Anna changed into a pair of leggings and a long sleeve shirt. It was what she wore every time she and Jonathan would train together. She assumed this could not be much different. She was just fighting for the opposite side now. She laced up her shoes before going down the stairs.

Rhys was waiting at the bottom of the steps. He smiled at her as she came down.

"You ready?" he asked. "The rest are outside."

"I'm not looking forward to it," she said.

The corner of Rhys's lip twitched into an even bigger smile. He started walking away, and Anna felt a pull to follow him. Her feet moved forward without realization. She stayed behind him as he brought her to the large glass sliding door. The others were outside on the grass. He opened the door and she stepped outside.

A girl was standing in between Drew and Calvin. She was short and her hair was in tight dark curls. Her face was splattered with freckles. She put her hands on her hips and she smirked as she watched Rhys and Anna step off of the deck and onto the grass.

"Seriously, Rhys?" the girl asked. "You bring me all the way here to train someone and you bring me this scrawny girl?"

"Don't underestimate her," Huxley said. "You should see how she got Drew."

"What did she do to you?" she asked Drew.

He pulled up his shirt to show off his bandage. A circle of blood was shadowing through the gauze. The girl burst out into laughter.

"Alright, Stretch," the girl said. "There may actually be some potential in you."

"Stretch?" Anna had never heard the nickname before. She was almost six feet tall and most people commented on her height, but she had never heard that insult before.

"I'm Alice," the girl said. "I'm going to assume you're Anna."

Anna nodded. She bit down on her lip as she watched the girl rolled her shoulders in a stretch. In a few moments, Anna knew that Alice was going to be throwing punches at any moment.

"You don't say much," Alice said. "I kind of like that."

"Can we start this?" Calvin asked. "I want to see what Blondie can do."

"What's with all of these nicknames?" Anna asked.

"Look, she talks," Alice said.

Alice took the elastic off of her wrist and tied her hair back into a ponytail. She cracked her knuckles as she smirked. Anna's hands tremble. Alice seemed like the type to not hold back.

"Have you been in a fight before?" Rhys asked Anna.

She shook her head. She did not want them to know that she had spent her life training to fight. She did not know what they would do if they knew she came from a family of vampire hunters. She assumed that they would either abandon her or worse, they would kill her.

"The important part is to protect your chest," Huxley said. "A stake through the heart is one of the only things that can kill you."

Huxley balled up his hand into a fist and slammed it against his chest. He rolled his eyes, and he stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth. Anna bit down on her lip to suppress a giggle.

"Skip the theatre production, Huxley," Alice said before looking over at Anna. "You know how to dodge a punch?"

"I think so," Anna said.

Alice threw her fist through the air. Anna dropped and leaned to the side. Alice's fist missed Anna's head by a few inches. Alice swung her other hand. Anna dodged it but narrowly avoided her head. She curled her fingers into her hands from stopping herself from grabbing Alice's fists.

Anna knew she could not keep protecting herself from Alice's punches, but it was hard for her to prepare herself to be punched in the face. She glanced to the side to see Rhys's lips in a smirk, Calvin was raising his eyebrows, and Huxley's jaw was hanging open. She silently cursed herself out for looking suspicious.

Alice bent her elbow and Anna knew that she was going to go for her stomach. She clenched her teeth together and sucked in a deep breath as Alice's fist came toward her. Anna let out a yelp as she stumbled back. For extra effect, Anna fell backward so that she landed on her ass.

"Not bad, Stretch," Alice said.

She crossed her arms over her chest. She stepped forward so that her short stature was towering over Anna.

"You need to be a little faster," she said. "Hunters carry blades on them. If I had a knife in my hand you would have never recovered."

"I thought I did pretty good," Anna said.

"Good isn't always good enough," she said.

Anna started to push herself up off of the ground. Alice kicked her foot out so that her boot collided with Anna's stomach. She gasped and pushed Alice's foot off of her as pain exploded in her stomach. Alice shoved her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket.

"Never have your guard down," Alice said.

Anna rolled her eyes. She covered her hand over her stomach as she went to stand from the grass. Alice pulled her hand out of her pocket, and she saw a flash of metal. It took Anna a second to register that Alice had a knife. Alice let out a cry as she jumped down on Anna. She grabbed her shoulder and knocked Anna to the ground.

Alice raised her hand with the pocket knife. She raised it above Anna's face. She had her knees on either side of Anna and was pinning her to the ground. Alice swung her hands down and Anna rolled her head to the side. Alice buried the knife deep into the dirt.

