Chapter 4
A/N: So I didn't get as many reviews as I wanted but those of you who did review deserve an update. I appreciate everyone who is supporting me. I will accept criticism if that's what you have to offer as long as you aren't rude about it. Please, please, please, please review and enjoy the chapter. I would so appreciate it. And if I get more reviews, I'll take one of your suggestions and incorporate it into the story any way I can ;-)
Disclaimer: I own nothing. All rights go to the wonderful and talented Richelle Mead and Rachel Higginson.
Rose xoxo
Rose POV:
"Hey, comrade," I slid into the booth across the table from Dimitri.
It was Sunday, which was his only day off. At first, I was only coming to the diner to get some donuts (the best in the world) but then I saw him, sitting there, eating breakfast so a plan formed in my mind. All I had to do was put it in action.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't call me that," he said, lifting the coffee mug to his lips. "It doesn't make me...happy when you do that."
This was the first time I've ever actually heard his accent so thick. It wasn't so thick you couldn't understand him but he couldn't have been in America long.
I smirked, "So, you have emotions. I never knew."
The past couple of days, I tried to make conversation with Dimitri, get to know him but...he didn't say much. I wanted to know why Amory chose him to be my bodyguard when he could've chosen anyone else, including more experienced ones. What could I say? I was a curious girl. He shook his head at my retort.
"What can I do for you, Rose?" He asked, sighing.
The waitress brought my five donuts and mug of hot chocolate to the tanle and gave Dimitri a charming smile before walking away. I narrowed my eyes and some unknown feeling coursed through me. Why did I care she was subtly flirting with Dimitri? It wasn't like I liked him or anything. That was just ridiculous
"I want to know why Amory chose you to be my bodyguard. He has a lot of contacts and, no offense, but you're young so he could've got someone with way more experience," I said, simply there was no point in beating around the bush.
"He wanted someone to be with you that wouldn't draw attention like a much older man following around a teenage girl would," he said, shrugging before cutting off a piece of omelet and placing it in his mouth in one fluid, graceful motion.
I watched him, carefully. Usually, I could easily tell when people were lying to me. It was all about body language and just natural instinct, I guess.
"I need you to help me find out what my mother and grandfather are hiding from me," I said, tilting my head to the side and fluttering my eyelashes.
"That's something you need to ask them. It's not my place to say anything," he answered.
I sighed and turned to a more desperate, pleading approach,
"Look, Dimitri...I have no one else to turn to. My entire family is lying to me and I don't know who to trust anymore...please."
He hesitated, looking me over carefully. I had never seen someone so good at hiding their emotions. It was like he was a robot, programmed to never feel. From the little time, I've known him, Dimitri was a silent, but deadly and secluded person. He didn't speak unless spoken to but the others said when he fights...he makes it seem like the easiest thing of the world.
"Amory picked me because I have the best record. Not the most kills but something else that they'll need to explain to you when the time comes. Rose, they aren't lying to you because they have a choice. I know you hear it all the time that it is because they're trying to protect you but this is what I'm saying. They have the hardest job in the world: keeping you safe. But your family and friends would die before letting something happen to you. Your mother is a good person and Amory is one of the few men I trust with every bone in my body," Dimitri finally said.
"Is it really that serious? Life or death?" I asked, solemnly.
"You have no idea," he scoffed lightly and from the haunted look in his eyes, I could tell he suffered something really terrible. "Look, if you promise to stop giving them a hard time and keep your grades up, I'll ask Amory if it's okay for me to train you. I know you think you know how to protect yourself but I could teach you a lot more."
I lit up. Fighting lessons? Best suggestion I heard in a long while.
"Yeah, I would love that. Thanks. Do you mind if I ask you a question?"
"Go ahead," he said, warily.
I expected him to say no. Yes. I was finally making progress. If he was going to be my bodyguard, he couldn't be a stranger. Knowing his name meant nothing if I knew nothing about him.
"Where are you from?" I asked, then clarified. "I know you're from Russia, but where in the country? St. Petersburg, Siberia, Moscow?"
"Do you know much about the country? I'm from Siberia," he explained.
"I speak fluent Russian, Romanian, Latin, French, and Spanish. Amory is very firm on me knowing about my heritage which is Russian and Romanian and the other ones are just for fun," I shrugged. "But, anyway...you're from Siberia? The arctic wasteland."
He laughed and we finished off our breakfast. He threw a 20 on the table, grabbed his jacket and stood up. I followed suit, confused.
"Where are you going?" I asked, confused.
"First, I need Amory's permission. Second, he has to give us a place to train if he says yes," Dimitri explained.
