It took me two days to recover from the wounds inflicted during that training session and it added to the fear every time I stepped into the training room, wondering what horrors they would inflict on us.

I had woken up to an additional glass of blood I had no idea who had brought it. It had helped with the healing and for that I was thankful for.

It was still only four of us, the trainee Sires. I wondered how long their training lasted for. Although I had entirely different term for what they were doing to us. Torture.

This time we entered the training room Eve was waiting for us with some other people. Three others eyes shimmered gold, they were vampires and as we got closer I noticed two others with the same shimmering white eyes we had. Sires.

There were two of them. They stood soldier like with their hands behind their back and their feet slightly apart on either side of Eve, the other vampires stood behind them. I studied the faces of the Sires, expressionless. Their attire was slightly different to ours, it was black with red embroidered seams. They held my attention the most as it dawned on me that if any of us, the new Sires, successfully completed the training we would become them. They were our future and that thought made me nervous. Would I be as void of emotion as they were?

When my eyes met Eve’s I felt a shiver of fear. Every time I believed I had experienced the extent of their cruelty, I was subject to more. It made me fear them. It also made me wonder if this a subconscious goal to ensure we feared then enough to obey all them without hesitation/

We stood in our usual spots. I studied the faces of the new Sires that stood beside me. Their faces had hardened and I wondered if I looked the same. We weren’t different.

Then Silas entered.

His eyes met mine for only the briefest moment but it stirred an array of emotions.

It was impossible not to feel fear when he was around. Perhaps that was subconscious fear they counted on to keep us in line. We associated their presence with the worst pain and suffering we had ever endured.

“Today’s training is going to be challenging. It will test all you have learned so far,” she began.

I swallowed and tried my best not to show the fear that spiked inside of me. This wasn’t going to be our usual training and that scared me in a way that I had to fight the urge to escape for my own survival.

The doors to the training room opened and two vampires wheeled in a cage with someone inside of it. When I saw the red glimmering eyes of the Scav I wanted to go into a full blown panic attack.

I didn’t need a crystal ball to know this was not going to go well. I tried to keep my breathing even so I didn’t freak out. No matter what we were going to face I had to keep my cool.

“You all know how to kill one of these with an adrenaline shot,” Eve said as the Scav was wheeled in front of us. He was bigger than me and his hands held the bars of the cage. His eyes met mine. Unlike the female Scav I had killed there was no pleading or desperation but there was a hunger, a hunger for us.

I swallowed again. I couldn’t hide my fear, glancing at the Sires training with me, they didn’t seem confident as they usually did. We all knew this would be the greatest test of our skills so far.

“But what happens if you don’t have one? Not every mission goes according to plan, and you need to learn to improvise under pressure.”

My eyes widened and I nearly gasped out loud but managed to swallow it before it came out. They were crazy, absolutely crazy.

I remember how difficult it had been to take out the small female Scav I had killed with the appropriate weapon and I had just survived. Even thinking about taking on a Scav without it was suicide. Then I had a thought. Was this how it was going to end for me? Would this be the training I would be unable to survive?

The easy thing would be allow the Scav to do its worst and hope it wasn’t a painful death. But if my survival instinct kicked in when the fear did, I would have no choice but to fight to survive.

My attention drifted away from the Scav for a moment to lock eyes with Silas, who was watching me silently. Was his attention on me because I was the weakest of the trainee Sires? Was I the one he wasn’t sure would get through this?

The sudden hiss broke the silence jerking my attention back to the Scav. He was looking straight at me. Why me? Why not any of the others standing beside me?

Slowly, I swallowed. I knew if they released him he would go for me. I had no idea why I knew that.

“You will have some items you can use as weapons,” Eve said, with a ghost of smile before she turned to face the vampires who put threw down some stuff onto the floor. A small knife, bat, wine bottle, and a gun.

Was that it? The other sires looked, just like I felt. We had all successfully taken the life of a Scav but I had been the only one to kill one who hadn’t been restrained.

And with that Eve, and the vampires left. All, except Silas. He remained with the two trained Sires. He nodded in the direction of the one male Sire, who was tall with blonde hair. The blonde sire opened the door to the cage.

Automatically, I moved back to calculate how long it would take me to get to a weapon. The Scav banged the cage door open and halted to glare at me. His eyes changed to a deeper red.

I bolted to the weapons on the other side of the room, right behind the other Sires. I was the slowest and last pick up a weapon. The buzz cut guy got the gun, the other female Sire got the bat and the other male Sire got the knife. The only weapon left was the wine bottle. I picked it up even though I wasn’t sure how effective it was going to be against my enemy. In my haste, it was automatic. A fight for survival.

The four trainee Sires stood, weapons in hand, as the Scav began his approach slowly. He seemed to size us up, unlike the Scav I had fought before.

It increased my fear that none of us would be able to defeat him.

I tightened my hold on the neck of the wine bottle, like my life depended on it. The Scav focussed on me and I knew I was in trouble. He lunged toward me. There was only a split second to make my choice. Instead of trying to get away I stood my ground, I used all the strength I possessed to swing the bottle in his direction.

He pushed me as the bottle hit him against the side of the face. I fell backward, the wind knocked out of me. Disorientated, I tried to roll on my side and sit up. I saw the brush cut guy aim the gun at the Scav who was hold the side of his head, he was grimacing. The shot blasted and went straight through the side of the Scav’s head. He howled like a desperate animal, the sound pierced through me.

I heard the gun cock and he fired another shot that hit the Scav in the chest but it only seemed to slow him down momentarily. A human would never be able to withstand that, but the Scav brushed it off and turned his attention to the brush cut Sire.

I shook my head and got to me feet. I was dizzy, I opened my eyes and closed them briefly trying to focus. There was another shot and then Scav landed on the brush cut guy, knocking him off his feet.

They were wrestling, but the Scav was stronger. The girl with the bat came up behind the Scav to try and hit him a couple of times but he wouldn’t let go of his victim. The Sire with the knife stabbed him a couple of times, it did nothing to weaken the Scav.

“Help me,” the brush cut Sire pleaded, desperately.

I looked down at the bottle I still held. How was I supposed to help with a glass bottle?

Momentarily, my eyes caught Silas’. He had his arms crossed over his chest as he studied me.

Whatever I was going to do I had to do it now.