Sheilds of power

Chapter 6- Growing Up

Chapter 6- Growing Up

At 15 I was fairly mature, had travelled most of the world under the watchful eyes of my family, and was a proficient musician and linguist, being able to play most instruments, and speak most languages. I had read the majority of the books in Castle Volterra's vast library, and had a thorough knowledge of the history of the world, including humans, vampires and other mythical creatures.

They had given my own black card, which I used sparingly, but I was surprised with how used to spending I had gotten under Heidi's influence, and found that I didn't bat an eye when I paid four million dollars for a beautiful painting I wanted for my room in Phoenix (I never told mum how much it was worth, although I suspected she knew it was extremely expensive).

Santiago was proud the day I got my driver's license, passing the test with ease, much to the tester's surprise. Now that I officially held a drivers license, they bought me a blue and white Bugatti Veyron for my birthday, one of the fastest cars in the world. With the engine boosted it got up to speeds over 450km/h when Santiago and I took it to the Autobahn in Germany.

Santiago also taught me to ride motorbikes, and even taught me how to drive a boat, taking me out on the Tiber River near Rome.

Heidi had also decided that now I was 15, I should have at least one night club experience. Apparently because it would make the other kids back at school think I was cool. I of course, was reluctant for a number of reasons, the first of which was the fact that there was no way I looked old enough to get into a night club.

I had forgotten that when you have money you can get whatever you want, and when we arrived at the club, Felix simply slipped the bouncers large wads of cash and they looked the other way while I walked in.

The first thing on their agenda was buying me some alcohol to try, believing that I should try it at least once before I became a vampire. They ordered me a Cosmo and a tequila shot, and watched eagerly to see what I would think. I sipped at the Cosmo first, grimacing as I tasted the alcohol. It was tolerable, but I didn't particularly like it. I put it down, and hesitantly took a sip of the tequila. It felt like my throat was on flames and I quickly spit it out, coughing and spluttering. The three vampires roared with laughter, and I glared fiercely at them, "I'm never drinking alcohol again." I declared.

One of the other things I had been worried about soon came up when Heidi decided that it was time for us to hit the dance floor. The other people quickly parted for us, leaving us a large space in the middle. People seemed to instinctively shy away from them, something I had gotten used to over the years and barely noticed now. Heidi started moving to the music, dragging me with her and showing me how to move. I was sure I looked terrible, and this was why I had tried to avoid clubbing.

I was however, for the first time in my life thankful for the fact that when I was 13 Heidi had decided that it was time to teach me how to walk in heels. She had forced me to wear them everywhere for months, until she was satisfied that I could do so without stumbling, tottering or falling in them (Although I still occasionally tripped due to my clumsiness). It had been a major source of amusement for Felix and Demetri on the first week as the repeatedly caught me when I overbalanced in my ridiculously high shoes. I had gotten angry over being ridiculed, and secretly practised every night in my room until I could now comfortably run in high heels without falling over- something I was actually quite proud of.

I still preferred flat shoes though, and even though I was fairly stable, I was very scared of the idea of trying to dance at a club in the extremely high heels Heidi had put me in for the night. I was also very worried that if I did trip over, I would give everyone a peep show due to the fact that Heidi had forced me into an electric blue minidress for the night, and it barely came to mid thigh.