The Dream Crashers ✓

09 - Training

My eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Staring at the wooden staff in my hand, I asked Seth, "What the hell am I supposed to do with this? Stake a vampire?"

"This is your first day of training," he answered. "You're crazy if you think I'm giving you a dagger or anything remotely dangeorus. You'd probably fall and take your own eye out, and then I would've wasted all that time looking for you."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for the concern."

I watched as he picked up another staff, similar to the one he had handed me, and assessed its weight. He spun it between his fingers impressively and then pointed it at me. "You ready?"

"For what?"

"Combat training."

"What's—"

Before I had time to react, he had already taken two large steps, closing the space between us. I hadn't even blinked, and he already had the end of the staff positioned at my throat.

Seth grinned down at me, his face dangerously close to mine. "Rule number one—always be alert."

I stepped backwards and knocked away his stick with mine. "Okay, now you're just showing off."

"You're not holding it properly," he said. Seth tucked the staff under his arm and reached for my hand. His fingers moved mine around the base of the staff until he was satisfied. My skin tingled from his touch. His hands were warm and slightly calloused, probably from years of fighting and training. "You could've broken your thumb, holding it that way."

"Thanks," I mumbled. I swung it around a little and Seth had to move away quickly to avoid being hit in the face. "So what do I upgrade to? The fancy mall-cop baton you have?"

"Funny. And no, we're going to test your strengths first. I'll teach you how to use different weapons so we can find out which one suits you best. We can even try hand-to-hand combat," Seth said.

Seth hadn't been lying when he told Luke he lived only a few minutes from my house. He had rented out a small apartment just several blocks away. The rooms were all very sparse, which made it a perfect place for a training ground. All we had to push a coffee table against the wall in the living room and we had a large empty space to work with.

"Shouldn't we be working on figuring out why I can't remember my dreams?" I asked.

"Preparing for combat is more important," Seth said. "You might not remember your dreams afterwards, but you're completely aware going into it. When I visited you the other night, you knew exactly where we were and who I was. And now that you know everything, maybe you can recall everything once you wake."

"If the demons are as scary as you guys say, maybe it's better if I can't remember," I said.

"Yeah, you wouldn't want nightmares or anything."

"Do you have some kind of self-assigned quota to fulfill? Like you have to make one sarcastic comment every three times you speak?" I asked.

"Says the girl who responds to a sarcastic comment with a sarcastic comment."

I glared at him. "Can we get started? Luke and I are hanging out later."

"Gladly," he said, charging at me.

---

My breathing felt labored as I dodged the staff that slashed through the air where I had been standing a second before. Seth kept coming at me, and I would barely manage to deflect his attacks. The air rang with thuds and cracks every time our weapons met. It was obvious he was only using a fraction of his speed and strength on me. I've seen him fight and I knew that this was child's play to him, but it was still too much for me to handle.