Author's Note

Hi everyone, sorry again for the delayed update. I hope you guys like this chapter! Please remember to RxR.

Lyn xx

~x~ Chapter 62 ~x~

The journey there was tiring and totally disorientating to say the least. Since we were travelling by coach, they were still able to keep the location of our week break a complete mystery to us all. I didn't like the idea of not knowing where I was going one bit. But there was nothing I could do about it. None of the guardians would tell us anything. Joe reassured me that it was a safe location. That it was a vampire owned establishment.

After hours spent on the coach, I began to notice the familiar scent of the sea and my senses perked. Ingrid, who was sitting next to me spotted my sudden change in attitude.

"It's the sea. Wherever we're going to, it's by the sea." I told her with almost 100% certainty.

"How do you know?"

"Having lived by the sea for so many years, I know how to smell it out. We're not far from our destination either judging by what the guardians told us earlier. We should be arriving soon."

"Do you think there's going to be a beach?" Els piped up enthusiastically.

"Do you think we'll have time to sunbathe?" Roxy asked.

"I guess we'll find out our schedule when we get there." I told them.

The coach finally stopped about an hour later and the guardians told us to assemble outside. I yawned and stretched as I stepped off of the coach, my sports bag slung across my body. My bag was probably the smallest out of the girls. I noticed in amusement as almost all of the Moroi girls had suitcases with them.

The first thing I did was to take a look at the immediate area surrounding us. We seemed to be in a wide open car park. There was a large fountain with a mermaid holding a tilted pot from which water gushed out from. Beyond the fountain was a large manor and boy was it massive! There were at least ten stories and I presumed that the width of it had to be 200 metres at least. An impressed whistle echoed amongst us novices. No doubt most of us hadn't been to a place as grand as this before.

To one side of the building was a gradual hill leading down to the beach, the other side led to the mountain filled with woods and what looked like steep hills but I couldn't be too certain since it was still somewhat dark. The sun was only just starting to rise from the horizon.

Most of us novices ran up to the edge of the car park to look out at the beautiful scenery ahead of us. Miles of sandy slopes stretched out towards the beach and sea. Since the sun was just rising, an array of orange, yellow, amber and pink colours seemed to chase away the dark blue shadows of the ocean. I took a deep breath, letting the salty air inflate my lungs.

"Novices! Line up according to the groups decided before departure," one of the guardians shouted.

With a stifled groan we all complied and hastened to line up in our groups.

"Trainees are split into rooms of four as organised before. Does everyone still remember your room numbers?"

"Yes!" we chimed.

"When I call your room number, one person from each group step forward and collect your keys. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Guardian!"

As the numbers were being called out, I continued to look out into the forest. Maybe I was being paranoid but I couldn't help but feel as though there was something out there. Something that shouldn't be here…

My attention snapped back abruptly when I heard our room number being called and I dashed forward to collect our keys from the guardian. I walked back to Roxy, Els and Ingrid while looking out into the dark forest.

"Are you okay, Kai? You look somewhat distracted." Roxy frowned.

"I'm okay. Just taking everything in I guess." I reassured her with my best smile.

Once all the keys had been issued, we were shown to our rooms which mainly occupied the upper back wing of the manor nearest to the woods. The boys were on the most upper two floors while the girls were on the two below theirs. We had half an hour to put our stuff in our rooms and freshen up before induction in the grand hall.

I dumped my bag unceremoniously on the bed nearest to the window and opened the windows which led out onto a small balcony. Lucky us! I got that bed since I won the game of rock, paper, and scissors and got first choice on beds. I gave another stretch and leaned against the railing of the balcony to look out once again into the woods. There was something out there. There must have been something out there. But what that was I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I couldn't yet decide whether it was dangerous or not but the sense of discomfort was something I couldn't quite shake.

"Well what do you know," an all too familiar voice chuckled and I turned around and leant back to look up at the balcony above ours. My eyes met Drew's and he gave me his signature smirk.

"Talk about stupid luck. The two quartets happen to be so close together." I scoffed. "Hey! We've got the male quartet in the room above ours." I told the girls in the room and the three of them stared at me in shock before bursting out into laughter.

"Seems like fate is keeping us eight close together, huh?" Dan commented.

"Maybe the guardians decided that it would be easier since we're all such good friends?" Jackson suggested.

