Fireflies.

Luce's P.O.V

I groaned as the alarm went off, and immediately winced at the movements. I ached all over, I thought I had been fit, but obviously not fit enough. Alex was evil when it came to training.

Stumbling out of bed, and across the room. Resulted in tripping over last nights clothes, and only just managing to catch myself on the desk before I could go sprawling across the floor. Bleary eyed, I managed to dress myself and make my way down to the training halls.

Alex had set up some sort of obstacle course, and I raised an eyebrow at the design. We had talked a bit yesterday, and he knew his stuff how he remembered it all amazed me. He kept things light, although I gave up on conversation when my words began to come out in desperate grunts and puffs. Not very attractive I thought.

He lounged on a beam, his hands crossed behind his head as he balanced on the thin beam. How he managed to stay in the one spot was above me, I was well balanced, but not that well balanced.

He turned, sensing my movement, and gave a small smile in greeting as he sat up. "Morning Luce, you ready." I gave a wave as I sat my jacket and other bits and pieces down, starting with the stretches he had shown me yesterday.

After I'd stretched I eyed the course again, my curiosity getting the better of me, "obstacle course?" He gave a small smile, and a nod as he motioned for me to come over. "When were out in the field we don't know what type of terrain we'll face let alone what kind of obstacles will be thrown at us. You need to be able to move fast and stay balanced, falling or slipping can be disastrous. "

I listened and saw the logic in what he was saying, "but why not just kill the vamp instead of running? Isn't it what we're trained to do?" Running didn't seem very appealing, I wanted to kill not run. He slid off the beam and made his way over, picking up some small weights as he went. "Do you know how to kill a vampire?"

I hesitated before answering, "no". He gave me a look as he spoke again, his words serious, "your in the ranks now, chances are some vampires already know about you. You've no doubt made them curious. So you will be recognised as a future threat. Vampires value their life above anyone elses, you pose a threat to their life, so they aim to remove such a threat."

He paused as he handed me the weights, they weren't that heavy I thought. "Part of why the academies exist is so we can keep the recruits safe why they learn the skills they need to defend themselves. But if your caught out with a vampire and you have no weapons and means to protect yourself, what do you do?"

I didn't hesitate this time, I saw the logic now. I was a future threat, the thought filled me with new strength, and I gave him a strong look back, "I run."

He gave a small smile and nodded, "you run."

And run I did, I did laps of the track with the weights, and by the end of it they seemed ten times heavier. Then I attacked the obstacle course, it was harder than it looked. Once I thought I knew my surroundings and where to place my feet so I didn't slip he added another factor.

He began to throw objects at me, that ranged from my jacket to a tennis ball, to a fork. I glared and started to protest, but he only smirked and stated that chances are vampires will throw things at you to try and subdue you or distract you, so keeping your balance while having objects pegged at you was a skill I apparently needed to learn.

I was tempted to throw them back, but I needed my energy for the task at hand.

"God I hated that exercise, I always threw the forks back at them. Man they hurt like a bitch when they hit." A new voice distracted me, and I slipped and landed on the mats with a groan.

The voice was female, and was obviously amused. I heard Alex laugh softly before he moved to help me up, I took his hand I let my eyes drift to the new person.

She was beautiful, that was my first thought. She had rippling black curls that fell like a river down her back. Her features where striking, but somehow elegant. Her skin was pale but luminous, I bet she's never had a pimple in her life.

But it wasn't any of that, that made her impossibly beautiful, and no it wasn't her tall, slender frame. It was her eyes, they where brilliant, their colour so striking. Emerald green and full of an awareness and attention to detail that all Hunters had, but hers went beyond that.

She looked nothing like my vamp resembling class mates, no they all looked like weak imitations of this woman. Who the hell was she?

I immediately felt frumpy and awkward beside her impossible grace, which I noticed as she made her way over, an amused smile on her lips. "You must be Luce, Alex you didn't tell me she was so pretty." She shot him a wink and another smile, and he just laughed softly back. Obviously use to the her quips.

"Yeah, and sorry I don't know your name." This seemed to amuse her further, and she held out her hand, I shook it carefully, confused by the whole turn of events. "Its fine, and Estelle," she said in a way of giving her name. I thought back to my time with the head mistress and the file on her desk, had it been Estelle's?

"I hope you don't mind I asked her to stop by." He moved towards Estelle, a warm smile on his lips and I caught something in the way he looked at her, he adored her. She welcomed him and gave him a hug in return, which he returned with a soft kiss. A smile on both of their lips. I looked away, 'not at all, its nice to meet you." I said as I looked out the window, for a moment before returning my attention back to them.

Estelle winced as he rubbed her shoulders, and I saw his eyes flash with concern, "Estelle." She waved him off, and I watched her jaw tense, she took me as the kind of person who wouldn't have winced if it had been something small. "Its nothing," she said her eyes hard, but I again realised he was one of the few people who stood up to her, she had this fierce edge that was intimidating to say the least.

"Let me see," he said with another hard look, one that almost matched hers. Finally after a moment of locked gazes, she turned and pulled down her jacket to reveal her shoulder. I gasped, my eyes widening in shock. It was a large bruise a deep purple colour, with hints of blue and yellow. It covered her entire right shoulder, and in the middle was a circle that looked like an imprint of a bolt.

"Babe, the Court said no hunting" his eyes trailed the curve of her neck, there was no heat in his eyes, no it was just concern. She pulled the jacket back up and clenched her jaw as the movement pulled at her shoulder. "I didn't go hunting," she said turning to face him, her eyes hard. "You were attacked? How no one can get in only Eric. Wait it was Eric wasn't it?" His voice hardened, a dangerous glint in his eyes and I was again reminded that despite his warm way he talked to me, he was a hunter.

"Its nothing, and you need to get back to training Luce, I'll talk with you later." She turned her shoulder to him, and gave me a smile that would appear genuine to anyone who hadn't just witnessed what I had. "Sorry to impose on your lesson, your in good hands, he's one of the best. " She gave me a wink, before turned and kissed his cheek. "Estelle," he reached for her, but she moved gracefully out of his reach and headed towards the door, calling behind her, "have fun guys".

And with that she left, I looked at Alex, his eyes where tortured. And I almost gasped at the look in the blue depths, he worried about her so much. He loved her. I knew I had to do a few things then, I had to find out more about Estelle, and who was this Eric person. Alex had said no vampires could get near her, so who and what was Eric?

He dismissed me, but I wanted to train more. He gave a distracted nod and left too. While I trained I replayed the encounter, and grew more and more curious about my position here at the Academy.