By the way, I'm choosing to ignore Blood Promise and the someone in it called "Abe." And also the rest of the series, because Ib is Ib in my story. And somehow I remembered his name to be Ibrahim in one of the books. If someone would like to inform me about my mistake (or correctivity!), please do, as I don't have any of the books. I owe my reading to my Godfather, AKA ShadowkissedDeni.
I never did get to find him, though. Instead, I found something very different.
I found the truth. And my destiny.
The Truth:
-My mother was actually my father's second wife, and she wasn't my biological mother.
-My father was human, but my biological mother wasn't. She was what they called, a "dhampir."
-That made me one, too. I still don't know how it worked.
My Destiny:
-Okay, it might sound vague and ambiguous, but what I did find, was a school and I was 'destined' to become a 'guardian.'
I thought I was out of my mind (or they were out of theirs,) when this academy welcomed me in and told me they had been expecting me for so long. I'm not going to give details of my 'initiation.' I'll just skip to the part where I got my surprises.
My first surprise was my roommate.
Her name was Katie. Now, that jingled all the bells that fit into my head, that was lots, but I was sure she was not the Katie Dorricot from years ago, but another Katie. However, after a while, I wasn't so sure, and nor was she.
Katie was blonde. She was a little taller than me and skinny. She was quite pretty and she was a 'Moroi.' Her last name was Dorricot, like the Katie in my class. Also, she---
"OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed. (This was my second surprise.)
Katie stares at me, her smile on her face frozen. She recovered, saying, "Janine, are you all right?" She rushed to my side but I ran away from her, screaming. I slammed the bathroom door. It's a wonder I even found the bathroom, though I was looking for a bedroom.
After a few minutes of splashing my face with cold water, I realized that she was playing a prank on me, though it wasn't All Hallow's Eve (Halloween) yet...
I opened the door a little and peeked out. Katie was right outside. "Janine?" she ventured. "Are you okay?"
I opened the door fully and almost pulled Katie with it; she had been holding the handle. "Yeah, I'm fine. Of course! Haha." I said with force cheer, embarrassed at my outburst. "Haha, I get it. They're fake." I said to assure myself. "Haha."
Katie frowned. "What?"
I rolled my eyes. "Your teeth. You know... the um, fang things. Very funny, Katie."
A peculiar expression outgrew Katie's confused one. "Oh! That's the other thing, Janine, Moroi have fangs, and so do Strigoi, of course."
Oh my God.
Not a REAL-LIFE vampire? Not for real? Like Dracula???
I let this stuff sink in (get it? sink in, like fangs?) and that took a few weeks, but I won't go that fast.
So I got over the fangs, and we talked for a long while. She helped me unpack and settle, telling me all about herself, including her boyfriend, who was a 'royal' Moroi.
Boyfriend.
I had forgotten all about Ib. It was nearly two months since I left him.
**
When Katie and I finally re-confirmed ourselves to be ex-classmates, we were much more comfortable with each other. She told me how she had ended up in St Vlad's, how her fangs were delayed in their growth and her parents thought she was somehow not Moroi and sent her to 'normal' (human) school. She explained all about Strigoi and all that, which included her specializing in an element. Fire, which also explained the incident from years ago.
She seemed to read my mind as she recalled to me that day with the wolves at school.
My second surprise was a present from a lady called Syrup. Well, everyone called her Syrup. She was to be my instructor, and the gift she presented to me was a 'stake.'
Like a REAL stake.
Until I held it, it looked surprisingly heavy for such a small object. When I did hold it, though, it was just the opposite. I found it quite light and, much closer, quite large. It was probably the way Syrup held it.
**
Every morning at around 4:30, I pulled myself awake to do my training and wondered what new skills or techniques I was going to learn. I wondered about my mother(s), my father, and Ib.
Syrup was very friendly at first, taking time to correct me when my head was held too low or high, when my back was too bent or arched, when my stake was held the wrong way or in the wrong position.
When the training got harder, however, she started using a harsher voice and language.
After training, there'd be breakfast, where I'd be wearing fresh attire and where I'd line up behind Katie to get food.
I found it very suspicious when on Mondays and occasionally Fridays she wasn't in the line. When I confronted her on one Monday, about it, she laughed, showing her fangs.
She dragged me to a foul-smelling room. My eyes widened.
There were lots of Moroi just walking around, some were entering or exiting smaller rooms. I accompanied Katie to one of these rooms and watched in fascination and disgust as she literally bit into this guy's neck and drank his blood.
After breakfast, we'd have classes just like 'human school.' It bored me a little as I'd expected something out of the blue. Something cool and creepy.
Lunch was your typical everyday lunch, and lessons after that again. Etcetera. There'd be a few hours of free time, one of which I used to talk with Syrup about combat and fighting. Then came dinner, followed by another hour of free time, which led to lights out.
I'm just going to leave it there, sorry. Next chapter coming up soon. Please give me some insights.
