RPOV:
"That was the longest test in the history of tests!" I complained as I walked to the bus with Saffron, Mia and Lissa.
"How could it have been? I gave you a bunch of the answers." Saffron stated. Sure it was true, but I still hated tests.
"Ladies! We need to go! Like, Now! At least that's if you want to get to Pennsylvania anytime soon." Coach McGrail yelled from the buses doorway.
"Whatever you say coach." Mia said.
We all climbed into the bus. It was a coach bus, so each seat had a TV on the back of its headrest. I settled into a seat in the back row, which was always reserved for us. Saffron was sitting next to me and Mia and Lissa were across the isle.
The bus's doors closed and the driver drove the vehicle out of the parking lot and out into the streets.
On the bus there were twelve girls, one coach and two chaperones. The school was busing our entire team to Pennsylvania to compete for the Northeastern Middle School Basketball Championship (A.N. Not sure if that is a real title in Basketball). We would be spending the entire weekend up in Pennsylvania, plus the extra three days our school gets off. Lissa and Mia were the team's managers so they go to come too.
"Ladies! Ladies! I know you are all excited, but everyone needs to be quiet so I can make sure we have everyone." Coach said as she stood in the front, facing us. Everyone got quiet, "Now I'm going by position. First off. Do we have our two managers?" Mia and Lissa raised their hands, "Okay. Point Guards… Anna Heller and Janet Grance?" Anna and Janet raised their hands, "Okay. Forwards… Janine Deltas, Kaitlyn Jards, Tina Grantson, Emily Downes, Helen Trinx and Justine Jackson." The six girls raised their hands, "Good. And our two captains?" She asked this one with a mischievous smile. I knew why. I grabbed Saffron's hand and pulled it up with mine.
"Right here coach." I said, lowering our hands.
"But, I'm not a captain." Saffron said she was so confused.
"The tournament only accepted two-captain teams, plus you were vice-captain, you were due for a promotion." I said. Coach nodded in agreement.
"Okay then." Saffron said.
"Okay. Everyone is here. Good. Now who wants to watch what? We have…." She went on to list a bunch of movies, we finally settled on watching Hannah Montana: The Movie. We had had a 'bonding' party (A.N. A wonderful excuse to have your sports team over for a sleepover!) and we all got sugar high. It had been at our place and we couldn't find the movies since we had just moved in and everything was still in boxes. So we turned on the TV and the debut of Hannah Montana: The Movie was on, we watched it. By the end, half of us were asleep, the rest of us were debating whose bra to fill with pudding and hid in the freezer. We were about to put the bra in the freezer when the TV shouted, "And here you go! Hannah Montana's Let's Get Crazy!".
The girls who were asleep woke with a start and saw us with Justine's bra. They glared at us and started chasing us around, "You heard the TV! Let's Get Crazy!" I shouted as I was pinned to the ground. That movie has been special to this team ever since.
Three Hours Later (A.N. Not sure if that is how long with it takes. Just go with it.)
"Rose. We're going by the Royal Court." Saffron said pointing out the window.
I could see the entire court, except all the castles and such looked like office buildings. I could just see the top of the house I had shared with Christian and my children. We passed the gates that all cars had to pass through. Just to the left of the gates, I saw a woman, probably about twenty-four, lurking. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a long sleeve top. She had straight blonde hair that reached mid-back. She turned her face towards me. Our eyes met, brown staring into red and red staring right back.
The woman was strigoi. She was the one who was out to kill me. My thoughts were confirmed when she raised a necklace and pointed at me then it. It had the Belikov crest on it. I stared at her until she was out of sight. I hope she didn't see fear, only determination to kill her and keep my family safe. The woman started walking, human speed, after our bus.
"Ladies!" Coach yelled to all the girls. Everyone fell silent, I kept looking out the window, "Miss Talte, your attention would be greatly appreciated," I turned my head towards her, "I have the room assignments here. We will have four suites; one for the adults, three for all of you. In suite 567 there will be Heller, Grance, Deltas, and Jards." The four girls were all sitting next to each other. They all grinned at each other and looked back at me.
I sighed. These girls had seen how aggressive I could get. They know what I can do. They thought I was psycho, but when I was leading their team to championship, they worshipped me.
"In 568, there will be Grantson, Downes, Trinx, Jackson. " Great. That left me to be with Saffs, Mia and Liss, "And in 569, will be Judson, Jameson, Sponer and Talte. Here are the key cards to your rooms. Only one person comes up for your group. 567." Anna went up and received four key cards, "568", Helen went up, "569." I got up. I walked down the isle to the front of the bus. I couldn't help but notice all the eyes trailing after me. I got the cards and returned to my seat as quickly as possible.
