Chapter 4: Talks, Thoughts and Spars
Notice: About the TVD Universe's timeline. It's quite a mess during The Originals and Legacies. It's said Hope is born in 2012, and The Originals' last season taking place in 2026, but it's stated Hope is a 15 years-old girl. While at Legacies, it's said she is 17 despite the series beginning in February 2028. The same for the Saltzman twins and many other characters. So, just think of me changing the dates and correcting the timeline as it might get more confusing.
That's it. Enjoy the chapter now!
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[18/01/2030, Salvatore Boarding School]
As the melodical song of the birds started to come from beyond the walls of his room, John woke up from his sleep almost immediately.
Sleeping is good. John thought, quickly rising from the bed, standing up straight by its side. What to do now? I don't hear anyone awake. And I don't even know the hours. Bare feet, John walked to the glass doors which separated the room and the outside balcony.
When the doors were opened, a cold morning breeze swept through the room, bringing in the coldness of Virginia's winter.
Walking out of his room, John laid his arms on the stone fence surrounding the terrace, feeling the cold winds easily passing through the thin fabric of his shirt. I wonder if it's going to snow. He thought.
John had never seen snowfall, and he honestly hoped to see it if possible. From what he heard through the conversations of the students, there was snowfall earlier this week and last week too.
As he had nothing to do right now, John spent a few minutes in silence doing nothing on the balcony, which bored him, leading him to do the next thing that came to his mind. Let's fly.
With a leap forward, John's feet detached from the floor, with his body constantly rising in the air.
When meters above the ground, with nothing holding him back, not even gravity itself, John felt that same sentiment he had when acquiring his abilities. The feeling of freedom, that you were unshackled from the world's natural laws, only governed by yourself. This was the feeling that spread in his mind as he carelessly roamed in the air. Right now, in the boy's mind, it seemed only he existed.
Thankfully, there is a magical barrier around the school to hide these kinds of things. John thought, remembering one of the school's features Hope mentioned to him.
The barrier served to hide what people and things from beyond the school's boundary could see. They couldn't risk a satellite or someone who lost themselves in the woods appearing in the school and see a random teenager creating fireballs or a young vampire running at almost Mach 1.
For a few long good minutes, that was all John did, hovering in the air in random directions, but never leaving the school's grounds.
He was just perturbed when he was passing above a trail that led to the woods, a voice calling him from below. "So, you also know how to fly."
Turning upside down, John's body now faced the ground, with his eyes staring at his friend. "I didn't mention it?"
"I certainly would remember if you told me you had the ability to defy gravity." She said, crossing her arms in front of her chest, almost dragging a look from the boy. "Do you have any other abilities you want to tell me?"
"I have X-Ray Vision." He replied.
These words got quite the reaction from her. "Did you ever?"
"Look through someone's clothes? No, relax. I am not this perverted. I know how to restrain myself." He self-explained, going down before landing in front of her. "It's a secondary ability of my Electromagnetism Manipulation. I can see through the entire electromagnetic spectrum, so.."
"In other words, you can see through the wave-lenghts of X-Rays and see through things." She said, trying to surpass her disbelief. "Before going to sleep, I looked up at what kind of things someone with the ability to manipulate electromagnetism could do. X-Ray Vision was just one of them. But that was just what is presumed, tell me what someone who can really manipulate it can do." She said with a stance, her tone sounding more ordering. And honestly, John quite liked that.
"If you insist." John replied. "As stated, Electromagnetism is composed of two dependent forces, electricity and magnetism. You have already seen me manipulating charged particles, electricity. As for the other..." Raising his hand, Hope's phone flew off from her pocket and was grabbed by him. "Magnetism manipulation. The ability to manipulate magnetic fields." He handed her phone back
Taking her phone, Hope continued to stare at him. "So you can also move metallic objects."
"Yes, in one way or another. But let me clarify something. For me to manipulate magnetism I need first to manipulate the charged particles in the environment, the energy, so as to reverse the poles of the magnetic fields by my wish and thus move the metal objects." John very briefly explained his ability.
"It seems a little complicated, considering everything you have to think through to achieve what you want." Hope said.
"Not really." John denied. "It's more… natural. instinctual to be honest. I just know what to do. Obviously, knowing what I am doing helps achieve it." He completed it.
