Teratology 101-3
952 Words
Danny tied the sheath to my left arm and adjusted the strap so it was snug, but didn’t cut the circulation. He took the knife from my hand and sheathed it.
“Take it out and we’ll see if the height is right.”
I reached to my left arm with my right hand, fluidly removed the blade from the sheath and held it to Danny’s neck, all in the blink of an eye. If I was this fast already, imagine what I’d be like when I reached my peak!
I let my hand drop, not wanting to give Danny the wrong impression of my intentions with his knife.
“Not bad,” he said, grinning slyly. “You almost stood a chance of nicking me.”
“Hah! I would’ve had you,” I replied, toying with the knife and turning it from side to side.
“Not likely. Come on,” Danny gestured with both hands for me to give it my best shot, “think you can take on an angel?”
“Not now you’re expecting it,” I pouted. “The element of surprise is gone.”
Danny’s eyes narrowed, serious. “Let’s hope it never comes to that.”
“Agreed,” I said.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” He waved me on. “They won’t fight back, for now. Practice.”
I tried decapitating the vampire from behind and found I had to exert a lot of pressure. I didn’t make it all the way through, as its head, lolling from side to side, distracted me.
“Try holding the head back by the hair, to expose the throat,” Danny suggested.
The vampire’s neck had already healed. I stood behind it, gripped a handful of hair, jerked the head back and applied as much pressure as I could into getting the blade to slice through its neck in one go. I was glad there wasn’t any blood gushing out, but the smell was making me hungry, and it was hard to concentrate. I let my lips brush its neck and the vampire disappeared beneath me.
“No!” Danny said and waved his finger at me. “You need to control the urge to feed when you smell the blood. Try again.”
The vampire reappeared and I began again in a flush of anger — I didn’t like being told I couldn’t do something. I was so wrapped up in being upset that I wasn’t aware the knife had sliced through its neck as though it were butter. Its head was solely supported by the grip I had on its hair.
I was still mumbling softly to myself when Danny pointed out that I’d managed to do what had been asked of me. I let the head drop and waited to hear the thud of it hitting the floor, but Danny had the vampire reassembled before that could happen.
He sat sidewards in the armchair, legs swinging over one side while he watched me using the knife to dispatch the monsters over and over again. Strangely the gushing blood didn’t make me feel as queasy as it normally would have. Instead I was oddly aroused, and fought wildly to keep my emotions in check.
I sheathed the knife and changed my tactics on the reeking zombie. If I was strong enough, perhaps my hands could still be weapons, though of a different kind. I straightened my hand — my fingers close together — and rammed it into the back of the zombie’s neck, aiming upwards, trying to reach the brain.
“Ah, s**t!” I moaned.
“What?” Danny asked, reaching for my hand. “Are you hurt?”
“No,” I replied sheepishly. “I broke a nail.”
Danny dropped my hand and laughed until I thought he might collapse, he was hugging his chest so hard.
“They’re still growing you know,” I said, “and my hair. Like you said, normal rules don’t seem to apply to me. But hey, I don’t have to be happy about breaking a nail.” I waved my fingers in front of my face. “They’re good little weapons.”
Danny wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes. “Indeed they are. I’ve seen what you’ve done with them, and other things as well. No wonder you were on the run.”
“Well, he deserved the thing with the nails.” I narrowed my eyes and poked Danny in the chest with a finger. “No one forces me to do something I don’t want to. Just you remember that and we’ll get along fine.”
He laughed again and sat in the chair, holding his hands up in mock surrender, waiting for me to continue my practice session with the monster of my choice.
“What were you trying to do to it anyway?” he asked.
I rolled my eyes. “I was trying to be resourceful. I thought that as I’m getting stronger I might be able to use my fingernail to penetrate the skin and stab my finger up through to the brain. I did manage to nick the skin before my nail broke.”
Danny chuckled, “Stick to practicing with the knife for now.”
“It’s a little too easy though. I mean, they don’t even put up a fight.” I threw my hands up in the air. “Can’t you make it more challenging for me, now that I know where to attack?”
He smiled wryly and twisted a finger in the air. “If you’re up to it, sure, no problem.”
All four became animated and lunged at me at once. I ducked and weaved until I was behind Danny’s chair. Not once did I try unsheathing the knife.
“No fair!” I complained. “Four at once is a bit much.”
“You need to be prepared for any situation,” he pointed out.
“Yeah, but can’t I build up to it? After all, I’m still a learner and it’s not like I have to master everything today, is it?”
Danny sighed. “It would be better if you could, but I understand.”
The monsters backed off and went to stand in a corner, awaiting Danny’s command. He whispered something I couldn’t understand. The monsters eyes flared orange briefly before returning to their original colour.
“They are yours to command, for training purposes only. Anything outside of that and they’ll return to dust. They’ll also answer any questions you may have about the history of their species, vulnerabilities and attacks.”
I grinned. This was perfect. “Oh zombie, you pretty little thing, come here and play.”
In the background I heard Danny chuckle.
- Writer
