The walk to Guardian Brooks' Vampire 101 lesson was relatively eventful with Els gushing with excitement. When we actually got to the lesson, silence dawned on the class and everyone turned to stare at me.
"Ah, so little miss runaway has finally decided to grace our lesson." Guardian Brooks commented. Although his words weren't very nice and seemed very sarcastic, there was something in his tone that seemed different. His tone certainly didn't seem to match with his choice of words. It was like he was putting on some kind of a sarcastic front without meaning to or something. This certainly wasn't the same stiff and demonic Guardian Brooks that I remembered.
"Pleasure to see you too, sir." I replied with a similar tone of voice to match his.
"You seem to be the hero of the class, Valentine. You must've been prepared for the outside world."
"Sir, I've lived in the outside world for the past six years, it's nothing alien to me." I retorted as politely as I could but it was hard.
"Well then would you care to explain to us your plans?"
"Plans, sir?"
"What you planned to do to keep the four royals safe. Do you know the consequences of your actions, Valentine?"
"Well sure I do. They followed me of their own accord so I made sure that they'd be safe by staying with them as much as possible and to ensure that they'd be somewhere safe. I would have to say that the only mistake I made this weekend would be the deaths of the two guardians." I told him stiffly. "Where I had lived was entirely safe and I made sure that they stayed there. When they travelled I made sure to be with them and when they were alone, I was sure that there were guardians with them."
"How could you have known that the guardians were there if you didn't contact them until the end?"
"I could sense them." I stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's exactly like being able to tell the difference between dhampirs and Moroi."
"Why did you leave?" one of the students shouted out.
"Because I had a soccer match to play."
"How did you break out?"
"That's for me to know." I smirked.
"I heard that you had sex with the four royals!"
"I heard that she took them to a whore house."
"I heard that she gave blood to them personally!"
"I heard that Els, Ingrid and Roxy were also in on it!"
All these rumours that were already sprouting caused anger to swirl and I took a deep breath before slamming my hand down on the table causing the sound to echo throughout the classroom. I could see that Els was looking somewhat uncomfortable already in her seat as the rumours were shouted out.
"Before anything gets out of hand, let me clarify something. No one had sex, no blood was shed except for that of the Strigoi and the two guardians who passed away and we did not go to a whore house! Anymore misunderstandings you would like for me to clarify?" I demanded with a low and deadly voice.
Everyone stared up at me with wide frightened eyes and the entire class went silent. The silence of the classroom was almost terrifying. I gave a somewhat awkward cough before continuing to talk. "Sir, I came to this lesson to learn. If you're just going to ask me questions to try and push through to me that what I did was stupid then I'll leave and let you teach in peace because I already know that it was. So are we done with making a demonstration out of me or shall I leave?" I asked Guardian Brooks with a level tone.
He seemed to stare at me in surprise for a lengthy moment before giving a small cough and gesturing at my seat. "I want to see you briefly at the end. It won't take long."
"Okay." I nodded and took a seat at my place beside Els. "I'm sorry in advance about the rumours." I whispered to her.
"That's alright, Kai. We've prepared ourselves for it," she smiled sweetly at me. "We've been prepared since day 1."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. We knew without a doubt that it would happen eventually if we stayed by your side."
"Oh…" I commented awkwardly. I wasn't sure whether to be happy or not about the fact that they could already anticipate trouble with being my friend.
I felt that the rest of the lesson rolled by far too slowly. There were constant glances from other people and even from Guardian Brooks. I couldn't really tell what was in his gaze but it certainly wasn't the same distaste as usual. When the lesson finally ended, I was more than glad to have a tiny moment to myself whereby all staring, except for one person's eyes, ceased. It was nice to feel the weight being finally lifted.
"Valentine, firstly, I would like to apologise for making a spectacle out of you like that. It was rude of me, but I wanted to see your conviction about the decision that you made. I wanted to see for myself just how strong you really were. I hope you don't mind me asking but why were you so adamant about breaking out of the school? Were you trying to make some kind of point?"
