Chapter 2
Trigonometry was every bit as shit as I imagined. I couldn't do the work, and I had no one to help me. I sat with this really small, really annoying girl called Jessica. She was about my mom's height and had long, curly hair. She did not stop talking the whole way through the lesson, and I'm glad I have an excuse as to why there I did no work, but she has such an annoying voice. She followed me out the building, but her expression when she saw Emmett there was so funny, I had to stop myself laughing.
And then when she figured he was waiting for me, she was more or less catatonic.
"Hey, Rosie." He called. Jessica's eyes looked as though they were about to pop out of her head.
"Th-that's Emm—"
"I know. It's Emmett Cullen. Thank you for pointing that out for me." I turned to Emmett. "Never call me Rosie again. We both know how it ended the last time." He just laughed.
"Well, now I know what I'm dealing with, I know how to defeat you."
"You mean after I kicked your butt god knows how many times in gym this morning?"
"I-I'm going to go." Jess stuttered.
"Okay, I'll see you soon." I began walking towards the parking lot when Emmett grabbed my arm.
"I need to go tell my family where we're going. If I don't Rose'll get pretty pissed."
"Rose?" I asked.
"Rosalie. My girlfriend-stroke-part-time-wife." He paused. "You're Rosie." He added. I rolled my eyes.
"You really are asking for it."
"You might be able to take us on alone, but put us together, we're killing machines. I bet you couldn't take Jasper, though."
"Right, well, let's get going. We only have one hour." We walked into the cafeteria, and it took me less than a second to pick out his family. There was four of them. They were all white, with gold eyes. They were all beautiful.
"Hey, guys." They all looked up. "This is Rosie. Rosie, this is Rosalie—" he pointed to the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life; blond, of course "—Alice—" a small, skinnier version of the first girl, except with black hair "—Jasper—" a tall boy with honey blonde hair "—and Edward." The hottest guy I have ever seen. Including Dimitri. He had a bronze-ish coloured hair, and was slightly shorter and lankier than the other boys.
"Hey. Never call me Rosie. Ever. Or I will kick your asses worse than I kicked his this morning." They all bust up laughing except Edward. He just smiled a crooked smile and shook his head.
"No, I did. I you don't believe it, I can give you a demonstration."
"Please don't. It hurts."
"Get used to it. I did."
"Well, Rose was going to tell me about all the vampires she's killed." They all turned to me in open-mouthed shock.
"You've killed vampires?" Rosalie asked me. She quite obviously didn't believe me. I nodded. "How?"
"With this." I pulled my stake from my belt, just enough to show them, but no one else. "But two were with a sword."
"How many have you killed?" Jasper asked. I shrugged.
"At least thirty. But they're not like you. I was going to explain as much as I could to Emmett in the lunch hour. And then after school, I could explain to the rest of you, if you like?"
"Yeah, sure. Carlisle would love that." Alice interjected. "Although, he'd probably want to capture one and use it as a science experiment."
"Yeah, well, it would eat me. So that's not going to happen. Well, we'd best get going. I do want to be late to Biology on my first day." I walked past Emmett, towards the parking lot, and tapped him on the back, beckoning him to come with me.
As we arrived at my car, I realised there might be a problem.
"Umm, you might not fit."
"I will, don't worry about it." I pulled out the keys and unlocked the car. He opened the car, pushed the seat back, and climbed in. His head just touched the roof, but his knees were a bit scrunched up.
And his face looked like a kid on Christmas morning.
"So, you like the car?"
"I was gonna buy one of these, but Carlisle told me not to bother. So I was thinking of getting one for Edward as an excuse to buy one." That shocked me slightly.
"Wait—how much money do you guys have?" I began pulling out of the space.
"Carlisle's been the best doctor in the world for over two hundred years. So, I'd say…millions. If not billions."
"And here I was thinking my dad was rich." I muttered to myself.
"How much do you have?"
"I don't have any money, but my best friends and my dad are all multi-millionaires." He looked at me in confusion. "Do you know anywhere we can talk privately?"
"Sure. The house should be empty. If not, the only person there'd be is Esme."
"Show me the way."
When we arrived at the house, he directed me around to a garage. It was full to the brim with cars. There was a black Aston Martin, a canary yellow Porsche, a red BMW, and the biggest jeep I have ever seen.
"So, I'd be willing to guess the Volvo is yours, also?"