We got to the hotel in a little less than ten minutes, "Girls. It is late everyone go to bed." Coach said.
We all got in the elevator and rode it up to the fifth floor. There were only four doors on this floor, 567, 568, 569 and 570. I walked over to 569 and unlocked the door. My jaw dropped.
The door opened into a small hallway with four doors and an archway. The floor dark heavily waxed wood, which contrasted with the off-white walls. Next to the door was a table of wood that matched the floor. I placed my key card on it and walked into the room/hallway further. There was a coat rack, so I shrugged out of my jacket and placed it on one of the hooks. I heard footsteps behind me and knew they belonged to Mia, Liss and Saffs.
I walked to the first door and opened it. Inside was a breathtaking bedroom. It had a white carpet and bright red walls. There was a king size bed in the middle of the room. The frame was of the same dark wood the floor in the hall was made of. It had a bright red comforter that matched the walls perfectly. There were two bedside tables; both made of the same dark wood, each had a lamp on it. The lamps base was gold and the shade was a bright red, just like the walls.
There were two other doors that lead out of this bedroom. I went through one to find myself standing in a huge walk-in closet. It was fully stocked. I looked through the cloths and found they were all Lissa's and mine. I walked to the door on the other side and opened it.
There was another bedroom designed just like the first, except everything that was red was a light blue. I guessed that the other door must be a bathroom we shared.
"Liss! I call the red room!" I yelled. That room actually looked a lot like the one Christian and I had had at the royal court, no way was I letting Liss take it.
"Whatever." She called back.
I continued my search of the suite. The other two doors that were on the opposite side of the hallway from Lissa's and my rooms were also bedrooms. The bedrooms were all designed the same. The only difference was the color; it was always white carpet and dark wood, but some other color for the walls and bed comforters. One was an emerald green (that would be Mia's room) and the other had a light shade of purple (Saffron's room).
We all met in our hallway (the one between the individual rooms) and headed off towards the arch. What we saw was a state of the art kitchen and a living room (complete with a flat-screen TV mounted on the wall) separated by a half-wall.
We all went back into our bedrooms and changed into pajamas. I was wearing black short soffe shorts and a bright red spaghetti strap top. I walked into the kitchen and got myself a bottle of water. I walked into the living room and sat down to watch TV. Saffron and Mia joined me. Lissa came in shortly after.
"Rose? Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." Lissa said looking at me.
"I haven't seen a ghost. I saw the strigoi." I responded quietly.
"WHAT?!?!?!" Three voices yelled.
"Shhh!!!"
"Where was she?" Mia asked, I could tell she was scared.
"Right outside the royal court. She looked like she was trying to find a way in. Then she saw me, somehow she recognized me and decided to leave the royal court and come after me." I told them, "She looked injured. I don't think she'll come too far out." I said, trying to convince them as much as myself.
"We need to call them!" Lissa said, picking up her phone and dialing Adrian.
"No!" She looked at me like I was crazy, "They think we are dead! We're calling Artemis."
I took the cell phone from Lissa and dialed my daughter's number that I had gotten this afternoon before we left.
"Mom?" Artemis voice came through.
"Hon, we have a problem."
ArPOV:
Thank god! We were out!
"How was school?" Dad asked.
"Fine." I responded.
"Why can't these kid keep moving!" Dad exclaimed.
The kids were all stopping to stare at the car we were in. Dad was driving a Venturi Fetish. Adrian was directly behind us in a Cherry Red Ferrari. Jesse was last with a Vanquish. Honestly, I couldn't blame them for staring.
"Maybe it has to do with you driving a car that cost more than their house." Ashlyn said in a know-it-all tone.
Ashlyn was texting someone. She didn't really know anyone outside the family, so it had to be someone in one of the other cars. I opened my phone. My dad had upgraded it so I can monitor my sister's text without staring over her shoulder.
She was texting Dan. I had the entire history of this conversation:
A: What's Up?
D: Nothing much.
A: I was wondering if u wanted to tell or if u wanted me 2?
D: Let me tell my dad first, and then u tell yours.
A: I'll make sure ur not in the room when I tell. That way he won't kill u.
D: K. See u l8r
A: Bye. =*-*=
"Ashlyn?" I asked in my head.
"You read my messages didn't you?" She asked back. She didn't sound mad, in fact, she sounded guilty.
"Yeah. I just wanted to know who you were texting. Now I'm wondering what you were texting about."
