4 And the Hunted

Diach's first order of business was getting me ready for battle with the Moonwalkers. If that was going to happen, he needed a rough estimate of my battle capabilities. We went out to a forest just outside of town to spar.

"Come at me with the intent to kill or you will never hit me. Take this fight seriously or I will kill you here and now to find someone else." Diach said without uncrossing his arms. I got down and ready to fight but it dawned on me how this fight could potentially be very one sided with all my past trainng and everything.

"Are you going to at least get a weapon? I do not think you will be pleased with the end result if you do not prepare yourself at least." I said watching him closely to gauge his ability.

"Do not worry yourself, this will be quite enough." he said cockily. He barely paid any attention at all as I dashed forward to attack. He never even uncrossed his arms as he evaded my attacks. I threw the fastest and hardest kick I had in my arsenal and it hit him in the arm but did not even shake him. It felt like I kicked an iron wall.

"If this is the best you can do, I may have made a mistake." Diach said taunting me. As he continued to evade me and casually push me away, anger started to overtake me. With each punch or kick, my attacks got faster and stronger. With a few more combinations, I forced Diach to uncross his arms at least.

"How is that for a mistake" I said back between breaths. This was the most I had exerted myself in quite some time outside of school games. He was still rock hard to hit and I would have to figure something else out if I was going to do any real damage.

"Hm, better but anything is better than zero." Diach said still taunting me. The anger had reached a boiling point now and I could not even think straight. Claws grew from my hands and my teeth were longer now. As I rushed forward and swung at Diach, it sent him sliding back across the ground.

"Ah, there he is. This is what I wanted to see." Diach said dusting himself off. He got down into a battle stance and took me more seriously. The attacks were coming on their own. Before I could even think about my next move, I was already connecting. As we battled more, Diach gradually started fighting back. He hit me with a spinning elbow to the neck first but it did not even phase me. All I could do was growl and punch into his ribs. He coughed from the force of the impact.

"I...I will... destroy... will destroy... I will destroy you" I finally got out after clearing my mind. I felt nothing but rage and anger. I wanted to break him. Everthing had lead to this; all my fights with Motoro, all my lacrosse games and taking cheap shots, all the suspensions, everything. It all flowed to the surface. fifteen years of anger was pouring out. The more I tried to hit him, the easier he evaded me.

"You have got to calm yourself. You are not fighting with a clear head. It is not even hard to dodge you any more. Calm your mind." Diach said as he punched me again which I shook off. When I tried to surprise him and kick his legs out, he met my foot with his foot as well as connected with another kick to my ribs. It was not a very hard kick and only served to back me up a few feet. None of his attacks were effective just like mine were not. The angrier I grew, the more I changed. I had gone from claws and fangs, to a full mouth of canines and wings. Nothing was going to stop me from ending him.

I jumped forward to grab him but he side stepped me and kicked me in the stomach. That move surprised me as I was expecting him to try to throw me off again but he did not have the strength. The longer we fought, the less he could overpower me. My rage was a driving factor in my strength. When my wings came out, so did his. He was fighting me seriously now. I tried to force my claw through his chest but he sidestepped me again and chopped down into my neck. I fell unconscious from the blow.

When I woke up, we were back in my house at the living room table. Diach was on one couch and me on the other. I was groggy as I woke up. It had been some time since I was last knocked unconscious.

"Ah, what happened?" I asked rubbing my head from the headache. The night before was all a blur after we started fighting. He said something, I got angry and then nothing.

"It would seem you are a special case among the vampires. I challenged you to a fight to gauge your abilities and I was delightfully surprised after a time. You started off pathetically. For all the combat training the humans seem to be so proud of, I was disappointed. From what you have told me before, you have years of fight training but it still did little good. You are too weak and slow in your human form. After some taunting I finally got to see what you are really capable of." Diach started before stopping. I was eager to hear what happened next but he stayed silent.

He watched as I got up and got a glass of orange juice to clear my head. It was the most horrendous thing I had ever tasted and made me throw up everything in the sink, blood and orange juice.

