CHAPTER 10

I look at the pills in my hand. Two little pills are supposed to make me okay. They must take away the voice I hear and the negative feelings I get. I hope they don't take away my ability to see Lissa. I read the name of the pills on the box, Paroxetine. It is the same ones Lissa used for a sort while to keep the spirit at bay. She told me she felt empty when she used them, like a zombie. She had a hard time connecting to her emotions, even the good ones. Will they turn me into a zombie? It's this or going away. So, if being a zombie means I can stay close to my loved ones, then so be it.

"Hey, want to see the photos. I developed them earlier." She hands me five A4 photographs of me. The first one is when she took the snap of me standing at the back of the class. She put it in black and white. I look nice, even though I'm not smiling. The next three is me fighting.

One with Dimitri.

One with Alberta.

One where Kate and I kick our theory teacher in the gut.

the second last one is when I staked Dimitri, even on the picture, you can see his proudness and happiness. The last one is of me and Dimitri after the fight when he put his hand on my shoulder. It's obvious on the photo that we love each other, well it is to me. Kira edited then to look slightly better. I hand the first four photos back to Kira.

"Can I keep this one please?" I ask her. She smiles a mega watt smile and nod her head.

"Sure." I thank her and put the photo on the desk Kira gave me. She said that I could use one half of the room because she doesn't have so many stuffs to fill the whole room.

"I was thinking, could we do the portrait shots Sunday?" Kira asks as she repacks her book bag for tomorrow.

"Uhm, Sunday is my off day and I have plans. How about Saturday?" Kira looks up at me and nods her head.

"Sure, sorry I forgot that you have Sundays off. Are you ready to go to dinner?" I nod my head and motion for her to lead the way.

Xxx

"Can I ask you a question." I ask her as we take our seats by an empty table. I don't think she is comfortable enough to sit by my friends yet. Kira nods at me and takes a bite out of her salad. She even eats like Lissa did.

"They said the Queen send you here and she made me your guardian and she got you the room you have now. Do you know why? Not to be rude, but you are not a royal." Kira considers my question while she chews on her food.

"I really have no idea. She just requested to see me two weeks ago and told me that I'm very special and important. I think she has a few screws loose, but we do not ask questions when our Queen gives a request." She intimidates Kirova perfectly. I try my hardest not to laugh, but I fail. Kira looks at me like she has won a Grammy award.

"Now I have a question." I motion for her to continue with my fork.

"Why don't you like me?" I nearly choke on my food. Am I that obvious? I look around for some help but realise I'm on my own and Kira is waiting for an answer.

"It's not that I don't like you, I don't know enough about you to make that statement." Kira lifts one of her perfectly plucked eyebrows. Waiting for me to explain.

"Okay, you just look a lot like my best friend and you are staying in her room. she died a short while ago and I'm no really dealing with her death well." Kira puts her hand on top of mine.

"I'm not trying to replace her. I'm sorry for your loss and if you ever need to talk." She left the sentence hanging but I know what she means. I could talk to her. I nod my head and continue eating. Just as we started to head out of the cafeteria, a fight started. Three guardians attack a novice named Frank. All my instincts tell me to help him, but I need to focus on my moroi. I grab Kira's arm and run towards Frank's moroi. She is unprotected. I grab her arm with my other hand and pull her to the door and take a protective stance in front of the moroi. The guardians are Stan, Dimitri and Richard. They defeat Frank eventually.

"Novice Chandler, you put up a good fight, but if it wasn't for Novice Hathaway, your moroi would have been dead. You need to make sure your moroi is in a safe place." Stan states as he writes down something in a little black book he has in his pocket. I see Dimitri and Richard doing the same. Frank glares at me a little when he came towards me.

"Why didn't you just help me instead of taking my moroi and getting all the credit." Dimitri took a step towards us, but I held up my hand, stopping him.

"Because I didn't want to leave my moroi unprotected. There isn't room for two morons in this class." Frank's fist connects with my right cheek before I see it coming. Now normally my reflexes are pretty great, so I, along with half the cafeteria, was shocked that he actually got the hit. Dimitri grabs Frank by his collar and drags him out of the cafeteria.

"Hathaway follow." He shouts over his shoulder. Why is he shouting at me? I'm the one who got blindsided. Well it is his job to teach me not to be blindsided. Maybe he thinks everyone will think he is a bad mentor. I tell Kira to go to her room and to wait for me there. I follow Dimitri and frank to the gym. It's about a five-minute walk from the cafeteria, but with the speed Dimitri is walking, we reach the gym in two minutes.

"How dare you hit another novice who was trying to help you?" Dimitri's accent is a little ticker when he gets mad and he is raging. He tosses Frank on the floor and tower above him. He grabs my arm gently and pulls me into Frank's view.

"A fellow guardian is your friend, in any situation. You will treat them with respect and loyalty. You will apologize to her right now and from now on, if you ever see Novice Hathaway in need. You. Will. Help. Her." Dimitri emphasises the last words dangerously. Even I'm terrified. Frank looks at me with wide eyes. He is near to wetting his pants.

"I'm so sorry, Rose. Thank you for the help and if you ever need anything. I'm your guy." I nod at Frank. I wanted to make him sweat a little bit more but I don't think he has any more sweat left in him.

"Now Leave." Dimitri commands him. Frank scurries up and runs out of the gym. Dimitri turns towards me. His eyes change from rage to concern. This man can switch through his emotions like a girl through dresses.

"Are you okay?" I nod my head and Dimitri pulls me into his arms. He kisses my forehead.

"Thank you for standing up for me." Dimitri holds me at arm's length.

"Why didn't you block him. I really thought you would." I shrug my shoulders.

"I honestly don't know. I also, thought I would be able to block it, but my reflexes just weren't there." Dimitri looks concern again. I caress his cheek with my knuckles.

"It was a one time think. I have a badass mentor and he trained me good." Dimitri takes my hand and kiss my palm.

"I know you can take care of yourself, I just worry about you. I always will." Dimitri leans down and pecks my lips. Normally, butterflies would eat up my stomach when he kissed me, but for some reason that didn't happen now. I frown at myself but let it go before Dimitri could see. Maybe I'm just still in shock.

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