Chapter 15

On my way back, I passed several Guardians who sent me sympathetic glances. No doubt word of what had happened had spread like hellfire through the academy and it was apparent that most people here knew of it. It was even worse of a scandal because it involved a royal. Whether she was of high status or not, this kind of event would definitely attract attention. Well, technically speaking, it involved two royals since I was one too regardless of the fact that I was a dhampir because I was literally the last of my family. And then there was also the fact that the four royal boys had joined in too half way through to prevent my face from being slashed by the knife that she had held.

A deep part of me wanted to run through the halls as fast as I could back to the dorms so that I could shut myself away. Then I remembered that that was how I used to react to these kinds of situations. But through the years, I've learned that it was definitely better to keep my head up and not to show fear or anxiety. Running away was not an answer and I had promised myself that I wouldn't put myself in that kind of situation ever again. To show any kind of cowardice was banned for life and I would carry that to my grave no matter what.

I had passed some dhampirs and Moroi too but all they did was murmur amongst them and none seemed to have the courage to come near me. I took a deep breath and simply gave them all a small smile to show that I was relatively harmless. Deep breath, chin up, back straight, shoulders back and walk like a royal. I reminded myself the whole way back.

The time seemed to pass excruciatingly slowly as I walked and more and more pairs of eyes watched me as I neared the dorms.

"Kai!" Ingrid gasped when she saw me walk through the common room. Roxy and Els lifted their heads as well and watched me with a concerned glance for a moment before running up to me.

"Oh my god, are you okay? Marissa totally lost it! When she held up that knife I had no idea what was going to happen. Why didn't you fight back?" Els demanded and shook my shoulders. "The one time you should fight back, you end up being passive. Why?"

"Because I was on the verge of completely losing my control." I smiled tightly at her. "I wasn't trying to be passive; it was just the way it might've seemed to everyone else. You have no idea how close I had come to beating the complete and utter shit out of that girl."

"Really?" Roxy eyed me carefully.

"If Guardian Maxwell hadn't turned up and taken me away, I undoubtedly would've beaten her to the verge of death and probably killed her." I told them grimly.

"Gosh, you have no idea what's been happening since you were dragged away by Guardian Maxwell, Kai." Ingrid gushed. "There's been so much chaos and so much talk. It's the first time in such a long time that I've seen a large group of royal Moroi talking with dhampirs."

"You know how it is first hand, quite a lot of them are rather up themselves." Roxy sighed. "But what happened back there… there's no way she's going to stay at this school. Even if by some retarded chance that she is allowed to stay, if she has any common sense left in that derailed brain of hers, she'll leave the school to try and save some face."

"Sorry, I don't want to cut you guys off but, well to put it simply, I reckon I stink from the amount of exercise that I've done today so I'm going to take a shower before dinner. That's why they let me out early. Do you mind if we talk about this after my shower?" I asked with a small smile.

"Of course not! Sorry we didn't mean to bombard you like that." Els apologised with concern shining in her eyes.

"Don't worry about it; you can bombard me all you want, after I smell better." I laughed freely to show that I really wasn't all that bothered by their questions. I was somewhat curious to know what had happened after Joe had dragged me away. I wanted to know what other people had thought and how they had responded. At least if I found out then I would have some idea of how to react to them. It would definitely help if I was vaguely on the same page as everyone else.

"We'll be in Els' room so go there when you're ready." Roxy smiled and wrapped her arms around me in a soothing gesture. I watched over Roxy's shoulder as Els and Ingrid shared a look before a grin broke across their faces and they joined in too, forming a group hug.

"Choking a little here," I coughed.

"Deal with it." Els retorted. "We were so worried about you, Kai. We had no idea what you would be like once you reappeared."

"More like, we had no idea when you would come back." Ingrid countered. "But we're glad to see you."

"I'm happy to see you guys too." I gave them all a heartfelt smile. They seemed satisfied with that so they finally released me and let me go upstairs to my room. When I got in I headed straight into the bathroom and turned on the water to let it run for a little bit so that it would warm up. As the water drummed onto the marble surface of the shower, I scrutinized my reflection in the mirror.

