Didn't you ever notice that the Rose here is too uptight? Well, there is a reason behind that, and you will be seeing a lot of the sarcastic and juvenile Rose now. Some will also grow horns—Comrade-wise.

Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty Four

1505T hours

3:05 PM; Woods, St. Vladimir's Academy

I skipped Armageddon to catch up with the Vessels. Lissa had been all over the place lately, and I couldn't stand watching her so restless. I, too, felt restless, knowing that I could help them, but I still didn't make a move. It had only been 24 hours since Natalie was last seen, and by that (on the outside world), there would have been an official statement that she was missing and needed to be searched with utmost scrutiny.

In the last two hours, I have learned that Natalie was the daughter of Victor Dashkov, the heir of the late Prince Trenton Dashkov of Bulgaria. Before he was officially crowned as ruler of their land, Victor died from a mysterious and rare death that ceased his respiratory system to work, and continually pump oxygen to his brain. It was too late to resuscitate him when he was found in his chambers. It was rumored that his body was preserved, but I knew better. Victor Dashkov's body was cremated. I knew this because I've been to this supposed cremation. Just the usual "hanging out with dad's pimps" business. At that time, I had no idea who or what that ceremony was about. I just thought that it awful and inhumane to burn one's body in front of so many people.

And of course, I thought of that because that happened almost twelve years ago.

And, usually, I wouldn't remember this, but I got extra information from father's database, so no misinformation there.

Natalie's mother had died at childbirth, and she had no siblings—which drives me nuts with the fact that she had no direct relative that I could ask where she might go or do an automatic DNA search. I had tried asking Lissa questions, but she equally had no idea where Natalie might go.

I lengthened my pace toward the temples, and couldn't help but doubt my motives. Was I doing this for the thrill of the hunt, or just out of pure selflessness? I knew the answer.

When I was midway through the woods to the temples, I heard a branch snap at my just behind me.

I let my instincts win me over and switched into battle mode, executing a textbook-perfect back kick to the intruder. The intruder smoothly avoided and restrained my kick.

"Rose, it's me," the person behind me said in an oddly surprised tone.

I looked back at the giant hooded figure behind me and let out a breathy laugh.

"I figured you'd be at your temple, worshipping your god." I remarked.

His eyes darkened. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

I crossed my arms over my chest at his tone. "I need your help. I need both of your help." I said with pleading eyes.

He looked into my eyes, and, for a moment, I thought I saw surprise flash there. Finally, he asked, "Is this about the abductions?"

I made a face. "Uh, no, it's me being pregnant with your love child." I said, sarcasm dripping off my voice perfectly. "Of course it's about the abductions!" I waved my arms in emphasis.

Amusement, genuine and flickering, crossed his features. "You want our help in finding the missing Academists." It was not a question.

"Yes,"

"We are bound to not interfere with earthly occurrences." His face said nothing, but his eyes—oh, those dark eyes—it dared me. He was daring me to do something.

"I don't believe that shit of a rule. With you living in this place, who knows what things you've already done with us, earthlings."

He opened his mouth, about to say something, but I stopped him by holding up my hand.

"And, I'm certain that you'd find a way to help us find those missing Academists." I finished with a small grin. "'Cause, you know what'll happen if you won't." I added darkly, staring deep into his eyes.

A small, almost unnoticeable, smile tilted his lips and softened his hard features.

"Do you have a plan?" asked Dimitri.

"You bet I have,"

"Then let's do it, then." he said, but didn't move.

"Before we do that, I need you to promise something," I didn't let hesitation doubt my final decision.

He inclined his head in agreement.

"I want you to swear secrecy," I told him.

"I give you my word." was his reply.

For me, his word was a good enough compromise.

1515T hours

3:15 PM; Poseidon's Temple, St. Vladimir's Academy

Ten minutes later, I have acquired a disposable cell phone.

I walked toward Dimitri on the altar. "Heads up," I warned as I tossed him the phone.

He caught it with ease and looked at the phone with an unsurprised expression. He looked at me, his eyebrow cocked up on one side. "Why am I not surprised that you have a Phone-Card-Phone in hand?"

I shrugged, slightly feeling lightheaded at what I was about to do. I have never thought that I'd tell anybody about my origins, but I guess secrets really are bound to come out. "Maybe it's because of my awesomeness?" I suggested with a grin. "You must be so dumb not to notice that." I added with a chiding look.

