At dawn, Hector is woken up by a loud bang on the cell door. “Wake up, Hector. We have work to do,” shouts Rex . Hector’s back is on fire, and he hurts all over. His mouth is dry, and he feels like crap. He pulls himself up to a sitting position and rubs his eyes. “Ok, I am up. Do I have time for a shower?” asks Hector. “Yes, that's why I am getting you up now. Your teammates should be getting up soon. If you want that shower, you better hurry.” Hector walks out of the cell and heads upstairs to his room. When he gets to his room, he sees Ruby getting dressed. “Well, he returns. You look like shit. What happened to you and where were you?” asks Ruby. “I don’t have time to talk about it. I need a shower before training,” growls Hector. “ Someone is in a bad mood. Whatever, suit yourself. Shower is free.” Hector doesn’t waste time. He quickly goes into the bathroom and begins to strip off his pants and underwear. He never put his shirt back on last night. He turns on the wate
Rex heads to speak to Skorn and report on Hector. Rex see Skorn door is open and Skorn is resting in his bed. Rex knocks on the door. “Enter,” orders Skorn . “Sorry to bother you, sire, but I have some issues with Hector that you need to know about,” says Rex. “Speak: what’s the issue?” “During the hunting phase of the training, he didn’t kill the rabbit. He preferred to face pain rather than kill an innocent: his words. What are your orders to deal with this?” “I see. What punishments have you already tried?” “Sire, I gave him the options of facing the sun and burning or killing the rabbit. He picked the sun and is now back in his room." “This isn’t good. How can I have an assassin who will not kill an innocent rabbit? Hector will not want to kill his mark. This is what we are training him for.” “I know, Sire. Your orders on how to fix this? Should I put him in the sunroom, or extend the no food order he already has? No food for 24 hours or what are your orders?” “Yes, s
Hector is in his room resting after being burned by the sun and the whipping, but he knows he made the right choice. Even if Rex isn’t happy with him and possibly Lord Skorn too. He hopes that this is the only punishment he will get for his disobedience, but he feels that might not be the case. Rex normally doesn’t send him to his room without completing a task or running out of time. Hector is in deep thought when Rex comes into his room. “Hector, you disobeyed a direct order, and we can’t have you doing that. You were burned by the sun, but Lord Skorn doesn’t think that is enough. So, you will bear a punishment that he has chosen until you’re willing to do the original order without question. Do you understand?” asks Rex . Hector gets off his bed and stands up with some pain. He knows he can’t fight them. “I understand you’re going to punish me for not killing the innocent rabbit. I will be punished until I do,” says Hector. “Good, the punishment is the sunroom until you agree t
The next few days go by with Kelanar following the same routine, helping with food and clean up. Soon it is the weekend, and she can’t wait to go home and see her family. It was a long week. She is in her room getting ready to leave when Master John comes in. “I am afraid I have some bad news, Kelanar. There is a storm moving in and it is not safe to travel. And if you don’t leave today, you won’t get a lot of time at home. So, this weekend’s trip home has been canceled. You will be staying with us. I will give you the weekend off of chores. I am sorry,” says Master John. “Oh, I see. Thank you for letting me know,” says Kelanar. She tries to hide her disappointment. Master John leaves her room, figuring she needs some time alone. Kelanar sits on the bed feeling upset. I can’t do anything about it, so she thinks I should enjoy my time off.She grabs her book and heads out to the garden. Kelanar is reading in the garden when she hears footsteps. She looks up and spots Henry and the o
When Hector and Rex arrive at the bar, they see Jesse and Mike waiting by the entrance. Hector takes a deep breath. He can already smell the humans nearby and he is very hungry. He turns to the groups before they walk in. “What if I can’t control it?” asks Hector. “We’ll make sure you don’t kill any humans,” Says Jesse. “If you get that look or go to attack, we’ll stop you,” Says Mike. “They have helped me with many newbies, don’t worry. We won’t let you kill any humans we don’t want you to kill,” Says Rex. Then all three of them laugh at Rex’s statement. Hector doesn’t like the way Rex implied that one day he will kill humans. They walk into the bar. The bar keeps seeing the vampire’s, and grabs some mugs and pours a red drink into them. The four of them sit at the bar. “Welcome. the house special is on the house,” says the man. He seems nervous and gently sets the mugs down, one in front of each of them. Hector picks up the mug and smells blood instantly. “I guess the town
Jack gives Skorn some herbal tea as Skorn sits on his throne. The last eight weeks Skorn has been having Jack try different things to make the sickness go away. It is not too noticeable yet, and only Jack knows of it. Rex walks into the throne room and bows and kneels at Skorn’s feet. “My Lord, I have news on the team's progress,” says Rex . Skorn looks at Rex. “Speak,” orders Skorn. “The team has passed the human test at the bar. Hector actually turned it on the human with ease. She was putty in his hands and was almost begging to be bitten. If he wanted,, she would have done anything he asked of her. I think he is ready for the last test,” reports Rex. “This is very good. He seems to be very strong. Jack, when you have time, I want you to draw some of Hector and Rex’s blood and compare them. I need to know if there is anything different about Hector's. I am expecting there will be.” “Yes, Sire,” says Jack. “Rex, I agree he is ready for the last test. Set it up in three days
Henry is hitting the dummies with the sword one late afternoon. When he catches sight of Kelanar heading to the garden, he drops his sword and follows her. “Kelanar!” yells Henry. Kelanar sees him and tries to go another way, but she walks into a dead end of the garden. “What is going on? You were avoiding me for weeks. I know Master John said to stay away from us, but it is not healthy to be alone. You look miserable,” says Henry. Kelanar keeps her face turned away from him and looks at the ground. I have to get out of here before he sees us, thinks Kelanar. Henry grabs her left arm and turns her toward him. Henry spies red and puffy eyes, and her face has lost its shine. Her smile is nonexistent. “Oh, Kelanar I told you. I will be here for you. You don’t have to be alone. I never see you at any of the meals or on the weekends. Anytime I see you in the hall, you run away or go where I can’t go.” Kelanar is quiet as a tear rolls down her cheek. “I won’t be the reason you get
Hector just nods and lets Rex take the lead with the three boys. He needs to face that this is his life now. The death of the boy still plays on in his mind and how many prisoners Lord Skorn keeps, and now they will decide what will happen to these three. “You three will tell me what I want to know or suffer, understand?” orders Rex. The three boys look at each other, fear across their faces when they see Rex is a vampire when he smiles at them. “I am going to ask a few questions. Hector, removes their gags. Don’t speak unless you’re spoken to, or you will be gagged again,” orders Rex. Hector does as he is told and walks behind each boy and unties their gags, which falls into their laps. “Now then, let’s get to it,” says