Why hello, my pretties. :) I have an update for you! YAY! I didn't know if I would get it done today.. I'm going to be late for my Gymnastics practice... but that's okay, my coach knows not to mark me absent until it's been a half hour. So... I really have nothing special to say... so ENJOY!
After my little outburst of rage in the Guardian lounge I went straight outside. I punched the side of the building. It hurt, it might have hurt a lot, I don't know, but as I raised my fist to hit the wall a second time, a group of Moroi rounded the corner. I quickly put my bloody fist behind my back and slipped on my Guardian mask. The Moroi didn't even look my way. Which was a good thing. Jesse Zeklos was one of them. Which reminded me that I was supposed to be on rounds. My attitude suddenly perked as I remembered what Alberta had asked of me earlier in the day.
Making my way over to the Dhampir dorms, I was quiet in thought. Would Rose say yes to Jesse and go someplace with him? I knew that her personality required her to do something wild and reckless quite often, and Rose had been on pretty good behavior for an impressive amount of time. I was almost certain that she would say yes. For some reason that thought made my nostrils flare and my fist clench. What the hell was wrong with me? I shook my head to rid myself of the horrid thoughts trying to creep into my mind. I lifted my head and noticed that I was standing in front of the Dhampir dorm. I hadn't realized I had walked all this way while I was caught up in my thoughts.
I walked up the front steps and opened the door, walking into a group of Moroi guys. Jesse's friends.
"Guardian Belikov." One of them nodded in my direction as they passed. I noticed Jesse wasn't with them. I walked a little faster. I wanted so badly to find Rose in her bedroom studying, but I knew that was most likely not what I was going to find. I quickly made my way up to what I knew as her dorm and knocked three times. Hard. After waiting a few moments without an answer, I knocked again. Four times. Hard. Nothing. They were probably in one of the deserted lounges on the fourth floor. Guardian numbers dropped, causing almost half of the building to be vacant.
I walked swiftly up two flights of stairs, making sure not to show anything on my face that might be mistaken for something completely different. There were a few lounges on the fourth floor. I headed for the first one, bursting through the door to find it completely empty except for a wooden chair and an old couch with a plastic cover over it. I felt relief instantly. But there was still one more. I walked over to the other door, hearing hushed murmurs. Already knowing what I would find, my blood boiled.
The first thing I noticed was that the lock on the door was broken. For some reason this made it even worse. As I got closer to the door I could just make out what was being said.
"…not a blood whore," Rose snapped. What the… was he accusing her of being a blood whore?
"But you want to. You like it. All you Dhampir girls do." Said a deep voice, belonging to Jesse Zeklos. A few agonizing moments passed before any sound was made.
"Stop it. I told you. I'm not like that. If you want something to do with your mouth, I've got some ideas." Rose said, and all of the possibilities of what she could mean rushed through my head. It had just about heard enough.
"Yeah? Like wha-" I burst into the room, no longer able to control my self. My better judgment went right out to door, violently shoved out by a haze of raging red fury. I saw them spring apart. Rose looked like a deer caught in headlights. The boy just looked like he might wet himself. It made me internally grin. I crossed the room in nearly two seconds, yanking the young fool by his collar, almost completely off the ground. Nothing mattered at that moment, only that he gets as far away from me as possible. Far. Far. Far away. The only thing I knew was this young bastard passed the line.
"What's your name?" I barked, not being able to pick it out of my haze filled brain. Eh. Why go to all that work when I could just ask him?
"J-Jesse, Sir. Jesse Zeklos, Sir." He stuttered, terrified.
"Mr. Zeklos, do you have permission to be in this part of the dorm?" I demanded, knowing fully well that he certainly did not have permission to be up here. Nobody did.
"No, Sir."
"Do you know the rules about male and female interactions around here?" I asked, the hardness in my eyes not fading. I looked just as badass as ever. Which only helped me in this situation.
