After The End (5 page)

He chuckled and gave me a grin that made my
cheeks feel warm.

“Some girl I met at a party after junior prom
brought him across. I only recently tracked her down after she
bailed on me; before she got killed of course. Sucky part is, I
still didn’t get laid; she was fine with guzzling my blood and
changing my species, but a little nookie was pushing the line.
That’s why she dipped out. But it’s okay; I figured out how to
fly.”

I raised my eyebrow at him. “Okay, I need
some practice, but at least I remember some dirty jokes from high
school.”

We chatted until we heard Cal returning. He
was holding a possum and looking more composed.

“Were there any issues on your patrol?” he
asked politely. I told him all was quiet as we looked at the animal
in his arms. For a good three minutes, we stood watching Cal hold
the struggling marsupial. He took his time before answering the
unasked question.

“We shall continue with training. This time,
however, there will be no questions until I ask for them.” He added
under his breath, “Probably sometime next century.”

I sat back down and Daemon gave a thumbs-up
that he’d received the message.

“Good. I will start with a demonstration of
proper control of the various powers. Firstly, I will manipulate
this animal’s mind, forcing it to perform basic movements. Mastery
of this secondary ability requires gaining proficiency of the
glamour skill beforehand.”

As he spoke, the Roman dropped the critter to
the ground. It froze for a moment, and then began to do what looked
like a tap dance of sorts. The animal switched to rolling and
lastly dragged a foot in the dirt, making a smiley face on the
ground. I clapped at the unusual show I was observing. The possum
made a bow and scampered off towards the trees.

After a few seconds, I realized that could
have been dinner and stood to hunt it; a pale hand stopped me.

“I need the creature for my next
presentation.”

I returned to my stiff seat in the dust and
nodded Cal to press on.

“Moving without making any sound and faster
than the human eye can see proves very useful during a hunt or
ambush. Once you focus on your senses, finding your target is
simple. All that it depends upon is practice and being mindful of
your surroundings.”

He now stood inches from his student and held
the possum an inch from Daemon’s face; the boy was so startled, he
shot up about ten feet and hovered awkwardly in the air. The Undead
mentor smirked.

“And that brings us to our next lesson:
flying.”

After twenty minutes, Daemon was able to land
without crashing, but only slowly and directly below where he was
floating. Following his crash course in not crashing, Cal lifted
the steel bar.

“Now we move on to using vampiric brawn
responsibly.”

He bent the large rod into a perfect square
and then back again as though it was just a pipe cleaner.

“The trick is to know how much to reign your
muscle in as you create the exact angle you intend. Take your time
and focus on how little strength it now takes to destroy the things
you touch,” he paused as his face was clouded as though by memory,
“especially the living ones.”

The mentor handed the bar to his pupil and
beckoned him to repeat the task. Daemon’s face screwed up as he
slowly shaped the metal, the tip of his tongue playing peek-a-boo
as he concentrated intently on every atom in the steel.

“This isn’t so bad” he mumbled as he finished
the first bend and began the second. “Oops. Bloody bags of kitty
capers!”

The student grumbled as the rod snapped in
two. Cal set a hand on his shoulder.

“Actually, it’s quite good that you completed
the initial bend. Most vampires your age break the bar within the
first ten seconds. Well done; it requires practice.” The youth
beamed at the praise and set the pieces down, ready for the next
display to begin.

“The candle will be used for the next two
powers: pyrokinesis and telekinesis.” Cal spieled. “The basic
movement of an object from a distance - referred to as telekinesis
- is the easier of the two. It takes some practice and strong
concentration, but its uses are well worth the effort.”

The candle now wafted the ten feet to his
outstretched palm. “Lighting the candle by mentally generating fire
- called pyrokinesis - is extremely difficult, however. This is a
rare ability amongst our kind ever; once nurtured, this power is a
game-changer. Only a handful of Undead are able to create and
master flames. Those who do are considered the most dangerous and
skillful who live and are given status as such.”