He drove us back to the house. Sam was taking Mom out for the day and Amory was having some type of meeting here. Amory was basically the mayor of this town. Everyone respected him, even if they didn't like him. You did not want to be an enemy of Amory Saint. I walked into the dining room and saw Amory sitting at the head of the mahogany table with about four other men. They were like Dimitri. I could tell. Their posture and demeanor just gave them away.
"Amory?" I interrupted and all five men looked up at me.
"Excuse me," Amory said to the other men before standing up and leading Dimitri and I to the kitchen. "What can I do for you, my dear?"
"Rose would like to have training sessions and I agreed to teach her some defensive techniques as long as it was okay with you," Dimitri said, respectfully.
Amory hesitated and I gave him the puppy dog eyes, jutting my bottom lip out,
"Please, please, please, Grandpa. I'll keep my grades up and everything. I promise."
"Fine. But, as soon as they slip, no more lessons," he said, and I squealed, nodding. "Dimitri, you can use the gym...Now, I have to return to my meeting, if you don't mind."
I knew it was going to work. Amory could never deny me anything. He knew when I wanted something because I would call him "grandpa" but I was his little princess. Unless it was something I really couldn't have, I got. People could call me spoiled but I worked for what I had. Now, I had to keep my grades up. But that was hard to do when school was the most boring place on the planet. I mean, what is the point of us having a Chemistry class? What? Were we going to wake up one day and say "oh, I want to do a sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide reaction."
The next day, I woke up early for school. In the afternoon, I had my first training session with Dimitri and I was so excited. But, when I got to school...it was nothing like I expected. Everyone was frantic. Even my first period teacher, Ms. Karp, kept moving around the room while we tried to take our tests. It was so annoying and it made it hard to focus.
What's going on?, I wrote on a piece of paper and slipped it to Eddie, who was closest to me.
Bethany Ramone, Mr. Ramone's daughter, is missing. You know this town is small. Anything starts to seem out of place and people start panicking, Eddie wrote back.
Mr. Ramone was our World History teacher. He was a nice guy. Gave us a lot of projects but he was a fun teacher.
Yeah, I know that. But, couldn't she have just ran away?, I questioned, making sure Ms. Karp had her back turned before slipping it back to Eddie.
In the middle of October, would you run away with no clothes, no money, no bag, not even a jacket? Her car was even still in the parking lot with the key in the ignition. Something's going on.
Finally, a time when the others were as much in the dark as I was. I kind of didn't feel sorry for Bethany, though. She was a bitch. We didn't get alone since 3rd grade when she was picking on Ali so much that she made her cry. That pissed me off. No one made my best friend, my sister, cry. Ali did the same for me when a group of girls tried to gang up on me once. Of course, no one deserved to be taken from her family but...it wasn't like this was exactly a tragedy.
Two cops walked into the room. Everyone forgot about their tests and watched as Ms. Karp walked over to them. This was going to be interesting. Amory was standing in the doorway and I knew he would never let the police in unless it was of utmost importance.
"Is it necessary to come in here?" Ms. Karp asked the police.
"Unless you want to stand in the way of us doing our jobs, I suggest you let us take the students we need," one of the cops said before stepping forward and reading names off a list, "Ian Matthews, Daniel Thomas, Edison Castile, Mason Ashford, Rosemarie Hathaway, Alison Lawson, Rebecca Croise, Amelia Croise, and Meredith Jackson. Come with us."
I get why Ian was going since he was her boyfriend. Daniel, Rebecca, Amelia, and Meredith were her best friends but...me, Alison, Eddie, and Mason. We hated Bethany and her posse. They thought they ruled the school. And they were the definition of a high school cliché. That's probably why they were calling us.
"Amory, why are they taking us?" I whispered to my grandfather as we followed the police out of the school. "And they're taking us in a police van? We aren't criminals!"
Before we got in, Amory turned and placed his hands on my shoulders,
"It's just for questioning, dear. I promise. I wouldn't let you and your friends go if I thought it was going to be anything but that. Dimitri is going to follow behind in his SUV, okay? Your mother and I will be there soon."
I nodded, and before I got in the van, out the corner of my eye, I saw a shadowy figure in the woods. It had these weird, silvery eyes that stared right at me before they disappeared. I had to be seeing things. Was I having a mental breakdown or something? I'm hearing voices, seeing things, having blue marks appearing on my arms...what was happening to me?
Sorry for the short chapter. I just wanted to update as soon as possible and I'm going to be posting a new story pretty soon. Before the holidays. Next chapter is going to be way longer and I want you guys to please review. Rose is going to be questioned,along with her first training session with Dimitri :-)
Rose xoxo
