Lesson Learned

By Andi Davis

The moon bathed the graveyard in silver light, reflecting off the polished marble of younger headstones. The older markers seemed to hide from the light, becoming one with the shadows around them. At least that’s what Cassie told herself as she tripped over the second one of the evening. Cursing under her breath, she shot a look at her companion to see if she had noticed the blunder.

Alyssa looked just as strong and lethal as always, weapons strapped to her body and eyes constantly surveying the environment. “If you keep your eyes trained on the darker areas, you’ll see those things more easily,” she said mildly.

Great. That was not the kind of tip Cassie was hoping to learn from her mentor. She’d been waiting to get out here for months, acing her training and reading every reference book she could get her hands on. This was the moment to demonstrate just how much she’d learned. And now she was blowing her first night in the field.

“I hope there’s a big nest,” she said. This cemetery had several reports of recent vampire activity.

The veteran slowed and turned that laser focus on her. “You hope there’s a big nest?”

Her stomach clenched under the scrutiny, but she held her ground. “Yeah. It would be nice to dust a few on the first night out.”

Alyssa shook her head and continued on. “Ears open. Mouth shut. Watch the left side.”

Frowning, Cassie complied. Was hunting always this tedious? They’d been here for hours, roaming the cemetery in near silence. A flicker of movement caught her eye. Yes! Finally!

“I think I got something,” she whispered.

“Me too,” said Alyssa, looking in the opposite direction. “Go investigate,” she said sharply, before striding into the shadows, her black-clad figure disappearing almost instantly.

That was it? No lessons or pointers? Maybe that meant she didn’t think Cassie needed the help.

Her fingers tightened around the wooden stake in her hand and Cassie smiled as she hurried across the grass. With her adrenaline pumping, she was better able to see her surroundings, including the outline of a utilitarian shed that clashed with the sanctity of the graveyard. She crouched beside it, searching for further signs of the movement she’d seen.

There! A man walked through the trees at the south side of the cemetery. She stepped away from the wall, into a patch of moonlight, and his head whipped toward her. Two pinpricks of red flared.

She had one. And a young one at that. An older vampire would have been able to mask that flash of bloodlust. She held her position as he approached.

“It’s pretty late to be out here.” His voice was casual, but the calculating look in his eyes was not.

Rather than engage in meaningless small talk, she punched him.

“What the—?” Another strike, this time to the solar plexus, shut him up and doubled him over. Before he could right himself, Cassie swept his legs from under him and followed him to the ground.

She couldn’t believe how easy this was. Smiling triumphantly, she lifted the stake, barely registering the look of chagrin on the monster’s face.

A hard hand grabbed her raised arm and yanked her off the vampire with enough force to wrench her shoulder. She cried out as she was spun around and caught by another strong hand around her neck.

The vise around her arm squeezed until her fingers started going numb. “Drop it,” said the creature holding her. The menacing voice matched the sharp fangs that were being flashed for her discomfort. The effect was working. The stake fell from her nerveless fingers.

With that threat removed, her captor gave the other vampire a look similar to the one Alyssa had just given Cassie.

“Get up.”

From the corner of her eye, she saw her almost-victim struggle to his feet and bow his head.

“How did she know what you were?”

Cassie struggled against the hands holding her, but they refused to budge. She kicked out, but he neatly dodged the attempt without taking his eyes from the newbie.

“I don’t know.”

Finally, the older vampire spared her a glance. “How did you know?”

Her free hand dug at the fingers around her neck, getting nowhere.

He gave her a little shake. “How?”

She could barely squeak out the words around the steel grip. “The eyes,” she rasped.

He looked away. “You must learn to control the bloodlust. Do you realize you almost died? This”—he kicked the stake toward the younger vampire— “would have been the end of you.”

“It won’t happen again, sire.”

Cassie jerked her knee up, aiming for his groin, but he twisted at the last second and her knee glanced off his hip.

“Never let your guard down,” he said to his charge. “Survival is rarely easy.”

The fingers around her throat shifted to her jaw and turned it to the side, exposing the long line of her neck. Her free hand tore at the unyielding body, while glistening fangs drew closer. She filled her lungs as well as she could, preparing to scream, when the monster flinched. The fingers confining her fell away as the vampire disintegrated before her eyes.

Alyssa charged through the falling particles toward the younger vampire. His eyes widened just before she plunged a stake into his chest. He crumbled into dust as Alyssa brushed some of his master from her clothing.

Cassie clutched her throat, trying to convince her lungs that they were working just fine, while Alyssa watched, hands on hips. She looked as collected as always.

When she could finally speak, Cassie asked, “Are you going to say anything? Any sage words of wisdom?”

Alyssa shrugged and pointed to the pile of dust beside Cassie. “What he said.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andi Davis has loved to escape into the extraordinary realm of fiction for as long as she can remember. Now she creates her own exciting worlds as she writes fantasy across different subgenres. In the real world, she lives in California where she spends her time working on her third novel and caring for her husband and two young children.

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