"As if the guardians would do something like that." I scoffed. "So, where is this place?"

"Welcome to one of the resorts set up by our Uncle and Aunt." Quinn beamed. "I think they built this place up from scratch about fifteen years ago or so not long after our cousin was born."

"When you say Aunt and Uncle do you mean actual blood related ones?" I asked when I remembered how the four of them called each other's parents like that too since they were so close.

"Yeah. Our Aunt is Dad's older sister. I'd introduce them to you but they're at another one of their resorts on the other side of America to manage some business." Quinn explained.

"Man, they were gutted when they realised they couldn't meet you while you were here. The business meeting was already planned so they couldn't change the date." Jackson added.

"Well they'll get to meet Kai soon enough. The charity event is only a couple of weeks' away." Dan pointed out.

"We should probably think about heading out. It takes about ten minutes to get to the grand hall from here." Drew cut in before we started a heavy conversation.

"Right, I'll go wash my face." I agreed. "See you guys there."

"Meet us at the stairs," the four of them chimed and I couldn't help but laugh at that.

Grabbing some clothes first, I rushed to the bathroom to quickly wash my face, brushed my teeth and brushed the knots out of my hair before tying it back into a messy bun. This way, I wouldn't have to worry about having too many knots to deal with when I got to bed later. I got changed into another set of training clothes and the other three girls stared at me in shock when I walked out.

"You can't be wearing that," Els grumbled.

"I am indeed. I doubt they're going to let us relax for the rest of the day. They're going to make us do some kind of exercise before or after dinner. If they're going to make us change later anyway, why not just change now?" I shrugged.

"Do you really think they'll be that mean."

I simply gave them a look of "What kind of school do you think we go to?" and they gave resigned sighs knowing that I was probably right. The other three quickly got changed into another set of training clothes and the four of us headed to the stairs where the royal quartet were already ready and waiting for us. I was amused when I saw that they came to the same conclusion as I did. They were in training clothes too.

"Lead the way, I have no idea where anything is. Do they have a map or blueprint we can get our hands on of this place?" I asked as we followed the twins who were most familiar with the layout of the building.

"A blueprint? What the heck would you need one of those for?" Dan stared at me in shock.

"In case something happened. That way I'd know all the possible exits and stuff."

"You think about that kind of thing?"

"Considering the threat we are up against, I'd rather be safe than sorry." I shrugged. "It's become a habit as well to know my escape routes in case anything happened, Strigoi related or not."

"How restless would you be not knowing?" Quinn asked curiously.

"Since there are guardians around probably not too much…" I trailed off doubtfully but I could already feel a little uncomfortable now knowing anything about where I was. "It would make me feel better if we could at least explore the building a little during our free time. How much do you guys know about this place and the woods on the mountain?"

"I don't know about the mountain since we weren't allowed out there alone much." Quinn sighed.

"But we know quite a few shortcuts and somewhat secret passages inside the building and we know the quickest way to get to the beach." Jackson added.

"What'd you say to becoming our tour guide later?"

"You're giving us a choice?" the pair stared at me teasingly.

"I thought you'd force us to whether we wanted to or not."

"I don't like forcing people to do things they don't want to unless it's good for them, especially not my friends." I scoffed. "I might be a forceful person sometimes but it's usually for that person's own good."

"She's got a point." Dan agreed.

"We'll do our best to show you most of the building during our break." Jackson offered.

"I'd really appreciate that." I smiled gratefully at them. "Sorry for taking up your spare time like that."

"It's okay, I'm not that tired anyway. I slept a lot on the bus." Quinn reassured me.

"How often do you guys come here?" Els asked curiously.

"Every summer since it opened." Jackson replied. "This one is the best seaside resort in the state."

"We have the best chefs working here. So, even though we'll all be training, there'll be delicious food and resort facilities at our disposal as a reward." Quinn added.

"Well, that'll be something to look forward to. Does anyone know how rigorous the training is going to get?"

"I asked the upper years. Apparently, they change it slightly every year. It's mainly a vacation but there are small exercises most days with two major training related activities." Roxy informed.

"They told us to be careful of the exercise that's going to be in the woods. Apparently, 50% of students on the guardian program get injured one way or another. Nothing too serious but still really tough." Ingrid continued.

