The Vampire Hunter

Chapter Two

ONE MONTH LATER.

I look at myself in the mirror and make sure I look decent enough to be seen in public, that’s what teenage girls do in films, so it must be normal. And normal is my new normal. I think I look good enough to go out. I gather my long brunette hair and tie it up in a ponytail and put on a coat. The fashion in Louisiana is slightly different in comparison to England. The most obvious difference being that English fashion will nearly always require a raincoat. I walk downstairs and see my Dad on the phone, he’s probably talking to one of his many friends who are keeping tabs on the whereabouts of the First borns. He sees me and I point to the door to let him know I’m going out. He gives me a quick thumbs up and I grab a set of keys we keep in the little plant pot by the door and make my swift exit. As I walk down the front drive to my house, there are loads of people outside, it’s starting to look like summer has finally hit the small town of Pavington. When moving to England, we had to make a decision as to whether we should stay in the city or the countryside. The city is busier, with more people to search through, whereas the countryside is harder to find. Pavington is our new home. Nothing exciting happens here like it did in Louisiana, but the town is starting to grow on me. Surrounded by fields and countryside, the sun shines brighter here than it would in the city.

Thank god, I seriously thought I would never see the sun again. I look at the many people walking by my house, they smile at me as if to let me know I’m actually welcome to this town. The Brits are too polite, I smile back and walk down the road to the local shops. Back in Louisiana I hardly ever went out, so I don’t recognise any of the shop names. I walk into a shop that lots of girls seem to be heading towards. It’s a very crowded shop. Loads of people are grabbing clothes and running to the dressing room, it seemed a bit too crowded and a bit weird that literally every single girl was doing the exact same thing; grab and run to the changing rooms. And then I see why, there in big letters above my head hangs a sign that reads ‘BIG CLEAR OUT SALE, EVERYTHING MUST GO FOR NEW STOCK.’ I walk out of the shop and go to find a less crowded, more my style kind of shop. I check to see if I have my money with me, just as I pull out my purse from my bag my phone falls out and smashes to the floor. I lean down to pick it up but another set of hands gets it before mine do. I quickly look up and see possibly the most beautiful pair of eyes I’ve ever seen. If you could picture the colour of the type of sea you’d get on the front of a travel brochure and put it onto the tiny circumference of an iris, that is the blue I am staring at. We gaze at each other for a minute or so and then I start to discover the rest of his face, also beautiful. He smiles at me and hands me my phone.

“Thanks.” I say shyly, I suddenly feel my body tense. The teenage girl in me has taken over. At this moment, not one inch of my body is owned by the vampire ass-kicker in me. I am completely, and utterly, that girl who cries at ‘The Notebook’.

“No problem.” He says, I find myself brave enough to look into his eyes again, and he looks confused. “Hey, you’re a new face. So, you’re either new to town, or for some reason you’ve decided to shop in the middle of nowhere?” He says, raising an eyebrow at me.

“Uh, yeah I’ve been here about a month now.”

“Oh, well I’m Lloyd.” He says with a cheeky half smile.

“I’m Leila.” I reply, trying to cut off the conversation. But failing miserably as he continues to talk.

“Where have you come from then, Leila?”

“Louisiana.” Either the Brits really are too polite, or he’s just too nosey. And a little weird.

“Ah, I’ve been there once or twice. What part of Louisiana?”

“New Orleans.”

“Ah, good old Bourbon Street, eh?”

“Uh, yeah. Look, I have to go n…” I try and walk past him, but he steps in my path.

“Why have you come to boring old England from a place that’s so alive and full of energy?”

“Me and my family just wanted a fresh start, okay?” I snap back, I try to turn around but he grabs my arm and stops me. I shrug his hand off of my arm.

“Don’t, touch me.” I warn. But he just seems to find it funny.

“You’re a feisty one. Aren’t you?” His cheeky smile returns again.

“I have my ways, now please just let me go.” I glare at him, hoping that it will help me with getting him to leave me alone. He opens his mouth as if to talk again but before he has the chance to even speak I turn around quickly and walk off without him grabbing me this time.

I continue to walk quickly until I reach the corner of the path I’m following, I turn the corner and a whole new set of shops meet my eyes. I never thought so many different types of shops existed. I pick another shop that’s less crowded. It seems more my style, I walk around for a bit to discover that this might be my favorite shop. My phone starts buzzing, I look down a see that the contact name reads ‘MUM’. I hesitate but answer it anyway.

“Mum?” I ask.

“Leila, where the hell are you?!” And angry voice says down the phone.

“I’m in a shop, why?”

“Did you forget you have training today?” My Mum asks.

“Crap. errr... Yeah I forgot. Look I’m just going to buy a shirt and I’ll be home in about 10 minutes, okay?”

“Hurry up okay?” She says and ends the call.

I grab a shirt at random hoping it’s my size and pay for it. I almost run home because I don’t want to make my Mum any more angry than she sounded on the phone. I search in my bag for my keys and when I find them I shove them into the lock and open the door. I throw the keys back into the plant pot, drop my stuff and run to the training room that we will pretend is our own little gym if anyone actually ever visits our house. However as expected, training to kill an ancient vampire is not exactly a normal gym session. It’s hard work, but it pays off. I’ve only ever killed one vampire, I avoid it at all costs. Everyone else in my family has killed hundreds, even fifteen year old Hannah. She’s like Hit-girl from ‘Kick Ass’. But for me it’s just like killing a person. Yeah, they’re monsters. But I’ve seen my parents kill vampires and the look in the vampire’s eyes as the stake collides with their heart makes you feel like you’re being killed instead of them. They do have emotions, I know they do. They have to, right?

I killed a vampire because they were about to kill Hannah. They were about to pierce her skin with their razor sharp teeth. I don’t want to go into details because I felt so guilty afterwards, even though they were about to kill my sister. Taking someone’s life is never a nice thing for me and it never will be. I wonder if my parents ever feel guilt, or Riley or Hannah. I wonder why I do, it’s remarkable how different I am from them. I know what you’re thinking, I’m not adopted. My Dad took a video just after I was born in the hospital, I guess that proof is good enough.

About 2 hours after training I go to sleep. I think of the weird guy from the shops, Lloyd? Although our conversation was unpleasant, he was intriguing nonetheless.