A tennis ball.

Bouncing.

Echoing.

Thumping in the darkness, the quiet, the utter barrenness. It was a very lonely sound, it was the only sound.

I'd catch it with one hand, and then I'd bounce it again… thumping it… echoing it. - rinse and repeat. Each time it landed back in my hand, my frustration grew tenfold.

I wasn't supposed to be catching it.

"Do not be discouraged, Master."

There was a rustling sound, the only thing occasional that would disrupt the monotonous silence, it was short, quick… ending with a slender drawing out another tennis ball from a paper bag.

Ash clutched it, and replicating my actions, threw it to the ground… but for her there no echoes, no thumps, no bounce. I saw it plummet downwards, but it never soared up, it never even hit the ground.

The tennis ball simply vanished.

Another rustle, another tennis ball in her hand. Smiling slightly, Ash raised it out to me. "Here… perhaps this one?"

I kept the ball in my hand gripped firm, and politely shook my head. "Nah, Ash. I'm getting good vibes with this ball. I like this ball."

Ash drew her arm back. "Are you certain? Lady Irene made it plainly clear to switch to another after every thirty attempts."

"Nah, that's just a psychological thing," I said, readying myself for another attempt. "If I keep using the same ball… I'm gonna start thinking it's the ball fault instead of mine. Switching it just freshen things up."

"Psy… cho… lo… gee…" She tilted her head. "Hmm, what a peculiar word."

I swung my hand, the ball plunging, sputtering out fast with a heavy heave, "Mind over matter, basically."

The ball shot upwards again, another thump… bounce, this time without even batting an eye, caught it in a swipe just as it fell again.

"That makes that thirty-one then," I muttered, glancing briefly to the side where a dozen balls laid discarded in a pile. "For this bouncy ball, at least…"

Ash tossed the ball in her hand, caught it, all the while still staring dubiously.

"Apprentice sorcerers would oftentimes insist on clinging onto the same ball. They'd claim for certain that their next toss would most definitely be the one. It always never was."

I tossed it again, a smile on my face. "Ah, stubbornness, huh? You think I'm being just like them."

"You aren't," She said, placing her ball back into the paper bag beside her. "I only worry that you might."

Caught the ball again from another bounce, and then turned my eyes back at hers. "Alright… tell you what? Give me another thirty with this one then you can toss me another. I'll show you I'm not."

She smiled, and subtly bowed her head. "If that is what you wish."

I snorted. "If we're talking about wishes. I wish I could finally get this ball to stop bouncing. You make it look so easy."

"It is easy."

Felt my lips narrow. "That doesn't really do much to encourage, you know?"

Ash just continued to smile. I suppose she thought she had distracted me from my lesson long enough. Fair enough, can't afford to be wasting any more time anyhow.

Once again, I threw the ball.

The echoes that sounded were familiar, the ground that it continued to bounce it was also very much so. The room we were in, the expansive size of it, the scorch marks still left on the walls, the dirt and debris still littered on the ground.

I remembered swearing to myself that I'd never come back here for the rest of my life. Surprise, surprise… I'm terrible at keeping promises to myself. Here I was again… standing in the same exact spot where I quote, unquote, 'died'.

Being back here was like being back there, in a past I rather not look back on - I knew I was safe now, I knew there was absolutely nothing to fear… but I just can't stop myself from hearing those blood-curdling shrieks in the distance, the growlings, and the howlings.

Sixth floor, final floor. When we were making our way, rounding every corner always stiffen me up… expecting to see jagged claws swiping down at me, the glint of sharp fangs sinking into my neck.

Who the hell ever suggested we come back here?

Oh yeah, me.

Well, where else is there? Irene said we needed a place away from public eyes, a place no one would mind the noise, or the destruction, anywhere abandoned.

I just said it on impulse. I didn't think it'd be the consensus almost immediately.

Long story short, the sixth floor was now training headquarters central. From the time the sun hung its highest in the sky to when it sank below the darkening horizon, all that I've been doing so far was learning and training.

According to Irene, I was to follow a strict schedule of lessons that spanned across how many days we have left till the Blight consumes all. The roughest estimation gave us five days.

I needed to be able to do the summoning in three.

Ball-bouncing was the first lesson. I still had two more.

The high-rise windows that gave an overview of the city landscape glinted the dim light of the moon through shattered glass. As dark as the late-night sky was… you can never escape your eyes from the congealed black slimy mess that is the Blight coating the city streets.

It was like my occasional reminder in case I ever find myself asking why the hell was I bouncing a ball in an abandoned desolate building.

That wasn't my only reminder, either… every bounce was a precarious toss, I didn't want it ricocheting and hitting an unconscious vampire in the face. I don't think Adalia back home would appreciate it if I gave her beloved sister a little red swelling in the cheeks.

Yeah, apparently Amelia never left. Maybe she thought this abandoned building her new nesting place or perhaps she just couldn't any other place. If so, then she's in dire need of an architect, cause between the collapsed ceilings and shattered floors, this place is in due need of a makeover.

Amelia was slumped over against a wall, legs stretched out and eyes firmly shut - seeing her sleeping like that without the scornful glares and the disapproving frowns, she actually looked quite amicable, approachable even… I dare say I can even finally admit that she very much resembled her sister.

There was a blanket draped over her… well, I say blanket but describing it as a tattered rag just seemed a bit too crude and cruel. Adalia did say she visited her sister here… she must have been the one to put that on her.

Amelia didn't seem like the type to say her thank-yous, I wonder if I'll even get any for waking her up? Knowing her though, I'd be lucky if I even get a, 'what took you so long?'.

The ball bounced again. Soared quite high this time, guess I must have tossed it harder than I thought. I caught it, raised my arm, and…

"That's sixty already, Master," Ash quietly pointed out. "Time to switch."

Sixty already, huh? Just where did the time go? It's whizzing past us so fast, too fast… It felt like I only threw it a few times, but Ash's word rang loud and true. The dust and dirt glazed over every square inch of the ball's green surface pretty much says it all.

And I had a good feeling about this one too…

"Guess that good vibe was just my imagination after all," I sighed, dropping the ball for the sixty-first and final time.

It still bounced.

"My shoulder is killing me…"

The rustling sounded again, and when I glanced to the side, Ash held another bright green ball in both hands.

"I sense disappointment in your tone," She said.

I just shrugged. "I threw enough balls to nearly dislocate my shoulder and still nothing… I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit letdown."

"You really shouldn't be. Many apprentices who had undergone this trial had taken days to master the method. You've only been here but a few hours."

Yeah…

"That's the thing, Ash," I said, squirming my arm around to ease away the aching pain. "I don't have days. I only have until sunrise."

Think she might have understood my point. I wasn't fretting over my lack of progress, I was simply worried that I won't even have the time to make any progress to begin with.

To that, even she couldn't find any words to assure, no exemplary apprentices to compare my plight to. Guess there wasn't a precedent for this type of thing.

That's encouraging…

Ash threw the next ball at me, just as she had so many times before, always with that same gentle tone, that same comforting smile. "You can do it."

And as always, I'd catch the ball and ready myself once more for another thirty throws, hoping, so earnestly hoping, that somewhere among one of those thirty, I'd finally get the one.

"I know."