Diary of a Vampire Slayer, Book 1: Alexandra

House Weapons

The week flew by. It was so painful to sit through lectures and training knowing that there was a coven nearby. It was being tracked by the Witchers. Fortunately the coven hadn't gone further out. It would mean that we would have to walk. On Friday, classes were cancelled so that we could pack supplies for the raid.

Lydia being a natural parent had everything prepared for us. If the coven moved further North into Canada we would follow it so we were taking tents and camping equipment.

         "I've got everything ready." Lydia was marking a check-list. Each Chain was responsible for their own food and equipment. "And do you have your knives? How many are you taking?"

       "Three,"

       "Okay." She scribbled on her notes. "Okay go get ready and I'll go in to make sure you are set."

      "Yes ma'am."

One of the things I was looking forward to seeing was everybody's weapon of choice. Each House typically had some kind of weapon that defined and identified them. Occasionally members of each House had different weapons but that was rare. By eighteen most had their weapon so I was excited to see them. 

My godfather's House trained with karambit daggers but he had learned to fight with double edge knives for me. It was my Houses' style to fight with knives. Over the years, different sized knives had been given to me. They had belonged to my family members. It wasn't unusual to learn another weapon. I had learned to fight with swords and karambit daggers. They weren't my preference.

Knives were easier and could be deadlier because they could be small. Vampires were deadly allergic to pure silver just like werewolves. It slowed them down enough to cause serious injuries. A vampire had to be completely burned to kill it.

At the foot of my bed was a glass table with a drawer. On top of the black table was a pillowcase with various sized knives. In the drawer was a pair of karambit daggers and a silver sword given to me by the French Chief Witcher, Francis Caron. Every country in the world had a Chief Witcher. They had a Grand Counsel with various hundreds of members. Every Witcher trained here and usually left to their home country. He worked for my godfather and had helped train me.

I could easily recall when he had given it to me.

           "Happy tenth birthday, Alexandra." He had handed me long box with a red bow on it. "Careful with it, it's sharp."

            "What is it? Another knife? You've given me two already." I smiled up at him, lowering my head slightly before taking the box from him.

          "It seems that they are everywhere." He laughed leading me to the table so that I could open it up. "It is bigger than a knife but rumor had it that your grandmother had a sword."

I had opened up the large wooden box to find a silver sword with markings on it. The markings were still strange to me. I pulled out the box to see the sword. It had only been used during trainings. It sat in the box because I didn't like it. It was too bulky for me. The sword was long and slender with engravings. They were nothing like I had ever seen before. It could have been a dead language for all I knew. The hilt was a slightly darker silver. It reminded me of Tracker armor.

Gently, I placed it back in the box. The daggers would not be of any use right now. I needed something that I was comfortable with. I picked out the three smallest knives that were my favorite.

In the closet was brand new hunting gear from the School. I pulled it out so that I could lay out the jacket and pants out. They were both black fluid material that were surprisingly thick. On the shoulders and across the back and chest were plates. Black plates. That was new. Mr. Lancer might have had some input in the design. Quickly I braided my hair to keep it out of my face. I put on the jacket and pants. It fit perfectly. I attached my knife belt around my hips and thighs. My smaller knives fit in perfectly in the halter after some adjustments.

There was also a pair of matching gloves for my knives. Those were useful so that I didn't lose grip on them when my palms started to sweat. The jacket had the School coat of arms on it. Stitched inside though was my House coat of arms with my name. They had thought of everything.

I sat down to put on boots when there was knock.

        "Come in." I called out putting on the warmest socks I had. Eric walked in with something in his hand. He had the First Slayer emblem on his chest. It was a side-ways design with a single line running across it.

       "You're ready. This is for you." He motioned for me to tilt my head. "We all get one so we can communicate." He placed something small in my ear. "Two clicks to use it as a microphone and one click to reset to an ear piece."

       "Got it." I nodded jumping to my feet. "I'm ready bring on the vamps." Eric rolled his eyes in response.

      "For you," He handed me a black band. It was a thick black cuff. Before I could ask what it was, Eric took it from my hand. He slipped it on around my neck.

      "Just in case." He cleared his throat. "Zip your jacket all the way up to cover it up." My eye twitched slightly but I very well knew that it was from Damien. All rules were meant to be followed so there would be no protests from me. 

"You're up here already." Lydia strolled in wearing the same thing I was but with a different colored plate. It was bullet gray with the Second Slayer emblem. Two lines in the emblem.

She had a pair of three-pronged sai on her thighs. Uther came in behind his sister. Because they were twins, I had been expecting a pair of sai but instead he had black handles sticking out his back. Eric had a bow and arrows on his back.

        "What are those?" I pointed at Uther, to me they seemed like swords.

       "Pair of short-swords." Eric replied pulling one out for me to see. "We had the same smith make all three weapons." Slayers were typically buried with their weapon unless they requested it be given to their son or daughter. Mine had been passed on.

They put in their earpieces in.

       "Let's get going." Eric told us with a half- smile. Lydia made sure that my belt was on tightly. She also made sure that my earpiece was working properly. 

We were all ready to go. Eric motioned for us to follow him downstairs. The Slayers that would be joining us were ready to go. We were all dressed in the same gear except for the primary Slayers in charge. They were wearing the same emblem with successive marks to indicate each chain. Not everybody had been allowed to go due to parents not giving permission or the lack of appropriate grades. The Slayers that hadn't been allowed to go were supplemented in with Trackers.