She walked into the training room feeling like a hero. Everyone was busy with some kind of exercise, but they stopped when she walked in. She stood in the doorway as they stopped and stared and she suddenly felt completely awkward. They were all in their hunting gear, just like her, but for some reason they were looking at her so intensely she thought she must have done something wrong. Mirrors surrounded the room and she quickly looked at her reflection, but she looked fine. Great, even.

Slowly, the group formed a circle as they started to applaud her presence. She felt a mixture of relief and discomfort. She tilted her chin, smiled and gave a shy laugh. She could feel herself blushing. The applause slowly died down and Felicity spoke for the group. 

"We are happy to welcome our newest member to the Red Guard! Welcome to our ranks, Chloe Desjardins! We are truly blessed to have you." There was a fresh round of cheers and applause. The group slowly engulfed Chloe as they shook her hand, patted her back, and welcomed her with words and hugs. Chloe couldn't remember ever feeling such an overwhelming sense of belonging.

After a few moments Felicity pushed everyone back, leaving space between Chloe and everyone else. She cleared her throat. "I think we all remember last night when Chloe was.... uh... less than cordial with the Pope," there was some laughter within the group. "I think we all agreed at the time that her hunger issues were pretty much Quinn's fault." Here, there were some hoots. "Chloe wanted to break Quinn's neck as payment for his error." Some jeers erupted from the crowd. Chloe smiled in anticipation. "I think Chloe deserves a chance for a little retribution," smiled Felicity as their troupe cheered. Chloe searched the group for Quinn and found him grinning at the edge of the crowd. "So, here is your welcome gift from us to you," Felicity said to Chloe as she made a grand gesture towards Quinn with both arms, "The chance to break his neck!" The crowd parted to make a clear pathway between Chloe and Quinn.

Chloe felt a bubble of laughter erupt from her mouth. It was just too ridiculous. He was her best friend and she was about to try to break his neck. And she wanted to do it. She thought back to the night before and to this morning as she faced the Pope again. She couldn't deny that she felt a renewed desire to get a piece of Quinn. She watched as he took his fighting stance and felt her grin spread even wider across her face. She moved a little closer and bent her knees, ready to attack. She felt the other Red Guards move back to form a circle. All were eager to see what moves she had. She thought it was ironic that the only moves she had were the ones she'd learned from the person she was about to fight.

She reached for his neck with both hands, but he was reaching for hers as well. She felt his grip tighten around her and she dropped to the ground applying enough pressure to release his grip. Then she quickly pushed up, hitting his chin with the top of her head. She heard the satisfying snap of his teeth slam shut with the contact. That had to hurt, she thought. As she came up, she reached once again for his head and this time she got a firm grasp. She twisted it hard and heard the quick snaps as the small bones in his neck crumpled. She felt Quinn drop to the ground.

With her fresh victory in mind, she reached for the stake at her belt and faked a stabbing motion towards his heart. "I think it was lesson one hundred, or something. Break neck, stake," she said with a laugh. She watched as his neck slowly popped back into place. He grinned up at her as his neck healed and Chloe shook her head with raised eyebrows. It was still so weird to see.

"Good job," he said, extending a hand up to her. She pulled him up and they shared a quick hug. They turned to their cheering troupe. "Alright," said Quinn good-naturedly, "She's had her revenge! I taught her those moves, by the way," he said with some pride.

"Let's break into pairs and practice some take down drills," said Felicity.

Chloe watched as everyone paired off. Quinn went off with another partner. "You should get some pointers from other Red Guards," he said. Jessica, whom she remembered from the feast, came over to her and grabbed her hand.

"Hey Chloe!" said Jessica, "Let's go look at weaponry. You will be at a disadvantage out there for quite a few years. You stand a better chance of staying in the Red Guard if you can attack from a distance."

"Quinn thought I'd be in the hand-to-hand, staking once the others have the vampire contained," Chloe shared.

Jessica thought for a moment. "That makes sense if the distance attack fails. But it's safer for you to stay out of the close contact stuff for now," she said. And Chloe thought she agreed with Jessica. "There is a nice variety of weapons to choose from," said Jessica showing Chloe into a room just separate from the larger room with the padded floors. Chloe looked at the numerous choices hanging on the walls. There were targets in various places around the room.

