Blood Ties

Chapter 7: Training

When Colette pulled up to the villa, she was certainly surprised by its sheer size and the very well-kept garden in front of it. She made a small noise in awe, as Nora told her the combination to open the gates in front of them.

“This is your summer home?" she asked with surprise evident in her tone. “Then I have to wonder what your regular house is like." Colette slowly made her way up the driveway, pulling up to the side of the house and parking the rental there.

Nora's villa was made from traditional seaside housing, but with its own beach on the backside of it, and a small boat meant for ferrying people across the water, rather than deep sea travel.

The driveway wasn't asphalt but red brick, and the house's pillars seemed to be made of marble and gold. To Colette, it looked like a storybook house that she'd normally see on TV or somewhere similar. To Nora, it was just her villa.

The brunette shrugged as she got out, saying, “Once you get your inheritance, you can get your own villa."

“My inheritance …?" repeated Colette as she thanked the butler, who had opened the mahogany double doors so that the two women could go inside. “I have one?"

“Seeing as you are an elite, yes. You are owed one by madame Gauthier," Nora answered earnestly. “Though, I wish you luck in getting it. Your grandmother is kind of known for being a miser."

“Oh. That's … wonderful," Colette said with a sigh as she entered the villa. The indoors were just as fancy as the outdoors, everything inside was decorated in dark mahogany and sparkling crimson accents.

“So …" said Colette after getting acclimated, putting a hand on her elbow as she stood across from Nora. “What kind of training am I going to be doing?"

“It's simple," Nora answered as she leaned against the wall. “Dodging, using your vampiric abilities, and fighting back. Especially since there's a hunter after you now."

“It doesn't sound simple. Where do I begin?"asked Colette, frowning just a little. She wasn't sure about the fighting back part, but since she knew her assailant was armed, maybe it was for the best. Even if she didn't like to hurt others, she had to know how to.

“We'll start at the bottom. Dodging. Come into the gym with me." She nodded her head towards the West wing of the house and Colette raised her brow, but followed anyway.

There was nothing really remarkable about the gym, aside from the fact that Nora just HAD one inside of her house. Colette took off her jacket, and Nora took off her flannel.

“Um …" Colette felt a little awkward, but thankfully, Nora took the initiative.

“Don't worry, Colette. I won't be seriously swinging at you. Mostly, I'll be aiming." Nora couldn't help but snicker at the face the blonde made in return.

“That makes me feel so much better," Colette said, rolling her sleeves up. “Um, so what will you be tossing at me?"

Nora opened a box that was full of gym equipment, and picked up a toy gun, complete with harmless rubber suction bullets.

“Oh." Colette found it a little funny, so she laughed.

“A real hunter will shoot bullets at you, so you have to learn how to dodge them entirely by turning into a fine mist," said Nora.

“Turning into what?" asked Colette, but she didn't get her answer as Nora aimed at her, her finger on the trigger.

“And – go!" exclaimed Nora, pulling the trigger and shooting a toy bullet at Colette.

She stepped to the left quicker than she normally would, and seemed surprised at her own agility.

“Focus. Think of yourself as weightless," Nora explained. “And your body will do the rest."

She took aim again, and Colette attempted to do as she said. Weightless, she had to be weightless. She dodged to the right this time, and her hands dissolved into mist – which royally freaked the blonde out.

She waved her hands and they became solid again. Looking up at Nora in surprise, she held her hands up, and touched them. “Did you see that?" she asked. “I kind of did it!"

“I told you," Nora said as she shot the toy bullet onto Colette's forehead. “Your body will do the rest. Now, concentrate and do it again."

Colette took the toy bullet off her forehead and focused, dodging backwards with a small leap as the bullet traveled through her torso. She had become translucent and see-through!

“Wow, you learn fast," said Nora, clearly impressed. “Do you know how to turn it back off?"

“Uhhhh." Colette tried by wiggling her entire body like she had done with her hands, but nothing happened. Her voice had become wobbly as well, further adding to the strangeness of it all.

“... focus. Don't panic," Nora stated as she saw Colette's eyes widen. “Focus on making yourself solid and your instincts will kick in."