There was that unpracticed smile again. It looked like Dimitri hasn't been doing much smiling lately, the way the smile awkwardly tipped his lips. His eyes, those dark, dark eyes held a pensive yet amused look. Lately, those expressions seemed to dominate his face whenever I was near. I didn't know why that was, but I originally figured that Dimiitri wasn't the type to be amused easily. And that rendering him amused was unheard of or just very, very rare.

"Did you know that you're the only one who has ever dared talking to me like that?" he asked in that pensive tone.

"What, you expect me to go all "oh, holy Vessel-I-must-fear-you-for-you-have-godly-powers-which-we-cannot-comprehend" you like the others?" I asked with my hand on my chest, looking incredulous. "Don't hold your breath."

I got a rusty laugh from him. I don't know why but there was just something about his laugh that made me feel special. I mean, yeah, from a guy with his status, I guess making him laugh was a good thing…but there was just something else. Something I didn't really want to delve deeper into, but still desire to do so.

He shook his head, his long dark hair spilling out at the front of his face. I found myself admiring at those wavy strands of hair that haloed his face like a dark veil. He looked much better without the hood that covered his face like a perpetual dark cloud. Well, honestly? I thought Dimitri was hot. Not that that mattered, Dimitri could pass as my grandfather with his age now. It's been said that he and Adrian were here before the great storm.

That thought disturbed me a little. Since when did number become such a big deal to me? I shrugged that thought off with half-hearted disdain.

"No." he said softly, looking at me with a perplexed look. "That is what makes you unique, Rose." And then, he looked up into my eyes, that same small, unpracticed smile playing on his lips. "You do not easily bow down to anyone. You have strong will and a very good determination. Very few people are that strong-willed. Especially these days."

I was surprised that he could utter such touching words. And I was even more surprised that I was surprised by just mere words. It was preposterous in some way.

We fell into sound silence for a moment, but then I decided to break it.

"Anyway, let's get back to business."I said, all business now. I straightened myself up, and hoisted my small messenger bag up my shoulder.

He nodded, saying, "Of course," with his usual no-nonsense tone.

I was a little disappointed at the loss of the warmth of the moment, but I convinced myself that there were more pressing matters that we have to attend to.

I extracted my netbook from the bag and started to turn it on when Dimitri said something about the signal.

I looked up at him. "Pardon me?"

"You know there's no reception here, right?"

Right. I bit my lip hard. I should have known that there was no signal in this god-forsaken place.

"How do you contact the people outside then?" I asked him curiously.

"We send out couriers to mail recruits HaloPads. Didn't they send you a HaloPad with a recruitment note from the Headmistess?"

Now I remembered. I nodded. "They did." I was the one who became pensive now. "So, where can we get just a wee reception in this place?"

He was quiet for a moment. I looked at him, and saw that he was looking at me with a knowing look on his face. "Actually, it's not a matter of where we can get reception, but it's a matter of who can create a signal for us."

"So who can make a signal?" I asked, impatient.

"You, of course."

I laughed hard. "Please, you gotta be kidding me."

"It's true. You just don't know where your capabilities lay, Rose."

I stopped laughing at his serious tone. "Okay, so how can I do that?"

"The Academy is a dead zone, so we cannot transmit to any cell site or base station nearby, but it doesn't mean that we cannot create our own. You have the power to manipulate electricity, which means that there is big chance that you may be able to create your own radio waves." He explained more about radio waves, and how this can help us on our job at hand. "All you need is a base station—or just a very tall tower—and then try to tap into any signal which can sustain you for your lone signal."

"Aren't we tapping from other cell networks when we do that?" But my real question was, isn't that illegal?

He shook his head. "No, but you're just letting the signal guide you so that you can make your own signal. Understood?"

I nodded hesitantly. "Kind of,"

"Let's try," We walked toward the nearest tower. It was just in front of the temple so we didn't have to walk quite long.

"This," he gestured to the very tall tower. "is you base station."

I looked up, and up, and up at the tower and just marveled at its imperial height. I was a little intimidated at what I was about to do, but I needed to do this. For Lissa. For the Academy.

I put a hand on the building and looked back at Dimitri. His face was withdrawn, his eyes darker than usual. "What do I do now?"

He surprised me by raising his hand, sweeping back my short dark hair. He seemed surprised at his own actions too, but didn't detach himself like he always does.

"First," he murmured close to my ear. I shivered when his fingers touched the skin on my neck. I felt a little cracking on my fingers and noticed that they were excited electrical charges. "You have to prepare yourself for the initial shock the powers will give you." He said, and pulled his hand away. The over-excited electrical charges on my fist died out. "It will be slightly painful, but you'll live."

I shrugged. "I can handle a little pain."