Hope nodded, understanding what he meant. Then, she put her questioning expression again. "Spit out, what else do you have?"
"How do you know I have more abilities?" John asked in defense.
"Call it feminine intuition." She replied, keeping her steel expression.
John rolled his eyes at that. "Yes, I have a few others. But I still didn't get the hang of some of them. It's quite hard to practice with them."
"Why?" She asked.
"Because these abilities involve work with the minds and psyche of other living beings. I can't just go around messing with someone's mind." He explained.
"Do you have something similar to a vampire's compel?" Hope asked, already giving up on keeping her surprise in check. What is he, an alien? She thought, not knowing one bit she was technically right.
"More or less." John partially agreed. "I bet you heard of telepathy and telekinesis?"
Listening to it, Hope asked. "Is there anything you can't do?"
To this, John just laughed. "I know it's great and all. But having many abilities also makes it more difficult to develop and train in all of them. But considering I am immortal, overall it's great." He said in a carefree tone, walking by her side as they walked without goal.
Looking up at him, Hope stared at him for a few moments. Moments that seem to stretch infinitely as she finally decided to ask it.
Her lips parted. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, ask away." He nodded.
"Why are you telling me everything about you?" She said all at once, a little of confusion in her eyes. "Ever since we met, you told me so many things about you, things that sincerely, I wouldn't believe if you didn't show me otherwise. And I know we are friends but I think everything is just…"
And there she goes. Was what John thought, listening to the question that stretched into an explanation of the question and then how she didn't want to be seen as someone bothered by their fast friendship.
Due to the traumatic events she experienced, Hopd feared the attachment she was having with John, the same type of fast attachment she once had with a vampire which led to her mother's death, a death she blames onto herself every single time she thinks about it. Ever since then, she has mistrust issues and tries to isolate herself from any social gathering. And the fact that she just hammers all the time in her mind that she is the Tribrid, the only one of her kind, this sentiment of loneliness just intensifies even more.
However, at the same time she tries to stay alone, she also wishes for company. Because that's what all sentient beings need, social company. Be it a mate, a friend, family or a lover, they just need someone to rely on to feel better.
This is the reason she tried to kill Landon in the beginning of Season 1. She had put her trust in him, confessing her feelings and telling him the history of her family. Trying to approach someone for a long time. But in the end, he lied to her and this led to her taking with her a Dark Killing Spell to kill the young man when they found him. Because when she trusted a boy she liked once, she lost someone important. And when she finally trusted another one two years later, he lied to her and she thought he was a possible threat to the security of the school.
In this vicious cycle of self-isolation and seeking of company, the one who would be hurt the most was Hope herself. If not taken care of, she would slowly reach the state where her father was for centuries, an endless paranoia. But instead of daggering his brothers and sister and killing entire families across continents, she would just hurt herself. And then, probably, when the pressure of her own feelings were just too much to handle, she would just shut it off…
"Hope, calm down a little." John said, putting his hand over her shoulder. "Let me tell you something. The reason I am telling you all of these things it's because they are no secret." He said slowly. "I mean, I certainly can't go around town saying these things. People will think I am just going crazy. But here? Crazy is just normal, and my crazy is just a little bit crazy." He laughed at the end of his phrase. "I trust you, Hope. We can have met only yesterday, but I know I can trust you. I mean, yesterday you told me a little bit of your history, of who your father was. Do you think I didn't notice the other words in that page beside the title?" He asked, which Hope just answered with silence.
"I know we know each other for less than a day, but for you to show me that page means only two things. First, you trusted me for some reason to tell me that your father was probably the biggest villain the world has ever known. And if only half of what I just got on that page was true, he probably was. But even then, you trusted me enough to show me that. That I wouldn't judge you because of who your family was." He paused for a moment. "And let me tell you something, since I know that this must mean a lot to you. Your father probably was not the most righteous man, but he was a great man. Because there isn't an action more defining of a great father than their sacrifice for their child. And if he did it, even if he did the most horrible things the man can ever imagine, he would have my respect." John completed, his words making the girl in front of him resist strongly to not let the tears fall from her eyes.
