Eric took my advice and headed for the feeders. The game had ended with a draw and everyone headed for lunch. I easily found my usual table and sat down beside Ingrid. Els wasted no time in asking questions.
"What happened? I thought you were hooking up with Eric?"
"I was and I already have. He's gone to the feeders." I told her.
"So? What happened?" Roxy asked curiously. "Are you guys together yet?"
"Apparently so." I nodded.
"Apparently?"
"Well we came to an understanding that we'll try it for a while and see how it goes. It is only my second week after all so I'm not really all that sure about committing just yet."
"But you are going out." Ingrid asked.
"Yes."
"Congratulations!" the three girls squealed and threw their hands up in the air in delight.
"What's the cheer about?" Dan asked curiously as he sat at the table. Soon the other three royals joined him.
"Don't you guys have to feed?" I arched my brows at them.
"Already done." Jacks shrugged.
"So what was with the commotion?" Quinn probed.
"Kai and Eric are officially an item!" Roxy beamed.
"Eric? As in Eric Cooper?" Dan stared at me in shock.
"He's the most respected senior in the whole school." Jacks added.
"That's the one." Els nodded.
"How did that happen?" Quinn asked curiously.
"It's a little fast paced but he asked and I didn't really have a good reason to reject him so we're testing the water for the time being." I explained to them.
"Wow, Eric sure wasted no time." Dan whistled.
"How do you feel about the ceremony in about half an hour's time?" Drew cut in.
I blinked in surprise when I heard the hint of spite in his tone. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that he sounded a little annoyed. I glanced up at him to find that neither his expression nor his eyes betrayed anything of what he was feeling. He looked passive which was a somewhat odd. It meant that he was actually making an effort to hide his emotions and I suddenly felt like I was back to square one.
Something about that irritated me but I pushed the feeling aside for now. For now, I would leave it, but I would confront him about it if it carried on. I didn't know what I did to make him be like that. If I did something wrong, I would much rather know about it than have to remain clueless while he acted like an idiot.
"I'm not really sure. I mean, all I will have to do is just lie there while they give me the damn tattoos, right?" I asked uncertainly.
This was the one area that I wasn't all that familiar with. I could only remember ever having seen a ceremony once and that I was when I was about five so I couldn't really remember all that much about it. I knew that it was a grand thing, especially if the one receiving the tattoo was a student like I was now. I remembered there being quite a large crowd but other than that, it wasn't anything that special.
"In a sense, yes, that is all you have to do." Jacks nodded.
"But the most important thing is the fact that you'll be sharing that moment with everyone else in the room. After the ceremony, there won't be a single person who doesn't know who you are." Dan continued.
"Well, to be perfectly honest, I'm pretty sure that almost everyone in the whole school knows who you are by now already." Quinn commented with a grin.
"I bloody hope that you're wrong about that." I grimaced. "The idea of having the whole school know who I am is a little creepy."
"You've had people who don't know you know who you are before, that's part of your job remember?" Roxy pointed out.
"Yes but that's different. They know who I am but at the same time they have no idea." I argued.
"How is it different?" Els blinked in confusion.
"Because that's my fan base, I don't have to worry about the idea of them being able to find me easily. People at this school however are different. They have access to me whenever they want. For all I know some random kid might decide to attack me or something."
"I certainly hope that doesn't happen, Kai." Dan laughed.
"I'd feel bad for the poor kid." Quinn smirked.
"You'd probably accidentally pummel him." Jacks grinned and nudged my shoulder playfully.
In retaliation I smacked his head and pouted. "That's mean. I know my own strength, I wouldn't accidentally pummel him. Not unless he really pissed me off."
"AHH! Kylie!" I heard a somewhat high pitched voice yell out and I turned around to find a kid attack me. I blinked in surprise and barely had time to stand and hold my arms open to catch the flying boy.
"Trace." I laughed and swung him around in delight. I held him close for a few moments before holding him slightly away from me so that I could look at him. "What are you doing here?"
"He heard about what happened and ran away to find you." Ali sighed as he approached our table. "I heard that he'd been nothing but trouble when he first heard that you broke out of school."