Dimitri smiled a little. "Maybe I underestimated it. It will be very painful. Your body will absorb the shock of the power surge, but from your astonishing stunt on your first day, I highly doubt that you'd fail this meager task."

Wow, he just called making your own cell base station meager.

I nodded in agreement. "I've been through worse."

"So I've heard," he mumbled cryptically and took a backward step, gesturing at the tower again. "You may begin."

The hand that lay on the tower felt really hollow and cold. The charges on the tower were dormant which made it a lot easier for me to arouse the charges. Once I directed my powers to it, they stirred with delight and went at it like bouncy and giddy children. I laughed at my strange analogy, but there were no other words I could describe them with.

I smiled at this improvement, but it still wasn't enough. I tried expanding the charged atoms upward with little success. A minute later of trying, I opened my eyes and took a look at Dimitri. He was still standing where I had last seen him—eyes dark and body language intimidating.

"Any problem?" he asked me, his voice a deep quiet Russian rumble.

I nodded and wiped the trickling sweat away from my face. "There's too much pressure. I can't—I can't concentrate." My voice sounded strained. I didn't like it.

His eyes softened. Maybe I just imagined it. "It's okay," he stepped closer to me, and put his hands on my shoulder. I stiffened at his touch, in spite of the way it made me relax. His touch felt like relaxing chamomile tea on a very stressful day. Like a tub of warm water after a very cold blizzard.

"You just need to relax. Let your inner self free, and let the powers control you for once."

"I hate being controlled. I faint every time I let them to." And Deirdre taught me better. Absently, I cracked my neck when I felt that it was too tense.

"Don't worry; I'm going to be here if you'll fall." I felt him lean in, feeling the warm breath of his mouth, smelling the intoxicating scent of his aftershave.

Suddenly, in a rapid surge of power, I felt a stroke of electricity go through me. It rendered me paralyzed at the shock of it, but it didn't give much of a shock as I have expected. At the back of my brain, I rejoiced at the fact that it had worked. When I could move again, I looked back at Dimitri with wide eyes.

"What was that?" I asked breathlessly.

"A spark," he said with an elusive expression. His eyes sparkled with hidden playfulness.

I wanted to ask what kind of spark, but before I could, he looked away and looked at the small disposable phone on his hand. "One bar," he showed the screen to me.

Surprisingly, there was one bar at the edge of the screen, indicating that I had succeeded making my own base station.

I snorted.

"Something wrong?"

"Yes, there is." I said. "One bar is not enough. I can do better than that."

With new-found determination, I closed my eyes again and let the charges flow into my body, into my mind…into my subconscious where they perpetually lay in wait for its time to be released. It was like the night I was hit by lightning again.

My brain and body was brutally attacked by charges in continuous and painful blows. I felt my body going into a violent seizure, and I was sure that there was a blitzkrieg going on inside my body. Dimitri was right—it was really painful, but I had too much pride in me to show that. My mind went apeshit, and with an audible snap, my control snapped and the powers consumed me whole.

Goodbye control-freak Rose Mazur, and hello Rose Hathaway.

I was aware of my body falling to the ground, but I was doubly aware of Dimitri catching me before I'd hit face-first on the dirty soil. In a painfully slow manner, I opened my eyes and smiled.

"My hero," I murmured and fought off the urge to close my eyes.

He looked absolutely breathtaking by the way his hair stumbled carelessly on his face. His eyes were flooded with concern. Wow, he was concerned for me. That was…

I a sudden burst of awareness, I noticed that I was being carried by him towards the temple. I quickly jumped out of his grasp, but he was too fast and was restraining me before I could make a move.

"You need to rest, Rose. You've been through much today."

"Hell yeah, I've been through much." I started prying off his hands as best as I could, but he wouldn't budge. "Let me go, or I'm shouting! Help!"

He covered my mouth. "Now, now, no need to call for reinforcements. Surely, you don't want Adrian's zombies to swarm up on us, do you?" his tone was chiding, as if he was talking to a child, and not an adult.

I slapped his hand away and jumped in his arms, effectively throwing us off-balance. Dimitri stumbled on his feet, not expecting the action from me and I landed on the ground ass-first.

"Shit," I clutched my bottom as much as I could. That drop fucking hurt, but I guess it was my fault. But hell, I couldn't resist wanting to blame Dimitri for it.

"Hey, Comrade, why did you drop me?"

His expression was a comical mix of confusion and amusement. "Why did you jump?"

My eyes widened. "I did not!"

He shook his head, smiling. "You did."

I refused to admit that I did. "No, you dropped me!"

His eyes narrowed. "I didn't."

