“Don’t worry. I’m not one of those really competitive people who take it too seriously.” The guys all snorted, knowing me too well.
Magda straightened to her full height and forced a smile. “I accept your invitation.”
“Invitation?” repeated Fletcher. “What planet are you on? This is gate-crashing.”
“Nah,” disagreed Evan, “it’s important that she and Sam bond.” He winked at me, humour lighting his eyes. “Come on, let’s go get kitted up.” He led us all to a small hut where, as I’d expected, he’d kept the supplies. “First, I want to talk you all through everything. I know some of you haven’t been paintballing before – particularly Fletcher, Reuben, Damien, and David—”
“And me,” Magda informed him.
Evan nodded. “And Magda. But don’t worry, you’ll all enjoy it. You’ll be split into two teams, and the aim of the game is to complete each mission without getting shot by a paintball. It’s as simple as that.” He shrugged to emphasise the simplicity of it, but then he held up one finger as he continued.
“There are rules for the game. I know that some of you will have big advantages because of your gifts…and that’s why rule number one is that none of you are to use your gifts at any time. Rule number two: if you are hit, you do not need to leave the game unless you’ve been hit in the torso or the head – they’re the only areas that would have any real effect on a vampire. At that point, you simply raise your gun, declare that you’re hit, and head to ‘the dead zone’ – no one is to shoot at or go near this zone. I’ll show you where it is in a minute.
“If you’re hit in the head, it’s considered a fatal shot and you will be eliminated from that particular game. If you’re hit in the torso, you need to only spend ten minutes in ‘the dead zone’ before you can return to the game. But unless the paintball breaks and leaves a mark the size of a quarter, it doesn’t count. And nor does paint splatter, which means that although the paint grenades will do well at distracting the other team, they won’t count as ‘deadly’. Rule number three: do not take off your safety mask unless you’re in ‘the dead zone’ or unless the game has ended. Rule number four: you must allow surrenders. And the final rule: no bodily contact. This is not about combat. That all understood?” Everybody nodded.
Ten minutes later, all of us were dressed in camouflaged overalls and padded gloves. It was when Evan pulled out a bag and handed it to me that I understood exactly why he’d been wearing that smile earlier. Inside was a pink tutu, a headband with pink horns attached, and a white ‘L’ sign. Bastard. In seconds, I was dressed like an army slut. Of course everyone thought it was hilarious, even Jared.
I snarled at my fiancé. “Thanks a lot, Judas.”
Evan huffed at him. “I don’t know what you’re laughing at.” He then pulled out another bag. Jared’s face fell when his twin fished out a Borat-style, lime-green, lycra mankini. Then it was my turn to laugh.
“You’re fucking kidding me.” Jared shook his head. “No way.”
I put my hands on my hips. “Oi, if I’m going to look stupid, you can as well.”
He stood, seething, as his brother and Fletcher helped him put the mankini on over his camo gear. The icing on the cake had been when Harvey took a photograph with his smartphone. Jared made a dive for it. Obviously having anticipated that, however, the others held him back as Harvey dashed off to hide the photographic evidence of us looking like plonkers.
Once the laughing had died down, Evan clapped his hands twice to get everyone’s attention. “Okay, let’s split you into teams. Sam and Jared will each be a leader, which places them on opposing teams. I’ll be refereeing, since it wouldn’t be fair to have two commanders on one team.”
My team ended up consisting of Fletcher, Chico, Butch, Harvey, David, and Salem. As such, Jared had Reuben, Max, Denny, Damien, Stuart, and Magda. The bitch was staying as close as physically possible to Jared, of course. I shot her a ‘you better watch yourself’ look. She returned it, although she did seem nervous. She should be.
“We’re going to be playing lots of different games,” began Evan, “but before we start, we’ll do what’s called ‘walk the field’. This way, you can all familiarise yourselves with the place, see where everything is. You’ll find that on opposite sides of the field are the base camps, which are also the starting points for each team.”