"Basically, we can't underestimate the woods." Els concluded.

"I hope that exercise won't be at night. How would they expect us to see?" Ingrid shuddered at the thought.

"We'll just have to wait and see, huh?" I murmured, my mind thinking back to the unease I felt towards the woods.

The meeting itself was very standard. They gave us all a basic map of the resort and I focused on the best escape routes from our room.

In terms of the schedule we had, the Moroi basically had a complete vacation filled with relaxation except for one exercise. There was going to be some massive game of treasure hunt, the treasure being stamps which various guardians would be in possession of throughout the designated areas of the forest. Further details of the game would come on the day but the whole room burst into murmured discussions when the guardians announced that the activity was going to involve Moroi-Dhampir pairings at complete random. At least half the room turned to where the royal quartet were sitting and I simply raised a brow at their reaction. No doubt, all of them were hoping to get me for a dhampir partner and the rest were probably wondering whether the Moroi boys were going to get paired with a dhampir or another Moroi.

Looking at the schedule they put up on the projection, I noticed that there was going to be a party organised by the academy the evening after the exercise. Roxy and Els instantly brightened up and I couldn't help but grin at that. Seriously, those two loved their parties.

"Did you bring anything nice to wear? I completely forgot to bring anything in case there would be a party." Ingrid whispered in horror.

"Not really, but I'm sure Roxy and Els will have something we could borrow." I reassured her.

"Alright, all students on the guardian program, assemble on the beach within fifteen minutes. Anyone late will do a run along the entire length of the beach. The rest of you, your free time starts now. All students are reminded to stay away from the restricted areas shown on the map." The guardian who was speaking clapped his hands together to signify that we were free to go.

"Follow us, we know the quickest way there." Jackson stood up immediately. "The beach here is pretty nice this time of year since it's not too hot but it's definitely not cold either."

Interesting enough, hardly anyone thought to follow us. Most of them were too focused on the map, trying to work out where they needed to go. I tucked my map into the pocket of my trousers and the eight of us made our way to the beach. I made sure to note the things we passed in order to get my bearings. As we went along, I noticed the startling lack of signs in the building. Guess I was going to have to use the paintings to act as sign posts in case I got lost. Needless to say, most of the paintings or pictures along the walls consisted of royals and memorable guardians.

Even though we had gone the quickest route, it still took us at least ten minutes to get there. Boy was this place massive. We waited on the beach and met a few of the guardians who hadn't been in the grand hall earlier and something clicked. We were never actually meant to arrive within the designated fifteen minutes. They were intending to make us run the full length of the beach to begin with!

"You are life savers." I told Quinn and Jackson.

"Why would you say that?" Els asked, tilted her head slightly to the side not understanding why I suddenly said that.

"We weren't supposed to get here on time." Drew explained to her with a grim smile.

"You guys are pretty mean for making us run such a long distance on the first day." I turned to the guardians who were waiting for the students to arrive.

"What better way to loosen everyone's muscles after that long journey other than a good run?" one of the guardians grinned. "We forgot to take into account that you guys would definitely know a way to get here on time," he directed this at the Dragomir twins.

"We were trying to see how many students were going to be smart enough to follow you two. If they had been paying attention they would've known that this place is owned by your family," another guardian explained.

"So basically, you're not just being mean?"

"I could be 'mean' and send you running regardless of you turning up on time, Valentine." Joe sent me a cheeky smirk.

That shut me up pretty quickly. Damn him for knowing just how to stop me from taunting the guardians. I sighed and simply headed closer to the sea. I stretched several times and tried to calculate in my mind just how long of a distance there was between the two ends of the beach. One kilometre and a half, it was at least that much if not more.

Ten minutes later, other students ran towards the guardians with horror on their faces as they saw how much they were going to have to run. "That's not fair! You guys didn't give us enough time!"

"Those eight arrived in good time," Joe stated, pointing at the eight of us. "Therefore, we gave you enough time. Start on the running guys. The sooner you start running the sooner you'll finish."

I was shocked when a small ball of water suddenly hit me. I turned to Quinn with a 'you're definitely going to regret that' sort of look. He threw up a wall of water just as I lunged at him but it was no use. The wall wasn't firm enough to keep me from diving straight through it and I tackled him to the water leaving us both drenched.

