Kindling (11 page)

Heike explained their sins and told them to ask God for mercy. He asked if they understood and the dullest of the group nodded. He must have retained some humanity within him. He was a younger fellow and his color was less intense than the others, but still a bright yellow. He wore a Nazi jacket and I wondered if he had fought in the war.

Heike nodded back and, without words, the fight began. Their speed was incredible, almost beautiful if I hadn’t known they were out to destroy the very fabric of my humanity. Tafari appeared once again and lunged at one of them. He ripped the beast apart in just a matter of seconds and took down another immediately after. They had no chance against Tafari’s jaws and teeth like daggers. I am ashamed to say I became quite ill again, but regained my composure immediately. Heike felled two before I had even engaged with the Nazi, who I presume saw me as an easy target. I fought well, although I was a little sloppy from nerves. He came close to biting me at one point, but I struggled and soon was able to plunge my spear deep into his chest. Tofari came and ripped the heart out, a fine reward for him. Once their hearts were gone, their bodies aged and dried and the dust from their corpses began to blow away in the wind. It was truly incredible!

I feel much stronger today, after returning to the river and bathing we then found a small town with an inn. We had our first, real meal in a very long time and even drank some ale. The women here are beautiful and buxom, but Heike will not let me go to the girls that wave their handkerchiefs at me and call to me “Mein Kapitän.” Tonight we will sleep – alone, to my dismay – in feather beds and tomorrow we will begin the long journey to The Coven for our next assignments.

I closed the book and stared at it for a long time.
It seemed like I there were only two choices there. Lysander – my uncle – was ... a vampyre hunter? It seemed I either had to accept that he was a lunatic and fooled everyone around him and my parents whole-heartedly believed him and that entire, fictitious world or I had to accept that he was a vampyre Hunter. Those were the only two options that could fit with what I was reading in his journal. If I believed that he was a madman, I also had to believe that my parents, grandparents, and two strange men had worked together to cover up Lysander’s madness and created this elaborate hoax to make me believe in vampyres and vampyre hunting for some unknown reason or ... I could accept that vampyres existed and that there were people in the world called Hunters who were born to kill vampyres.

Right then, I could have believed either scenario. It was just too crazy for me. “If this is real, papá ...” I couldn’t think of what I wanted to say. I was overwhelmed by a mixture of disbelief and shock. “You just never told me,” I said. “If this is real why didn’t you tell me?”

He thought for a moment, his forehead creased with deep, latitudinal grooves. “It was so hard not to tell you. We changed everything so we wouldn’t have to tell you. If you had not been born a Hunter, Heike would have given it up for you. But, when he found out you had the gift, everything changed. He has been working tirelessly to make The Coven ...” he paused, trying to find the right words. “More accepting, for you. They are stubborn, old men and they will not like a female in their midsts, especially a Kindler. Heike knew that and knew you could not grow up with them in your life. You don’t understand, but being a child of a hunter is ... It’s not a life, mi cielo. It is better now, but there used to be only two options for families of hunters. Go from place to place, never settling, always looking for a place to hide for protection, or live with the coven.” He snarled a little at that last part and swallowed. “The Coven was not an option for many families. Moving around with my papá, it was the best decision of two bad decisions. So, we followed him across the globe, every night waiting to find out if he would come back to us, all the time preparing for an attack. We could never trust anyone but ourselves. We were terrified, always running and hiding and waiting. It was no life.”

I felt bad for my papá. I had no idea his childhood was so tumultuous. “Why couldn’t you live in The Coven?”

“Back then, only boys with The Gift could live in The Coven and, since we didn’t know which one of us had The Gift at the time, Leo and I would have been run through difficult tests, pitted against each other and other boys. Women were not allowed in the coven. Our mother would have been set up in a safe house on the mainland, which was basically just the slums. And then, when it became clear that I was not a Tracker, I would have been thrown with my mother into the ghetto with little protection. Leo would have been separated from his mother and from me. Most parents found it more difficult on the sons to live in The Coven than outside of it.” Papá paused and looked thoughtful. He seemed like his mind was in a different place. Suddenly, he cleared his throat. “It’s different now, though. They’ve built family houses, a little town and everything. It’s very safe for families. It works out much better, now. Everyone is much happier.”

I thought about this for a moment. “Why the change? Why now?”

Papá smiled. “New leadership,” he said. “And people were giving up being Hunters because they couldn’t take care of their families properly. They were protecting the world but not their own wives and children. It’s much better, now.”

“Oh,” I said. We were quiet for a long time. “So, what now? I’m not sure what to do now.”

Papá nodded. “I’ve been preparing you for this for your entire life. Heike and I wanted you ready for this. I don’t want to force you, but it’s something you should consider. You’ve got an especially rare gift, mi cielo, and you have to learn to use it. Your color will get brighter and they will come after you because of it. You have to learn to control your powers. To fight them off.”

I wrinkled my eyebrows. “I don’t understand. How... just, how, I guess?”

“I know you don’t feel like you have powers, not yet anyway. But you are already stronger than expected. When you get around the other hunters you’ll start feeling more powers,” he said, then paused. “There’s a school, a training school at The Coven. It’s for young hunters. It’ll help you defend yourself against the vampyres. You’ll be with a class of other trainees, all boys. It’s in Portugal,” he added, as if that somehow made this whole thing better.

Oh, I’m a vampyre killing machine AND I get a free trip to Portugal?! Super!