"No, I left because I needed to help my team."
"Your team?"
"Yeah, I was the captain of a soccer team and we had a crucial match. Two days before the match there was a fight and the match was delayed and possibly cancelled. It was really important for us to have that match, so I decided to go back and support my team in any way."
"How did the others get involved?"
"I told my three friends that I needed to break out for a little while and they followed me, the four royals found me just as I was about to leave. Then they decided to tag along to see the outside life for themselves."
"I see… Did you win?"
"Oh, you bet we did." I smiled proudly. "Thank you for asking about it. I'm sorry for causing an inconvenience."
"From what I've heard, it was our fault to begin with for taking you away without giving you any choice whatsoever." Guardian Brooks commented.
"If I really wanted to, I could've broken out almost straight away." I explained.
"Why didn't you?" he asked curiously.
"Because I saw a valuable opportunity here and because I had a feeling that if the school already knew about me, they might look for me and that would complicate my life far too much. I didn't want that, I wanted to avoid it at all costs so I decided to take a chance and stay here. They said that the final decision was entirely up to me."
"Final decision?"
"Whether I become a Guardian or not."
"Do you think you've made a decision about that yet?"
"I've only been here for a week."
"That doesn't answer my question."
I thought about my answer for a moment before answering him. "I want to graduate, but I have yet to meet someone that I could give my life for." I shook my head. "Until I have found a reason to devote my life to these people, my answer will probably be 'No'."
"That would be a shame," he commented wistfully. "I had better let you go otherwise Guardian Valiere may complain that I have kept you all to myself."
"Thank you, Guardian Brooks, for not humiliating me when you could have."
"I could've humiliated you. I would've done so if you did not have a just cause for raising uproar in the academy. Thank you for your time and for telling me the truth."
"Not to worry." I shook my head. 2It was a pleasure speaking with you, Guardian Brooks."
"The pleasure is mine," he smiled and it was the first that I'd ever seen him smile. It was surprising and actually made him look a lot more decent and startlingly young. It was probably his dimples that did the trick.
After excusing myself properly, I left the classroom and ran as fast as I could to the other side of the building to get to the H.E. room. I somehow managed to make it there just as the bell rang.
"Congratulations for getting here on time. Elizabeth had already informed me of the possibility that you might be late." Maria smiled warmly at me in greeting.
"Yes, it seemed that there were a couple of things that Guardian wanted to say."
"Please take a seat. Our task for today is to make a desert of your choice." Maria explained.
"Cheesecake." I squealed in excitement and everyone turned in their seats to stare at me for a moment before breaking out into laughter. "Sorry…" I trailed off in embarrassment.
Maria proceeded to give various pieces of advice before letting us get to work. There was a moment when my gaze met Nick's directly and I had expected him to come up with some kind of a snide remark but all he did was give me a brief glare before turning away from me. I blinked in surprise at the lack of confrontation and I realised that what had happened this morning must've affected him more than I'd thought. There was a brief moment when I felt somewhat guilty for what I'd managed to do to his reputation. But, it was about time he got a reality check.
I simply spent the next hour focusing on the task at hand and it took up to the end of the morning break to actually finish, even with Els' keen help. I decided that I would leave the cheesecake for lunch and so Els and I headed straight for combat training.
"Valentine, just for today, you'll be doing something slightly different." Guardian Jenson told me as soon as I had walked into the training room.
"Um… okay…" I nodded uncertainly and followed him out. We walked until we reached a training group made up of a slightly older year and to my surprise, it was a senior class… I even gave a small confused smile when my gaze met Eric's.
"Alright, sorry to suddenly drop this on you but it seemed that I was the only one available to cover this class until we find a suitable teacher to fill in the gap that Guardian Morrison has made. Since you are definitely more than capable, I thought that I would drag you in to help out."