"Oh?" I arched my brows and looked down at the small boy. "Now, now, Trace, you can't go around causing trouble for the Guardians, do you understand? Not unless they need to be taught a lesson."
"But you weren't around and I missed you," he complained and gazed up at me with those wide innocent eyes of his. I couldn't help but squeal and hug him tight again. He wrapped his arms around my neck and nuzzled his face into the crook of my neck.
"Trace?" a pair of stunned voices called out and I felt Trace stiffen in my arms. I turned my head around to see who Trace had been staring at and I simply watched the trio curiously. There was clearly something that I didn't understand here, because for a moment there, it seemed like Trace knew the two Dragomir twins.
Trace wound his arms tighter around me and seemed to hide his face from the twins and I noticed the sadness that dawned in the pair's eyes before they hardened.
"You must've cause trouble for Guardians, Trace." Quinn stated with a hard, stern voice.
Trace flinched and if possible he pressed even closer to me. I rested my hand gently and comfortingly on the back of his head.
"Trace, at least look at us when we talk to you." Jacks reprimanded and the pair of them stood up.
I wasn't really sure what to do at that moment. Jacks and Quinn clearly knew who Trace was and the younger boy clearly knew who they were too, so why was he cowering? What had happened between the trio for the twins to turn so cold and reprimanding towards such a cute little boy?
Jacks gently but firmly placed his hand on Trace's shoulder to try and force the small boy to look at them. I felt the flare of magic before I actually felt the pain that seared my body as Trace suddenly burst into flames.
"Trace!" the twins shouted at the same time and water was dumped on both of us to get rid of the flames.
"Oh! Kylie I'm so sorry!" Trace cried and clung to me even tighter which somewhat hurt but there was nothing that I could do. I couldn't push him away, not when he seemed to be so terrified.
Quinn stepped forward and raised his hand. Drew shot out of his chair and caught the hand before it came in contact with the back of Trace's head. "Deep breaths, Quinn, and calm down." Drew told him seriously. "For now, I think she needs to go see the nurse."
"I'll be fine, just a little singed but nothing major." I protested.
"Valentine, I think that it would be better for you to have your injuries checked out." Ali cut in and rested a hand on my lower back to guide me out of the dining room.
"I'll catch you guys later!" I hollered over my shoulder as I continued to hold Trace in my arms. When we were away from the twins, Trace seemed to calm down once more and I had to say that I was thoroughly confused.
The three of us headed to Rosette's office and when she saw me she nearly screamed but managed to hold herself back at the last minute. "What on earth happened?" she demanded.
Ali took Trace from my grasp and I noticed how the small boy was staring at me with guilt clear in his eyes. I gave him a warm smile and held his face in my hands. I leaned closer to him and gently rested my forehead on his.
"Trace, I'm alright, this is no big deal. But you must promise me not to do that ever again, not unless you are facing danger, do you hear me? If it had been anyone else, they would have been seriously hurt and hurting others is never a good thing, even when it was done unintentionally."
"I'm so sorry, Kylie, I'm really, really sorry," he sobbed.
I wiped his tears away with my thumbs and gave him a soft kiss on his nose. "Just calm down, I'm fine." I reassured him and pulled his cheeks out to show him who was the boss.
He squealed in protest but giggled at the same time the way that little kids often did. He pushed my hands away and stared indignantly up at me. That was when I finally noticed the resemblance. Normally, I was quite observant, except for when it came to family resemblances. I wasn't sure why, but unless I really analysed someone's face, or someone had told me before hand, I often wouldn't realise that certain people were related.
I didn't know how I could have missed such an obvious clue. Trace's jaded eyes were almost identical to the twins. That meant that without a doubt, the trio were somehow related.
"Right, Alistair, I want you to go outside and wait until I call you back in while I check out her injuries." Rosette commanded like the assertive woman that she was and Ali left without argument. "Take off your top," she told me simply and I did as I was told.
Surprisingly, the burns really didn't hurt as much as I had expected them to. Perhaps I had Quinn to thank for that. If he hadn't put out the fire as quickly as he had, the burns probably would've been worse. Yes, it hurt, but it was more of irritating sting rather full-on pain.