"You'd be guessing correctly." I parked up in one of the empty spaces and got out of the car. He followed suit and lead me into the house. "And this is my home." He said as we entered the massive house. The downstairs was all one room besides the kitchen and dining room. The back wall was entirely made of glass. Just to the right of the front door, there was a beautiful black grand piano.
"Do all you vamps here have families?"
"Not all. Only us, really. We aren't really related, but you can probably guess that. We pose as family so people don't suspect us. Carlisle and Esme act as our parents, and the rest of us act as brothers and sisters, since we were all teenagers when we were turned. You know, I'm the oldest and the youngest."
"Huh?"
"I'm nineteen years old, but I was turned only eighty years ago. Edward and Jasper are seventeen, Rose is eighteen, and we don't know how old Alice was wwhe
"So," I started, sitting on the couch, "what do you want to know?"
"How old are you?" I felt my face fall. I hadn't realised since it was the daytime, but today was my eighteenth birthday, and I was alone.
"I'm eighteen today." I whispered.
"Why're you sad, Rosie? Birthdays are supposed to be fun, not sad."
"I'm sad because I had to leave all my friends and my boyfriend behind."
"Why couldn't they come?"
"This is where all the explaining starts." I took a deep breath. "I'm a dhampir. In my world, there's two types of vampire: Moroi and Strigoi. Moroi are peaceful and living. They need blood to survive, but only a little bit every day. They each specialise in an element: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, or Spirit. Spirit's the rarest of all five. It has amazing powers."
"What do you mean, 'specialised'?"
"They can, like, use the element. They can control it, like, fire users can start fires. And earth users can rot wooden benches." The last part was filled with venom for Victor and Natalie. "Dhampirs are half human, half Moroi. We're strong and fast by nature—the exact opposite to Moroi. They're tall, thin, small boned, and weak. Strigoi are immortal. They kill to survive. They can go longer than Moroi can without blood, but they choose to feed every day. They're strong, and Moroi blood is what makes them that way.
"So, since dhampirs are strong and fast, we make the ultimate bodyguards. We learn to protect and defend from the time we turn ten. We're trained to use guns, make weapons out of anything we can find, and stakes." I pulled mine out of my belt. "These are deadly to Strigoi. They're dead, and magic is life. They're pure silver and are charmed with each element. One touch of this is like touching fire for them." I looked up and met his eyes. "One of these through their heart kills them."
"So you've killed these Strigoi?"
"Well, the first time," I explained, "I had no choice. There are three ways to kill a Strigoi: staking, burning, and beheading. There were no other guardians there, only me and my friends. One of them killed my best friend, Mason. There was a sword above the mantel. It was dull, but I killed them both."
"Badass." Emmett high-fived me.
"So, most of my friends couldn't come because they're Royal. Moroi have twelve royal families: Dragomir, Badica, Conta, Ozera, Dashkov, Lazar, Tarus, Voda, Drozdov, Szelsky, Zeklos, Ivashkov. My best friend in the entire world is a Dragomir. There's only her left, and so she could quite possible be the richest person on earth when she turns twenty-one. He boyfriend is an Ozera. But, he is the least rich royal, and still has millions of dollars."
"Why?"
"His parents turned Strigoi when he was about three years old. Since then, the Ozera line has been entirely disgraced; he and his aunt, especially. His aunt actually fought the Strigoi until guardians—dhampirs—showed up and staked them. She hadn't specialised then, so she couldn't just incinerate them, but when she did, she learned all sorts of offensive magic. She specialised in fire. So did Christian; her nephew. He has a higher kill rate than most guardians.
"Moroi and dhampirs go to Academy's from when we're four years old. Dhampirs learn to fight; Moroi learn magic. Last week, Strigoi attacked my school. Christian would light them up and I would stake them. We killed more than anyone else in that fight. There was more than fifty. The only person who got nearly as many as us was Dimitri. My boyfriend." I felt my face creep into a smile at the mention of him.
"My other best friend is Adrian Ivashkov. A drunk, chain-smoking Moroi. The Ivashkovs are the biggest and most powerful family, since the Queen is an Ivashkov. Adrian is the Queen's great-nephew, and extremely spoiled. He dropped out of college to stalk me. So, they weren't allowed to come because they're all Royal Moroi."
"And why wasn't Dimitri allowed to come?"
