10. Help All Around
The few weeks following my near death experience weren’t fun or eventful. It wasn’t like I was put under house arrest or anything like before—I was allowed to go out, but I had to have someone with me. Mostly Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie were with me at all times. Thankfully, nobody had to keep tabs around the house at night. That eased things up, but very little.
With Trevor gone, my morale went down considerably. First came the heartbreak, then the nightmares about him—whether it was a replay of the night Damon saved my life, or the one where Trevor actually was about ready to kill me. Elena always woke me up from those dreams not because I screamed, but because I fretted so much that it woke her up. It was like my first few nights in the house all over again, only the nightmares were different, and much scarier.
With the exception of Jeremy, I became distant with Stefan, Damon, and Tyler. Trevor made me feel like I couldn’t trust guys anymore, even if they were Elena’s friends. At one point, I became paranoid that they were vampire hunters in disguise. Elena thought I was being silly, and eventually, I knew I was. I definitely stayed away from Damon the most, only because he resembled Trevor a bit—and he reminded me of the times Trevor and I were together each time I saw him.
It was the second week of October now. The temperatures were getting a little too cool for my liking. Some trees’ limbs were starting to become naked, ready to hibernate when winter arrived. On sunny days, the sun didn’t warm me up. On cloudy days, it was extremely nippy outside—those days I didn’t go out.
I was sprawled out on the couch, in sweats and a brown hoodie. My leg wound had finally healed, but the emotional wound was slowly on the mend. How long that would take to heal, I wasn’t sure. Maybe soon. Maybe never. All I knew was that I definitely would get to know a guy before falling for him—if that was even possible.
So far, my impulse was going for mysterious boys I didn’t know a thing about, the boys who many deemed dangerous to go near.
I kept my eyes closed, thinking. Elena hadn’t mentioned anything about self-defense yet. The only time it was never mentioned was the night I was attacked. I wasn’t sure if anyone else got told about it. I was sure Jeremy knew about Elena’s idea.
Speaking of my cousin, she was out, like always. I was home alone, like I had been most of the time. I had a reason to be afraid about being alone. I could be watched right now, the vampire hunters could surround the house. The only thing I could do was run to the kitchen, grab a knife, and hope for the best. Unless Elena had the power to predict when intruders would ambush the house, I was on my own.
The idea of self-defense didn’t seem silly to me since I definitely needed it now more than ever. True, I’d be going against possibly armed crazy people, but if I could disarm them, I’d have a fighting chance. I now wondered whenever training started if Elena would provide mock props to help me disarm my opponents. I can’t believe I’m actually considering doing this, I thought.
When the door swung open suddenly, I shot up, ready to flee into the kitchen to grab the closest—and hopefully—biggest knife I could to arm myself with. I relaxed when I saw it was only Elena coming home. I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Did I wake you?” she asked timidly as she crossed into the living room. “I didn’t know you were sleeping.”
“I wasn’t sleeping, just thinking,” I corrected her. I yawned. “Where were you?”
“Stefan’s.” She sat on the arm of the couch. “We were talking about the self-defense training I want you to do. We figured since it’s been a while since anything has happened, now is the best time to train you up.” She shrugged. “I’m not doing it alone, obviously. I’ve got a few willing volunteers.”
“I got the feeling it wasn’t just you when you used the term ‘we,’” I hinted. “Why do I get the feeling I’m going to start today?”
“You are. Why? Don’t you want to learn how to defend yourself?” she asked, concerned.
“Of course I do, Elena! It’s just—I don’t know. It sounds like a lot.”
“Don’t worry; we’ll make it easy for you…at first.” Her lips cracked a smile. “I’ll explain more once I drive you to the training area.”
“Where is that going to be?”
“Well, we can’t do it in a building, because we don’t want to risk things being broken, so we’re going to a nice, desolate spot in the woods.”
Great, just the words I wanted to hear…not. I didn’t want anything to do with the forest anymore, not since Trevor tried to murder me there. No matter what woods I’d be in, the scenery would bring back that horrific night.
I hugged myself, trying to push the harsh memory out of my head. That was in the past, I needed to forget about it. That was going to be the only way that I’d move on.
“If there was any other place to train you, Fay, I would move us there,” Elena said sympathetically. It was obvious I showed my emotions a little too well on my face.