"You want me to help you teach and train a senior class?" I squealed with a quiet tone. "You must be kidding me!"
"Nope, I'm totally being serious here. I need the help, I can't cover a senior training class all by myself. I'd get my ass kicked if I have to deal with all of them on my own. Besides, I'll need the help and you were the first person that came to mind."
"But I'm only in my second year!" I argued.
"Does that make any difference to your skill?"
"No but I'm sure that they won't appreciate someone younger than them training them. I really think that you should reconsider your decision."
"I think that you would be fine as our instructor." Eric piped up, having heard our conversation. "It would spice things up a bit and it would be interesting to see what you would do."
I turned to look at the seniors and they all seemed to stare expectantly at me. I threw my arms up in defeat and gave a heavy sigh. "Let's do a run for a warm up. Three laps." I commanded as I felt my 'captain' personally slip into place. I took off at what I felt to be a reasonable pace and Crispin kept up with me while everyone else lagged slightly behind us. "Guardian Jenson, if it's possible, could I please talk to you about something?"
"Of course. When?"
"Our extra training?"
"That sounds like a plan," he agreed.
Once the three laps were done, both Crispin and I were still perfectly fine while some others seemed to pant slightly and a couple had had to remove one of their layers. These guys were meant to be seniors and they couldn't even handle something as simple as that? I didn't think that I ran that fast for them to keep up but apparently not…
When it came to physical training, everyone had to partner up and Eric requested for me to be his partner. Tom blinked in surprise and I guessed that he was Eric's usual training partner, but he didn't seem to take offense of being abandoned by his friend. Instead, he seemed to give me a smile of encouragement but there was a hint of warning there in his eyes. I wasn't really sure what it was about, but a slight feeling of unease settled over me.
Tom easily found another partner and I couldn't help but smile in amusement when I glanced at Crispin. It seemed that he was rather popular as many dhampir girls tried to be his 'suitable' partner. The sight of their squabble made me laugh but Eric soon captured my attention.
Eric made a lunge for me and I tore my attention from the amusing event to dodge his advance. I shifted my stance ever so slightly so that it would be more steady and faced him with an amused gaze.
"Why the sudden change in partner?" I asked as I ducked down while he aimed for a grip around my neck.
"My curiosity about your skills got the best of me," he grinned as he flexed his shoulders.
"Oh?"
"I wondered just how much the rumours were true about you."
"Rumours?"
"That you took on an army of Strigoi all on your own."
"That's blatantly a lie, you'd have to be crazy to believe something like that!"
"It could be true, it's been done before."
"Doubt it."
"Rose Hathaway was capable of it."
"Rose Hathaway had the power passed onto her from Lissa Dragomir. If it wasn't for the darkness, even a legend such as Rose Hathaway couldn't have managed something like that." I scoffed.
He suddenly dropped down and grabbed my legs. I lost balance for a moment as he mercilessly lifted me up into the air by my ankles. I curled my body over his shoulder and with the help of gravity I managed to reach my hands to the ground. With my newfound balance I used enough force to drag my legs over in an arc. Now Eric was the one to lose balance and he chose to release my ankles. I continued my flip and landed softly on my toes.
This time I took the initiative and lunged at him. He tried to make me falter with a punch towards my head but I ducked at the last second and kicked upwards. Eric managed to block the kick with his other arm but he did stumble backwards a few paces due to the force of my attack. The astonished expression on his face showed that he clearly hadn't expected me to actually be all that good. A serious look passed over his face and I noticed the way his gaze seemed to change. The way he looked at me was no longer playful, his gaze hardened and his stance seemed to become firmer as well.
"Huh, guess I surpassed your expectations, Eric." I smiled with pride.
"Just a little. Seems that unless I get at least a little serious, I'll get my ass whipped by you."
"A little serious? Dude, you're going to get a lot more serious than that."
"Pride?"
