I was thinking about this for some time and thought it would be a nice training for my writing as well as a break from my main story, A Turkish Tale. This is supposed to be a one-shot, but I know there's room for more, just in case anyone like it.
Anyway, just... enjoy!
I was running. All because, in my stupidity, I let her see me. They were heading for the car, there was no doubt about it. They were getting close to it and the dhampir girl was in a very bad shape due to what happened before, when the princess... fed. I was amazed she could run at all, though it was clear she wouldn't have made it without the Moroi supporting most of her weight.
The street was dark and quiet for a college campus, even at three in the morning. A streetlight was flickering, a warm breeze playing with the strands of my hair that had escaped the ponytail tied at the base of my neck. And I was running out of air.
Two more blocks and they'd reach the old Honda parked by the end of the street. I couldn't afford that, not after months of searching and finally finding the girls. So, I pushed my legs harder in order to stop them from reaching their goal. I would not allow that.
Ten feet from the car, I stepped directly into their path. The brunette – Rosemarie, according to the files I kept on them – came to a halt, jerking the princess behind her. Like I was a threat.
She was stunningly beautiful. I'd seen her in pictures and from far away earlier tonight, but having her in front of me was a completely different matter. Dark brown hair, dark brown eyes and a tanned skin. She looked more like an exotic princess from a desert than a troublemaker dhampir girl. The kind of woman I'd stop and appreciate – wasn't it for the fact that I was here to retrieve her and she was a minor.
"Leave her alone" she growled. "Don't touch her."
She was protecting princess Vasilisa. I held my hands out, trying to calm her, but that only seemed to enrage her more.
"I'm not going to–" I said, taking a step forward, but apparently it was too much.
She attacked me, leaping out in a feeble maneuver. It was stupid, even more because of her weakened state, but I had to admire her guts. I was faster than her and knocked her off, my hands slamming into her and sending her backwards, not meaning to strike so hard. She started to fall in an awkward angle, but I reached out to catch her arm.
Big mistake.
I'd considered her to be fragile, and she was, but she was also no idiot. She grabbed my arm and pulled me to her, using my momentum to make me fall. She twisted our bodies' position in midair, just a second before we collided with the ground, her using my body as a shield.
I heard my head crack and blacked out.
...
Pain. There was pain everywhere and, then, voices. I couldn't understand what they were saying. They were distant, maybe coming from another room. My head was pounding from the fall, when I hit it, though I was incapable of remembering why I had hit it in the first place. I was chasing the girls...
There were colors passing through my eyelids, but I couldn't open then. Not because I had no force, but because my eyes were blindfolded. My arms and legs were tied to what I believed was a chair – a chair with a very square sit. My ass was starting to feel numb, which made me wonder how much time I'd been like this.
Where could I be?
I heard a door open and steps coming into the room. Breathing – one deep and calm, other quick and superficial, but no words.
Deciding it was cleverer to make them believe I was still unconscious, I kept my breathing even and my muscles relaxed, my head hanging down.
"Oh god" a frightened voice said, quivering a little. "We'll never get away with this. When they catch us..."
"Chill, Liss. No one's going to catch us. They tried, they failed. I told you I'd keep you safe and I'm sticking to it."
This voice was stronger, more determined. I had heard it before... the night I was supposed to take the girls back to the Academy. Rosemarie Hathaway, I was sure it was her. I suddenly remembered her falling and I remembered the trick she played on me, making me fall with her. But what were they doing here with me? There had been other guardians covering my back, they surely would have gotten the girls before they could go too far way. Right?
"He's our hostage, for heaven's sake!" the princess voice screeched.
This wasn't good, this wasn't a single bit good. Hostage? What the heck were they talking about?
"Look at the bright side, at least he's hot."
"Gee, Rose, only you to think about that at a time like this."
She said I was hot. I... I didn't know what to think, she was too young. Also sexier than I'd like her to be, but mouth-watering nevertheless. I did not just think that. I suppose as long as I kept it to myself, it wouldn't be a crime to think of her dark eyes, her luscious hair, her full lips, how they'd feel if I... God, heat was creeping up my face – and other places.
"Liss, is he blushing?"
I tensed in reflex. The room was instantly quiet and I mentally kicked myself. They saw it.
I heard someone approaching me and tried to relax again, but it was too late. I could feel the air strangling me as somebody was coming closer – and that somebody smelled heavenly good, like clean soup and a discrete perfume I'd never scented before.
Was I crazy? That was one of my kidnappers I was thinking about!
A hand brushed my right cheek, sending shivers through my skin.
"Oh, I think he's very awake now" her voice teased.
I tried to move, but I was too tightly tied to the chair.
"Let me go!" I hissed.
Somebody whimpered – the princess, if I were to guess. Rosemarie wasn't so easily intimidated, though. She actually laughed at my attempt to sound authoritative.
"Look who's being all macho here. Sorry, big boy, but you're not in the place to make any demands."
That was it. Who did that girl think she was?
"They were right about you. You're no more than an irresponsible kid who couldn't care less about the princess safety."
Obviously, that was the exact wrong thing to say to hot tempered Rosemarie.
"Hush! You have no idea what you are talking about!"
"Rose, I don't think you should–"
"Come on, Liss! This guy here is saying I'd risk you at all. I'd never put you in harm's way, you know that!"
She really did seem concerned about the princess, I had to admit it. An image of her jerking the other girl behind her, protecting the princess from me, flashed in my head. Could I deny she was a guardian in essence?
"I know, Rose. But this man is a guardian. What do you think he's going to do with us? We're being dragged to the Academy as soon as he gets hid of his ties. You're not helping our case by yelling at him!"
