Finally! Exams are still about to continue this coming Tuesday so I still can't update so much.
I hope you'll like this chapter.
Chapter six
A Shallow Box
I was a bit taken aback at the adherence I needed to put on just opening a single but antique jewelry box. I didn't want to break the old thing so I added a little momentum on my part and it was pretty hard to do so. Eventually, the box cracked an inch open and I let out a sigh of relief. I could smell a faint trace of cologne from the box. It smelled nice and calming, not like Dimitri's did but it was soothing in other ways.
I opened the box further and looked at it. I was a bit surprised at how shallow everything was inside. I had been expecting a deep box with bits of secret pieces and precious stones but there was only a silver… something. It was small and it had many facets on one side of it. Blood rushed to my face – I was a bit embarrassed that I didn't know what this thing was.
I took the thing out of the box and studied it with utmost concentration. It was really not silver but it was platinum – like the locket I had found. Instinctively, I reached for the locket under my tunic and stared at it. I cocked my head to one side and looked at the platinum things back and forth. They looked like they matched or some sort but what was I going to do with this?
After a few more minutes of scrutinizing, I found a small hole just at the side of the locket. It was a key hole. I felt my eyebrows rise and I carefully stuck the key inside the key hole. It fit perfectly. Slowly and carefully, I rotated the key and the something unlocked smoothly. I could hear an audible click made by the locket.
Great, mysteries are unsolved. I opened up the locket and saw a picture. It was my mom. She looked beautiful as always. Even with the slightly blanching paper, it never ruined her beauty's perfection. I loved how her red hair form into neat division of ringlets and her eyes, they were brown but not as dark as mine. Her skin glowed as if there was a light hidden underneath them. She was so beautiful it almost hurt to look at her. It was such a waste that she was no longer here.
I sighed, wistful. I never experienced having a mother to take care of me and I wondered how great it would be to have one. I absently stroked her picture on the locket and frowned. It felt like my airways were clogging and my eyes burned. Ugh, no! I didn't want to cry so I closed the locket and lay down on the bed. The bed wasn't as comfortable as my last one in sensei's house but it was okay.
Thinking about what more funs I could have tomorrow, I changed my clothes and slept away.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I woke up at the sound of my phone ringing. I was slightly embarrassed at my phone's ringtone because it was Fergie's "Barracuda." I groaned and blinked a few times. I could still feel that the sun was still out so classes were still hours away. I picked up my phone and answered it in mid-ring.
"Hello?" I said through my phone. And how lucky could I be if this was sensei calling.
No answer. I could just hear breathing through the phone's receiver.
"Hello, earth to caller." I said and when I didn't get an answer, I turned my phone off and went back to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Good morning to you sunshine!" I told myself on the mirror. I was in a good mood today because… um, because I was meeting someone special. And that someone special was my mentor, the gorgeous Dimitri Belikov. I dressed up in my gym clothes namely a tank top, shorts, trainers and wristbands. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and put on a small headband to keep the stray hairs out. (Pic on profile)
Normally, I wouldn't have had put too much attention to what I was wearing because I didn't care a bit about clothes but I was going training with my gorgeous mentor. Things had changed in me since I met him. Well, kind of.
I looked at myself in the mirror and was again surprised that I looked good. My body was, as usual, on its curvy physique and my face was glowing and flushed a bit. What surprised me the most is because I looked… normal. I didn't look like a Strigoi hunter nor did I look like some loner kid that has just gained freedom.
You just look normal, you don't act like one, I reminded myself. I could act like a normal person but it just slips away easily when I get those emotion overloads. Okay, I'll act normal, look normal, and feel normal. I didn't know how stupid that sounded to the Slayer part of me but I didn't want to be that now.
I was Rosemarie Hathaway, novice student here in St. Vladimir's Academy and not the Slayer.
"I'm Rosemarie Hathaway, not the Slayer." I told myself slowly and I relaxed. I found it quite soothing to say that I was not the Slayer. I smiled my way to the gym – glasses on. When I opened the gym doors, I stepped inside slowly. I could hear a faint rustling of paper and a heartbeat. The scent of aftershave in the gym was nearly overwhelming and it took all my strength not to jump on my mentor.
He breathed in slowly and it was like I could feel his ease from here. It was really unlike his usual guardian self. Even yesterday, he didn't show this much ease with me. I was caught between leaving him here in his peaceful sanctuary or enter like I never knew he was just reading in tranquility.
I made up my mind and quietly walked to reveal myself. As soon as I caught him sprawling on the corner of the gym holding a battered Western novel, I felt my eyebrows rise. It was an impulsive thing to do whenever I was surprised. Genuinely surprised. I was not a person that was easy to surprise.
As if he sensed me, he looked up from his book and I could see his eyes traveling down the length of my body. Checking me out. It was hardly noticeable to the untrained eye but it was practically obvious to me. I ignored how the way his gaze on me sent tingles all over my body and walked to a bleacher and put down my bag.
"Guardian Belikov," I greeted him with a nod, which was unusual for me. He was now standing and it was the first time I noticed that he was not wearing his long leather coat but he was there, standing with a black tank top and fleece pants on. The muscles on his arms were very nice to look at and his shoulders were… I don't know, I don't have the words to describe them. They were too good for words.
"Miss Hathaway," he nodded back at me.