Colette took a few breaths and closed her eyes, solidifying slowly, starting from her hands and going upwards. She opened them again, seeing that she was back to normal!

“How do I control it?" she asked. “How do I get faster with it?"

“You practice. We'll go again, until you get faster," Nora answered, reloading the toy gun.

Colette nodded. The hours ticked by and soon enough, Colette was able to transform into a misty figure within seconds of Nora firing at her.

“I think we'll stop there for the night," said Nora, putting the gun away as Colette gathered the toy bullets. “You really are a quick learner. It took me a week to learn how to do that."

“A week?" repeated Colette, as she handed the bullets over. “I wonder why I got it so quickly, then …?"

Nora shrugged. “Maybe it's just your survival instinct. That's what my trainer told me."

“And who trained you?" Colette asked, with genuine curiosity in her voice. She wanted to know more about Nora, she was starting to realize. On top of being cute, she was kind-hearted, and very patient.

“Arabella Bardot," answered Nora. “When I was just about 14, or so. About eight years before I stopped aging for good."

“Vampires age?" Colette said.

“Slowly, but yeah. Most stop around their mid to late twenties, and the ancient ones are able to stop at whatever age they wish. Haven't you noticed that most vampires in modern media are very young and pretty?" said Nora, as she ran a hand through her hair again.

“Well, now that you mention it …" Colette said. “How old is my grandmother, do you know?"

“I don't know," said Nora, “But she has to be older than 500."

Colette felt her face twist. “Five hundred?"

“Give or take." Nora shrugged. “She was one of the founding members of the noble houses, after all." She pushed Colette's chin up, to make her close her mouth. “Her and Madame Bardot are both very, very old."

“And to think that I need to meet Madame Bardot … What would I even say? Hi, I'm a mistake that made it to adulthood? Please help me?" Colette put her head in her hands and groaned.

“I'll help you get acclimated to the court. Madame Bardot is usually very kind to young women." Nora thought for a moment, leading Colette out of the gym and towards the kitchens.

“You've got to be starving. When was the last time you fed?"

Colette thought for a moment or so, her brow furrowing. “In Paris," she finally answered. Nora pulled a bottle of what she thought was wine from the fridge, and grabbed two tall glasses for both of them.

“Drink up, then." When Nora popped the cork on the bottle, Colette realized that it was, in fact, blood and not wine. Her irises narrowed again at the smell of it, and she felt her ears ring a little.

Hastily, the blonde took the glass once the blood had been poured, and took a long sip. Her eyes became normal again, as Nora sipped normally from her own glass.

“I always forget about how ravenous you are in the first year," said Nora, quietly. “Don't worry. It dies down a little after a while." She felt bad for the blonde, who had drunk so quickly and so hungrily. She did think that she was human before this, after all.

“It does?" asked Colette, as she wiped her mouth with a paper towel. “Thank goodness … every time I drink, I just … I get so ravenous."

“Mmhm. It's because your body is processing the blood for the first time," Nora answered. “Have a little more, and then you can do whatever else you want for the evening."

“Thank you," said Colette, as she took another small sip of the sanguine liquid. She felt MUCH better afterwards, as she dabbed the corners of her mouth free of blood.

Nora leaned over and wiped a little bit of blood off her lip with her thumb, licking the red liquid up afterwards and making Colette flush pink yet again. “No problem," she said with a wink, and a sly little smirk.

“Um. Uh. Goodnight," Colette stammered, as she stood up and promptly went to explore the rest of the villa. She heard Nora laughing behind her, and ignored the way that her undead heart had fluttered.

Nora in the meanwhile, stared at her own glass and contemplated what Colette had said. “... poor thing. If she really is what I think she is, she's going to need all the help she can get," Nora murmured, as she put the blood back into the fridge to keep it cool.

Colette stayed up that night, finding that she needed to sleep less, and less, with each passing day.

After the rest of her training, Nora was going to introduce her to the woman herself – Arabella Bardot, one of the top vampires. She had to be ready for it.

She had no other choice.