Rosette leaned in close and inspected the minor burns as she pursed her lips. "I won't ask what happened, but I do want you to be more careful in the future. Do you understand?"
"Yes, ma'am." I grinned cheekily and she gave me a roll of the eyes before flicking my forehead for my cheekiness.
Rosette left the office, leaving me alone with Trace. I tugged him over so that he sat on my lap facing me. I ran my hair through his ridiculously wild hair and tried to tame it for several moments but nothing that I did worked. While I was messing with his hair, Trace merely sat there, smiling in contentment.
Eventually I gave up and simply rested my hands on his cheeks. He glanced up at me curiously and I stared at him in concern. He seemed to sense the seriousness in my gaze and the smile dropped. I wished that I didn't have to take the smile away from him, but I wanted to know what had just happened back there. I wanted to know why Trace was so against the twins.
"Trace, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but what happened back there? Why were you so scared of Jacks and Quinn?" I asked softly.
"I don't like them, they are scary," he told me honestly.
"Why are they scary? Did they do something to you?"
"They are always shouting at me whenever I see them. They don't like me and I think that I make them really mad."
"I'm sure that that's not true, Trace. Jacks and Quinn are really good people and I think that they actually really care about you, Trace. They just don't know how to show it well."
"Really?"
"Yes, really." I nodded and gave him a beaming smile of reassurance.
"But… big brother Jackson' power is really scary…"
Well that certainly confirmed my suspicion. So they were brothers after all. But since when? I could remember that when I had left, I couldn't remember there being another Dragomir child. Perhaps it had happened just after I left. That would make sense.
"You mean his control over earth?"
"It's really scary."
"But it is really awesome, Trace." I shook my head at him. "It can also be really beautiful."
"How?" he beamed up at me innocently and I gave a small chuckle.
I looked around me to make sure that there was absolutely no one around and I noticed the flowerpot on the windowsill of the office. I had noticed it earlier that morning and I had also noticed that morning that the flower hadn't bloomed yet. I took a risk. Rosette had strengthened my bracelet so it should be alright. I could never do anything destructive without things going out of control, but there were various minor things that I could do that didn't require too much power.
"I'm going to show you a secret, Trace, but you must promise me to never tell anyone." I smiled at him.
"I promise," he nodded enthusiastically.
"Then watch that flowerpot." I told him and turned him around so that he was facing away from me.
I stretched my hand out and slowly and softly made several gestures with my hand. I tried to remember what my father had taught me all those years ago and I gave a small smile as I felt the magic wash over me. At first, nothing happened, but then the flower bulb slowly opened into a beautiful flower in full bloom.
Trace gave a squeal of delight and jumped off of my lap. He dashed over to the flowerpot and stared at it in open awe. I smiled and walked over as I tugged my top back on to kneel beside him to admire the flower.
"Remember Trace, our gifts can be used in many different ways. It doesn't have to be destructive. It depends on the user and sometimes, our gifts can make miracles happen."
"I will be good! I want to help people with my magic!" he beamed and wrapped his arms around my neck.
"I know you will, Trace. I know." I patted the back of his head and wrapped my other arm around his small body.
I heard the footsteps approaching the office and hastily sat back onto the chair that I had been on before the door opened. Ali stepped in and gave me a worried glance.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"It's perfectly fine. Geez, everyone's overreacting about this." I rolled my eyes.
"It's not perfectly fine, you got hurt."
"But it's nothing serious, I promise you."
"Pfft, you're the type who wouldn't say that they were in pain even on the verge of death," he rolled his eyes and sat beside me.
"Are you really not Al's girlfriend, Kylie? Al talks about you all the time!" Trace beamed innocently causing me to turn to Ali with a red face.
"You talk about me?" I asked in embarrassment. "What are you telling these kids, Ali?"
"Nothing embarrassing, I promise. I just use you as a role model for these little kids to aspire to."
"I'm a very lame choice, Ali. Why not choose someone more impressive? Like Rose Hathaway or something?"
"You're the only impressive person that the kids know personally. It would be a lot easier to choose someone whom they could easily relate and you were the best candidate."
"There are plenty of different examples! Like… Guardian Belikov for example! She's a much better example than I am."
"She's too old to be an effective example."