Anna balled up her hand and punched Alice under the jaw while she was leaning over her body. Alice cried out as she pulled back. Anna threw her elbows down and hit Alice in the stomach. She doubled over in pain. Anna grabbed the handle of the knife, and she knocked Alice onto her back. She threw herself onto Alice and pinned her down to the ground.

Alice grabbed Anna's wrist. The knife was inches away from Alice's nose. Anna's teeth were clenched as the end of the blade wavered. Alice was kicking her legs underneath Anna as she attempted to escape her hold.

Rhys grabbed Anna by the shoulders and hauled her up onto her feet. He ripped the knife out of her hand. Alice scrambled to get back up onto her feet.

"What the hell was that?" Rhys asked.

"Was no one going to help me?" Anna asked. "You all just watched her try to kill me!"

"You were holding your own pretty well," Drew said.

"I wasn't going to kill you." Alice brushed the dirt off of her jeans. "I just wanted to see how fast your reflexes were."

"No one else is going at me with a weapon," Anna said.

"Vampire hunters are always carrying weapons," Calvin said. "I say we keep going."

"I'm done!" Anna threw her hands up in the air.

She stepped away, but Rhys put his hand on her shoulder. He pulled her back into the circle.

"You're not finished," he said. "We've barely started."

"I think that I have proved that I can hold my own," Anna said.

"I have to make sure that it was not a fluke," he said.

Anna scoffed. Calvin put his hand over his mouth to hide his smile. Drew took a step forward.

"Alice brought a knife to first-day training," Drew said. "I think she has had enough."

"Alright," Rhys said. "No weapons this time."

Rhys held out his hand. Anna flipped in the blade and handed over the knife. Rhys shoved it into his pocket. He put his hand on Anna's back and pushed her toward Alice. Alice was rubbing her jaw. A dark bruise was already starting to form on her pale skin.

"Is it safe to assume that you are not carrying anything else on you?" Rhys asked.

"No, I'm not," Alice said. Rhys raised an eyebrow and Alice shook her head. "Fine!"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a butterfly knife. Anna's eyes grew wide and she knew that she was lucky Alice did not attack her with that. She would have probably lost an eye.

"Is that it?" Rhys asked.

"I swear it is." Alice put her hand over her heart.

"We should probably give her some lessons before she gets the crap kicked out of her by Alice," Drew said. "This isn't a fair fight."

"She's going to learn the way we all learned," Rhys said. "Besides, it looks like Anna is going to be fine."

"Don't disappoint us, Blondie," Calvin said.

Drew and Rhys stepped back. Alice raised her fists. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet. It was a stance Anna's grandmother taught her when she was young and she knew that it was the basis of fighting. She stood with her hands beside her waist. She did not want to look like she knew how to fight.

Alice swung her fist and Anna ducked. Alice took a step forward as she tried to jab Anna in the stomach. She took a step to the side and missed her fist. Alice took an uppercut, and Anna's hand instinctively shot out to grab her fist. Alice's eyebrows knit together as she was surprised by her reflexes. Anna knew that she only had a second to end this fight.

Anna kicked her leg to the side and swept Alice off her feet. Alice let out a screech as she fell down onto her back. Anna put her foot on Alice's chest. She curled her fingers into Anna's foot as she tried to push her foot off her.

"Damn, did you grow up on some kind of military base?" Alice asked through clenched teeth. "I underestimated you."

"How are you so good at fighting?" Huxley asked. "I thought you were going to get clobbered."

Rhys let out a deep breath as he listened to one of Huxley's outdated words. Anna kept pushing her foot down harder onto Alice's chest. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I read a lot," she said. "I feel like I have learned self-defense through all the dystopian novels I have consumed over the years."

"Great," Alice said. "Now, get off me!"

Anna pulled her foot away. Alice sighed as she pushed herself onto her feet. She brushed the dirt off of her leather jacket.

"Can I go inside now?" Anna asked.

"Go upstairs," Rhys said. "I want to talk to you."

"I don't feel like talking," Anna said.

"Too bad."

Anna rolled her eyes, but she heard a small voice in the back of her mind tell her to listen to Rhys. She scrunched her eyebrows as she looked up at him. She had never been one to submit to strangers.

"Fine," she said.

She stormed away from the group and into the house. She looked over her shoulder to see that they were all staring at her. She knew that she shouldn't have attacked Alice like that, but her instincts took over. Twenty years of fighting was hard to ignore.

She walked through the house and up the flight of stairs. She went into Rhys's room. Her bag was still sitting on the bed. She sat down next to it and flopped back. She grabbed a pillow and threw it over her face. She let out a scream she had been holding back since she woke up to no reflection.