My hair was a total mess, strands were hanging everywhere from the unruly way that I had tied it just before I took the run. Hair seemed to stick out at odd angles. My cheeks were still flushed from the sparring and the run that I had just done. I detected the spots on my shoulder and side - after removing my top - that hinted at upcoming bruises but they were small and light. There was a tiny scratch on my face from when Marissa had threatened me. Thankfully the cut wasn't deep so the scratch was barely visible. The angry red line that oozed a tiny amount of blood was a solid reminder of how close to the edge that she had been. Thinking back, I wouldn't have been surprised if she had tried her best to kill me. Sure she didn't say it directly, but it was in her eyes. They were the type of eyes that belonged to someone who was no longer in their right frame of mind.

A similar crazed and distraught gleam was in my eyes too, I noted. I too had been very close to the edge and I knew that it wouldn't have taken much for me to be sent tumbling over the line. For a moment unadulterated fear gripped me and my knees buckled. I sank onto the carpeted floor and rested on my haunches as I gripped my bracelet with my opposite hand. I let out a shaky breath and I felt the still air in the room begin to swirl slightly as my power tried its best to leak out.

"Deep breaths girl, you're better than this. You have to be better." I stammered. "Don't let it take over."

I gripped the bracelet even tighter and mumbled the words that were like a chant over and over again. I heard the sound of a crack cut through my mumbling and I looked around to see what I had unintentionally done. At first I couldn't see anything, but then I noticed the long but thin crack that ran diagonally on the shower door. I groaned in infuriation but at least I could no longer feel the power trying to break free.

Damn it this wasn't right. Since when the hell did a power dominate its user? It wasn't fair!

After a few moments longer, when I was sure that my power had subsided to a safe state again, I took the rest of my clothes off and stepped into the shower. I gave a sigh of pure bliss as the tepid water instantly began to sooth my aching muscles. I stood there for a while to let the water do its work before grabbing for the shower gel. I lathered up and scrubbed any spot that I could reach before ducking under the shower head to rinse off. Then I worked on my hair which took a little while due to its length and thickness.

Nearly half an hour later I was done and I wrapped the lusciously soft red towel around my body. The towel was neither long nor short but ended mid-thigh. I trudged out of the bathroom with water dripping at every step I took and I nearly screamed and jumped out of my skin when I saw someone sitting on a chair. It took me a short moment to realise that it was Ali. He had his back turned to me and was staring at the picture of my old football team so he hadn't noticed me just yet.

"Ali? What the heck are you doing here?" I complained.

This time he was the one who jumped and turned to look at me. Then his entire body froze except for his eyes as he seemed to take his time scanning every inch of my suddenly over exposed body. His eyes became slightly clouded and I snapped my fingers at him.

"Oi Ali, eyes up and stay on my face." I snapped at him with a small smirk on my lips.

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting an amazon goddess to show up," he grinned coyly.

I felt my cheeks warm as blood rushed to my face and I turned away from him to grab some clothes from my drawers. I stomped back into the bathroom in embarrassment and shut the door behind me. I made a quick work with getting dressed. I pulled on my red and black laced set of underwear, cropped leggings that ended at mid-calf, a long tank top and overalls with shorts instead of trousers. The overalls was made of a smoky patterned material and clung loosely to my curves with a belt at the hips and pockets at the front. The shorts were short and above mid-thigh and the slightly off-shoulder sleeves were only three quarter length.

Grabbing my towel, I dried my hair casually as I walked back into my room where Ali was still transfixed to the chair. I sat crossed legged on my chair and arched a brow at him. "So what are you doing here in my room? I thought you were on duty down at the elementary division?"

"I heard about what happened so I came over as soon as I could get away," he inspected me cautiously like I was some kind of an animal about to pounce or let loose.

"Don't worry about it, I'm calm now after a little bashing out session with sparring and a full on sprint." I smiled reassuringly at him and for another long moment he didn't seem convinced. Of course, his judgements were made based on my old self so it would've been inaccurate anyway. I was nearly 100% certain that I was safe now and thankfully not a threat. If I was my old self, I would still be unstable for another day or maybe even two and I knew that that was what Ali was thinking.