"In second…" He continued. "You probably showed me that page because you wanted me to stay away from you, right?" John asked, but he didn't let her answer. "When you talked about your family, I could sense it in you, guilt and extreme sadness. Sorry, empathic powers from telepathy." He said in a rush the last part. "I don't know what led you to feel guilty when mentioning your parents. And it's okay if you never wish to tell me, I myself have secrets as well as you have. But regardless of that, I think I know a little why you did that if you wished for me to stay away. You don't want more of that sadness, the sentiment of losing someone close to you. That's why you are the lonely girl, right? Because you are afraid."
Right now, Hope still resisted the urge to cry. She didn't want to cry. She didn't want to show weakness, to let others see she sometimes was not okay with loneliness.
And seeing her like this, John approached her and gave her a hug.
"I never made many promises, but let me make one right now. If you ever wish for a shoulder to cry on, someone to talk or even just be in their presence, I will be there. Because guess what, I am not letting you push me away. I will be here to call you werewitchre. I promise." He said, hugging her tighter.
Hope, in his embrace, nodded her head. "You promised, fake Superman."
John was about to say that then she was his Batman, but he refrained. The joke might not sound well for her right now.
"Yeah, I did." John said, feeling a few droplets wetting his shirt, but he didn't need to remember it, didn't he?
When a few seconds passed, Hope slowly retreated from John. "Thanks, I needed that." She said, still adjusting herself.
A smile was the way he replied to her. "That's what I am here for, remember?"
"Yeah, you're right." She chuckled at his response.
After waiting for Hope to adjust herself, John asked the question that was lingering in his mind. "Now, what were you going to do in the woods?" He asked.
"I had a bad dream tonight." She replied. "About my family."
That's probably why she is so sentimental right now. John thought.
"I wanted to go into the woods and wolf out." She explained. "When you are in your beast form, things become easier to think about. Everything is more simple."
"Right, I remember you telling me you can transform at will due to your bloodline." John said. "But doesn't it hurt? Why change just to feel the pain of all your bones breaking?"
"Because it's easier to bear physical pain than emotional pain." Hope replied almost immediately. "But nowadays, the pain is easier to bear. After every transformation, it lessens a little. And I have been doing it for some time now."
"I see." John nodded. "Unfortunately, I can't transform into anything."
"Well, it seems I win against you at something." She said, smirking in satisfaction.
"Yeah. I can change a few things throughout my body a little, but nothing great." John said back.
But Hope got interested in what he said. "What can you change about you?"
"My eyes' color, for example. This honey, almost orange, color is not my real eye color." He answered.
"Why did you change it?" She asked in curiosity.
"Because it's strange for someone to have golden iris. It seems like two golden rings attached to my eyes." John replied. That was the main and only reason he changed his eyes' color. He couldn't go out there with golden eyes and not expect anyone to find strange. It was easier to just change it than having everyone stare at your eyes.
"Let me see them." She demanded from him.
And listening to her, John just complied with a nod of his head.
Suddenly, the honey color that reflected the boy's kindness through his eyes was replaced by a warm and bright golden majestic color, like sunlight bathing the orange trees during autumn.
When she saw his eyes, Hope was immediately captivated by them. It seemed like looking at the grace of the sun, but without the fear of going blind by its beauty.
"They are beautiful." Hope blurted, raising her hand and caressing the side of his face at the level of his eyes.
"Then I think I should stop hiding them." John said.
"Definitely." She agreed with him.
As Hope looked at John's eyes intently, the boy did the same. He observed those deep blue eyes resembling the full moon in an open sky surrounded by stars.
"I think we should return. When will the cafeteria open for breakfast?" John suddenly said, a little embarrassed by her closeness.
Retreating her hand from his face, Hope reached out to her phone and looked at the time. "Breakfast is ready by 7:30 AM. We still have a little more than a couple hours until there."
"I think I will go back to my room." John said. "Want a ride back? I will show you how beautiful things can be from up high."
"Why not?" She replied.
"Here, climb up." John said, turning his back to her and putting his hands behind to hold her.
"Tell me if you feel like I'm choking you." Hope said as she did a small jump and crossed her arms around John's neck.
"It's fine." John replied, grabbing her legs and so she doesn't have to hang around his neck all the time. "Are you ready?"
"Show me what you can do."
"Then here we go."
Suddenly, Hope felt the rush of the wind as they immediately set on flight. In the matter of a second, both of them were a few dozen meters above the ground.
