Anivor

I was in dire need of a shower.

Before I left the house, I located the bathroom, and took a shower. I hadn’t showered since Neils funeral and the day Andrew died. I didn’t know when my next chance to take one would be, so I wasn’t wasting this opportunity.

I found a decent outfit inside of the dresser in my room. It had mostly been filled with cute dresses and clothes that were impractical when it came to fighting Anivors. But I did manage to find a pastel green tank top and jean shorts. Not quite as flexible as my cargo pants, but they would have to do.

Once I was clean, I crept down the stairs. It appeared I was in the highest room in the house, which was three floors. My house had only been two stories. The Burne house must have been in a nice neighborhood. It was weird to think some Defenimus got to live more… pampered lives then others. Of course, it did make some sense. Rich people needed protection to.

The Anivors I dealt with in my neck of the woods, were the new, less refined ones. They were driven merely by hunger and blood lust. But the Anivors that lived in areas like these were intelligent. They’d gotten past their carnal instincts and were able to think like their human selves. They got jobs, bought houses. Of course not for the same reason as humans would. They did it to be closer to their pray.

I got to the front door and grabbed the handle.

“Ayca?”

I spun, locking eyes with someone I’d never seen before. He was tall, kind of scrawny, and was around Andrews age. He had one of those beard mustache combos that were only on the chin and not all the way across the jaw. His hair was a dark gray, and short, but messy.
I didn’t bother replying, I just held onto the handle behind my back, ready to escape at any moment.

“What are you doing? When Daniel brought you here you were unconscious and far from healthy.”

“I’m feeling better,” I simply said, yanking the door open. I darted outside, into the rainy world. I heard who I was assuming was Dylan Burne, call out my name, but I ignored him. I knew he was only trying to help and that I shouldn’t be treating him as if he were an Anivor, but I just couldn’t stand to be cooped up any longer.

Especially somewhere I didn’t belong.

Following tradition, I ran and ran and ran. It seemed all I did lately was run around. It was starting to occur to me that I was a bit of a coward. I never seemed to face my problem head on. I just fled from it as if I didn’t have super strength, and I wasn’t trained in several kinds of martial arts.

“Acya,” Someone nearby said in a sing-song voice.

It appeared I was following another tradition. Callum was appearing when I was feeling like crap. Yaaaay… I thought to myself.

“Hello Callum,” I said, spinning around and punching him right in the nose. I’d caught him off guard and he stumbled back a few feet. His eyes were wide as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, scrunching up his face.

“Ow,” He said, frowning at me, “That was very rude.”
He punched me under the jaw, and I fell on my back against the cement.
“Bad Ayca.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Oh no, you’re treating me like a dog, how demeaning,” I said, getting to my feet, and faking him out with my broken wrist hand and actually hitting him with my good one. Before he could recover I spun on my left foot, kicking him with my right. He hit the ground and grunted. The water was soaking through my clean clothes I was getting mighty cold

Callum was getting to his feet, his nose bleeding and there was a cut on the side of his head. He was about to attack, but I held up my hands.

“Wait, wait-“ He frowned at me, still coming at me, “Wait!”

He froze.

“Listen, I know we usually fight, and I usually run away when it starts to seem like you’re gonna kill me. But this time, can we do it differently?” I asked, still with my hands outstretched. Callum gave me a ‘What the hell’ look.

“What do you mean?” He finally asked, sounding a little out of breath. He wiped some water off his face, smearing his blood.

“It’s just,” I thought for a moment, slouching my shoulders, “I’m so sick of fighting you. Can’t we, I don’t know,” I paused, staring into his clear blue eyes, “Post pone this?”

Callum laughed, a loud, belittling cackle. He shook his head, still smirking.

“Did you really just ask me, to not fight you?”

I nodded, shrugging. He stepped closer, putting a hand on my shoulder. I tensed, ready to continue the fight if I had too.

“Alright, Ayca dear, since you asked, I’ll go.”

“Really?” I asked, straightening up, a smile forming on my face. Callum nodded, stepping back.

“Ye-“
His words were cut off by Danny running up and kicking him in the side of the head. Callum hit the ground, landing in mud. Danny put his foot over his face so he couldn’t get up, before looking at me. His brown hair was drenched, much like mine and Callums, and it hung limply in front of his concerned green eyes.

“Ayca, what are you doing outside? You should be resting!”