"We're both going to regret this decision." I grumbled as I stood and pulled him up with me. We stepped away from the water and tried to shake off the water.

"Whatever exercise they have planned for us isn't going to be fun with wet clothes on." Quinn agreed but the grin on his face suggested that he regretted nothing.

Warmth surrounded the two of us as flames began to spiral around us without coming too close to hurt. I turned to Drew with a grateful smile and he gave me a sigh of exasperation.

"You knew what was going to happen but you tackled him anyway," he scoffed.

"Hey, he started the water fight first. You don't throw water at someone without expecting something to happen in retaliation." I protested.

"I should've guessed you would do that." Quinn grimaced.

Ten minutes later, our clothes were finally dry and most of the students still hadn't finished their run. I simply took that time to look around us. I could see the forest on the mountain overlooking one side of the beach and spotted various dangerous looking paths and cliffs there. Since we were going to be in the woods in two days' time, I hoped that gave the guardians more than enough time to effectively seal off the really dangerous areas. It would be horrific if anyone fell off the cliff. They'd be lucky to survive a fall like that.

"You don't suppose anyone's fallen off those cliffs, right?" I turned to Drew with a quiet voice to avoid scaring the others.

"If anyone did, they would've discontinued that exercise," he reassured me, staring out at the cliffs.

"Point taken." I agreed hesitantly but I couldn't keep the unease from my voice.

Something bad was going to happen. I didn't know how I knew but something about those woods scared me. I had trained in the mountains before and had never had this kind of foreboding unease before. My body tensed when I thought I spotted something staring out at us from the woods. As soon as I blinked the figure was gone. It must've been my imagination. I was just overthinking things. Maybe what had happened with Eric Cooper affected more than I thought.

And maybe whoever tried to kill your family is here to get rid of others? a small voice in the back of my mind chimed sending a shiver down my spine.

No… that couldn't be. Why would they target another family? Just what on earth happened six years ago? I hated not knowing. I hated knowing nothing about it. There were no clues, absolutely none at all! But the holidays would begin soon. The holidays were coming, people were going to go home which meant there would be less people at the Academy. That meant I could do some investigating. I didn't know what I could find out considering the attack happened six year ago. Whatever clues there might be would probably be long gone by now. Surely nothing would be left?

"They'll make sure to keep this exercise safe." Drew insisted, placing his hand on my shoulder, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think I'm just being paranoid right now…" I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. I took a deep breath and tried to clear my mind.

"Do you want to take a break? We could tell the guardians that you're not feeling well or something."

"No, it'll pass in a bit." I reassured him, smiling gratefully at his concern. I glanced at the other six and noticed something interesting. "Hey, do the twins like anyone at the moment?" I asked curiously, leaning closer and lowering my tone of voice so that the others wouldn't be able to hear.

Drew blinked a couple of times in surprise at the abrupt change of topic. He followed my line of vision and stared for a moment. "Neither of them have mentioned anything yet. But I'll agree that those four have been particularly close for a couple of weeks now. They've actually kind of been like that since the break out."

"I've noticed them getting close but I didn't realise they were getting that close." I whistled in surprise. "Are the boys likely to talk about it if they found a girl they liked?"

"Sometimes."

"Would they talk if we asked them about it?"

"You're not going to interrogate them, are you?"

"Of course not!" I gasped and slapped my hands over my mouth when I realised that I'd said that louder than intended. The other six turned to me curiously and I simply gave them a sheepish smile. "I wouldn't do that. I'd just ask them discreetly. I think of them as my friends too, not some criminal or foolish brat that needed to be threatened. Besides, they know I'd beat the crap out of them if they did anything horrible." I whispered.

"They'd be happy to hear you say that."

"What? That'd I'd beat the crap out of them?"

"That you think of them as friends."

"Well what else are they if they're not my friends?" I arched my brows at him wondering what he was thinking about.

"Your opinion of us four has changed quite drastically for such a short span of time."

"A lot has happened and I trust you. I trust that you wouldn't become such good friends with someone who wasn't good. You have good instincts and people reading skills after all."

Since we were quite far away from the main building of the resort and the flood lights, where we were sitting was somewhat dark. So it must have been the magic of the moonlight because once again Andrew Ozera gave me a smile that just about stopped my heart.