From up here, the girl could see everything within the school. The building, the lake with a thin layer of ice over it, the woods covered by the snow of the week and beyond.
The winter season brought a color of gray to the school, making it an image of an old building amidst the snow field, giving it the sentiment of serenity and calmness.
"This isn't bad…" She muttered near his ear, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"It really isn't." John affirmed. "And it's about to get better." He muttered, looking up.
Doing the same, Hope observed as small flakes of snow started to descend from the sky, covering the sky by their amount.
"I've never seen snowfall before." John blurted. "It's beautiful."
"Yes, it is." Hope nodded, watching as the woods which were starting to take back their color of green and brown were once more covered by white.
For minutes, the boy and the girl just stayed there, in the air, watching as the snow fell down from the sky. No one rushed the other, they just spent their time appreciating the view in the company of the other.
It was only after these few minutes that they started moving again, with John approaching his room, his two feet carefully landing on the balcony.
"Here we go." He said, letting Hope go down from his back.
"Thanks," Hope said, giving him one more hug. "for everything."
"I'm here for this, girl." John returned the hug. "With me here, you'll never be alone."
"You said that." She said, staying in the embrace of his strong arms for a few more seconds before retreating. "I will go back to my room now." She said slowly, in a gentle tone.
"Okay, see you later?"
"Yes." She nodded, but halfway to the door, she turned around. "Actually, do you want to join me and Dr. Saltzman in a little exercise?"
"What do you mean?" John asked.
"Sometimes, me and Dr. Saltzman spar, fight to break out some sweat and also relieve some stress. It's one of my ways to cope with things." Hope explained.
"It sounds cool." John said. "Sure, I would like to."
"Okay." She smiled at his response. "Then, we'll meet at the gymnasium."
"Didn't you say you used to train at the pier?" John asked, remembering what she said yesterday.
"Due to winter, Dr. Saltzman changed the places to train. He can't take on the cold as we do." She said, referring to how both of them were using thin fabric of clothes and even then didn't feel the coldness of a 0°C snowing weather.
"Right, it makes sense." John nodded, but he still had a question. "Do you hold back against him? I mean, since he is just a…"
"A middle-age normal human? Yes." She nodded, answering his question. "But what can I do? He is the only one in the school willing to help me with this kind of thing. And even if a little, it still helps. I don't want to sound disrespectful saying he is too old to follow my movements." Her explanation brought out a low sight from her mouth.
Normally, Hope wouldn't mind being disrespectful, or at least, ignore anyone in the school, but Alaric was different. He was the one who mostly supported her in this place since she came back from New Orleans two years ago. He helped her find a way to cope with her problems, even if not entirely dealing with them. She appreciated his actions and support, going out of his way to help her not go deeper into the darkness. For these reasons, she couldn't find in herself the resolve to say that she wanted someone who could contend with her, not a normal human.
And John actually understood her. "I understand."
"Then, will I see you in a few minutes?" Hope asked.
"I will be there in no time." John said. "I am a little rusty so go easy on me, okay?"
"Did you practice something before?" She asked.
"Yes. As you said, it's good to relieve some stress. Not to mention, I like the feeling of hitting something." John admitted, a little smirk on his face.
"Okay then. I will go change myself." She said, turning the doorknob and leaving the room.
As for John, he suddenly looked at himself and said, "I should find myself a few clothes. I might rip out these ones during practice." With that said, John also left his room. Knowing just where he needed to go to get some clothes.
Outside his room, he walked down the stairs, ignoring the sounds coming from all the rooms in the dormitory. The soundproof walls built in every room was only enough to stop newborn vampires and werewolves from listening to their neighbors, but not for someone like John.
After walking down the stairs and arriving at the school's hall, John walked to the School's Staff Dormitory, where workers and teachers slept, in another wing of the school's building.
Normally, students were barred from entering this wing, but John was still not an official student, and honestly, he could care less about it when he knocked on Dr. Saltzman's door.
"John? What are you doing here?" Alaric asked, opening the door.
"Hope invited me to your morning sparring, but I don't have clothes fit for that. So she told me to seek you for some clothes." Replied John, a little happy that he didn't bother the man's sleep as it seemed he was awake for some time now.
