The First Lesson

It had only been one day since Brianna had moved in with Arabella and Quinn, she had met Cassia who was someone good to talk to as well as Arabella as she had spent the first night talking until the sun rose. Arabella wanting her to get accustomed to everything before they began her training. She had wanted to spend some time with Quinn as well but since Jessica had shown up he seemed to have locked himself away in his own part of the house.

Maybe he was having doubts about having her here in the first place, maybe he was on the phone to Bill about sending her back home?

But since tonight was the first night of her training, Brianna wanted to make a good impression as she hoped that Quinn would not think of her as someone who could not look after herself. Entering the kitchen as she wanted to be prepared for the first of Arabella's lessons for the evening, trying to push back all thoughts of Quinn. Remembering that Arabella had shown her where the blood was as she popped one into the microwave and warmed it up, as she waited for Arabella to come.

Arabella grinned as she saw Brianna warming the blood.

"Great, you finish breakfast and I'll get things set up outside."

She giggled as she grabbed a metal pot from the fridge and headed outside.

Finishing her blood as she watched Arabella curiously take a pot from the fridge as looked on. She was curious to see what she had planned for this evening. Following her outside as she spotted a rectangle marked with a ribbon and Arabella standing at one end of the rectangle.

"...Um. What are are we doing with this?" she asked curiously.

"Fairly simple actually. Watch.."

Arabella lifted an egg from the pot, throwing it toward the other end of the rectangle. She took off with vampiric speed, passing it in mid flight and grabbing it out of the air. As she reached the other side, she threw it back toward the beginning and repeated the process, setting the egg back in the pot.

"Looks simple, yes? Remember that you must use your speed, not your strength. Here is why.."

She lifted one of the egg again, throwing it against a rock, smashing the gooey mess on the grass.

"Your turn."

Brianna watched as Arabella demonstrated what she had to do, it looked simple enough to do. Picking up one of the coloured eggs from the pot as moved to stand at one end of the rectangle she threw the egg into the air as she took off at full speed to do exactly what Arabella did. Only to over shoot the other end of the rectangle as the egg hit the floor and broke as the goo piled on the floor.

"....Shoot!" she cursed.

Arabella grinned.

"Don't worry, Brianna...we have plenty of eggs..."

She held out the pot, smiling.

"...and we have all night."

It was simple enough; throw the egg and catch it on the other side before it hit the ground. A monkey could do it, so missing one was easy enough. Taking another egg from the pot as she nodded at Arabella as she took her spot at one end of the rectangle. Giving herself a moment as she threw the egg into the air as she took off again as she missed her stop point once again as she tried to catch her egg before it hit the floor, missing it again as she threw herself forward to catch it. Watching in slow motion as the egg hit the floor as she grumbled and cursed under her breath.

"....Ahhh! Why can't I do this? It is simple" she asked Arabella.

Arabella pulled an egg out and smiled, walking up to Brianna, placing it in her hand.

"It is simple, Brianna. Your instincts are right, but your mind is getting in the way. Come back to the start."

She picked up a rock from the ground as Brianna walked over.

"Now close your eyes and listen."

She waited for Brianna to close her eyes, throwing the rock along the same path, grabbing it out of the air, and returning to stand in front of Brianna.

"Ok...do you understand?"

Obeying Arabella's command as she closed her eyes and then opened her eyes as she saw Arabella standing in front of her again. She could do this, it wasn't that hard. 

"I think I got it" she told Arabella.

Picking up another coloured egg from the pot as she threw it into the air as she took off again at full speed as her hands reached out to catch the egg as she stopped at the other side of the ribbon. But the egg overshot her head and landed behind her. Turning around to gaze at Arabella;

"I'm sorry" she whispered.

Arabella smiled.

"Brianna, you don't need to be. This is why we are here. To assess your skills and to help you learn."

She handed Brianna a new egg.

"Think about this... Did I wait to catch it or did I grab it in route?"

Accepting the new egg as she heard her question as she sighed.

"I know I know...It's just that I have never had to work at my speed. I just do it, I have never had to focus on doing something else when I am running. Maybe I am no good at being a vampire" she grumbled.

Arabella smiled

"Precisely. Lets try something."

She walked over, pulling her sash off, blindfolding Brianna. She turned her to face the field. She placed the egg once again in her hands.

"Don't think, just do. Throw and follow. Use your instincts. You'll do fine."

Feeling that her eyes were now blindfolded as she could feel the egg in her hand as she let out a sigh as she tried to remain calm. She was over-thinking things, she just needed to remain calm and let her instincts take over like Arabella had said.

Tossing the egg into the air as she counted a few seconds as she let her speed take over her as she sped into the field as she felt something land in her hand as she squealed as she turned back around to face Arabella even know her eyes were blinded.

Arabella laughed and lowered the pot to the ground, pouring the eggs in a pile. She walked to the other end, setting the pot down.

"Now...one at a time."

She pulled off Brianna's blindfold and smiled at her.

"You can do this. one at a time, once you finish the pile, we are done and the rest of the night is yours to do with as you wish."

What this is all that they were doing? Throwing eggs? Was this her first test and only test for the night? She could have the rest of the night to herself? Maybe she could go and find Quinn. Nodding as she picked up the egg as she turned to Arabella who nodded as she looked on. Tossing the egg into the air as she let her speed take over as well as her instincts and raced to the opposite end as she caught the coloured egg with her hands without it smashing.

"I did it!" she grinned.

"Wonderful...keep going."

Arabella watched as Brianna threw one after another across the field. She was grinning by the end of the process.

"Well done, Brianna. What have you learned from this process?"

Repeating the process over and over until there was no eggs left on the pile as she turned to Arabella beaming with pride that she wasn't such a screw up as she heard her question.

"That I should stop over-thinking things and let my instincts guide me?" she answered.

Arabella smiled as she listened.

"Right. Your instincts are there, you have to trust them sometimes without letting your head get in the way."

She walked over, kissing Brianna on the cheek.

"You are doing very well for the first try. As promised, the rest of the night is yours. I'll have one of the staff clean things up out here."

"Thank you, thank you" she beamed proudly.

Wrapping her arms around Arabella as she gave her a hug as she took off back to the house, she needed to tell Quinn about her first lesson. Hoping that he would be proud of her.