how you do it."

Theron stepped back into a fighting stance, motioning for Raz to do the same. "Your father is a Redeemer."

"You know my father?" Raz asked, his eyes on Theron's blade, glinting under the skylights. It was hard to see with the thick grey walls absorbing all the warm sunlight. Theron had again said, a real fight could happen in the dark.

"Knew. He's dead now."

"Oh." Raz took a swipe at Theron. "What was he like?"

Theron slammed the hilt of the dagger into Raz's shoulder. Raz immediately dropped the blade, wincing. "Pay attention!" Theron offered Raz his dagger back. "He was not worth knowing."