The Queen's Shadow

Again.

Apollos
November 11, 1950

"Again," I said my body worn down. Lucian barely broke a sweat. I was still getting used to my speed and power. It was so much control that was continually required, we started with light sparring as humans. When I manage to keep up he got faster, and as he got faster I got faster. At that point I could barely see my fists matching his, we were both moving fast. The only problem was I couldn't punch him, no matter what I did, I couldn't hit him. At human speed he was untouchable. At his true speed, I couldn't see him move. He would take advantage of my mistakes and I would get wailed on. I felt my body getting heavy again, I was almost at my limit. We were both wearing sleeveless T-shirts and basketball shorts. We didn't have any shoes, and Lucian said they would only get in the way.

I hit the training mat again, even harder than the last time. It felt like I was sweating even though vampires can't sweat, I willed myself up. My body was healing but it was at a slower rate, it would take me hours to heal rather than the usual minutes. I learned most vampires were allergic to werewolves so feeding off of them would genuinely repulse them. I only feed once or twice a day. Anastasia had to protect me more than anything.

'That's enough for today.' I was at my limit. even with superhuman stamina, we could still get tired. "I-I can keep fighting." It was only when he was in my face and I felt the hard pain of his fist in my stomach did truly collapse. 'You would have been able to dodge that.' I got up again, and I uttered the words:

"Again." I heard a deep sigh escape his body. He didn't even have to punch me this time. Instead, he said: 'Something is holding you back.' Before I can answer he continued. 'No matter how much you train, no matter how much you push yourself. If your heart isn't in it, it will never amount to much.'

I heard his words echo in my ears, I immediately dropped my guard. He left the area and went back to the locker room, was I still holding on to Gabriel? I managed to kill Rachel and that was without powers. Was I fooling myself? I left and went to my room, what he had said had rattled me to my core. Was I truly holding myself back? Was this life ever really meant for me? I sat in my room at my workstation looking at my ring.

I had both of our rings yet I couldn't bring myself to touch hers. I didn't hear knocking at the door until it got loud and persistent. How long have they been standing there knocking? I open my door and I saw Anastasia, we haven't been intimate together ever since that night.

'You haven't fed at all.' I let her inside, she wasn't going to go away otherwise. "I don't have a reason to feed." The pain had gone numb a while ago, it was no reason for her to worry. Furthermore, if I need to feed she know I will call. 'You don't have to lie to me.' Her words were almost always brutal, but her honesty was a necessity in this world. 'It's about Wendy isn't it.' (Wendy the wife I couldn't save);! Hearing her say her name almost brought me to anger.

"Yes." It was so much emotion in all of that one word, she walks towards my workstation and sat right in the chair. 'I know how you feel.' I looked at her reserved form and always enjoyed her professional demeanor, she had worn a black business suit with a white shirt and tie in full Windsor knot. 'How much do you know about me?'

I stopped and thought about it for a second, I knew the entire story I was told. "A betrayed and dethroned alpha female who wants revenge." It was days like this that made me wonder if I was in some kind of horror novel. That was all I knew. She chuckled and said: 'That narrows it down.'

'I had a wife, two daughters, and a son and we lived in a small village.' I could see it now, a beautiful village hidden in the forest. 'The Village had many names, but its most famous name was volki v lesu.' (Wolves in the forest.) She then stopped and said 'I could go on and on, but that is for another day.'