"Are you sure?" he frowned in concern.

"Yeah. Just you watch Ali, I'm not as cowardly as I was back then. I've grown stronger. But thanks for coming to check on me."

"I've heard from Joe that you are at the top of your class," he smiled.

"It wouldn't be a lie…" I noted sheepishly. With my abilities, I knew that I was fully capable of being at the top.

"Turn around," he told me and I hesitated for a moment before doing as he'd asked. He grabbed the towel from my hands and started drying my hair for me. "You've changed, I can see that but you are still the same in some respects. You still suck at drying your hair."

"It's not my fault." I complained. "There's so much of it. Also, we need to find some time to have a long chat so that we can catch-up. I have so much to tell you."

"How about now?"

"Ali, you're in my room in the girls' dorms. It's not like it was back then when you could just come to the house." I laughed. "Will you be over at the elementary division all week?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm going shopping tomorrow but I'll have lots of time afterwards so I'll come around then."

"The kids would love that."

"They really love you don't they?"

"I spend most of my duties there."

"That explains it. Quick question, who's Trace? Did something happen to him because he seemed really reluctant to let me go for some reason?"

"Two years ago there was an attack where they lived and their mother was murdered."

"Oh…" I grimaced. "No wonder then… That does explain his fear of letting people go."

"He really has taken a liking to you." Ali smiled. "He really likes your hair, it reminds him of the sun."

"He likes the sun even though he's Moroi?"

"Yeah, because Strigoi don't show up in sunlight."

"Well then I guess I'll become his ray of sunshine and chase away the Strigoi for him."

"They aren't that easy to beat Kai. Nothing short of killing a pro wrestler is going to be able to truly prepare you for that."

"I know, I fought them before."

"You were ten and you got lucky because of the pillar of earth, Kai. You can't rely on that," he told me sternly like a profession Guardian.

I turned around to face him and tugged his collar down to see his promise mark and one molnija mark.

"You've made a kill… when?" I whispered.

"Three years ago," he smiled grimly. "I was staying with my friend on a day off and we were in a bar. After that it was in the early hours of the morning when there was an attack in the back alley. His charge was killed instantly. Then the year after that I lost my charge, which was also on my day off when I was visiting my family."

"Oh Ali…" I leaned in and wrapped my arms around him. "I've missed a lot too it seems."

"Probably not as much as you're thinking," he shook his head. "Why do you seem to be confident about Strigoi? There's something in your tone that I can't place and I have a feeling that it's not to do with that first Strigoi from when you were ten."

"Well you see… it's kind of a shocking story really…" I trailed off awkwardly, unsure of how to start.

"Just tell it bluntly like you normally do, Kai," he whispered.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." I gave a nervous laugh and fiddled with the edge of my shorts. "Basically, if I ever got the tattoos, I would have the one from when I was ten, four from the night when Joey found me, and then a couple of marks to show that I have no idea how many I've taken down over the years."

"Four in one night…" he held me at arms' length and stared at me in astonishment.

"Four in less than 15 minutes." I corrected him.

"Oh god… I had no idea, Kai." He seemed to pause for a moment to gather his thoughts before asking another question. "When was your first outside kill?"

"13."

"So young…"

"I've been told that a few times already."

"You don't seem to fully understand why so let me explain it to you. We're so astounded by the strength of your mental and emotional competence. It's unbelievable that you aren't overcome with grief and don't require counselling of any sort. For a 13 year old to have pretty much started a Guardian duty is totally unheard of. A child that young shouldn't be able to cope with the horror and the reality of having taken someone's life. Their mind would automatically go into shock. Remember Rose Hathaway? Even she didn't get out of her first kill without having consequences to her stability. You are extraordinary in so many ways that's not possible to explain and many different will have their own other reasons for their respect of you. And the fact that you did it all on your own too… Incredible."

"Are you done? That's far too many compliments…" I told him with a nervous smile as I toyed with the hem of my shorts.