“I think I’ll be fine. If I keep myself occupied, I won’t hurt,” I murmured.
“If you say so. Get dressed; I’ll wait down here for you.”
I stretched before I got my lazy ass off the couch and up to the room. I grabbed the first things I could find and slipped them on. There was no dress code when it came to self-defense training. It wasn’t like I would be in any real danger anyway.
* * *
Elena drove since she thought I looked too sleepy to drive anywhere. I was okay with that assumption; I wasn’t up to driving to the woods anyway.
The ride was silent. Elena never babbled about who the other volunteers were or what I would be doing. At this point, there was quite a bit I could be put through today.
The road got a little bumpy; the feeling gave me slight déjà vu again. My stomach got queasy. At least we weren’t training at night—that would make the déjà vu worse. Just being in the woods again made me shudder, recalling my near death experience. I remembered Trevor’s words from that night. Oh, and don’t worry about your friends and family finding your body, I’ll make sure they won’t. You wouldn’t want them to probe into your death and come to find out what you really are, would you?
I shivered, hearing his voice in my head. It sounded so clear, as if he was right beside me.
“Faith.” Elena’s voice brought me out of my thoughts.
“Hmm?”
“We’re here.”
I hadn’t realized we had stopped moving. I must’ve just daydreamed, or Trevor’s words scared me enough to where I didn’t pay attention to my surroundings.
I looked out the windshield to notice Elena’s group was already waiting for us, like we were the last to get here. I slipped out of the car mechanically, eyeing the trees around me warily. Elena coaxed me forward with a gentle grab of my elbow. I saw Stefan was a volunteer, as was Bonnie, Damon, and Jeremy. Jeremy? Wasn’t he supposed to be working? I honestly couldn’t tell because I couldn’t remember what day it was. Days easily blended together when you had no school to go to in the fall.
“You agreed to help, Jer?” I called to him, standing close to Elena. I wanted to stay with somebody, as if I was afraid a vampire hunter was nearby, ready to snatch me up and carry me off.
“I’m the only human that can really help you in this,” he explained.
“Then why is Bonnie here?”
“I’m here just in case you get hurt, and of course I’m here for moral support,” she chirped. The fact that she was here in case I got hurt made me feel a little worried. “I don’t think that’ll be an issue though since I don’t think Jeremy will hurt you.”
“I hope not,” I whispered. I looked at each of the volunteers’ faces. “So…Elena didn’t tell me much. It’s up to you guys to explain why I’m here besides the obvious reason.” I folded my arms over my chest, blue-green eyes searching for the first person to speak up.
“Self-defense in general is something that you should know,” Elena started. “If you ever get into a situation where you feel threatened and cornered, self-defense is your weapon, and most likely will be your only way out. Now, since you most likely will be dealing with vampire hunters, we’re going to add more.”
“This involves learning how to disarm the hunters,” Stefan took over. “They’ll think you’re a vampire if someone told them that you are one. Of course, they won’t think you’re human because of what false information they’ve been given. That is where you have an advantage.”
“How so?” I tilted my head to the side.
“Vervain won’t affect you if they stab you with some in a needle. The needle will probably pinch, and the vervain will give you a shield against vampires drinking from you.”
“But she reacts to the smell,” Damon noted. “And you have to remember, brother, they’ll be armed with stakes. The last time I checked, she’s not strong enough to prevent a hunter from shoving a stake through her heart.”
As demeaning as his comment was, it was true. I wasn’t a bodybuilder; I barely had muscle to me.
“That’s why she’s learning to disarm them, Damon. That’s where Jeremy comes in. He’s the closest thing we have to a vampire hunter.” Stefan looked to Jer. “I know she’s your cousin, but don’t hold back. She won’t be going against soft people when she does.”
“Geez, you’re making it sound like there’s a battle waiting to be fought down the road,” I grumbled. I really didn’t want that to happen. I was only human after all; I had better things to worry about than a battle with vampire hunters.
“There very well could be, we just don’t know it yet. Now, we need to get you to learn some basic moves, Faith. Square up with Jeremy.”
“Go on. It’ll be okay,” Elena whispered, giving me a small push.
Grudgingly, I sauntered over to my cousin who towered over me. I didn’t cower under him. It was Jeremy after all. He wasn’t going to actually hurt me, so why should I fear him?
