Happily Never After Could Happen to Us

Rosie

“So we want to hurt one of my co-workers, preferably the creepy one,” Victor quoted as he walked in a small circle around both Leo and me. We had exactly one hour before his class with Rider started, and Victor had assured us that it was plenty of time.

“Are you going to circle us like a vulture, or are you going to teach me anything,” I half hissed at him. He growled as he stopped behind my left shoulder.

“Close your eyes,” Victor stated bluntly.

“What,” I cried as I looked at him as if he were insane.

“In order to fire a gun, you have to see the target. If you don’t see the target all your other senses have to come into play. You must perfect your senses so you may take away Alexander’s,” he explained as I stared at him.

“Just do it, Rosie,” Leo griped. His eyes already closed and his nostrils flared.

“Fine,” I hissed.

I closed my eyes, and I could still see the shadows of the sun on the backs of my eyelids. I didn’t like being blind, but I presumed that I would learn a lot from this lesson. After a moment my eyelids seemed to lighten up as if I had night vision, and that made me feel a bit better, but not much.

“I want you to take in deep breaths. As you breathe, I want you to pick up on the smells. Tell me what you smell,” Victor instructed.

“An apple, surrounded by roses when the winds blows towards my nose,” Leo stated as if he were looking strait at it.

“Really, because,” I contradicted as the wind blew away from us, “Lilies and fresh running water. Oh, and there’s a hint of,” I trailed off as I side stepped. I opened my eyes to see Victor’s fist where my nose had previously been.

“Very good, Rosie,” Victor smiled at me.

“Now what if we take your scent of smell,” Leo questioned blankly.

“Don’t do that,” Victor hissed.

“She can’t hold her breath that long. It’ll kill her,” Leo barked. He seemed so much like Kegan, and that shocked me. I honestly didn’t believe Leo could be mean.

“Wait, what are you talking about,” I asked curiously. Never ask a mind controlling vampire anything curiously.

“She doesn’t have to,” Victor said in a maniacal tone.

The court yard suddenly changed before my eyes. A cloud of smog brushed over the beautiful scenery making it look sickening. A toxic ozone scent flooded my nostrils, and I could hear poor Leo choking up a storm. I heard him slowly let out the last of his air and he didn’t take in more. That’s when I realized that Leo didn’t need to breathe for long periods of time, but unfortunately for me, I had to breathe like a normal human.

The smog coated my throat and nose causing my sense of smell to be covered by a scent of pollution. I stiffened because not only was I blind, I couldn’t smell my prey any more. I took in a small gasp of the toxic smog before I shut down my senses. I closed my eyes so the smog wouldn’t burn them, and I held my breath for as long as I could. I heard the sound of the wind whipping the tree branches, and the flowers dancing lightly among the grassy plain. I let out my breath, and that’s when I heard it; the sound of faint foot steps. I counted the foot falls, and when I realized Victor had made a complete circle around me I began listening for his other movements.

I heard the sharp sound of his arm on the wind as he falsely punched the air beside Leo, but I didn’t hear Leo move. I hear more foot falls until I could practically hear the beating of his heart. I heard the swift movement of his arm as he reached up to grab me in a choker hold. I stepped forward just as he grabbed thin air. I, then, turned on my heel and punched. I felt my knuckles connect with something that felt as solid as a brick wall.

When I opened my eyes I saw Victor grinning from ear to ear as rubbed his left cheek where my knuckles happened to have left an indention in his perfect features. I smiled to keep from laughing. I had actually heard everything clearly, and I moved with a precision that I didn’t realize I had.

“Perfect, Rosie. I’ve taken your sight, your smell, and now I am going to take your hearing.”

“Um, I’d rather you didn’t.”

“Oh, but I am going to. If you learn to fight without those five senses then it teaches you how to enhance those senses so you can use them more effectively,” Victor explained as the scene before my eyes changed yet again.

“This is going to suck,” I stated bluntly.

“I agree,” a voice that I didn’t recognize spoke suddenly. Wait I have a voice now?!

Before the voice had time to speak again a distant freight train began to rumble, I looked around trying to figure out where it was coming from, but I saw nothing. The wind seemed to pick up, and I had to plant my feet firmly on the ground. I began to notice why the sky suddenly looked darker as a tornado began to fall out of the sky. I couldn’t see, and the toxic smell still coated my nose. The roaring wind and the distance freighter destroyed my hearing. If the sounds were making my ears sensitive, I hated to imagine what they were doing to Leo’s sensitive ears.

I took in a breath, and nearly choked on the dust flying around in the wind. This scenario seemed way to realist for me, but I managed. I shut down my sight first, then next I blocked out all sounds. Blocking out the sounds took a lot of concentration, and I could barely take in enough air to shut down my breathing.

Once my senses were down, I could feel the false storm sending small vibrations up my legs, but also I noticed I felt something different. Every few storm vibrations, I felt something that could only be described as shock waves. I realized quickly that it was Victor’s foot steps once again.

This time he came around to stand in front of me, and for a moment I didn’t feel him take a step. I felt an extra gust of wind on my face. Before I realized what I had done I jumped and round house kicked straight in front of me. I quickly opened my eyes to see the court yard and Victor laughing on the ground. “That was perfect,” he cackled. I sat down in front of him to see how hard I had kicked him. I saw a black shoe print on his beautiful white satin shirt, and I felt horrible.

“Oh my, I am so sorry,” I started, but he waved a hand in front of my face signaling that it was okay.

“Unfortunately, I was trying to hit two birds with one stone with that storm scene, but I can’t take your hearing and touch away from you at the same time after all,” Victor laughed.

“I’m going to cause an earth quake, I want you to try and sense Leo this time,” Victor instructed. I simply nodded.

I automatically began shutting my sense of hearing down because I knew that would be most affected in a quake. My next sense that would go would be my sight, after that would definitely be my smell. By that time the quake had started. My nerve endings were set on fire with the sensation of the tiny waves that the quake sent up my legs. I felt warmth on my left side, and then it moved in front of me. Suddenly I was freezing cold as if it were snowing.

“Where are you Leo,” I whispered. As if on cue, I felt a sensation that I’ve never felt before. My brain felt like it was being shocked. I was shocked first on the right, and then on the left. I focused on the signals, and suddenly I felt one prick on the right side of my head, but it was more towards the front. Before I lost the signal, I reached out and grabbed whatever was in front of me. I opened my eyes to see that my right had gripped Leo’s left hand, while my left hand gripped Victor’s right arm. Both of them were facing me, and I couldn’t believe it. I realized for the first time, “I have Regan’s power too!”