Three
"No, no, no!" shouted Mitch as she finished her exchange with Adonis. They were in one of the training rooms at a twenty-four hour gym, going over some of the teachings she had received from both Mitch and Adonis over the course of the previous couple of weeks. A light sheen of sweat coated her arms and face, and she was winded from the exertions. Adonis, by comparison, barely looked as if he had warmed up.
"When he comes at you like that," said Mitch, "you step into him and use your superior position to knock him off balance." He demonstrated the maneuver in slow motion. Adonis threw a haymaker at him, and Mitch stepped into his personal space, planted his right leg just behind Adonis' left, and threw a shoulder at him. The result was Adonis flailing as he lost his balance, though Mitch caught his shirt before he fell. Then he looked back at her. "Got it?"
She was still slightly out of breath, so she simply nodded, and backed up into a defensive stance. This time, when Adonis came at her, she almost pulled it off. "Better," said Mitch. "You've got the series of movements down, now it's just practice. With practice comes speed, familiarity, so that when you need to use it in an actual situation, it comes naturally."
The last bit was a familiar tune. She glanced at Adonis and saw him roll his eyes. A grin pierced her face. While she agreed with Mitch's penchant for repeating things constantly, there was a point when it became more annoying than anything. Adonis agreed with her, it seemed.
Since their first meeting, she had come to understand why Mitch had chosen Adonis to share her secret with. He was very approachable, usually in good humor, and had a dry wit about him that was a stark contrast to Mitch's subdued demeanor. One night, while waiting for Mitch to show up, she had mentioned that to him. "Mitch's introduction into the world of Hunting has left him somewhat bitter about his circumstances," explained Adonis. "He accepts his role in our society, but it makes him moody."
It was little moments like that, the brief one-on-ones she had with Adonis when Mitch wasn't around or was off getting a drink of water or hitting the restroom, where she started to appreciate having him around. He also offered a slightly different take on her physical training, alternating Mitch's aggressive approach with a defensive method that used her opponent's power to help break and release from an engagement. Between the two of them, they offered a perfect balance of attention to detail and a need to go with the flow of the conflict in front of her. For perhaps the first time since she had been introduced to the world of vampires and demons, she didn't feel helpless.
They were almost done with the current training session when Mitch's phone went off. "Yeah," he said when he answered it. After a moment, his face lit up. "Really? That's great! Just hold out, I'll be there in half an hour."
"What's going on?" asked Adonis.
"There's been an increase in activity down in South Buffalo over the past week or so. One of the Hunters who covers that area found a nest of five vamps holed up in some abandoned house off Abbott. He asked me to help out in clearing it."
"Do you need any more help?" asked a hopeful Erika.
Mitch regarded her for a second, then shook his head. "Two should be enough," he said. When she frowned, he added, "We'll go out tomorrow night, okay? Adonis has been bugging me to see your ability in action anyways, so we'll get to see how much you've learned in the past few weeks in addition to that."
Erika smiled. "See you at Papa's at eight?"
"Eight o'clock it is," he said, giving her a salute before he walked out of the room.
"Well," said Adonis, "didn't see that one coming. He's been stonewalling me on taking you out since we started this."
She shrugged. "I trust his judgment," she said. "He probably thought I wasn't ready yet."
"And you might still not be ready." He paused, then said, "But you're right, I trust his judgment too." They started to pack up their things, as they did every night when the training session was over. Halfway through, Adonis said, "If you don't mind me asking, could you tell me about your ability?"
The question made her somewhat uncomfortable. Something about using her ability made her feel just a little off, so she tried to avoid thinking about it as much as possible. But part of her current arrangement had been set up with the knowledge that the training would eventually lead to her ability, and even into the realm of her exploring its limits. So she swallowed her feelings and said, "I don't know what it is. All I know is that when they try to feed on me, they die."
"And it only happens when they try to feed?" he asked. Erika glanced at him and saw his eyes were greedy for the information.
She look away and nodded. "All it takes is for one to make an attempt, and any vampires close to me collapse to the ground, dead."
"How close?"
"A few feet maybe. Those three guys from the other week were fighting over which one would go first and were all within a foot of me when one of them made the attempt. They all died, even though it was only the one."
Adonis tapped his finger against his chin. "It sounds like a psychic defense mechanism. I guess I'll get a better idea after tomorrow, assuming it gets that far."
Erika frowned. She didn't like the idea of giving herself up willingly to be fed upon, and she really didn't like the idea of trying to actively use her ability. After all, she didn't know anything about this mysterious power, so she had no idea if it would always work, passively or actively. Adonis sensed her hesitancy, and added, "Mitch and I will be with you the entire time. If it doesn't work, we'll rush in and put a stop to it."
"You sure?"
"Yep," he said, nodding. "Besides, your training might protect you enough to avoid having that happen. So don't worry. Either way, nothing's going to happen to you."
She hesitated, then asked, "Promise?"
Adonis grinned and crossed his heart. "Promise."