“Let’s see if you know any moves without realizing it. Go on.”
The first thing Jer did was try to wring my neck. I ducked easily, ramming into his gut with my shoulder. I took him out and almost rolled off him, but he locked his arms around my waist. I panicked, thrashing my limbs wildly. I tried to bite my nails into his hands to let me go, but that didn’t work. I made a high noise of irritation; I clearly had no skill in properly defending myself. I was going to need some work done.
“You won’t live long if you fight like that,” Damon scoffed. “You fight like a girl.”
“Gee, you think?” I retorted.
“I bet a kid could take you down with the way you fight.”
“Sorry if I wasn’t a girl who went around picking fights in high school.”
“It was a test run, Damon. Don’t be harsh on her,” Bonnie snapped at him. “You heard her; she doesn’t get involved in fights—that’s why she has no skill. No offense, Faith.”
“None taken, Bonnie,” I wheezed. I ceased struggling, lying limp across Jer’s body. I grunted. “This’ll probably take some work, won’t it?”
“A lot,” Stefan sighed. “But we’ll work our way there slowly. We don’t expect you to learn quickly in one day.”
Since I had no skill, Stefan made Jeremy do specific things in which I had to react to. Stefan then observed us, telling me what the most effective thing to do was, all while trying to ignore Damon’s snide comments about my poor skill in fighting. I learned to ignore his comments, though they did spark a flame of irritation in me from time-to-time.
In the end, I didn’t learn much. I ended up hurting Jeremy more than he hurt me. I acted on instinct and got him in the groin. I endlessly apologized for the reflex. Stefan commended me on it though, since the vampire hunters would most likely be stunned by that action, too.
I could throw punches, but they needed to be less predictable, and definitely quicker. I was too predictable according to everyone, even Bonnie and Elena. I never got the chance to try and disarm Jeremy, because Stefan didn’t feel that I was quite at that level yet.
I was so happy that we were done for the day when the sun started to set.
* * *
“You’ll get better, I’m sure!” Caroline assured me. For dinner, we all went out to the Grill to eat. I swear it was like the Grill was the only place to eat around Mystic Falls other than other peoples’ houses. We had found Caroline all by herself when we had come in. We told her all about my lack of skill in self defense. “Nobody’s perfect.”
“You got that right,” I said, picking at my fries.
“How are you doing anyway?”
“With what? The whole hunter issue or the vampires existing issue? Or is it the Trevor issue?” I kept my voice low.
“All of them,” she said carefully.
“I’m not worried about the hunter issue right now,” I said lowly. “But the Trevor issue is haunting me. I know it’s been weeks, but some things you can’t forget.”
“No lie there.”
My eyes scanned the Grill, finding Damon at the bar, trying to find a nice woman to probably feed off later tonight. I looked away. How could he be related to Stefan? Those brothers were total opposites. Stefan wasn’t snarky, he was more social and didn’t come off as a creeper or a guy with a bad boy kind of attitude compared to Damon. No wonder Elena chose Stefan; he seemed like the better choice out of the two.
“You look bored,” Elena noted. My eyes met hers. I shrugged. Elena looked around the Grill, in thought. “I think the pool table is empty. Want to shoot?”
“I guess. I’ve got nothing better to do, right?”
“Hey, Bonnie, do you want a ride home?” Caroline offered. “I think I want to leave. I’ve been here for hours!”
“I think I’ll catch a ride home with you,” Bonnie agreed. “See you, Elena, Faith, Stefan.”
Caroline and Bonnie walked out the doors as a few people walked in. The noise level was moderate between the music and people talking. The noise flew around the room, making it seem louder than it was. Elena dragged me over to the pool table, leaving Stefan to be all by himself at the table. I couldn’t remember the last time I had actually been at the pool table.
Wait. Yeah, I could remember. It was the first time I ever met Trevor, the first time Caroline saw right through him and knew he was trouble. I shook my head, forcing the vampire hunter from my mind. He was nothing to me, just like I had always been nothing to him.
I tried to keep the past out of my head as I focused on the present, trying to line up the shot. My aim obviously hadn’t improved from the last time I had played. It was evident I still needed help. I needed help with a lot of things nowadays: choosing which people I could trust, learning how to defend myself, and learning how to shoot pool. There were probably more things on the list, I just couldn’t think of them at the moment.