Giving a look up and down at the boy, Alaric nodded. "Give me one minute." He said, retreating back to his room, going into his closet and taking a look at what would fit John.
Some time later, Alaric came with a shirt and tossed it to John. "Try it first."
Just nodding, John wore the shirt. Unfortunately, despite Alaric being a taller than average man, the shirt fell short on John.
"Take it off quickly before you rip it." Alaric said, with John just following his instructions. "Go to the gymnasium as I try to find something for you with some of the professors." He said, "I think Jeremy might have something fitting." The last part was barely a murmur, more said to himself than for John to hear.
"Who is Jeremy?" John asked, although he already knew who Jeremy is, making Alaric tell him might help in the future as he could say he knows Jeremy though Alaric.
"One of the school's staff. A magically enhanced supernatural hunter. Most of the time, he is out of school seeking new students." Alaric explained, Jeremy's existence was no mystery in the school. Many students were brought by him, or he notified Alaric to get them before moving.
"Cool." John thought. But isn't Jeremy around Alaric's height? Maybe the real Jeremy Gilbert must be taller? Who knows? Let's just wait and see. Retreating from the door, John made his way back to the hall, and from there went to gymnasium.
There, John waited for what seemed to be a quarter of an hour before Alaric passed through the place's doors. He was carrying two pairs of sticks, one pair in each hand, a white shirt and a pair of black sweatpants over his shoulder.
When he approached enough, Alaric threw both clothes at John. "Wear it and see if it fits your size or not." He said.
Seeing Alaric pass by him, with his back turned on to him, John took off his clothes and quickly wore the ones he received.
Barely fits my size. John thought, looking at himself as the white shirt was basically clinging to his skin. But I like it. I would look like Toji or Gojo if the colors were inverted. Hm, Jujutsu is definitely a world I have to one day. He decided, grabbing his clothes off the floor before folding them. "I am done, Dr. Saltzman."
Turning around, Alaric took a look at the boy. "I see it barely fits your size." He commented, "Thankfully, the cloth will probably hold on."
Right after the headmaster said this, the doors to the gymnasium opened up again, but now revealing the figure of Hope in gym clothes. A very loose blouse and tight leggings that highlighted her lower curves.
Jesus. John thought, looking at the girl who tied her hair in a ponytail. May God bless those curves. To not make it so blunt he was looking at her that way, John kept his expression serene, but adjusted his sight with his perfect physiology control to make his eyes focus on her figure.
"Since everyone is here, let's start the warm-ups." Alaric said, starting to stretch his muscles, with Hope following him right after.
John, not wanting to appear to be the strange one, just followed their actions. Although his body was always kept at its peak state, stretching a little instead of bragging wouldn't hurt at all.
The whole process took around ten minutes. And when done, Alaric grabbed two sticks. "Have you ever practiced Kali Arnis?"
The boy just shook his head, grabbing both sticks in the air. "No."
"What martial arts have you practiced before?" Hope asked this time.
"Choy Lai Fut and Boxe." John listed them. "And Jiu-Jitsu too, but just the basics."
"If you have experience in training and considering your physical capability, we don't have to worry about you hurting in the middle of the spar, right?" Alaric asked, receiving a nod from John. "Good. Hope, let's start. John, you watch and try to grasp anything from us. After this, you will spar with me and then Hope." He said, facing the girl. "Come on, don't embarrass yourself in front of the new student."
"We will see it." Hope said, immediately attacking Alaric, who just parried the attack without much effort.
At the sidelines, John just stood there, with his arms crossed in front of his chest as Hope and Alaric fought each other, with the dull sound of the arnis sticks resounding in the gym.
From the fight, it was obvious Hope was the aggressive-offensive part, constantly trying to force her way with force and speed, trying to break Alaric's defense with a mix of what seemed random attacks coming from different angles.
Alaric, however, was fairing well against this. Better than most humans would probably. He parried almost all of the attacks, with only evading sometimes to ensure not getting hit. He was always taking advantage of openings left by Hope when she went ahead in her attacks. It made those who watched him understand why he didn't fear vampires when younger. His techniques could easily help him deal with young vampires.
But between the two, it was obvious who was getting the upper hand.
