The next couple of months were brutal training under Apollo. He was strict in his lessons and made sure to drill the basics into us. There was never a dull moment in training with him. I'm still pretty shaken up over what happened to my parents. I'm sure Kasaan is too. He acts strong for me, but I know he is hurting inside. I'm going to get stronger. I'm going to get strong enough to kill them all.
"There you go, staring off into space again, Eddie," the young boy sparring with him commented. "Where do you be in there?" he asked.
"Don't worry about it, Kye," he responded.
Kye was a young, pale, milk-chocolate-skinned boy. He was always upbeat, which scared Eddie a little bit, but he was kind-hearted and really cared about others.
Kasaan and Eddie were past the beginners' phase of their training, so they were shipped to separate training schools to focus on the jobs they were most interested in. Kasaan, the smart one of the two, who excelled in situational awareness and paid close attention to detail, attended the detective school so he could learn to do undercover inside work for the Supernatural Investigation Team, with the hope of finding out why his parents were killed. Eddie, on the other hand, joined the Supernatural Team's military school so he could have all the tools and training he needed to be the best vampire hunter there ever was.
"Just make sure your head is in the game next drill," Kye joked as they got their gear together to head to the cafeteria.
"You just make sure you can keep up," Eddie snapped back as he took off through the trail and onto the path to the cafeteria with Kye on his heels.
"It's always you two standing out," an annoying voice echoed in front of them as a broad-shouldered man with amber eyes scolded them for running.
"Sorry, Commander Kern," Kye responded immediately as he and Eddie ran by without stopping.
"These young ones, full of energy in their youth. I'll see y'all in PT," Commander Kern said to himself because the boys were long gone down the hallway. "Y'all better have energy then."
In the cafeteria, it was loud and rowdy. It was one of the few places the students were allowed to let loose and be free. The first thing Eddie noticed when he entered the cafeteria was the aroma of sloppy joe in the air.
"Oh baby," Eddie exclaimed, excited about the meal to come.
"This messy meal for a messy boy," Kye teased him.
"You got that right," another older girl around the same age as Kye joined in to tease Eddie.
"You always got something to say, LayLay," Eddie snapped back.
Kye and LayLay were both thirteen years old. Eddie was only nine, but something they all could not deny was he was in the special unit class for a reason. He could keep up with the top of the school athletes instantly after training under Apollo. You would think his small size is a hindrance, but he has shown plenty of times his swift, tenacious, agile movements to be too much for others to handle.
"You know you my baby," she patted his forehead.
"Stop babying that boy. You know he's a killer," another star student teased.
"Luke, what's happening, my man?" Kye greeted him with a sort of handshake. Then he greeted Eddie with the same handshake.
"Another day in paradise," Luke greeted them as they got in line.
"We finally get to go on a real hunt today. I have been waiting since we were here at this stupid school," LayLay announced happily.
"You ready, Eddie?" Luke asked.
"I have no choice," Eddie sighed.
The hunt they were going on today was to take down a werewolf pack. Eddie was only interested in killing vampires.
The rest of the lunch period, they all sat, ate, and strategized for their hunt today. They were at the top of the school, so they would be expected to do great things. Almost everyone else in the cafeteria was horse-playing around and acting as if they didn't have a care in the world.
All except in the corner sat a lone boy, intently in his book, studying all the weaknesses of werewolves.
(I have to pick up some supplies and make some tools that will be useful on today's hunt,) Malcolm thought to himself. He grabbed his book and left the cafeteria early.
Malcolm was ranked the lowest of all the students. He just wasn't as physical as the other students. What he lacked in strength, he made up for academically. He made it his point to know the weakness of every creature out there.