"Me might be my boyfriend, but he was my teacher first." Emmett's eyes widened slightly. "Lissa and I had run away from the Academy; it wasn't safe for her there. We were gone for two years. Dimitri was the one who found us. He brought us back to the Academy. Kirova—the headmistress—didn't want me to stay. She wanted me to go and live with the blood-whores. Her excuse was that I'd missed out on two years of training, which I had, but Dimitri offered to mentor me. He taught me everything I know. And we fell in love. No one could find out; I didn't even tell Lissa. Not until the attack. So, he had to stay at school. He's Lissa's guardian, too, so he wouldn't be allowed to go unless she was going. And he's not even here for my birthday. I miss him so much."
"Well, can't you just call him?"
"I could, but he'd be asleep. Moroi can go out in the sun, but it's very uncomfortable for them, so at Academy's, we run on a nocturnal schedule. Strigoi can't go out in the sun, either. Hey, how come you can go out in the sun?"
"There's a reason we live in Forks. We can go out in the sun, but when it's bright, we, um, sparkle."
I couldn't help but laugh. "You sparkle. Nice. That has got to be the most un-scary thing I've ever heard. Sparkling vampires. Sweet." He glared at me as I snorted. "Just be glad Adrian and Christian aren't here; you'd be getting some serious shit if they were." I pulled out my phone and checked the time. "Ooh, shit, the hour's already up. We should probably get back."
"Don't worry about it. Why you so eager to get back to school, anyways?"
"I have Biology and Gym. I like biology, and Gym's, like, my all-time favourite. At my last school, the only regular lessons I had were English, Calculus, Animal Behaviour, and Biology. The rest were combat, bodyguard theory, and weight training."
He looked like he had an idea.
"How big is your house?"
"Not massive, but not exactly small. Why?"
"Come with me." He beckoned me to follow him and he lead me down to the basement. He turned the light on, and I saw that the room was entirely empty.
"Why am I standing on your basement?" I asked.
"Well, I've been wanting to build a gym down here for a while now, so if you like, I could get a few things and train with you while you're here." I felt my eyes go wide. He grinned at me.
"Serious?" I had the biggest god damn grin on my face ever.
"Serious." I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him. "Woah, there." He said as his arms wrapped around my waist in response.
"I think I may be in love with you, Emmett." His laugh rumbled in my ear. I pulled back and checked the time on my phone. "Shit. I'm late."
"Don't worry, I can get you there on time. On one condition."
"You name it."
"You teach me some of those awesome moves."
"Deal." I laughed. "So, how are you going to get me to school in the next two minutes."
"Just come with me." I followed him out the front door.
"So?" I asked.
"I'm going to run. You can pick up your car after school. Now hop on my back, Rosie."
"I wonder if my stake works on you…" I hopped on, anyway.
And then he ran.
He runs faster than any car or train I have ever been in. in under a minute, we were at school.
"Shit, you were right."
"I usually am. You really didn't need to worry. Edward's in that class. He'd have covered for you."
"And you let me worry because…?"
"It was funny. Now go, before you miss roll call. I'll meet you outside the Gym."
"Christian will love you," I muttered to myself as I began to walk away. I heard his chuckle behind me.
I walked in just as my name was called on the register.
"Rosemarie Hathaway."
"It's Rose." I emphasized, before realising he was just calling me out. "Oh, uh, yes, sir."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Hathaway. Please, take a seat." Sarcasm was evident in his voice. He carried on with the roll call as I mimicked him and sat in the only available space—the one next to Edward.
"Hey, Eddie." He looked at me and raised an eyebrow at the nickname. "Your brother's awesome. He's going to build me a gym." He rolled his eyes at me.
"He's wanted to build a gym ever since we moved here. He was just using the excuse."
"I know. He says he wants to train with me. He wants to learn to fight like me. We're going to train together for while I'm here."
"He uses any excuse to fight."
"Oh, I just think he feels embarrassed being beat up by a girl."
"Well, there is that, too." We both chuckled at that. He turned to look at me. He stared deep into my eyes as though he was looking for something, something he wasn't even sure what it was.
"What's wrong?" I realised my voice had dropped to a whisper. He continued to stare at me with that same intensity.
"I can't…it isn't working." He was whispering by now, as well, but he didn't drop the intensity.
"What's not working?" he closed his eyes and sighed deeply, resigned.
"Never mind. I'll explain later." I looked away from him, trying hard to focus on the teacher, but I couldn't. There was something about Edward. When he looked into my eyes just then, I felt something. Something I've only ever felt with Dimitri. Something I didn't trust. It tingled between us. I shifted my stool ever so slightly away from him, trying to ignore it as best as possible. We didn't talk for the rest of the hour.