It was as we were walking around that Evan explained, “The first game is called ‘Ammo Retrieval’. In the centre is the tallest of the buildings, which has the sign, ‘Bed and Breakfast’. Inside there is a crate of ammunition. Your objective is to retrieve the crate and take it back to your base camp. The team that manages to do that wins. Simple. If you claim the crate and think you have the time to stop, feel free to reload your paintball guns, as there are pods of pellets inside the crate.”
Having completed the walk through and studied the field – which was absolutely bloody brilliant and topped every Binding gift we’d been given so far – we returned to the supply hut. Evan gave us all the necessary equipment: a protective mask, semi-automatic marker, hopper, smoke grenades, paint grenades, a pod pack – which looped around the waist – and two spare pods of pellets. Magda also had to swap her high heels for a pair of spare boots that were too big for her dainty feet. We then each tied coloured ribbons on our sleeves; blue for Jared’s team, and yellow for mine.
As each team was ready to split and enter their assigned base camps, Jared smacked a kiss on my lips. I could feel the excitement thrumming through him. “Good luck, baby. You’re going to need it, since we both know I’ll win.”
“Sure, sure.”
“I mean it, baby, don’t expect any mercy. I’m going to beat your sexy little ass at this.”
I patted his arm. “It’s sort of cute that you really believe that.”
He laughed and jogged away with his team. Magda gave me a sly smile before trailing after them. She honestly thought it would bother me that she was on Jared’s team? Okay, it did bother me. But I would rather that she wasn’t on my team, since I planned to shoot the crap out of her.
Our base camp was a detached bare house on the border of the field further down from the supply hut. Jared’s base camp – also a detached house – was on the opposite side of the field. Due to the streets of buildings, their camp was out of our line of vision, just as ours was out of theirs. As the ‘B and B’ was in the centre of the field, both teams were equally far from it.
In base camp I turned to my team. “Right, although this is supposed to be all about fun, please understand that I have every intention of winning this. You all with me on that?” Everyone other than Fletcher nodded enthusiastically. “Good. When we need to get into position, I’ve found it often works best to form a ‘U’ shape. Any volunteers for the front? I’ll need two. I’d happily offer, but I’m not too proud to admit that – as a Sventé – I’m the slowest here.”
“I’ll do it, I used to play this a lot as part of my police training,” said Chico.
Salem raised a hand. “I’m fast, and I have a real good aim.”
“Me too,” claimed Butch.
I shook my head. “No Butch, I want to keep you as protected as possible. You’re the fastest here so you’re the obvious person to be responsible for getting the crate back to camp. Chico and Salem can lead. You and I will take up positions behind them. Then Chico can pave the way for you to get inside that ‘B and B’.”
I looked at the other three. “I’m going to put you all at the rear so—”
“Luv, I’ll be no good at this,” declared Fletcher. “I’m too scared to get hit. I’ve heard it really hurts.”
“It’s not that bad. It’s like a hard pinch.”
“I don’t like hard pinches. Seriously, luv, I’ll be hopeless at it.”
“Paintballing isn’t really that difficult. It’s about ducking, diving, creeping, running, and crawling.”
“I’m no good at stealth. I’d give away my location in seconds.”
He was probably right about that. I sighed. “I’ll tell you what: you stay back here and defend our camp. I doubt anyone will get past us but if they do, shoot them.”
He nodded, appearing both relieved and nervous. “I can do that.” It wasn’t so much a statement as it was him trying to convince himself of that.
“Great. Now, I have a few rules of my own. These will help us as a team. One, don’t ever go off alone. I’m not saying stick to someone’s side. I mean, don’t wander away from the rest of the team. You won’t last long if you do. Two, don’t hang around in one spot, keep on the move. If you don’t, you’re liable to be seen. Then all someone has to do is get a good enough angle on you to shoot you. Three, never stand out in the open; you want to be under cover as much as possible. When you move, you move to more cover. Four, always have your gun up, ready to fire. Lastly, enjoy yourselves.”
Harvey cocked his head. “Do you think Jared will cheat and use his telepathy? You know how competitive he is. He won’t want to lose.”