"You did!"

"I did."

"You didn't." I said, and then covered my mouth.

Dimitri's laughter was a rich yet rusty sound. "I win," he declared, and helped me up.

I stuck a tongue out to him. "You're a cheater, Comrade." I mumbled and saw the phone on his hand already had flickering bars, alternating from four to five. I did a happy dance then.

"I did it! I made my own cellular base station, Comrade! How cool is that?"

Dimitri shook his head at me. "Your bizarre change of moods never fails to amaze me, Roza."

I looked at him questioningly. "Roza? What's that?"

"Comrade?" He mimicked my tone. "What's that?"

I debated whether I should stick my tongue out to him again. I decided it was better to flip him off rather than pry the info out of him. I was quite sure he wasn't about to spill the beans. But come to think of it, the name he just called me sounded quite familiar. Only with much less definition on the R's.

"Come on," he called, gesturing me towards the tower. "Let's call and get this over with."

I took the phone from him and dialed the fifteen-digit number that only I knew. I pressed call, and handed Dimitri the phone. I didn't want to be the one wanting help from my father. I wanted somebody important in the Academy seeking help from him.

I heard my father's Turkish rumble in the phone.

Dimitri's eyes widened in recognition. "Ibrahim Mazur," it wasn't a question, but a statement of fact.

Another rumble from the other line. "This is Dimitri Belikov," With a "wait here" gesture, he walked off with the phone, mumbling something in a language that wasn't English or Turkish.

In what seemed like forever, Dimitri came back to the tower, where I was waiting impatiently.

"I'm surprised that you're still waiting here and not eavesdropping like I originally thought."

"Yeah, well, I thought it was better not to eavesdrop, whatever that means."

He shook his head in amusement.

"Did you destroy the phone?" I asked.

"I did,"

"So, what's the plan?"

"He'll be here as soon as possible. He will bring a couple of his specialist, and they will help us find the missing Academists. Hopefully, they will try and catch the culprit too."

I sensed that he was not telling the whole truth, but I brushed it off.

"How do you know Ibrahim Mazur?" I asked him bluntly.

"He's an acquaintance." His eyes sparkled with interest. "How do you know Ibrahim Mazur?"

Right. I shrugged. "An acquaintance, too."

His face was expressionless. "An acquaintance wouldn't have his personal number."

What was that expression I saw flash through his eyes as fast as lightning?

I gave him a crooked smile. "I have my sources."

He lips tilted into a not very nice smile. "Sure you do."

"Are you mocking me?" I asked incredulously.

"I do not mock people, Rose."

"Sure you don't."

It was his turn to ask if I was mocking him.

"I do not mock people, Comrade." I mimicked his Russian accent. It was quite horrible, I tell you.

He barked out a laugh and shook his head. "Roza," There was it again. That name.

"Won't you ever tell me what that means?"

He looked at me, his expression still withdrawn. "Not if you tell me your relationship with the Mazur clan. Ibrahim Mazur, specifically.

"Fine," I sighed, looking like I've given up. "I used to work for him." It was half the truth, but still, it was the truth.

"In what house do you work for him?"

"No house. I used to be a receptionist in his agency. And you know, we became really good friends. And I mean really, really good friends." I wiggled my eye brows at him.

His eyes narrowed at the implication. "You should know better than to get tangled with a man like him, Rose. He's dangerous." His tone lost its previous tone, now phasing into a hard and strained one.

My lips twitched. I wanted to laugh so badly, but I couldn't. "Really."

"I am serious, Roza."

"Oh, and before I forget! What does that mean? C'mon, Comrade. A deal's a deal. What does Roza mean?"

He sighed wearily, and combed his hands though his hair. "It's your name in Russian."

I didn't know why, but just knowing that I had a nickname from Dimitri made me feel special.

I smiled. "Thanks for finally telling me."

I called out a "ciao" and walked away, leaving him there on my cell tower.

I still couldn't believe that I've made one. I should thank Dimitri for that.

I ran back to Dimitri and hugged him.

He stiffened at this sudden gesture, but relaxed. The way he relaxed was barely noticeable, but the way he put his arms awkwardly on the small of my back indicated that he accepted and appreciated the gesture.

"Thanks for teaching me, Comrade. We should do that more often." I murmured, and broke into a sprint as soon as he released me. I didn't hear his answer, but I knew that I wouldn't give him a chance to refuse me.

So, how did you find Rose? Better? Bad? Still too uptight? And ooooh! Dimitri just started calling her Roza! Nosyet? LOL

Tell me what you think!

xoxo,

Katya