"Quinn mentioned that there were new bullets?" asked Chloe.

Jessica's eyes lit up, "That's a project I've been working on. I'm glad to hear that Quinn is excited about the developments that we've been coming up with. We have a lot of other distance weapons, but a gun would be easier to shoot with accuracy. Faster, too. The tech is getting close to perfect, but it's still a bit unreliable. Certainly the cross bows are fool-proof if you can hit the target." Jessica took one of the cross bows off the wall and handed it to Chloe.

She felt the smooth wood under her hands as she felt the weight and feel of the weapon. "Pope Innocent the Second banned them in 1139. But, of course, we continued to use them to kill the vampires. The bolts have tips carved with sharpened crosses all around the point. Very effective in vampire killing with an experienced shot. Have you ever fired a cross bow?" Jessica asked.

"Nah. I had some friends who were a part of the archery club in school, but I never gave it a go. Guess I should have."

"So, you'd prefer the gun?" askedJessica.

"No, I've never shot one of those either," Chloe said.

Jessica looked at her with a funny expression. Her green eyes dancing slightly with some humour, "I thought all Americans shot guns. Isn't it, like, your national past time?"

Chloe laughed, "I don't know about in America, but not so much in Canada. I'm from a small town though, and lots of people have guns for hunting and stuff. But no, even though I'm from Hicksville, Northern North America, I've yet to shoot anything. Unfortunately, I'm a novice."

Chloe saw Jessica's shoulders sag the slightest bit. "Aww, I thought you were American. Totally cut out for these weapons. I've only been waiting for, like, fifty years for an American to come along. Who's that pretty girl who hunts the big cats and stuff? She's a sports hunter. I'd bet she'd be great at shooting vampires."

"I think I know who you're talking about. Yeah, she'd be good. And I bet people would like her more if she was shooting vampires instead of, like, rhinos, or whatever," Chloe agreed, trying to hide her discomfort with sport hunting. "Have you ever killed an endangered species?"

"If you consider vampires an endangered species, then yes. Otherwise, no, I haven't killed anything else. But I would. I like killing stuff." Chloe felt her head jerk back and her lower lip pucker. Jessica noticed her reaction and chuckled softly, "Don't worry, you're safe. But this was a lucky gig for me. Wanna take a shot with the cross bow? Maybe you'll be good at it."

Chloe gently raised the cross bow and looked through the scope. She saw a few dots through the scope and pointed one of them at the target in front of her. She slowly squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened. She pulled hard on the trigger and nothing happened again. She became aware of the fact that Jessica was shaking with laughter, "What?" Chloe demanded.

"You really are a novice. It's not loaded or cocked," she took the weapon from Chloe with a shake of her head. "I have my work cut out with you," she mourned. "I think it would be worth training you with a gun instead of a crossbow. It's easier to achieve efficiency with a gun. We can move on to bows later."

"But the guns only work half the time," argued Chloe.

"Yes, but I can give you several bullets at a time. With a bow, you have to reload every shot. Don't get me wrong, you can practise with both, but get good with a gun first. I keep all of the weapons in top shape. When you take one, it's ready to use. You don't have to worry about anything except aiming and shooting. So let's see what you've got for aim."

Chloe watched as Jessica got out a handgun. "Okay," she started, "This is the safety. It has to be off to shoot. Then you cock it," Jessica showed her each part of the gun, "You're going to hold the gun with one hand and support with the other hand. Aim at the target and very gently pull the trigger. Be prepared for the kick back."

Chloe followed Jessica's instructions carefully. She took very careful aim at the target and gently pulled the trigger. Even though she was holding the gun firmly, she was surprised at the force of the kick back. She would be more prepared next time. She looked at the target. She fully expected to have a bulls eye, but there was no mark on the target. She looked over toJessica. "Where'd it go?" she asked.

"I think it joined about twenty other bullets in the wall. Well beyond the target. But, not a bad first try. I want to see you here every morning at 6:00 a.m. Not a second after. You have a lot of work to do." Chloe sighed deeply, but she had to agree. She sucked. "Well," continued Jessica, "There's no time like the present. Let's see if we can at least get you on the target."

~~

A/N Don't forget to comment and vote!! xoxo