Shadows

Confrontation

Training was painful and sometimes it was to the point where I could call it soul crushing. The one thing that lifted me up from that pain was the comfort, love and reassurance that Dante showered upon me.

  That night I slept in his waiting arms, smothered with warmth that I did not know his skin could produce. He was the key to the lock that fit around my heart. He was that crucial piece of a jigsaw that made it whole. Without him I felt empty now, there was me thinking that I was not capable of love or even to be loved for that matter, yet I was wrong. Like I was wrong about being nothing and not mattering to anyone, turns out that I was this doppelganger child who would have to save this world from an impending doom that I knew nothing about. Surely slayers should not be a problem for the dark beings… why was it now that things got complicated? I turned in Dante’s arms til I faced him, his smile so bold, and his eyes so reflective of the love that we both held that I could not help but blush and inch closer.

  He squeezed harder around my waist til I felt as though I would pop, I cupped his face in one of my palms, reach up and locked his lips against mine

“I love you Vicki” he breathed, making my insides flutter and float

“I love you too Dante” I sighed and collapsed against his body. I was truly exhausted and in an extreme amount of pain thanks to Daniil, I really was on the receiving end of some brutal blows tonight, was he being harsh because Dante was staying here? Surely not.

“What’s wrong?” he asked

“Just my ribs, legs, arms, head… well all my body hurts” I tried to laugh but it came out as a gasp, he rolled me over to examine my body, all the while making me squirm with embarrassment. I know he’d seen it all before but it didn’t make it any less embarrassing.

“Who did this!?” he spat, touching the marks on my abdomen which resulted in me flinching

“It doesn’t matter. Its training”

“Is it? It looks more like torture” I reached down to pull my top down but he grabbed my hands to stop me “Don’t, I meant it Vicki. Tell me who did this”

“Fine” I sighed “Uncle Daniil, he’s the best fighter in this realm so why not? He’s using the old methods but they seem to be the best so why not strive to be among them?”

“Because look at you! You’re battered, bruised and probably crushed inside once the training is over!” he glanced over my body once more before releasing my hands to get off the bed “I need to have a word”

“No don’t!” I gasped and jumped off the bed, but before my feet could touch the ground he left my room and I knew he was going to seek Daniil out, if he did that then things would not end well. Darting out of my room in nothing but a pair of short shorts and a t-shirt.

  I practically fell over half way through the corridor, determined to find Dante. I wouldn’t let him make a fool of himself, not here and not ever. These were not the vampires to be messing with, it didn’t matter about their title… but the sheer power they held in just one finger… they would snap him like a toothpick. Ignoring the twins’ gasps and greetings I flew into the room I knew was Daniil’s only to find him holding Dante up by the throat

“You hurt her… I’ll kill you” Dante struggled to mouth

“That’s fresh coming from the Vampire that I have up by the throat. It’s just a method to build her inner strength up” Dante’s eyes glanced over in my direction before looking back to Daniil “Precides, no matter how many times I have tried to convince her not to be in love with you whilst she fights, it all backfires”