Time is reaching him. John thought, looking at Alaric. His defense is great, but it's obvious that the sparring is draining him of energy and slowing down his reaction speed. It may not be visible for him or Hope, but it's to me. In a few minutes to half an hour at best, he will tire out, whilst Hope will probably not even break a sweat. The most tired Hope might get from this sparring is the mental one from having to restrain herself all the time. Hm, maybe that's what Alaric is aiming for all this time. That would make sense. After this briefest thought, John returned to focus on Alaric. If not for the side-effects, he should've asked Bonnie to turn him into a Supernatural Hunter. But being a headmaster in a school full of vampires must complicate things for him.
Supernatural Hunters had their advantages. Enhanced physical attributes, resistance to psychic powers and magic. However, they ultimately had this urge to kill Vampires. One that is hard to overcome. Jeremy Gilbert might have done it, but he not staying in the school for long periods of time is obviously a result of him not wishing to fight off his killing urges all of the time.
I think it's worth the attempt, but he probably doesn't think the same. He thinks he already has a good grasp over the school. Which, actually, it is. I mean, he has witches as professors, even one werewolf who watches over the school's pack, and Jeremy as well. Dorian would also have his ways. Not to mention the anti-magic device on the tunnels below the school. And if one of the students goes berserk, he probably thinks he can count on Hope to help him. With his eyes still on the fight, John started to walk around them, his thoughts still going on as a few thoughts he had about this world started to unravel.
"Ha!" Hope shouted, finally finding an opening, or more exactly forcing one, and redeeming Dr. Saltzman unmoving as she held a stick over his chest and another on his neck.
"You are getting better." He muttered, being released right after by the girl. "But if you were more calm-minded during a fight, you would have defeated me earlier."
"Then how come will I get to relieve some stress?" Hope said. "This is better for me."
"Don't blame me when you need to be more calm when in a fight when I said so." Alaric said, turning his head at John while getting the bottle of water he brought with him. "John?"
"I think I got the gist of it." The young man replied.
"Good, come on. Let's see if you are actually telling the truth." He said, pressing down the tip of the bottle before putting it down and walking to the middle of the gym.
Walking over, Hope tapped John's arm. "Good luck." She said before handing the sticks.
"Thanks." He replied with a smile.
Facing Dr. Saltzman, John raised his sticks, no pun intended, and stood in the same stance as the headmaster. "When you are ready." John said.
The answer was Dr. Saltzman immediately throwing a barrage of attacks against the boy, who effortlessly defended them all, using the same methods and movements that Alaric did when fighting Hope.
For a few good seconds, Alaric watched as John defended all his attacks and decided to talk when in the spar for the first time.
"I don't know… if I should be proud… of John listening to the advice I gave you…" He said to Hope. "Or disappointed… that you didn't listen to my teachings."
"Shut up." Was all that Hope replied.
John smirked at her response, parrying one of the attacks at the same time before taking advantage of the force applied to the stick, letting it slide to his right side before applying a counter force to it, making it an horizontal arc in the air as the stick hit Alaric's left arm.
"Urgh!"
"If you get talky during the spar, Dr. Saltzman, don't blame me if you get hurt."
"I thought you never practiced Kali Arnis before. How are you so good at it?"
"I never practiced, really. But seeing you changed things. Perks of eidetic memory and superior senses. I just watched you and my brain memorized the patterns."
"I call bullshit." Alaric said.
"You are not the only one." Hope said by the side.
"Hey, I am not the only one who can do that. The werewolves and vampires can also use their superhuman speed and watch normal humans fight and study their fights. Although they can't learn as fast as me, they can grasp the movements faster than humans." John explained.
In all the TVD Universe, vampires suffered under their own arrogance. Due to their superior attributes, they never stopped for a moment to really learn how to combat, always taking advantage of their strength and speed, thinking that they were truly immortal in the world. So, besides vampires who actually took part in wars or already had previous knowledge of fighting, almost all vampires are as inexperienced in fighting as normal humans.
That's why Supernatural Hunters and even normal humans could hunt vampires, they made use of this arrogance and played it against them.
A vampire with fighting knowledge was deadly. An example was an ancient vampire known as Shen Min, who fought Hayley, an Hybrid, and Marcel, an almost three centuries old vampire, effortlessly and almost killed them if not for Elijah stopping him.