The wick glowed slightly and a meager trail
of smoke drifted up from the candle as he spoke; once he stopped
speaking, it grew into a tiny flame that went out after three
seconds. I noticed Cal was sweating and out of breathe from the
effort.

As the other vamp rested, Daemon played with
the candle; it reminded me of seeing my little brother trying to
figure out how a toy worked on Christmas morning. I thought of him
building roller coasters with his video game that day.

I arrived at my parent’s house after I first saw a
Dead rise; I needed to know everyone was all right. Dad was yelling
at the police over the phone, Mom’s hand was wrapped in gauze, and
my little brother was blissfully playing with his game. She was
crying because the stranger’s bite mark was throbbing; I turned the
TV to cable.

Over Owen’s arguing for me to switch his game back
on, the news reports informed my family for me. Tears flowed from
our breaking hearts as the truth set in. There was only the sound
of crying and my Mom praying the rest of us survive.

The memory brought a pang of anguish to my
heart before I pushed the past behind me and focused on the pair
training nearby.

Cal rose again.

“I believe we have come now to glamour. All
vampires learn this skill early in their training; it is needed as
part of survival. Using glamour to control a human’s mind is an
instinctive way to avoid too many questions causing trouble, gain
easy feeding, and gain freedom during legal disputes or when
traveling war-torn areas.

Although it likely will not work on the
wandering Dead, it may be useful in defending our community from
human enemies that may arise. Glamour is essentially hypnotism.
Squirrel, will you please be my volunteer? I promise no harm will
come to you.”

I faltered a minute - giving over your free
will to someone is not a terribly comforting thought.

“Yeah, I guess.”

I shuffled over to Caelinus’s side. The next
thing I remember is that standing on one foot with my arms in the
air and singing Loch Lomond.

“Did I miss the stage show or something?” I
asked, feeling my face burning a bright red. Both of my companions
grinned, assuring me that was all I’d done. I reclaimed my seat in
the dust and shrugged the experience off; all I could do was trust
them. The sentry in the gateway clapped.

Cal rubbed his temples as he spoke.

“And for the last demonstration, we will
cover telepathy. Afterward, we will set the arrows up as markers
for Daemon to practice moving stealthily as well as the other basic
abilities we have covered. There will be no show of shape-shifting
due to a complete lack of this talent on my part; it is exactly
what it sounds like and is also exceptionally rare but
advantageous.”

It was nearly midnight and I was ready for
sleep. Suddenly, I realized Cal was speaking to me and responded
drowsily.

“Sorry, where did you say you need me to
stand?”

They both looked at me like I’d asked what
time the Martians would be landing. Cal chuckled while Daemon
answered.

“No one said anything. Cal just looked at you
and you responded. It was trippy. Did you really just hear his
voice in your head?”

Taken aback, I nodded quietly.

Cal proffered his hand to help me to my
feet.

“Squirrel, that will be all the help you need
to provide. Have a good night’s rest. Thank you for your
assistance.”

With that I waved and marched back to the
gate, allowing the vampires to continue training. I felt honored to
have been one of the only mortals to ever witness such an
education.

Daemon’s first test of his abilities came a
few weeks after he began training. It was our weekly meeting an
hour after darkness fell; the vamps had fed and we humans were
sharing a meal around the pit, basking in its incandescence but
sweltering in the spring heat.

There were almost twenty people in our camp,
as more people trickled into our community by twos and threes; poor
little Ellen remained the only child. Bubba left us again right
after Daemon arrived. He said something about wanting to track down
other survivors or provisions.

The aroma of roasting wrens, pigeon and snail
stew, and raccoon wafted around us; it engulfed the throng in wisps
of steam and smoke. The smoke lingered in the thick humidity. I
listened to the Roman Legionnaire regale the girl with ancient
tales of Jupiter and Mercury and their kin. It struck me that it
must be odd for Cal to tell this kid these things she would regard
as fairy tales, when it had been the state religion when he was her
age.

