Chapter 2: Love Not At First Sight

S/N: I apologize for not posting sooner, it's been a crazy month for me, but anyways, enjoy :)

Three Years Earlier

I was down for the count. Never in my lifetime did I imagine myself ever saying those words of defeat, but the mistake I made only moments ago, wasn't my fault. It was the man's fault, the man wearing bold color clothes and gold earrings.

"Janine!"

The sound of name was barely audible to my ears. My head felt as if it were doing countless three sixties over and over, bringing about a nauseous sensation in the pit of my stomach. Dozens of obscure silhouettes hovered over me and they spoke hush words that I couldn't understand.

"Janine!" A familiar face pushed his way through the crowd of what I now realized were my fellow novices and kneeled beside me, supporting my head with a towel someone had handed him. "Are you hurt? Do you need me to send someone to fetch the nurse?"

"No," I replied unsteadily. "but can you tell someone to stop spinning the room? It's just beyond cruel and makes me want to puke." And then I went into unconsciousness again.

I recuperated some time later lying alone in the infirmary with an ice pack placed over my eye. To my surprise, the dizziness I experienced had mostly subsided as well as the nausea, though I remembered little of what had happened. I was still in my training clothes, which meant I came from my combat class, but how? I never made a single error when it came to training or even sparring. I was efficient. I was deadly. I was focused. What...

It was at that moment when I sat up, removing the ice pack from my eye, and caught sight of my reflection in the mirror behind the door. All the memories I thought I lost came back to me and instead of swearing up a storm, which was first reaction to things that distraught me, I screamed at the top of my lungs.

The door busted open, thankfully hiding my reflection, and in came one of my closest friends. Stan Alto. "What's going on?" He asked, scanning the entire room for intruders. "Janine, say something!"

"Where is he?" I shouted, pointing at my newly discovered black eye. "Where is the man who did this to me?"

Stan dropped his protective ego and appeared confused. "What man? Celeste gave you that black eye while you two were sparring, don't you remember?"

I tried to get off the bed and failed miserably since my legs fell asleep. Luckily, Stan was there and caught me before I hit the floor. "Thanks."

"No problem." He spared me one of his rare genuine smiles, and the reason I say rare is because he never bears them to anyone else except me.

It was no secret Stan had a crush on me. Past his attractive good looks and muscular physique, his true feelings were easily shown. He loved me, adored me even, but why? How? I was a five foot, auburn-haired girl from Scotland who wanted nothing more than to become the greatest Guardian that ever lived. It was unattractive and unusual for a dhampir woman to want such a thing, especially since most of us became blood whores, or a person who engages in sex with many Moroi men in the hopes of getting bit during the ordeal and high off the endorphins found in the Moroi's saliva.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Stan and I broke apart almost immediately and turned towards the door to find our friend standing there with a mischievous grin on her face. "Alberta," Stan muttered. "What are you doing here?"

"Celeste found me at lunch and told me what happened." She looked at me and her eyes grew concerned. "Yet, she didn't mention how bad the damage was." Embarrassed, I turned away from her.

"It's not that bad." Stan countered. "It makes her look...tougher."

Alberta laughed. "You would say that, lover boy."

Stan turned red. "Well, I don't see you making things any better with your insults. I thought you two were friends."

"We're best friends actually, and have been before you came around, Romeo."

"Enough!" I snapped, beginning to develop a painful migrate over their childish nonsense. It was bad enough I had a black eye to worry about. "Alberta, where's Celeste now?"

She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Considering classes just ended, my best guess would be her room. If she's not there, then try the library."

Nodding, I left the room with Alberta and Stan following right behind me. We managed to get to the lobby without trouble until we ran into Dr. Macek talking to Guardian Schoenberg or Arthur as I preferred to call him outside of the classroom. They were both surprised when they saw the three of us, especially me.

"Miss. Hathaway," Arthur exclaimed. "Dr. Macek was just telling me you were still insensible."

"Yeah, five minutes ago." Stan mumbled under his breath.

I elbowed him in his side before saying, "I was, but then I awoke only moments ago and feel fully recovered now."

"You may feel recovered, Miss. Hathaway, except your eye isn't." Dr. Macek walked over to me and grabbed my face, examining my eye. "Most of the swelling has gone down and you don't seem as hysterical as you were when Mr. Alto brought you in earlier."

"So, am I free to go?" I asked, full of hope.

She nodded. "Yes, though I took the liberty of excusing you from your combat classes for the rest of the week while you were unconscious to make sure you heal fully and avoid causing anymore trauma to your head."

My hope faded. "But...but what am I supposed to do during those hours? Sit on the bench?"

Dr. Macek gestured to Arthur. "Guardian Schoenberg will tell you everything you need to know on the way to Headmaster Dashkov's office."

Headmaster Dashkov? I gazed at Alberta and Stan for information, but all they did was shrug. What could the Headmaster possibly want with me?

Upon leaving the infirmary, I realized the night had just begun at St. Alexandra's, or at least on the nocturnal schedule it did. I must have been out cold for hours because the sun was barely shining above last I saw unlike now where it was starting to become visible on the horizon of the Transylvanian Alps, slowly turning the sky blue. The campus was almost barren; except for the few dhampir and Moroi students we passed.

When we got to the administration building, Arthur stopped us before we walked into the front door. "I'm sorry, Miss. Petrov and Mr. Alto. I'm afraid you two are only allowed up to this point. Miss. Hathaway and I must go on from here alone."

Alberta nodded in agreement, but Stan appeared ready to argue. Pulling him aside, I whispered, "I'll be alright. You and Alberta need to get back to the dorms before you two get in trouble for arriving past curfew."

"But, Janine..."

Before I realized it, I gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Just go."

Stan's face had turned a deep shade of red and a goofy smile had formed on his lips. He looked as if Cupid's arrow had finally hit him. Before he could say a word, Alberta took advantage of his temporary feebleness and pulled him away towards the dorms. When they disappeared, Arthur escorted me inside the building.

I felt horrible, guilty even. I shouldn't have played with Stan's feelings the way I did, knowing that deep inside I...I didn't feel the same way about him. He was my best guy friend, and even if I tried, I couldn't picture us being anything more than that.

Turning the corner, I discovered there were two unknown Guardians stationed outside Headmaster Dashkov's office. Arthur, who was as perplexed as I was, ordered me to stay behind while he approached them. They spoke in hush tones, making it hard for me to understand what they were saying, but there was one thing I did pick up on. An accent I never heard before. After a few more moments of conversing, Arthur gestured for me to advance while the Guardians opened the door for us.

"Who are they?" I asked when we entered. "Where are they...?"

I stopped walking, as well as breathing, when I looked up. Standing beside the headmaster's desk, talking to Headmaster Trenton Dashkov himself, was the man wearing bold color clothes and gold earrings.

What do you guys think? I'll try posting the next chapter sooner than this one was.