"You are still incredibly modest and shy when it comes to compliments?" he stared at me incredulously. "Man, girls your age love compliments."

"Well I will have to admit that that's another thing that hasn't changed and most likely never will."

"It wouldn't hurt if you could be a little more self-assured and less embarrassed about them without being over confident about it."

"I'd rather be bad at it." I scoffed. "Anyway, I need to go to dinner so I will see you after that when I head over to the kiddie school."

"I'll see you there," he nodded. He pulled me in for another hug and gave me a sweet kiss on the cheek.

"God I've missed you Ali." I sniffed and grabbed him for another tight hug.

"And you have no idea how worried I was when you suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth like that," he grumbled. "I have yet to give you an earful about that and it will come so expect it."

"Gee… at least after you have a go at me, there will only be… two more to go. Yay." I commented sarcastically. "Oh man, the one with Aunty Jules… she might kill me!"

"That's the consequence for making us worry about you like that and giving us all heart attacks and insomnia for god knows how long. There were days when I would just start thinking about you and I would wonder whether you were alright or whether you really had been taken by Strigoi. No one knew what had happened to you, Kai. It was absolutely terrifying."

"I'm sorry, Ali." I told him remorsefully. "Strangely enough, although I never once considered returning and becoming a guardian, I sometimes thought about what it would be like if I saw everyone again."

"Well now you know," he chuckled.

"So I do," I grinned. "See you later Alster." I winked, using his old nickname that I had invented. I wasn't sure why but there had been a phase that I had gone through when I was obsessed with hamster-like names and so I gave him one.

"Don't be too long Kalster," he gently slapped my back. I grabbed a pair of socks and quickly tugged on my converse before heading over to Els' room. Ali skilfully snuck out of my room and left the dorms without being questioned for his being there at the dorm.

"Kai!" Roxy beamed when she saw me after opening the door.

"Ooo, I'm liking the smoky overalls." Els nodded in approval.

"Thanks, I like them too, that's why I bought it." I grinned cheekily at her.

"Good decision. Definitely better than anything else you've worn so far." Els teased.

"Hey, I resent that. There was nothing wrong with my army styled trousers." I protested.

"Have you ever seen anyone else wear that kind of thing as part of their casual wear on the streets?"

"No, but this isn't the streets, this is a combat school when it comes to dhampirs." I retorted matter-of-factly.

Els tried to think of a come-back but there was only silence.

"Wow… Els actually got outspoken about fashion… that hasn't happened for a long time!" Ingrid laughed as she joined us. "Shall we get going? The sooner we get there, the sooner Kai can head off to the elementary kids."

"Thanks Ingrid." I smiled.

The four of us headed to dinner and it felt like it was my first day all over again. All conversation ceased when people noticed that I was there and most of them simply stared. I had been right when I thought that what had happened would spread like hellfire. Walking through the corridors was bad enough, but to have to sit and feel all their eyes staring at me, it wasn't all that pleasant.

During the middle of dinner, Joe walked in, scanned the dining hall for a moment before his eyes landed on me. He walked swiftly to our table and stopped. "Valentine, you're being requested by the Headmaster."

"It's going to be about this afternoon isn't it?" I sighed and stood up. "I'll see you guys back at the dorms later."

"We'll be sure to play some songs that are bound to cheer you up when you get back." Els smiled brightly which lifted my mood a little.

"Thanks Els, I appreciate that." I nodded and followed Joe with heavy steps. "So what's this talk about?"

"Her parents are here to offer their personal apology to you. They had already realised before this incident that Marissa's behaviour had been wavering backwards and forwards over the line throughout the past year and they are ashamed of what their daughter had done."

"They want to give me an apology? That's not necessary."

"You might not think so, Kai. But to them this is important. It hurts them that something like this has happened and they feel responsible because it's her daughter who caused it all."

"So I'll be in the presence of two royals. Okay. Thanks for the heads up Joey." I nodded appreciatively.

When we got to Martin's office, Joe gave me time to take a deep breath and let it out before opening the doors.

8