I had to agree with that, but I strongly doubted that he would cheat. “The glory would mean nothing to him if he did that, so no. Right, to sum up…Until we reach the street where the ‘B and B’ is located, we have the luxury of running without being seen. Let’s make that count. Once we reach that street, we form the U shape and we shoot any fucker in the way, covering Butch so that he can go get our crate.” The boys all nodded, somehow managing to look serious and giddy at the same time.
At that moment, Evan’s voice rang out. “Both teams ready?” Hearing Jared and I respond with ‘yes’, he then shouted, “Three, two, one…Game on!”
As one, we sprinted at vampire speed past the first street and the second, but stopped at the corner of the next one. Knowing that the other team would have reached the opposite end of the street at the same time, I didn’t hesitate in getting everyone into position. Following my hand gestures – after months of training, they knew my signals well enough – Chico and Butch crossed over to the other side of the street. Chico slipped inside the second building along while Butch took position behind the car at the corner of the street, placing him a little distance behind Chico yet close enough for them to watch out for one-another.
At my signal, David and Harvey positioned themselves behind a row of gas drums in the middle of the road, keeping at the rear. Satisfied with their locations, I gestured for Salem to run on ahead of me as we kept close to the buildings on our side. On reaching the second house along, he hid behind a large pile of tyres there, while I dashed inside. As we had all moved at vampire speed, it had taken mere seconds.
Inside the house, I headed quietly up the stairs. Once on the second floor, I went to the balcony and crouched behind a gas drum there. My enhanced vision allowed me to spot some of the other team, but unfortunately I didn’t have a clear shot. There was no order to where they were positioned…but that was Jared’s plan, I realised – unpredictability. He figured that if I couldn’t guess where any of them were, I couldn’t move into position to pick them off. It wasn’t actually a bad strategy. He wasn’t going to win, though. Not a bloody chance.
Wanting the other team’s attention on my side of the street to give Butch the best chance at slipping into the ‘B and B’ without being noticed, I jumped up and leaped over to the next balcony. Although I’d moved at vampire speed, the others saw me clearly, and paint pellets headed for me. But the moment I landed on the balcony, I’d rolled to the gas drum for cover.
My move seemed to have sparked the rest to act, because suddenly people were darting from spot to spot, and pellets were flying through the air. Knowing better than to stay in one place, I quickly darted down the stairs. Flat against the wall near the entrance, I took a quick peek outside. Salem had moved from his position near the tyres and was now squatted behind a gas drum further along the street. He was also exchanging shots with Stuart, who was crouched behind a car. Although there was a little paint on Salem, it was only on his leg.
Some sixth sense beat at me, telling me to look up. I did just in time to see that Damien was lying on the roof of one of the buildings across the road, aiming his marker at an unsuspecting Chico. I didn’t have a good enough angle to take the shot, but Salem did. “Salem, ten forty-five.”
Without hesitation, he swerved and shot. The pellet hit Damien’s shoulder, surprising him; he lost his balance and tumbled down the roof, onto the balcony…and right into Chico’s line of fire. A second later, there was a splat of yellow paint on his mask. Damien held up his gun, growling, “I’m hit.” With that, he marched off to ‘the dead zone’, grumbling to himself.
One down, six to go.
Distracted, I almost didn’t notice that not only was Max training his marker on Harvey – typical, since they didn’t get along very well – but he had a nice, clean shot. Quick as lightning, I turned sharply and rained pellets at him, forcing him to take cover. Although a few hit him, they didn’t catch him in a fatal spot. Cursing silently, I darted to the car outside and hunkered behind the wide-open-door.
“Harvey, learn to hide better!” I called. His cockiness was his downfall sometimes. This proved to be true when, only seconds later, he stood with his gun high above his head, declaring that he’d been hit…by Max.
Of course, Max was absolutely delighted. That was until Salem managed to hit him in the torso, temporarily cutting him out of the game. Much like Damien, he grumbled his way to ‘the dead zone’.