"Well, that's not going to happen, because he's not getting hid of his ties."
"And what are you going to do with me then?" I exploded. "Just keep me here and feed me until you get tired and go away?"
Silence for a moment.
"We could keep you as our pet. Though I should warn you to clean your own shit."
She did not say that! I turned my head blindly in the direction of her voice, trying to show her all my disbelief.
"Or," she added in a more serious tone, "Lissa could use compulsion to erase your memory".
I didn't like the sound of that. Moroi weren't supposed to use compulsion at all, but erasing memories was a step further into the forbidden. I was hoping the princess wasn't practiced with that, but, even in that case, it wasn't like I was willing to be her lab rat.
"I guess that's a possibility" the princess agreed, thoughtful.
"Let's not make any harsh decisions." I whispered and it was all it took to Rosemarie regain her power.
"Not so brave any longer, are you, guardian?"
I sighed.
"I have a name."
"That would be?"
I really didn't have to tell her that, but if they were going to keep me here – wherever here was – for any amount of time, I'd rather be called something other than "guardian".
"Dimitri. Dimitri Belikov."
She paused. Something in her not saying anything made slightly nervous.
"Belikov" she said slowly, as if tasting the word in her tongue. Hell, what was wrong with me?
"Your accent is funny. Are you from Russia?"
"Da." I said with a smirk.
"Big Russian boy, that is, then."
"Can you remove this blindfold from my eyes? It would be nice to see, now that we are friends."
"Rose" the princess interfered, getting agitated. "I don't think that's a good idea."
Rosemarie thought for a minute before answering her friend.
"I don't think there are any problems with that. He's already seen us, anyway."
She walked over to me, leaning in my direction. I could imagine that as her scent got stronger and I reveled in it. She reached for my blindfold, unknotting it, but before she let go of the cloth, I felt her lips brushing my ear.
"Just don't stare at my chest, big boy."
The blindfold was gone and the light hurt my eyes. I blinked for a few times before being able to focus on anything. When I finally was able to do that, I saw I was staring straight at the most beautiful cleavage I had ever seen in my life.
"I said no staring at the boobs, Comrade. What part did you miss?"
I heard the princess giggling, but my eyes shot to Rosemarie's face. She was irritated and amused at the same time.
"Satisfied?" she asked.
"Much." I answered, my voice hoarse. Only then I got the double meaning in her question and in my words.
"Oh, I really need to get out of here now. Have fun with him Rose, I'm getting myself some sleep."
With that, the princess left through one of the two doors in the room. I took my time to notice my surroundings. It was a cheap motel room, not that I was expecting any better. There was a double bed with red sheets, a desk, a window covered by dark curtains and that was it. I looked at Rosemarie again. She was eyeing me curiously, as if trying to decipher some mystery.
"What?"
She shook her head.
"Are you hungry?" she asked.
"No, but I could use a shower."
"And how do I know you're not going to knock me out and run away when I release you from your ties?"
Rosemarie had a point, but she was getting on my nerves nonetheless.
"Do I have to promise not to beat you?" I asked sarcastically.
"Could I trust your word?"
She was serious. Something in her urged me to prove myself, my morals. I realized I wanted her to think of me as a good man. It was insane, considering she was far from trustworthy herself. No, that wasn't true. I'd seen how she cared about the princess. She wasn't shallow in any way.
"Yes, you can trust my word, Rosemarie." I saw it in her eyes that she trusted me.
"Don't call me that, it's ridiculous."
"What?"
"The name is Rose."
I smiled, in spite of myself. Something in her was just charming.
She walked over to me and gently untied the ropes that were holding me.
"Why did you bring me here?"
She gave me a look, before returning to untying me.
"You hit your head pretty badly and you started bleeding. I suppose there should be other guardians, but we couldn't see them coming. We couldn't just leave you there to bleed to death in case there wasn't anyone else. I'm sorry. We really didn't mean to kidnap you, but if we let you go now, you'll bring them all to us before we have time to get out of the state."
I absorbed her words as she finished working on my ties.
"The bathroom is over there" she said, pointing to the other door in the room.
I nodded and headed in its direction. Before I could reach it, though, Rose was there, blocking my way.
"What are you doing?" I frowned.
There was a smile tugging at the corner of her lips, but she struggled not to let it show.
"What? Even my trust has limits, Comrade. There's a window in there, you know, and you could easily escape through it."
I groaned.
"I told you could trust me!"
"You told me I could trust you not to beat me. Escaping is another matter."
One moment, perfection; the other, the ruiner of my existence.
"So I take it there will be no shower for me then?" I asked, irritated.
The smile broke free and spread through her lips, turning into a big grin.
"Oh, no, I'd never keep you from your shower. Just go ahead and get yourself cleaned.
I didn't get this girl, I seriously didn't. I walked past her and turned the water on, waiting for it to heat up. I turned to close the door, but Rose was still there, looking at me with a teasing smile.
"Can I close the door?"
"No, you can't."
I just stared at her, that crazy woman, looking for an explanation.
"I told you could have your shower, but I never intended on giving you the chance to flee."
Silence. She couldn't mean...
"I'll be watching" she finished.
Sweet Lord. I had no words for her. I opened and closed my mouth like a mute fish.
"Let me just see how big a boy you truly are" she joked, but the heat was there again and I could feel myself blushing and incapable of looking away.
Damn woman. I think I just got myself the Stockholm syndrome.
Stockholm syndrome is a term used to describe a paradoxical psychological phenomenon wherein hostages express adulation and have positive feelings towards their captors (by Wikipedia, in case anyone wasn't familiar with the term).
Review please!