"Yes, Sir." He whispered. That's when a single thread of my better judgment slipped its way into my head. This was a normal thing for teenagers to do. It wasn't like he was committing a crime or anything. Damn it, Dimitri, why cant you just punch him and send him down to Kirova?
"Then I suggest you get out of here as fast as you can before I turn you over to someone who will punish you accordingly. If I ever see you like this again" I pointed in the general area where Rose was still huddled-"I will be the one to punish you. And it will hurt. A lot. Do you understand?" Jesse swallowed, eyes wide. None of his usual bravado showed. I guess when you are being held in the grip of someone who could easily put you in the hospital without a blink, things were a little different.
"Yes, Sir!"
"Then go." I released him and he bolted right out of there. I watched his sorry ass run away with a dangerous glint in my eyes. I wanted to tell him to not forget that I know where he sleeps. But I didn't. It wasn't appropriate.
Then I turned to Rose, my face displaying what I didn't have to say. The anger and disapproving look left my features as I took in the beautiful sight before me. Rose was sitting on the couch in jeans and a bra. And damn, it was like it was the first time I saw her. She definitely had a rockin' body when I had first brought her back to the Academy, but now, after extensive training, she was in better shape. If that was possible. Images started to flash before my eyes of me and Rose as I studied her body. They were completely inappropriate, but I couldn't stop them ones they started coming. And I didn't want to.
"See something you like, Comrade?" she asked with a sort of flirtatious attitude. That's when I came back to reality. That's when I forced all of the wonderful images that had intruded on my mind out of my head and forced something to come out of my mouth, that wasn't drool.
"Get dressed." I felt my Guardian mask slip into place as she put her shirt back on. The only thing going through my mind was what I would look like to have that shirt, that bra on my floor.
"How'd you find me? You following me to make sure I don't run away again?" she asked, now fully clothed.
"Be quiet," I snapped, leaning down so I could look at her at eye-level. I had to come up with a simple lie that would be believable… "A janitor saw you and reported it. Do you have any idea how stupid this was?" I asked her. I honestly wanted to know what she was thinking. Why she said yes to him?
"I know, I know, the whole probation thing, right?" well yes, there was that, but that wasn't what I was talking about. Rose is most likely going to be the center of attention tomorrow. No doubt Jesse will stretch the truth.
"Not just that. I'm talking about he stupidity of getting in that kind of situation in the first place."
"I get in that situation all the time, Comrade. It's not that big of a deal." Anger laced her words and spread over her face. Great.
"Stop calling me that. You don't even know what you're talking about." I said. Why couldn't she just listen to me and trust what I have to say? Why does this beautiful girl have to be so difficult?
"Sure I do. I had to do a report on Russia and the R.S.S.R. last year." She said, sounding ignorant. It was the U.S.S.R..
"U.R.R.S. And it is a big deal for a Moroi to be with a Dhampir girl. They like to brag." I say. God. It was like I had to spell this out for her.
"So?" did she just say what I think she said? Did this girl have any self-respect?
"So? So don't you have any respect? Think about Lissa." I knew if I threaded Lissa into this she would listen. "You make yourself look cheap. You live up to what a lot of people already think of Dhampir girls, and that reflects back on her. And me." I said. It was true. Everything she did reflected on the people in her life. That meant Lissa and me at the moment.
"Oh, I see," she said, realization crossed her face. "Is that what this is about? Am I hurting your big, bad male pride? Are you afraid I'll ruin your reputation?" she whipped at me. And actually, I hadn't even thought of that. I hadn't even known I had such a big reputation. For just a spit second I wondered what Rose thought of my, of my reputation.
"My reputation is already made, Rose. I set my standards and lived up to them long ago. What you so with yours remains to be seen." My eyes narrowed and my face hardened as I said my next words, remembering where I was and why. "Now get back to your room-if you can manage it without throwing yourself at someone else." I knew it was uncalled for and incredibly rude-not to mention mean- but I couldn't help it.
"Is that your subtle way of calling me a slut?" she asked angrily.
