Wallet Pain

Yes my wallet in screaming in pain. I shelled out nearly $300 for comp parts yesterday. I will get some money back after I fill out the rebate forms, but it still hurts, especially on such an old computer.

The age of the desktop is half the reason that I bought the laptop, so to shell out so much now to keep the desktop running is kinda a pain. But I just have the feeling that I should keep it going.

I'm just glad that the story is on my laptop.

[Untitled]
20

Julius was pleased with the cot. It was much better than the chair. He woke up with almost no stiffness.

Maureen was still asleep when he woke up. He went into the kitchen and cut open one of the bloodroots. Draining it into a glass he thought about what they still needed to do. He scraped the remainder of the pulp into the glass.

Sipping the juice he decided that it was about time to wake up Maureen. He looked at the thing she called a coffeepot. She used it every morning and claimed that it helped her to wake up.

He had watched her use it and thought that he could make coffee. He measured the water and the stuff that looked like dirt. Finally he turned on the machine.

He watched as the dark brown liquid filled up the container. It was nearly full when Maureen came into the kitchen.

She looked at the coffee pot in surprise. “You know how to make coffee?”

“No, but I watched you do it. I thought I might as well try.”

The coffeepot hissed as the last bit of steam escaped. Maureen took down a coffee cup from the cupboard and poured herself a cup. She added cream and sugar, tasted the coffee, then added a little more cream and sugar. A second taste convinced her that it was all right.

Julius looked at her expectantly.

“It’s a little strong, but otherwise alright. A little bit less on the coffee grounds and you’ll be fine.”

Julius said nothing, but was pleased.

“So what’s on the agenda for today?” Maureen asked between sips of coffee.

“Magical defense, starting with offense.”

“Ok… Now that’s a confusing sentence.”

“Not really, if you think about it. Remember what I said last night? About using the opposite elements? A good attack, well timed and placed, will cancel out another attack if it is of the opposite element. So… if we work on your offense with various elements, your defense will naturally get stronger. And once we are confident with these techniques we can move onto purely defensive moves.”

Maureen sipped her coffee. The plan made sense. “So what do we start with?”

“Water will be the most difficult for you, so that is what we shall start with. The other elements will be intermingled with the water and fire exercises so that you get a sense of all of them.”

“Well we had better get started before my body reminds me of exactly how exhausted I am. I’m gonna go get dressed, where shall I meet you?”

“Out back.”

Maureen nodded, then left the room. Julius looked at the coffeepot. He hadn’t noticed her getting more coffee, but the pot was more than half gone. He smiled.

***

Maureen collapsed into a lawn chair. Julius had declared a short break, and she needed it.

“And I thought that physical training was tiring,” Maureen said.

“You have been going non-stop for days now. First physical preparations, and now magical. It is no easy task.”

“You seem to be ok.”

“I am more tired than I look. Also I have had thousands of years to develop all of these skills. You have done incredibly well in just a few days time. You have done in just these few days what it took me years to develop, and in some areas you have already surpassed my abilities.”

“I think that you let me win.”

“I cannot afford myself the luxury, and neither can you. Every time that you have beat me it has been legitimate.”

“So then the question is how good are you?”

“Vampires are hunted creatures. If we do not learn to defend ourselves then we die.”

“I thought you said that you couldn’t die.”

“That I did, but I did not say that we couldn’t be killed. Usually if it could kill you it could kill us as well, swords included.”

“So what are you saying?”

“That I have lived thousands of years. I have seen my fair share of battles, and probably more. I do not carry physical scars, but the memories last and help me to learn.”

Maureen didn’t know what to say. She felt like she had inadvertently insulted him. Finally, “I’m sorry for questioning you.”

“Why? You have every right to. If you are trusting in me to train you for a fight to the death, then you have every right to know how good I really am.”

Maureen looked up and smiled at the vamp.

“Shall we get back to work?” Julius asked.

“Five more minutes?”

Julius nodded; he could read the exhaustion on her face. He wondered if he was working her too hard.

While waiting for her to be ready Julius walked around the yard, making sure that practice had not disturbed anything that would pose hazardous later. Once the five minutes were up he went back over to her.

“Ready?”

“No, but if I sit here any longer I’ll stiffen and won’t be of any use.”

Julius looked at her, she really didn’t look in any condition to continue. He was about to say something, but she moved to get up and he decided against it.

Maureen stood up. She was almost immediately dizzy. She put her hand out. Julius caught it, and slid his arm around her waist.

Julius decided that it was time to end practice for the day, even though it was still early.

Suddenly Kyra was limp in his arms and sliding toward the ground. He caught onto her and kept her from falling. He eased her to the ground.

“Kyra… Kyra?” he tried to get her attention, but to no avail.