"Not exactly in their best interest to learn how to fight." Alaric replied. "Not to mention that fighting isn't exactly what the school promotes. A fight can lead to someone bleeding, and then one of the vampires can lose to their bloodlust. The same way a werewolf can lose their temper and simply kill someone with their rage."
"Then why are you teaching Kali Arnis to Hope?"
"So she actually doesn't really kill someone at school." He replied.
"Thanks for the trust." Hope said dryly.
"You are welcome." Alaric said, letting himself open for a hit in the side of the torso. "Urgh!" He fell on one knee.
"I told you not to talk." John said, supporting the sticks on his shoulders.
"Son of a…" Alaric grunted. "Hope, take my place. You can deal with him." He said to the side, raising from the knee and going to the side, laying down.
"Sorry for that." John apologized to him, taking the sticks off his shoulders before looking at the girl positioning herself in front of him. "Ready?" He asked.
"Any last words?" She said.
"Try not to break my stick."
Bang!
Defending from the attack that would have broken a normal human's hand, John looked at Hope incredulously. "Was it something that I said?"
"You guess so?" She replied.
John just smiled as a reply, moving his arms around to defend from the countless attacks thrown at him, with strength clearly superior to that used in the fight against Alaric.
Bang!
Through the gymnasium, the sound of the clash of wood could be heard with much more intensity as before, with it seeming the sticks could break every time by the strength of the impacts.
"Okay, no pun intended, but at this rate you are going to break the sticks."
"What? Afraid of going hand-to-hand against a girl with half your size?" Hope taunted, a playful smirk forming on her lips.
To answer that, John parried the next attack and retreated two steps back, throwing the arnis sticks on the floor. "Come, little wolf. Let's see if you bite." John raised his fists, entering in the stance he is most acquainted to.
Smiling at John's reaction, Hope did the same. "Try not to get hurt." She said before rushing forward, leaving a mark of her foot on the wooden floor.
With his palm open, John received the first thrown by the girl and pushed it outwards, leaving an opening space on her right side, enough for his left knee to try to connect with her belly. But Hope reacted in time and stepped to her right side, evading the attack.
However, with his leg still in the air, John stretched his contracted leg in her direction, aiming for her chest.
Raising both of her arms across her chest, Hope felt the impact sending shivers across her body as her forearms bones shook with the impact, her body sliding back for a few meters.
"That's it?" John said, his smile almost stretching to his ears.
"We didn't even start." Hope rushed once again, throwing a side kick this time.
With only a step to the right, John effortlessly evaded the attack. But it didn't end there, with Hope immediately spinning on her left foot before using the rotational strength to throw herself in the air to do a rotative back kick.
Ducking down, John tried to hit Hope's her torso with a left hook, as she was opened in mid-air. But Hope was quicker in reacting than John imagined, with her using the incoming strength from the punch and the fact John's arm could easily support her weight to grasp the punch and pushing herself back, landing at the other side of the gym.
When she was in mid-air, John could have used the opportunity to strike again. He was fast enough to reach up to her in the air, but he waited until she landed on the floor.
Thump!
With her two feet landing on the wooden floor beneath her, using one of her hands to support herself, Hope raised her head to look up at John. "Are you holding back?" She asked in a threatening way.
"A little." John made a small space between his thumb and index finger, not seeing the need to lie about it.
"Then stop it. I'd rather take a beating than you holding yourself back." She said through her teeth, raising to the stance again.
Dropping down his playful mood, John stared at her eyes. "Are you sure?" He asked in a serious tone.
"Yes, or how do you expect me to relieve some stress?" She said, pushing the floor beneath her, sprinting towards the boy as the wood under her feet broke at every step, the cracking sound resounded throughout the gymnasium every time she advanced.
Seeing this, John just nodded and also took the initiative to go forward, but his steps were much louder than hers.
Boom!
In an instant, John disappeared from his position and appeared in front of Hope. It seemed he had teleported instead of running towards her. And all the girl could see was the fist coming for her head.
Down! Was what her instincts screamed when she rolled down, and in an instinctive reaction, she swept her leg through the space where John's legs should be. But the girl hit nothing, making her roll again, but to the side now.
Bang!
A hole was open through the wooden floor where Hope was just standing a second ago. And again, she couldn't rest before she sensed one more attack incoming, relying mainly on her instincts to evade it.