"Ya think? Boys aren't the only ones who are allowed to have an ego you know."
"Well then, let's see you live up to it, Kylie."
I felt my pride flare and I couldn't help but feel that he was belittling me far too much. I had considered going easy on him and saving his own pride, but the way he spoke to me was too provoking. I could feel my temper rising ever so slightly but I let a small smirk slide onto my face.
"Don't say that you've never had any warning, Eric." I commented dryly and took a better stance.
When he charged at me, I was ready for it and when the timing was right I stepped to the side ever so slightly, curved my body to avoid the attack, span on the spot and threw a punch to his chest. I could feel the whiz of air hit my bare skin as he doubled over the crook of my arm for a moment. He gave a small splutter and he forced himself away. A flash of anger flashed across his eyes for a moment and a shudder passed through me.
This time, when he moved, he was much faster than before and I barely had a second to think. The only thought was to dodge it and dodge I did. I barely managed to duck and roll to the side and I wasn't even back on my feet when he came at me again. His movements were purely irrational but it seemed to work for him. It made him faster and stronger, so much that I could barely keep up with him.
Slowly I could feel my body become heavier. The change was minimal, but enough for me to be unable to control my movements as well as I should. Just that little amount of difference changed the fight completely. I had to think differently, think up ways to cover up for my lack of speed.
Eventually, I managed to get one hit in through his defence. For the past five minutes, I had been forced to play on the defence but I managed to find a small opening. Just when I thought I managed to land one hit on him, there was an audible smack as my fist came into contact with his palm. My head snapped up in shock as his hand closed over my fist firmly.
I wasn't sure why, but when I saw the lustful gleam reflected in his eyes, my mind ceased to think at all. I let out a small gasp as his leg curved around mine and in my moment of blank-mindedness, I lost my balance completely and tumbled backwards. Another thing that surprised me was the fact that he purposely chose to fall down on top of me.
There were some occasions when I didn't mind a guy being so cheeky, especially not when the guy was a fit one. But for some reason, despite the fact that Eric was too hot for his own good, I wasn't appreciating the fact that he was on top of me very much. Something must've shown on my face because he gave a small chuckle. The chuckle irritated me so my head snapped up with a glare.
I blinked when my eyes connected with his and once again the gaze filled with such want had my body twitching with desire for what this guy could do to me. My mind blanked once again and all traces of irritation instantly fled. When I couldn't withstand his intense gaze any longer, I turned my head away. The movement was pointless because a second later I found myself staring at him once again in pure shock. I could feel his knee rubbing against the area between my legs and a quiet gasp escaped through my lips as he continued to inch his knee even further.
Both surprise and gratefulness flooded through me when Eric was suddenly pulled away by none other than Tom, Ingrid's brother. A look of warning was on his face as he stared at Eric and a concerned expression replaced the warning as he turned to face me with an outstretched hand. I accepted his help without a moment's hesitation and I somehow managed to stand up despite my shaky knees. I was glad when Eric walked away but I didn't miss the glance that he sent me over his shoulder as he stepped away.
"Thank you…" I whispered breathlessly to him as I tried to gather my wits.
"Are you okay?" Tom asked worriedly with a hushed tone.
"Yeah, just about. Not quite sure what just happened though." I smiled sheepishly.
"Thankfully nobody else saw and I made sure to break it up before Eric took it too far and people did see."
"Thank you for your help. I didn't think that I'd ever need it, but I certainly needed it then."
"You're welcome. Not to mention, if Ingrid finds out that I didn't help you out, she'd probably try to skin me alive."
I noted how Tom had used the word 'try' in his comment but didn't say anything of it. "Pfft, considering how the three of them seem to like the idea that Eric has taken an interest in me so much, I think that they're probably more likely to attack you because you pulled him away." I scoffed.
"Well then, let's keep this as a little secret between the two of us, shall we?" he winked with a playful smile.
9