Children Of The Damned

Stefan

“If you keep moving that slowly, without conviction, you won’t have a chance against a vampire.”

I was teaching Ana how to fight a vampire, and as deadly as it was, I knew she needed to have at least the basic skills it took to defend herself against an inhuman attacker like Richard. Damon was out running errands, and Ana and I were using this time to go behind his back. I hated the idea of deceiving my brother, but I had to accept the fact that he was unable to be reasonable with matters that concerned Ana. I had learned enough over the years to know that love sometimes did that to a person.

“I’m sorry. Let’s run through that again,” she said, wiping the sweat off of her brow. She flipped the dulled stake we used to practice with back and forth from one hand to the other.

We practiced several different scenarios. I taught her how to react if a vampire came at her from different angles; the sides, the front, and from behind. I taught her that the best way to surprise a vampire was to pretend you weren’t afraid, and to let them believe that you were going to cooperate. She would have to convince him that he didn’t need to attack her to get what he wanted from her, and then she would have the chance to stake him or throw vervain at him if she was unable to get him in close enough range.

The determined look in her eyes made me worried. Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides and she prepared herself for another onslaught.

I came at her from her right side, which she often had trouble with because she couldn’t turn fast enough to stake me with her right hand, which she needed to use in order to get enough force with the stake. But this time, she moved as quickly as humanly possible for her, spinning and stopping just as the tip of the dulled stake was over my heart.

“I’m getting better at this,” she said, her eyes bright and wild, her chest heaving.

“Just don’t let yourself get too cocky,” I warned her.

“Don’t worry. After nearly being killed my a vampire, I don’t think I can be cocky.”

I couldn’t help but be uncomfortable with the fact that the stake was still poised on my skin.

“Oh, sorry,” she said as she read the expression on my face.

“Well, I should be getting home. I need to take a shower.”

As she walked out the door, I prayed that my teachings might be enough to protect her in what was to come.

______________________________________________________

Eliana

As I washed the sweat from my body under the pounding pressure of a hot shower, I wondered how sore I was going to be the next day. I thought about just how terrible of a person I was for making a pact of secrecy with Stefan and keeping Damon out of the loop. I knew Damon wanted nothing more than my safety, but that was no longer an option. And even if I was kept safe, Richard would kill whoever he get to, including innocent people who should never be involved. And what if Richard killed Damon while he was trying to protect me? I wasn’t about to let any of that happen if I could do anything about it.

I went to bed early, completely exhausted, hoping that my plan would work.