When the period was over, Edward walked me to the gym, speaking about as much as he did during the lesson. Until we arrived, we were in complete silence.
"Do you want me to wait for you after class? You need to pick up your car from the house, don't you?" I looked at him in confusion.
"How'd you—"
"I'll explain later."
"Emmett's going to wait for me. You don't need to worry."
"Okay, but it'll be a tight squeeze in the car." He waved and walked away.
The coach recognized me as soon as I entered. He approached me with a wary look on his face.
"Um, hi…?"
"Hey. I was wondering—after seeing you in class this morning—do you think you could take the lesson this time?" he blushed furiously as he asked—probably embarrassed at having to ask am eighteen-year-old girl to take the class for him.
"Still self-defence, right?" I clarified before jumping straight in.
"Yeah. It's no problem, is it?"
"No, none at all. I used to take the class at my old school, on occasion. Although we did have specific self-defence lessons. I could teach them the basics, though."
"Thank you. I just think it would be better to have someone who knows what they're doing take the lesson, rather than me."
"Yeah, I can do it. I'll just go change." I walked away, and I was pretty sure he was staring after me with a wistful expression.
"Okay, quieten down please!" I heard the coach call to the class as I was just exiting the locker room. I had tied my t-shirt at the back once again; it was just too big for me. "I won't be taking the lesson today. I thought it better for you to learn from someone with a little experience for a change." A few of the guys snickered as they saw me approach.
"Shut your faces, assholes. I'm a pro." I shot them all a grin before adding, "Literally." I pulled my hair back, and the guys that had heard about the Emmett incident earlier stopped laughing. But the guys who didn't carried on laughing. One of them even had the nerve to speak out.
"You really expect us to believe that?"
I glared at him. "I said shut your fucking face, asshole."
"Language." I heard the coach chastise from the side.
"And what're you going to do about it?" he asked. I walked towards him, and he stepped up to meet me in the middle.
"I could take you down without landing a single hit." I stretched up on my toes and rested my hands on his chest. I leaned in until I was only an inch from his lips. I heard his breathing falter. I pulled away slightly and breathed into his ear, "Told ya," before pushing him over and landing him on his ass. There was a few laughs from our surrounding audience.
"You don't fight fair." He accused.
"Oh, so you really want to spar?"
"Yeah. I do."
"You're brave, I'll give you that." We stepped into a space. "You ready?" he nodded. I had him down before he even landed a hit.
"Okay, so where was I…? Oh, yeah. Partner up." I instructed them. "I'll only be able to teach you the basics, but it'll be enough." So I did. I taught them to properly punch, and demonstrated a side kick. They all managed to master the whole punching thing, but only one or two got the whole idea of the kick. At one point, I let them try it out so I could come round and check on their technique.
I spotted Mike with another girl. It reminded me of how Mason would always partner up with me. And then I felt a pang of guilt as I remembered he was dead.
"Show me what you can do." I told them. They'd both gotten the hang of both the kick and the punch. "Very good," I praised them before turning to the girl. She wasn't small—about the same height as me—but I thought of something that could give her the upper edge in a fight. "Soon you'll be able to fake out an attacker. Like this." I positioned Mike so he was facing me. "Don't move; I won't hurt you. Just so long as you go along with what I'm doing." He nodded and I swung out in slow motion. I narrated what the effects were as I demonstrated each move. I got a roundhouse over Mike's head. "This will distract him enough to incapacitate him," I said as I pulled him by the shoulders towards me and kneed him in the stomach—lightly—and grabbed his wrist. I twisted it around, so it was pressed against his back. "This would hurt if you held tightly," I kicked his knees from behind him, and laid him on the mat. I had one hand on his back, the other holding his arm.
"You see?" I looked up at her. "You don't need to be strong for these moves. To keep him down, you just need to use pressure points. Look." I pointed to the middle of her wrist, climbing off Mike's back. "You press here, he won't be able to pull his arm back. And when you've got him down, you hold here," I pointed out a point on the back of her neck, "And he shouldn't move too much. Just call the cops and it'll be all good. What's your name?" I asked.
"Angela." She was quiet, but I got the impression she wanted to learn more.
"Nice to meet you, Angela." I checked my watch; it was ten to four. "Okay, let's round this up. You all did great, today. Go get changed. It's time to go home. I haven't eaten yet." I almost ran to the locker room in anticipation—of finding out all about the new vamps, not just food. But food was part of it, of course.
Yes, you are welcome.
Another chapter will be up in the next couple days!
I'm already writing it.
Daisy
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