"What the hell was that? I just bought that juice a few days ago." I said checking the date. It still had a few weeks before it went bad so it could not have been that.

"You can no longer engage in human beverages and foods." Diach said simply with a small laugh. He knew I would not be able to stomach the juice but chose not to say anything about it.

"Well what about the story? What happened next?" I said putting the glass in the sink and filling it with water. My parents did not raise an animal.

"Well it seems your anger became a trigger. The more I taunted you the more you changed and the stronger you became. But when you finished transforming, you still grew in strength. I am not sure just how strong your maximum is but you were already past me. Generally, the older a vampire is, the stronger he or she is but the case is different with you. I am over a thousand years old so I should have had no trouble overpowering you but you were strong; unordinarily strong. I blocked your punch but could feel the ungodly strength and speed you had. It damn near broke my arm blocking you." Diach said rubbing his forearm where I must have hit.

"So are you saying I was not 'a mistake'" I said through air quotes. That memory was crystal clear in my head. He turned his head away and refused to look at me as I glared at him.

"I do not know what you are talking about." He lied. He knew and I know he knew. Diach described the rest of the fight and how he went with knocking me out before I became too much to handle even for him. It was the only logical course of action he said. I was not exactly in a position to dispute him so I continued listening quietly.

"Now that I have a rought estimate of how strong you are, I will take you back to the base to get formal training and start your new life. We leave tomorrow night so pack your things and be ready to go at dark." Diach said standing to stretch. I had no idea where this base was or how long we would be gone but I had some errands to take care of before I could just up and leave.

"There are things I must do before we go. Give me three days to take care of everything. I beg you." I said without thinking of my pride. He was stronger than I so I could not force him to do anything.

"3 nights and that is all. I will be leaving with or without you but you should know if you choose to remain here alone, you will be hunted like a dog and put down." Diach said seriously. He took his exit from my home and left me to my own devices. It was already near dawn so I could not dilly dally if I was going to get everything taken care of before we left.

The next day came and went while I slept in our blacked out living room. My parents often operated at night so they had all of our curtains replaced with black shades to keep the house dark from outside light. I woke up at about 6 pm the next night ready to handle business. First things first, I called Linz and told her to meet me at my house. She came right over and invited herself in. With her being the cheerleading captain and me the lacrosse captain, I could not exactly keep her out of my house.

"It seems I will be leaving for a while and I have some things to attend to before that. I am going to need your help, Linz." I said seriously to the girl sitting opposite of me. She had a worried expression upon hearing my words.

"Leaving? What do you mean you're leaving? Are you going to live with your parents for a while? When will you be coming back? Why is this the first I am hearing about this? How long until you come back?" Linz asked in a barrage of questions. She sounded even more worried now.

"I wish I could give you the answers you are looking for but to be honest I do not know anything myself. I am sure you heard it from your friends but Motoro and I really got into it a few nights ago. Even more so then in the past. I have to leave for a while because of it. I need you to relay a message to Motoro and the rest of the school. Tell the school I am deeply sorry about leaving in the middle of the year and I probably will not be back in time for the season but this is not the last they have seen of me. I will return at some point and I look forward to seeing everyone when I get back.

Tell Motoro I will be coming back for him and when I do, I will end him along with his pack of animals. Nothing will stop me from killing them. I need you to purchase a few things for me as well. Everything is in the note I will give you before you leave." I said really looking at her for the first time. She was a truly gorgeous girl and I wish I had more time to deepen our relationship. She grabbed the note on her way out after I dodged her remaining questions but turned around in the doorway and kissed me on the way out. There were rumors swirling in the school of her crush on me but I truly had no idea whether they were true or not. I had my answer now. If only it had come sooner. I kissed her back and pulled her body closer to me as we kissed. She was going to be my greatest regret leaving this human world.

It had been a few days since I went to school and I knew the principal would be calling soon. He was like a second father to me since he was my father's best friend in their younger years. He often came to my aid when they were not around and always made sure I was taking care of myself. There was something between my father, mother, and the principal that they refused to tell me about but I did not let it bother me too much. Just then, my phone rang and it was the principal. This would be a difficult conversation.