“This your babysitter?” asked Callum, his words muffled by the pressure on the side of his face. I chose to ignore him.

“Danny, I’m fine, really,” I said, giving him a convincing smile.

“Your aura says otherwise. You’re shivering like crazy!” Danny argued, giving me a parental look. I looked down, notice how much I was shivering.

I nodded thoughtfully, “I honestly didn’t notice that.”

Danny rolled his eyes, letting out a quiet, frustrated groan.

“No wonder I found you the way you were,” He said quietly, mostly to himself. I glared at him, clenching my fists. Callum looked up at him in confusion, then me.

“What happened?” He asked, feigning concern. I walked over and kicked him in the stomach.

“Shut up,” I said dismissively to him. I heard him mutter something about me being rude. It seemed the fact he was standing on an Anivor hit Danny, and he stared down at Callum as if he were a stain in the carpet, not a monster in the mud.

“Who’s this?” He asked, only sounding half interested. I sighed, staring down at Callum, who for the first time in me meeting him, seemed a little uncomfortable.

“Callum. He likes to cause me pain and all that,” I said indifferently. Callum gave us a twisted smile that looked laughable because of Danny’s foot. I even snickered.

“Now that we’re all acquainted, would you be kind enough to get your,” Callums voice rose as he continued, “Goddamn foot off of my face!”

“Weird, he almost sounds refined,” Danny observed, studying the Anivor. I nodded, looking at Danny.

“He likes to think he is.”

Callums eyes were wide and his face was turning red. Of course, that could be because Danny appeared to be putting more and more weight on him as time went by.

“I have more sophistication in my big toe, then you two have in your entire bodies put together! Now get your bloody foot away from me, or I’ll suck both your souls, right now!”

“A bit of an empty threat when you can’t even get up,” Danny said, giving him a sympathetic look.

“Did you just adopt a British accent?” I asked, crouching down so we could see eye to eye better. Callum let out a muffled sigh, staring past me. I’d never seen him like this, and honestly it was a breath of delicious, fresh air.

“I was born in England you twit,” He said, “I only came to America a hundred years ago. I can swing between accents whenever I want.”

“Interesting.”

He rolled his eyes, before giving me this weird, mocking look, “Ah yes, very interesting, indeed, yes, I’m going to kill you!”

I laughed, straightening my back. Danny was grinning.

“So what are we going to do with him?” He asked, and I saw him grip the stake tighter in his hand. I pushed his hand to his side so the stake was less threatening.

“I’d love to give you the get go on killing him, but I actually think Callum might be of some use to me.”

“I’m not helping you!” Callum said, and once again, he was ignored.

“How?” Danny asked.
I explained everything that had happened in the past few days, pretending not hear Callum when he said things like, “Boohoo,” or “Poor Ayca”. Callum biting me, Neil becoming an Anivor, me saving Lexa, Andrews murder, and Tyler being kidnapped.

“So you see, I think Callum might be of use when it comes to saving Tyler,” I finished, pushing my wet hair off of my face. Danny nodded, seeming a little torn.

“But how are we going to get him to help you?”

“I’m not sure, but I think we can figure out a way,” I said, having this weird, good feeling.

“I won’t do it!” Callum said.

“How do you even know Tyler’s alive? If it’s already been two days, it’s very likely that the Dogma would have sacrificed him already.”

“I know, but you know how my second gift is dreaming?”

Danny nodded.

“Sounds unhelpful,” Callum commented.

“Well I’ve been having this dream since I found out Tyler was taken. And I’m always in this cave, and I’m pretty sure it’s the Dogma’s lair. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but now that I think about it, there’s this voice I hear in the dream and I’m starting to believe it’s Tyler.”

“Are you sure?” Danny called over a loud clap of thunder. I nodded. “Alright.”

He looked down at Callum, who was staring aimlessly ahead, his face twisted in petty anger. “The question still remains, how do we get Callum to help?”

“We could try a spell? Andrew has this old book of spells. He taught us some, but as you know, Defenimus aren’t really meant to perform witch craft… things.”

“I’ll check the attic of my house for some weapons first. Dylan spoke of people once using this weird collars to control Anivors, so they could use them as servants and thinks like that. We might have some hidden up there."

“Alright, sounds like that’s our best hope.”

We both stared down at Callum, who’s face seemed to be permanently set in a scowl.

He opened his mouth, speaking as if he were a spoiled child, “I hate both of you.”