Free The Slayer Chronicles: First Kill by Heather Brewer

Sit tight. I should be back before the sun rises. Maybe I’ll bring a deck of cards or something.”
    Joss’s heartbeat picked up. “What do I do if a vampire comes?”
    “Kill it.”
    Joss furrowed his brow, completely enveloped by the enormity of the potential situation his imagination had dreamed up. “How?”
    Malek grinned. “Any way you can, kid.”
    He began his descent down the mountain, but turned back suddenly. Joss was sure he was going to give him some clue, some hint at just how to deal with a monstrous fanged creature. But he was wrong. Malek said, “Hey, kid. You need help, you scream, okay? I mean it.”
    Then Malek was gone, and Joss was left in the woods. In the dark. Alone.
    It surprised Joss how quickly the temperature dropped once the sun’s rays were no longer filtering through the trees. His skin prickled with goose bumps, and after some time, he began to shiver. He hadn’t thought to bring a jacket with him. After all, he was spending his summer in upstate New York. He hadn’t exactly gotten the impression that it was jacket weather up here in June. But in the mountains, exposed to the elements, without an ounce of food warming his belly, Joss could believe it. His head ached from not having eaten. He felt nauseous. And tired, oh so tired. His eyes drooped as he leaned against a tree, and it wasn’t long before Joss had to force himself to walk the clearing’s perimeter in order to stay awake.
    Several hours passed before Malek returned, rested, with a full belly and bottle of water for Joss. He tossed the small plastic bottle to Joss and pulled a deck of cards from his pocket, shuffling them as he sat. Joss chugged the water and, though his stomach ached from drinking the cool liquid so fast, his parched throat and dry tongue thanked him profusely. They played several hands of rummy before the sun came up. As Joss was gathering the loose cards back into a deck, he said, “Can I ask you something?”
    “Sure, kid.”
    “If vampires are such a huge problem, why doesn’t anyone on the outside know about them? I mean, there are movies and books and stuff, but no one really believes in them. Why don’t we just tell people about them? Warn them, ya know?”
    Malek smiled and took the deck from Joss’s hands. “People need to be protected, kid. And the sad fact is that most people aren’t smart enough to be trusted with the facts. Most people would panic at the knowledge that vampires are real. Then we’d not only have vampires to deal with, but crazy mobs of people, too. It’s just easier to do our job by keeping them in the dark.”
    Joss mulled this over for a bit before responding. “I guess that makes sense. But what if a few people did know? Seems like we could make some money that way. I mean, the Society must need funding, right? Wouldn’t that be an easy way to raise funds?”
    “I like the way you think, kid. But we’re not allowed to take private jobs.” Malek grinned and slapped him on the back. “Anyway, it’s time for you to return to your post and keep watch. We’re not out here playing around. This is an important part of your training on the road to becoming a better Slayer. Less chitchat. More eyes on those woods. And more importantly, what’s lurking within them.”
    They didn’t speak for the rest of the long day, and Joss walked the perimeter of the clearing more times than he could count. Then, as the sun had begun its descent once again, Malek gathered up his gear. As he was doing so, Joss dared to ask him a question that had been burning on the edges of his curiosity since they’d climbed the mountain. “Hey, Malek. What was your purification like?”
    Malek shook his head, laughing it off. “Let’s just say you don’t want to know, kid.”
    “No, really. What was it like?”
    Pausing, a momentary serious expression came over playful Malek. “It was pretty rough. I had to be pulled from the mountain and purified the old-fashioned way, with a whip.