"I hear the stories you guys tell. I've heard stories about you." I said, only realizing what I actually said after it was too late. Where the hell was my filter tonight? I just couldn't believe that she did this. I couldn't believe I was making such a big deal about it either. Why did it matter what she did with her body? It wasn't mine. I wasn't her father. I wasn't her older brother either, truthfully, what bothered me was that she hadn't done it, but that she had done it with someone else. This realization scared me.
I looked at Rose and saw something brake in her. Rose was blinking back tears. Great, look at what you did, Belikov! You made the beautiful girl cry. This isn't like you, where is your Gentleman side? "Why is it wrong to… I don't know- have fun? I'm seventeen you know. I should be able to enjoy it." She was right, but that's just not how things worked in our world. Sadly.
"You're seventeen, and in less than a year, someone's life will be in your hands." My voice grew gentle as I realized exactly how much teenage Dhampirs missed out on in their younger years. "If you were human, or Moroi, you could have fun. You could do things other girls could do."
"But you're saying I cant."
I looked away, remembering my own charge. Who was dead. "When I was seventeen, I met Ivan Zeklos. We weren't like you and Lissa," I'm not quite sure anyone could be as close as Rose and Lissa were. "but we became friends, and he requested me when I graduated. I was the top student in my school. I paid attention to everything in my classes, but in the end, it wasn't enough. That's how it is in this life. One slip, one distraction…" I sighed, remembering when I received the news of Ivan's death. "And it's too late." Rose took on a strange look, and I could tell she was thinking about what would happen if she slipped up and that happened to Lissa.
"Jesse's a Zeklos." She whispered.
"I know."
"Does it bother you? Does he remind you of Ivan?" she asked, but it really didn't matter. It was not of importance.
"Its doesn't matter how I feel. It doesn't matter how any of us feel." I said, remembering a popular phrase among the Dhampir race: They come first.
"But it does bother you. You hurt. Every day. Don't you? You miss him." She said. I blinked and looked at her in surprise. How did she know that? I tried so hard to hide it, to mask how much it bothered me. And Rose figured it out. Rose saw right through me. But what scared me was what I just realized. Rose and I are so much a like. Always fighting for control, having it always right out of our reach. I replaced the surprised look with my regular Guardian mask. But she had already seen the surprise. She knew.
"It doesn't matter how I feel." He repeated. "They come first. Protecting them." I say.
"Yeah. They do." She whispered softly, no doubt thinking about Lissa. Maybe Rose was ready to start fighting. I knew she was dedicated enough, and now I knew she was ready. It was a really long time before I spoke, but finally I said, "You told me you want to fight, to really fight. Is that still true." It was a stupid, but necessary question. Of course she still wanted to learn out to fight.
"Yes. Absolutely."
"Rose… I can teach you, but I have to believe you're dedicated. Really dedicated. I cant have you distracted by things like this." I said, gesturing around the room. Then I asked the million-dollar question. The question that meant more to me than it would ever mean to herm more than it ever could mean to her.
"Yes. I promise." She said. Sounding and looking like she really meant it.
"All right. I'll teach you, but I need you strong. I know you hate the running, but it really is necessary. You have no idea what Strigoi are like. The school tried to prepare you, but until you've seen how strong they are and how fast… well, you can't even imagine so I can't stop the running and the conditioning. If you want to learn more about fighting, we need to add more trainings. It'll take up more of your time. You wont have much left for homework or anything else. You'll be tired. A lot." I said, trying to explain to her what I had in store for her.
"It doesn't matter. If you tell me to do it, I'll do it." I studied her. She had a strange glint in her eyes that told me she was completely, one hundred percent determined. Satisfied, I gave her a sharp nod.
"We'll start tomorrow."
Why, hello again! Soooo, what did you think? Please dont hesitate to leave me a review. Reviews make Brittany happy. And you all know what a happy author does(updates faster!)! So please, tell me what you liked, what you didnt, should I add anything or what? I wanna know YOUR opinions. Just dont go bitching. That does no one any good.
Much love,
~Brittany3