"If she catches you say that, she'll probably beat you to kingdom come."
"She probably would, but she's not here right now so I'm currently safe."
"What were you saying about me, Alistair?" an all too familiar voice commented dryly and we all turned to the door just as it opened. No doubt Aunty Jules had heard us mention her name from outside and decided to interrupt at that moment.
"Nothing, Guardian Belikov." Ali smiled innocently but from the suspicious glance that she sent him, it was obvious that she wasn't convinced at all.
"What can we do for you, Guardian Belikov?" I asked politely, putting on the act for Trace and anyone else who was around in the infirmary. Now that the door was open, I would have to be a little more cautious about what I said.
"I'm here to collect you for the ceremony. It's starting in five minutes."
"Oh yeah… the ceremony…" I trailed off.
For some reason, half an hour ago, I didn't really care that much about the ceremony. It was just a time when I would get some funky tattoos on my neck. But it meant a whole lot more than that. This would be the time when I fully embraced who I was and what I was capable of. And I would become officially known to the entire school, presuming that the majority of the school was going to watch the ceremony.
Having solid proof that I had experience in the fight against the Strigoi meant that I was going to have more responsibility. I would be expected to know what to do in almost any given situation. Especially with the amount of tattoos I would be getting, people would expect me to be flawless.
Flawless was the one key thing that I was not.
I was weak and pathetic, but not many people could see that for the simple reason that I refused to let people see it.
I gave a small sigh and set Trace down onto his feet. "Well it looks like it's time for me to go." I smiled down at him and he gave me a beaming smile.
"I'll be there! Can I be there? Please Guardian Belikov," he glanced up at Aunty Jules pleadingly.
"Of course you can be there, anyone is allowed to witness the ceremony," she told him simply and led the way.
I followed after her feeling uneasiness rise through me with each step. Ali must have sensed my growing unease because I felt him gently rest his hand on my shoulder to get my attention.
I tilted my head to glance at him and I couldn't help but feel a little more confident as he gave me a wide beaming and reassuring smile. It was a smile that said that everything was going to be okay and that even if something ridiculous did happen, he would have my back.
As much as I loved my independence in the outside world, it was certainly nice to know that there was someone who would have my back again. Yes, in terms of being a member of the soccer team, all of us had each other's backs both socially and on the field, but it was nothing like the security of knowing that someone had your back at this place. To know that someone would be there for you in case you slipped up in this Academy was far more reassuring than the gesture would ever be in any other context. Someone else having your back at this place could mean the difference between life and death.
I noticed that the grounds seemed relatively empty except for several Guardians who had been positioned at various points along the borders of the Academy to ensure that the place was as safe as it could be. Awareness rose and for a moment, my mind drifted to the idea that something was wrong and that we were under attack once more. Such an idea had my skin crawling with awareness and I couldn't shake it off.
"Why is it so quiet around here?" I blurted out eventually.
"Most likely, everyone is already seated or standing in the hall where the ceremony is to take place. We were waiting for you and I had a feeling that you might have forgotten the time of the event so I came to pick you up." Aunty Jules explained simply to me.
The relief that washed through me was mountainous and I gave a large sigh, releasing the breath that I had been holding. What would I have done if there was another attack? Would I be ready? Would I be ready to protect everyone here? And most importantly, would I be able to protect all those who were important to me?
If something like that did happen, it wouldn't be anything like the fight back at the abandoned factory at the city. Back then we had all been together in one place and it was an open space where the Guardians could see everything that was happening.
This? This was a massive set of grounds that had far too many hiding spots for comfort and not to mention, everyone was scattered all over the place. If there was an attack, no doubt there would be mass panic and people would become separated from one another. There would be no way of contact except for cell phones and even with those there wouldn't be many opportunities to use them. The Strigoi wouldn't be gracious enough to give anyone enough time to make a simple phone call.
Thinking about it all, I could only hope that I was prepared for any type of assault because I sure as hell would not be prepared to lose anyone else close to me ever again. Not ever. I had already lost two of the most important people of my lives; to lose anyone else's would probably kill me. I was much stronger now, and much more knowledgeable of how Strigoi thought and acted. I should be able to protect others a lot more efficiently now.
Right?
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