"Um… Please don't tell dad. Or Apollo! I…um…I like Dan. And he likes me too."
"Ash. Don't you think you're a little young to be worrying about that?"
"Art. I've already graduated high school! I need to find a guy." I knew she was joking.
"Hardy Har Har. Well, I guess if you were going to go after any guy, at least it is a guy who we've known his entire life."
"Thank you! You're the best big sister ever! And don't tell Dad or Apollo! I'll tell them at dinner."
"I don't think Apollo would mind. After all, have you seen the way Andria looks at him."
"No. But I have seen how he looks at her."
"They'll be together by the end of the month."
"I give it the end of the week. Listen to what he's thinking!"
I listened to my brother's thoughts. Usually we don't do this unless he wants us to, but I really wanted to know. He was thinking about Andria.
"She is just a friend!"
"Yeah but she is hot."
"I know but still."
"But still what?"
"I don't know."
I let out a little giggle. He was arguing with himself.
"A. Want my opinion? I say ask her out." I said, then left his head.
He shot me a dirty look in the rearview mirror.
"Dad? Why did you have us start school the Friday leading up to a five day weekend?" Ashlyn asked.
"If you didn't like it, you could drop out easier." He responded.
Ashlyn and I played punch buggy the entire ride up to the Royal Court. We could both punch pretty hard so we were both going to have some bruises. The time passed pretty quickly and soon we were driving up to the main gates.
There was a man standing beside the gates. He looked almost see through. I stared at him for a moment and he stared back at me. I looked at the necklace around his neck. It had the same crest that was on Uncle Jeremy's (A.N. Jeremy isn't really their uncle, but they are so close to him, they call him Uncle.) necklace. The man was Apollo's dead godfather.
As soon as my dad parked the car next to our house, I ran in and up to my room. I lay back on my bed. I slid my cell phone out of my back pocket. I had one message:
Apollo: Stay out of my head!
I started on my homework. It was so easy that it only took me an hour to three hours worth. I lay on my back, staring up at the ceiling. The room got cold and my head felt like it had split open. I cried out in pain. A hand slapped over my mouth. My eyes bulged as I stared into the eyes of Dimitri Belikov.
"Artemis. I take it you remember me." He said. I hadn't seen him since I was two, but there are pictures of him around the house.
"Yeah. Now can you move your hand." I asked. Only it sounded more like, "Yeah. Nw can you mv er and."
He must have understood because he took his hand off my mouth.
"Thank you. Now mind telling me why and how you are here?"
"You are shadow kissed. Correct?" He asked, I nodded, "I am a ghost. Since you were once in the land of the dead, you are able to see ghosts as well as sense Strigoi."
"O-kay."
"Now I'm here to tell you why your mother left."
"You know?"
"Yes."
"I was turned into a strigoi a little before your parent graduated St. Vlad's. I came back, but Eddie, Lissa's guardian killed me. However, I came back, as a dhampir, with Strigoi speed and strength. After a while, in fact the week before your cousin Daniel was born, the Strigoi parts began to take me over, until I was strigoi once again. I went to the mall, knowing if I wanted to survive, my only chance was to take out the most powerful and best guardian of the generation. That guardian was your mother." He paused. He had tried to kill my mom.
"I failed. Like I said your mother was an amazing fighter, even though she was about to have her third child. With Mrs. Zeklos helping her, the killed me in less then two minutes.
"A week later, your mother recived a note from your father's mother. The note said a strigoi woman had fallen in love with me and took to stalking me. When she heard Rose had killed me, she promised to kill Rose. Her name was Gina. Now Gina was and is a very old strigoi, so she didn't and probably doesn't pay attention to Royal marrages. As far as she knew, and I don't think she knows any better now, your mother and father weren't married, they were only Guardian and Moroi.
"Today, Gina tried to get into the Royal court to get your mother, but couldn't find a way to get past the guards. She was about to try again when she saw you mother go by on a bus. She is now following after the bus, I was able to slow her down by breaking her leg, but she is still able to walk."
My phone rung, I looked at the caller I.D. It was mom.
I picked up the phone.
"Mom?"
"Hon, we have a problem." She responded, Dimitri held out his hand for the phone, I gave it to him.
"Rose. I told her all about the strigoi, so I saved you the trouble." He said into the phone. he paused.
"Okay I'll tell her. Yup. Bye." He shut the phone, "She does not want any of you out of these wards until she get rid of Gina. Do you understand?"
I nodded.
GPOV: (Gina)
I had seen the Hathaway child on that bus. I ran as fast as I could with my broken leg, it turned out to be a walk. I would kill her if it was the last thing I do.