Bang!
"If you break my floor once more, I will expel you!" Alaric shouted from the side, his threat obviously towards John.
John didn't directly answer, continuing his barrage of attacks, but he didn't destroy anything again, just focusing on trying to hit Hope as she evaded to the best of her abilities.
She is really good at using her senses. Although I am aiming for her blind spots, she can still hear the attacks coming. Not to mention her reactions, they are incredible. It's almost instant. If she is already capable of this much, I wonder how powerful she will be when activating her vampiric side. John thought, really amazed by Hope's prowess until now.
He was experiencing first-hand her abilities, and John was truly impressed by her speed. She was much faster than the werewolves from yesterday playing dodgeball. Obviously, the wolves probably weren't putting their all, but the young man doubted they could actually catch up to her.
After some time, Hope started to become more bold, trying to hit John through the small intervals between his attacks, but unsuccessfully achieving anything.
That is, until she launched an attack which ignored all defense. An attempt to solely do damage to John.
John tried to defend, and he was about to successfully do so when…
"Dad, mom is calling!" Josie passed through the gymnasium's doors, a phone in her hand as she walked in with what seemed like her pajamas.
John, who was too focused on the fight to not hear her approaching the place, was surprised by her arrival and for a millisecond he lost focus to take a look at her.
However, Hope was too focused on the fight, resulting from her wishing to hit John at least once due to him pressuring her all the time. And when she noticed that small lapse of focus, her fist striking his arms crossed in front of his chest with all her strength.
Bang!
Suddenly, John felt his feet come off the ground and his body fly towards the gym doors.
In mid-air, John adjusted himself and instead of falling face-on against the floor, he perfectly landed in front of Josie, facing her.
Looking up, John smiled at the girl who seemed to not understand what was happening. "Come often here?" He said.
"Hm… dad?" Not knowing what to answer, Josie called her dad again, this time more for help than anything.
"Give me the phone, honey." Alaric said, taking the device from Josie's hand before looking down at John. "Let's take a small break."
John just nodded as he slowly rose off from the ground, standing straight.
"Are you alright?" Hope came by his side and asked him.
"I am fine. I was just distracted for a moment." He said, rubbing his arms. "Good punch."
"Still not good enough it seems." She said, referring to how he still blocked her strike. "I still can't believe I didn't land a single solid hit on you."
"Relax, it's just because my physical attributes are better than yours." John said to her. "If we were equal in strength, I doubt it would be that easy for me."
"Probably." Hope said, trying to put that matter aside for now. Turning around, she looked at the girl with disheveled hair and pajamas. "How are you, Josie?"
"Hm, I, I am fine." Josie said, trying to adjust her own clothes and hair, taking glances at the two teenagers.
Seeing her a little awkward, John tried to ease it. "Hi, I think we didn't introduce ourselves properly yesterday. John Neo, it's a pleasure to meet you." He stretched out his hand for a handshake.
Josie, looking at his hand, took his hand and shook it. "Josie Saltzman, the pleasure is mine." She replied, a small smile blooming on her face.
After introductions, a silence stretched out among the three teenagers, no one knowing what to say for some time.
"Cute pajamas." John blurted out of nowhere.
To that, Hope gave him a look that translated to "really?", whilst Josie just smiled, awkwardly tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Your eyes…" Josie suddenly said, noticing the difference in the boy's eyes.
"Ah, this?" John pointed at his eyes. "I just stopped hiding them. A friend said they were beautiful." He said, his comment bringing a smile out of Hope's lips.
Josie noticed it and nodded. "They really are." She said, staring at them.
After her words, the silence among the three returned. Thankfully, Dr. Saltzman arrived on time to end this, returning Josie's phone.
"Thanks, honey. You can go back to sleep." Alaric said, kissing the top of Josie's head. "As for you two, I think that's enough for today. Go back to your rooms and prepare for the day." He said to John and Hope.
"Okay." John made a salute before walking past him, with Hope right beside him and Josie following them right after.
Now, another school day begin.
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Notice: Sorry for the delay, I thought that this chapter would be shorter, but took much more than I imagined. I always thought that 2000 words were enough to develop a chapter, it seems I was wrong. Anyway, thanks for waiting and good reading for you all. - Author.