Elena tried to help me as best as she could, giving me pointers. Her advice didn’t help much. A vein pulsed in my forehead angrily; I would definitely lose in a tournament for pool.
“You still don’t have a skill, do you?” Damon taunted me from behind. My brows pulled together, I grimaced.
“I’m guessing you were watching,” I said through gritted teeth, straightening up as I gazed at what balls were left on the table.
“Partially. I could hear your heart from across the room past everyone else’s. You’re pissed.”
“Gee, that’s concerning, knowing you can tell my heartbeat from everyone else’s.” My voice was low, dark. “Did you come here to provide colorful commentary?”
“I actually came to help,” Damon retorted. The shock of his words caught me off guard. Elena looked past me to Damon, skeptical.
“I don’t need help.”
“You are such a bad liar, Faith.” Damon tried to touch my arms but I flinched away from him.
“Don’t touch me,” I hissed. “Do you want to get smacked in the jaw like last time? I’d be more than happy to do it again.”
“Hey, easy. It’s not like I’m going to win you over and kill you later on.” His breath tickled my ear. I twisted my head to stare into his blue-gray eyes. Damon knew how to punch a girl in the gut—figuratively, of course. “You have to trust me a little bit.”
I snorted. “Hardly. The last thing I need is for you to steal a drink from me.”
“Oh please, I couldn’t if I wanted to. Not with witnesses.”
“If you would stop harassing my cousin…” Elena butted in, her arms folded across her chest. “If you’re going to teach her out to shoot, do it. If you keep harassing her, I’ll kick your ass in front of everyone.”
“I’ll try to be on my best behavior,” Damon sassed Elena. I focused back on the pool table.
Reluctantly, I accepted Damon’s help. It took a while for me to actually let him touch me, considering the last man who helped me shoot was almost my killer. My limbs were tense when Damon got to helping me. I wiggled uneasily a few times when he was pressed against my back, towering over me, whispering little notes in my ear. Elena kept looking at us carefully, like she was waiting for Damon to slip up and do something to me.
“I think you’ve given her enough help, Damon,” Elena commented about twenty minutes later. “Let her try one on her own.”
“Do you think she’s ready?” Damon retorted. He was still behind me, his arm on top of mine.
“It’s not like we’re training her to fight. I think she can handle it.”
“Do you feel you’re ready?” Damon whispered. I shuddered even though he had been constantly slipping me tips all this time.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. I felt like I had been shooting mechanically with Damon’s help. He was really doing all the work, I wasn’t.
“Give it a try.”
It felt weird, having complete control over my body again. Most of the balls were in the pockets except the white and the black 8 ball. Even though this wasn’t an actual game, I’d still feel like I won if I pocketed it. My muscles automatically went into their stance. I bit my tongue lightly, squinting my eyes to focus.
I took the shot and made it. I beamed.
“I think you’ve finally gotten the hang of it,” Elena chirped.
“That’s due to my teaching,” Damon said proudly.
“What teaching? All you did was shoot for her.”
“Still, it helped,” I confessed.
“See?” Damon chuckled. “She admits I was helpful. I think someday she’ll be good enough to take me on.”
“Let’s start slow. I just got a decent shot there,” I said shortly. “You know, I wish I could do this more often than worry about problems.”
“Life isn’t exactly worry-free, you know,” Damon retorted.
“Don’t get on my bad side, not while I’m holding a wooden pool table stick.” I waved the stick in my hand threateningly.
“That type won’t hurt me. That’s pretty much a twig you’re holding.”
I grimaced. Clearly whatever threat I could say to Damon, he’d thwart it easy.
“So…” I crossed to Elena, lying the stick down on the wooden rim of the pool table. “When is the next session of training?”
“Two days from now,” she reported. “I want to make sure you aren’t aching when you practice.”
“What if I get trained up all for nothing?”
“You’ll have moves that will frighten any asshole who tries to nab you,” Damon piped.
I assumed that was a good thing.
**I realize as I go through these chapters that they're just over 5 Microsoft Word pages. Just to give you all an idea as to how big these chapters for this book are. Usually my average is about 5 full pages.
But, if you're still reading this book, then chapter length must not matter to you :) Which is nice to know, because I know some people don't like extremely long chapters, but there are some out there who don't care about the length if they love the story so much.**