Back to formalities again? I was kind of disappointed the connection we – or rather I – had found yesterday was nonexistent now. Or maybe that was just what I thought.
We did our warm-ups and he ran with me in my ten laps. He didn't say anything but I could feel his eyes on me. I ignored the warm, tingly feeling his gaze made and just continued jogging.
Finally! "You're quiet today," he observed as we made our way inside the gym. No shit, Sherlock! You were the one who was being all formal today! Oh, wait, maybe I kind of formal today too.
"I don't want to ruin your good mood today by babbling away. It may weird you out and you will move out of the academy and I will never see you again." I joked but I put on a serious face.
The look on his face was just priceless. It was a little confused, amused, and many more things. "What do you mean?"
"If you'd hear me talk so much, you'd be gouging your eyes out in boredom."
"Why do you say that?" Did he always question people like he had no idea what they were talking about? I think he knew what I was talking about but he was just playing stupid.
"Did you know that Siberia has the most number of Strigoi?" I changed the subject by that. Again, the confused look on his face came back. And then something flashed there just for a second. I didn't know what it was but I had a feeling that it was not good.
"Yes, I know that. Most Strigoi have their headquarters there." I was surprised that he was telling me this stuff. He looked at me in a way that could make someone cower away. "How do you know these things?"
I shrugged, hiding my unease in feign nonchalance. "It's pretty obvious," was all I said.
He exhaled loudly and I saw his forehead crumple and frustration was held back on his face and eyes. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have –"
"It's okay," I cut him off and gave him a convincing smile. When he looked at my eyes, questions played out silently again.
"Were you wearing contact lenses yesterday?" he asked and he showed me the weights and reps he wanted me to do.
I nearly scratched my eyes out. I didn't quite remember that I had silver eyes yesterday a while ago when I was in front of the mirror and that just added more to my recklessness. Sensei was right; they really do get suspicious here. And I was pretty careless.
"Yeah," I did the weights and he leaned on the wall, a puzzled look on his face. I ignored him and did my weights and reps. When I was done; he walked toward me with a towel on his hand. He didn't hand it to me as I had expected but he – yes, he wiped it on my face. Softly and carefully. Oh, God, what was happening? I was a little embarrassed because he was wiping my sweat away and I didn't want to gross him out by that.
The moment was a little awkward but just his touch made me feel more alive than ever. He carefully moved the towel down on my neck and wiped it with a flourish. He did the same on my back, not taking his eyes away from mine as he did so. When he was done, he held the towel in one hand and stroked my cheek with the back of his fingers. I almost fainted then and there.
His eyes were so full of intensity that it was almost melting me.
"So young yet so beautiful and wise," he murmured to me and that genuine smile appeared. It was like the world rested on that small smile. I wanted to fly away and carry him with me but I just stayed there, staring back at him. His eyes were so dark, so beautiful, so… caring. My heart started to beat faster and faster.
"The wisdom came from my sensei's lessons and the beauty comes from my mom." I told him just to make him laugh. It always made me feel so, so happy to hear it.
He didn't laugh but he just smiled wider, stepping back and gestured to the mat where we would spar.
"Care to spar?" he asked almost tauntingly.
"I'd love to." I said and put on the gloves he gave me.
As soon as we were on the mat, we crouched and I could feel that he was a little wary. I almost laughed out loud at that. He shouldn't be afraid of me, I would never hurt him. But then again, he saw me beat up almost all senior novices in the academy yesterday so he should be.
With speed that impressed me, he rounded around me and made a swift blow on my stomach but I blocked it easily. The look on his eyes was upraising. It made me giddy. When he attacked me again, I all but dodged them, already knowing his moves. Then comprehension crossed my mind. Back at Spokane, he had given me a few bruises with his blows but today…
"You're holding back," I told him and glared.
His guardian mask was on so the surprised there could barely be seen.
"You don't have to hold back, you know." I told him before he could utter out a word. To my total surprise, he did what I told him to do. I didn't see his feet coming toward the side of my head in a very quick and long-legged roundhouse. I tripped on my balance a little but I gained it back within a second.
With that single element of surprise, he was able to distract me just for a second or two. He was oh so fast and it took a little bit more effort to avoid his blows and kicks. I didn't want to use my full strength and speed because it would be unfair for him and unfair of me. I held back the soaring part of me and fought him with adequate strength and speed that nearly matched his own. We were too well-matched and he almost knew all my moves. In this kind of situation, sensei had told me about one thing. They were only for emergencies but I wanted to prove myself to Dimitri that I could fight without adding more strength than necessary. As I had anticipated, his fists rained on me like what he did back at Spokane. And again, I blocked it with my quick and slightly painful cobra block.
The arms that was on my hold gathered its strength and managed to wriggle out but I put up a fight. Eventually, he called in draw. It was a tie.
"How did you know those moves? The last one," he asked me a while later.
I shrugged, feigning nonchalance again. "My sensei had taught me many moves."
He mused, "The way you did it…" – an odd look crossed his face – "…reminds me of something." With that, he closed his open doors again. He put back on his guardian mask and turned formal. I didn't know anyone could be so erratic. "We'll continue our training this afternoon. I'll see you at class, Miss Hathaway."
Way to go for your compliments, Comrade.
So, what do you think? I'll UD soon.
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XOXO
Kate