Two down, four left to go. But I didn’t have time to laugh about it, because suddenly pellets were hitting the car I was hiding behind, catching my sleeve. I tucked myself in tighter, avoiding the spray. I quickly realised that the pellets were coming from two directions. A peek to my left told me that Reuben was one of the arseholes responsible. No way would I give the two teammates a chance to flank me – which was exactly what they were trying to do. While one shot at me, the other advanced forward, and vice versa.
I took a smoke grenade out of my pocket, and flung it over the car. Five seconds later, it exploded. I wasted no time in rushing around the car, delivering a fatal shot to Reuben’s mask, before leaping onto the balcony above. However, rather than staying up there, I quickly scampered down the stairs. I was right to do so, as no sooner had I moved than paint pellets were being fired.
Startled by movement in my peripheral vision, I almost shot David. Likewise, he almost shot me. We both sighed. I’d have been as embarrassed as all shit to have to walk out of there, declaring I’d been hit by a member of my own team, and that I’d hit him too.
Gesturing for him to follow me, I went to leave the house. I had barely taken a step when an array of pellets came flying my way. I managed to dodge most of them. The ones that made contact had only hit my leg and foot.
I turned to David. “While I shoot, you run to the pile of tyres outside. Once you’re there, you take over firing. I’ll head to the gas drums a few feet away from you. Got it?”
He nodded. The second I popped out my head and gun and began shooting, David rushed out as instructed. As I pulled back, David started firing. Bent over, I ran to the gas drums, giving David a grateful and approving nod. As David continued exchanging shots with Stuart, I glanced around the gas drums, only to quickly pull back as Magda fired shots at me from behind one of the cars.
Thankfully the bitch had a crap aim. She was even dumb enough to look over the car rather than around it. Truly, it was a wonder that she was still in the game. It wouldn’t have surprised me if she’d been hiding there the whole time, simply waiting for me to come near.
I was about to finish her when a better idea came to mind. Yeah, okay, it would be best to take her out of the game, but this would be more fun. I grabbed one of the paint grenades and threw it at the car, satisfied at her outraged cry when it exploded all over her. I probably should have been ashamed that my laugh had sounded more like a cackle, but whatever.
The problem was that this would have given away my location to anyone around. Wanting
to quickly reposition myself so that no one could get a good angle on me, I headed over to a pile of tyres. An array of pellets zoomed at me, but I managed to take cover before they could land on me. Something told me that the person responsible had been my fiancé. A quick peek to the right confirmed my suspicion.
That wasn’t great news, because Jared had a real good aim. We fired some shots back and forth as I took in the angles around me, looking for fresh cover. I didn’t pop out of the same place each time, hoping the unpredictability would keep me in the game – and that it would make the bugger frustrated. Sometimes I’d peek out of the top left, sometimes the low right, and so on and so on. At one point, I stuck my head out on my right, and then dived to my left and fired. But the trick didn’t work because he was too bloody fast. Fucking Pagori speed.
My focus flew to David as he stood upright with his gun held high and a blob of paint on his mask. Crap. I nearly had a sodding heart attack when Salem appeared beside me. I jabbed him with my gun. “You little shit.”
“Look.” He pointed at the ‘B and B’. I looked in time to watch Butch hurrying inside it, while Chico covered him by pinning Denny in place with pellets. Meanwhile, Salem was shooting crazily at Stuart, who was squatted behind a car beside the ‘B and B’. Had Salem not pinned him in place like that, Stuart would have been inside that building at the same time as Butch.
“We need to cover Butch as he runs with the crate,” I told Salem as I reloaded. I had every confidence that Butch would get the crate in a matter of seconds. I was right. As soon as he appeared in the doorway, Salem launched a smoke grenade. Butch waited only until it exploded before he sprinted out of the building. He hadn’t taken his gun with him, trusting that those of us left – me, Salem, and Chico – would cover him as he ran. We did.
It took the other team a few seconds before they realised what was happening and started firing at him. Salem, Chico, and I ran backwards, exchanging shots with Jared, Denny, and Magda. Although the other team had now redoubled their efforts, so had we.