The Huntress

Look How Far I've Come

Alison took a deep and calming breath, her hand hovering over the door handle. Closing her eyes and gathering her nerves together, she pushed on the handle and entered the room. All eyes turned to look at the person walking in. She felt her neck get hot under her collar as everyone followed her movement across the classroom; taking her seat at the front of the class. The instructor nodded his head in her direction as she sat down.

Alison surveyed the room of teenagers seated before her, notebooks open and pens in hand. She had clearly walked in during some form of assignment or test. She winced internally, she hadn’t meant to interrupt the entire classroom. The room was deadly silent as all of the trainees quietly waited for their instructions, bristling with unvoiced curiosity about the newcomer. The instructor acted as if nothing had occurred and just as Alison had assumed, he continued with the test.

She waited patiently whilst they finished with the exercise. Not saying a word, barely shifting in her seat. She sat there, perfectly still with her hands calmly placed in her lap. But Alison’s head was a whirl, information swimming about. She was sifting through it all, trying to remember where to start and how to go about what she was here to undertake. The nerves were still there, seated quite comfortably with no clear intention of leaving anytime soon. She was going to have to push through them, she couldn’t let her voice waver. Not in front of a room full of trainees and the instructor. She still had to prove herself.

Finally the instructor turned towards Alison in his chair and the eyes of the classroom followed. “Right, trainees… as some of you may be aware today was marked down as a specialist vampirical studies seminar and the more astute of you will have realised that our guest is obviously a part of that. So, I’m going to introduce to you (although l imagine a few of you probably already know her), Advanced Trainee Fyfe who despite only joining The Company three years ago has excelled alongside her training team to the highest ranks of The Company Training programme. Miss Fyfe is our resident vampirical studies expert and you should all feel privileged that she had agreed to come and give this lecture today as she has her Tactical Field Exam tomorrow. The room is yours Miss Fyfe.” The instructor finished and indicated for Alison to begin.

Alison stood up slowly and took in yet another calming deep breath. She couldn’t believe that she was still nervous addressing a group of people, especially considering this was a topic she was knowledgeable about. It was stupid really as she was more nervous about this talk then her final exam tomorrow: an exam that was reportedly the hardest one of the lot and the exam that would categorise what class her team fell into. She should have been panicking about that but instead she was calm and confident about whatever task they would throw at them. Gamma Team XXX were ready for it. But now she had to teach a classroom full of teenagers.

“Thank you Mr Slate,” Ali began, offering the instructor a small smile before she turned her attention back to the classroom. “Hi there, so I’m Alison Fyfe as Mr Slate has already indicated. And it was only two years ago that I was sat here, in your position, being taught the finer details of supernaturals’ anatomy and habitual traits. You have all reached the stage where it is no longer adequate to just learn how to take down a supernatural. Kill a werewolf with a silver bullet; sirens through fresh water; demons: salt and holy water; Fae: well there are lots of different ways but we all prefer the good old fashioned iron weapon. The list goes on. Now, I am confident that out of all the supernatural you should all know the best way to eliminate a vampire. Just from popular culture if nothing else. So, anyone?” Alison addressed the classroom, several of the trainees raised their hands. Ali randomly selected a tall dark skinned male.

“Sunlight is pretty affective but it’s hard to organise, so Holy water is a good substitute but it only burns rather than destroys them. A wooden stake to the heart is how hunters eliminate vampires.” The lad looked rather proud of himself as he lent back in his chair. Alison smiled at him.