“Portugal?” I asked. “Why Portugal? Are you telling me I have to leave? You want to me to leave?”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying you need to learn how to defend yourself. The attack today was them showing us that they know about you. Next time, you might not be so lucky. What if they come after you when you’re watching the twins? What if they come near the children, Catalina? You can’t fight them properly. I’ve done everything I can to train you in defensive arts, but it’s not enough, Catalina. You are surpassing my abilities and there is so much more to learn.” He paused. “And now that I know you’re a Kindler, I think you’ve got to go, mi cielo. I’m sorry, but you need to know how to control the fire when it starts to appear.” He squinted and wiped his eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” He grabbed me and hugged me.

I began to cry into his shirt, long and quiet sobs. I was shocked. He was sending me away to learn how to fight ... vampyres? I couldn’t believe that was happening. Yesterday my biggest worry was getting over a cheating boyfriend and suddenly I was thrusted into a world where I had to accept the reality of mythical beasts. And, on top of that, I was supposed to believe that I was a Vampyre Hunter? Yeah, my head was dizzy with the very idea that I was actually being convinced to accept something I had thought for so long to be unreal. It’s not something that I ever in a bajillian years would even think could or would happen. It’s fiction, just a story to tell kids.

But, there I was. Sitting on my back porch, crying into my father’s shirt because he was sending me to a school to learn how to fight vampyres - it felt ridiculous to even think about vampyres and a Hunter Training school like they actually existed. I was so confused and uncertain, but my parents seemed so sure. My papá seemed to need me to believe.

In my wild emotions, I had to separate myself from what I knew versus what I thought I knew: I knew that my parents loved me. I knew that they had never lied to me in any monumental way before. I knew I was attacked by four strangers that came away from the fight unscathed. I knew I had no reason to doubt my parents.

I knew I had to force away my skepticism and disbelief because, if I didn’t, in the end I was possibly putting my family’s life in danger. Papá was right: what if I was alone with the twins or something happened to Gaby just because I refused to believe? I couldn’t let that happen to my family.

Even though I still couldn’t believe everything - what the heck was all that coloring crap? - I knew I had to do something. That day had been just incredible - not in a good way, but in an I’m-so-freaked-out-I-can’t-even-comprehend-what’s-going-on kind of incredible.

I looked up at my father. His eyes were bloodshot. I had to comfort him. “Está bien, papá,” I said through my own sniffles. “I’ll go. ¿Voy a ir, no?”

He pulled away from me and held my shoulders. “What? You’ll go?” I nodded and he examined my face. “You’re sure?”

I shrugged and wiped my eyes. “I’m not saying I believe this. It’s crazy, papá, do you know how crazy this sounds?” He smiled and wiped his eyes and nodded. “I’m saying I’ll give this a try.” I paused. “I’ve never seen you scared before, papá. Those guys, they scared the shit out of you. That must mean something. And I can’t put Gaby or the twins lives in danger.”

“Don’t swear, mi cielo,” Papá said.

I couldn’t believe he was still correcting my language as he was sending me off to a vampyre slaying academy. I rolled my eyes and snorted a little. “Vampyres, eh?”

He nodded “Vampyres ...” he said and smiled. “You’ll find out more soon enough.” He nodded and kissed me and rested his forehead on mine. We were quiet for a few moments. “Now we’ll tell Heike. He’ll want you to go soon, probably tomorrow.”

I was surprised. “So soon?”

He nodded. “To keep you safe. They’ll be attracted to your color, mi cielo. It’s important to keep them away. You understand?”

I nodded. My father was right, if four vampyres found me - it was so strange calling them vampyres! - more could be on their way. More than anything, I wanted to keep my family safe. And I don’t want to be the reason my family gets attacked by vampyres again. I also didn’t want anyone I love around if I couldn’t control my . . Kindling abilities? Whatever that meant.

It was so absurd. So above absurd it felt psychotic. Yet, there I was, nodding and agreeing to fly across the world to become a Vampyre Hunter.

Was I actually starting to believe in vampyres and Vampyre Hunters and Kindlers? If it all was real, I had so many more questions. How have vampyres been kept a secret for so long? Where did vampyres come from? And where did The Hunters come from? How did Kindling work? Was I just going to spontaneously explode and become a vampyre killing machine? What were all those other things that Heike and Braith were talking about before – Lycans and whatever else he said? What was training like? Was I really going to be the only girl?

I heard the sliding door open and looked up. Heike smiled a little. “Have you decided, Katja?” I nodded, but didn’t say anything. He seemed to understand. “Get some sleep, we’ll fly out tomorrow afternoon. We’ll talk more, eh? Tonight, you need rest. Tomorrow, training starts.”

I had never flown before and, as I looked outside my window to the cement landing field, I could feel my face pale. I gripped the seat until my knuckles were white and sweat broke out over my whole body. I felt on the verge of an anxiety attack. I wouldn’t say I thought I was prepared – because can you really be prepared to leave your family and fly to a place you’ve never been to learn how to fight mythological creatures you thought only existed in fairy tales and still didn’t really quiet believe in? Uh, no, I didn’t think so.

That morning had been ... nice, I guess. My family and I spent the whole morning together, just my parents and brothers and sister and me. Heike and Braith made themselves scarce, which was appreciated. Every Sunday we spent most of the day together, anyway, so it wasn’t like anything out of the ordinary, but that day was special. I felt closer to all of them because, even though I was still in denial, they seemed relieved that I finally knew their secret and they knew mine, like we were in a special club and that bond brought us closer. We didn’t talk much about what was happening – we wanted to keep it calm for my sister and baby brothers – but the day was special, nonetheless.

My abuelos had come over early. They both had little to say, just kept sad, constant smiles on their faces. My abuelo didn’t want me to go. I heard him arguing with my papá and Heike before I had gotten out of bed. He said he would train me, but Heike said no. I needed Kindler training. I was different. My abuelo watched me mournfully through the rest of the afternoon.