As soon as dinner ended, Chase stood and
called the town council to order.

“Okay everybody, let’s get this meeting done
so we can get some rest before tomorrow.”

The conversations stopped and all eyes were
focused on the reddened man.

“Squirrel has put the new donation schedule
up in the main cabin. The second cabin is almost finished and a
copy will be posted there in a day or two. Sunny is still working
out the kinks in our guard rotation. Anyone having a problem with
the calendars, ask around to trade and let Squirrel know who you
are switching with and when. Questions?”

Chase looked around; a sea of blank
expressions and half-shrugs stared back. “Easy enough. Cal and
Squirrel have an issue to address and we’ll go from there.”

We both stood at our introduction. Chase
reclaimed his spot next to Sunny as the Undead nudged me to go
first.

Coward.

“We noticed that we are running low on
certain supplies, mostly things we can’t get out here.” The weary
group sat straighter and leaned forward. “It’s time we organize
another raiding party to go into town.”

With few exceptions, everyone shifted their
feet or crossed their arms. My heart jumped to my throat as I saw
Ellen hug her parents tightly. Sunny and Chase clasps hands and
peered into one another’s eyes; they were having an entire
conversation in that gaze. There was a short duration of murmuring,
followed by modest nods from a half-dozen citizens.

Drawing a slow breath, I pressed on.

“We’re asking for volunteers; the list of
supplies we are searching for will be finished by morning. As
always, if you see other items you feel like carrying, grab them
quickly.”

A fellow who had wandered into one of our
pits a few weeks earlier – I think his name was Jake or Jack —
stood unevenly on his sprained ankle, a faded Epcot hat tilted on
his sandy hair.

“Are both vampires going on this expedition,
or is one staying here at the fort? We want to be sure that
everyone who stays behind will be protected, too.” He scanned the
crowd. “I mean, now we have Daemon here.”

With a sideways look to his pupil, Cal
answered the man’s question – leaving me relieved to be off the
hook for this one.

“I will remain here to aid in our defense
while Daemon will go scavenging with the other volunteers.”

Several people made faces of concern; clearly
not what they’d hoped to hear. Cal picked up on it immediately and
his response was peppered with mild annoyance.

“His powers are developing well and he has
been practicing control quite successfully. I have every confidence
that Daemon will be fine on the journey, without needing my
guidance. We’ve already discussed the matter and agreed the young
man is up to the task.”

The fledgling vampire waved at the
conglomeration of doubters and smiled awkwardly, one corner of his
lips quivering. Jake – or Jack, maybe — took his seat; I’m still
not sure if he was satisfied or just worried about bugging Caelinus
too much. I took the minute of silence as an invitation to
continue.

“So, on to the fun part, who feels like going
on this field trip?”

Again with the blank stares, the place was a
mannequin warehouse.

“C’mon people, all the fleshies you can flee
from…”

Daemon, Sunny, and I looked to see who would
be joining us; five hands were raised. We had decided beforehand
that Chase should remain in camp. The couple was displeased with
being apart, but his skills were best used preserving our little
village and Sunny had proven to be an adept scrounger; she was
swift and resourceful on these missions.

“Eight people will be great. We’re going to
leave tomorrow evening. Dane needs to trade someone for donating
tomorrow, so get with him if you’re willing; if no one’s willing,
we’ll draw lots out of a bag. Let’s finish our shopping list and
rest up.”

Dane talked to several people, brushing his
red tufted black hair to the side, whilst the rest of the group
stated the things they thought we should search for in the city. He
stood a head above the others, but their postures and eyes betrayed
how much the rest of our population disliked him. Within five
minutes, Dane returned. He checked out Daemon while he talked to
Cal and I.

“Chase is covering my donation tomorrow, and
I’m taking his turn at the end of the week. By the way, we need to
pick up some more condoms, the only ones here are expired and you
never know when a person may need some.”