"Babushka!" Dimitri released his hold on me and quickly approached the old woman in the chair, stooping down and kissing her cheek. "I've missed you. Where is everyone else?"
"Your mama has gone out shopping for lunch for today. I told her to expect more company." She explained observing Dimitri and myself. "Your older sisters are at work, the little ones are at daycare, and Paul and Viktoria are currently at school. They won't be home till the weekend."
After first addressing Dimitri, the old woman's gaze never wavered from mine. Dimitri started chatting with this woman, catching up on lost time, I suppose. Eventually, Dimitri seemed to notice that her focus was not on him, but on me. He followed her gaze and observed me standing where we had first appeared. It seemed like he had forgotten I was there.
I wasn't upset, I got to study his behavior a little more, this woman was obviously part of his family, I'm assuming his grandmother based on her age. He seemed more at ease talking with her than he ever had at The Academy, and that included the time he was with me. Though, his behavior with me was more similar to his behavior in this house.
With the other Guardians, he was standoffish and secluded, like he didn't belong. Thinking about it now, I suppose he didn't belong. He's a Spirited surrounded by Guardians, the very people that were subjecting Spiriteds to captivity. Now I really don't understand why he's working for the Guardians, but I guess hiding in plain sight was easier than running.
"Oh, Roza, this is my grandmother, Yeva." His voice brought me out of my staring contest and musings. He turned back to the old woman, Yeva, "Babushka, this is Rose Hathaway. She's my Project."
"Don't call her that, boy. Call her what she is. She's Spirited, and a very gifted one at that." Yeva reprimanded him while still looking at me. "I'm Yeva, but you will call me Babushka. I, too, am Spirited, but I'm gifted with oneiromancy." My eyes widened. This is Dimitri's home. This is where his family lives. Did he bring me to meet his family?
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Yev- Babushka." I said stepping forward with my hand extended. She grasped my hand in her frail one, I felt the Buzz.
"You're powerful, Flower. Much more powerful than my grandson." She said not letting go of my hand, studying me for a minute longer. "You'll be good for him."
She released my hand and got up from her chair, turning to walk out of the room. Wait, what did she mean by that? Good for him how? In like a friendship sort of way, or in a romantic sort of way? Which one did I want?
"Your mama will be back shortly, I suggest you try not to give her a heart attack. I told her to expect company, but I didn't tell her it would be you."
"Yes, Babushka." Dimitri stared after his grandmother with a soft smile on his face. I really hope she was suggesting that I'm good for him and a romantic sense.
"So, I take it we're in your house." I said after a few minutes of silence. He finally turned back to me from where he was staring after his grandmother.
"Yes. I hope you don't mind." Looking slightly troubled, he continued, "I just haven't seen my family in over two years and I miss them something fierce. We're in Russia, so we know you can teleport long distances and you don't even have to know the place you're going, as long as you're with someone that does." A smile played at the corners of his lips.
"It wasn't as difficult as I was expecting. They make teleportation seem so impossible, but it wasn't that bad." He chuckled and shook his head in amusement.
"I hope you don't mind staying here for a few hours. It will be at least lunch time here before they miss us back in The States." His look turned pleading. If I wanted to I could take us back now, or leave him here, but I wanted neither of those things.
"I don't mind staying here for a little bit. As long as I don't get in trouble back at The Academy." The smile that adorned his face upon my compliance was heart-warming.
"You won't, I promise." He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the doorway leading to the rest of the house. "Come on, let me show you around."
I followed silently as he showed me around the first floor of his home. There was a kitchen and dining room, a full and half bath and a bedroom that, as he told me, his mother and grandmother shared. The majority of the lower level was taken up by the living room that we had arrived in.
"I won't be intruding, or anything, will I?" I asked suddenly, completely aware that I was in his home, and would most-likely be meeting his family. "You said that you haven't been home in two years, I don't want to be in the way of a family reunion."
"Trust me, you won't be in anyone's way. I'm actually excited for you to meet my family. Yeva, Viktoria, and I are Spirited. Karolina and Sonja aren't but Karolina's son Paul is. They haven't had the opportunity to meet many other Spiriteds. It'll be really good for Paul to meet you. Besides, I want you to meet my family." A blush started to form at the base of his neck and it was working its way up to his cheeks.
I smiled wide and nodded in acceptance. I wanted to meet his family, but I wondered if they would accept me, but if they were used to Spiriteds, I would probably be fine.
We were just about to ascend the stairs to the second floor to continue with the house tour when the front door opened to reveal a small, brown-haired woman carrying bags of different foods.
"Mama!" Dimitri rushed forward to help his mother.
"Dimitri? Dimitri!" She screamed and fumbled, shifting things around in her arms before giving up and dropping it all on the ground and jumping into Dimitri's waiting arms. He picked her up and spun her around before setting her back on her feet to give her a kiss on her cheek. They began an animated conversation in Russian while I stood and observed the exchange.
His mother was beautiful, I imagine it was she that passed her beauty to Dimitri. Their eyes were the same, kind and soft. The smiles they were giving each other were the same and the same high cheekbones shaped their faces. All in all, you could tell that Dimitri loved his mother and that his mother adored him.
"Who's this?"
His mother suddenly broke off from the Russian conversation they were having, switching to English and motioned toward me. I gave a small wave to her and a shy smile, but before I could answer Dimitri spoke up.
"This is Rose Hathaway, Janine and Abe's daughter. She's been my Project for the past two years."
"Wait. Janine and whose daughter?!" I demand. Dimitri's hand flew to cover his mouth and his eyes widened exponentially. "You know who my father is?!"
"Shit. I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean to say that."
"You've done the right thing, grandson!" Yeva yelled from the bedroom down the hall. Looking at Dimitri expectedly, I raised an eyebrow impatiently. "Well don't just stand there staring at each other. Tell her what you know, boy."
"Yes, I do know your father. He's kind of the one that got me out of The Academy in the first place."
"Got you out?" My mind was spinning trying to come up with an answer. Then I remembered yesterday in the lab. Dimitri had told me about a young boy and a few other Projects that escaped from the Academy more than twenty years ago. Could Dimitri be that boy? He would've barely been a year old. "You're the boy that Project Z and Project V helped escape. You're Project Y."
His head moved up and down slowly, gauging my reaction with a weary look. I started piecing together what I knew and tried matching them up with the story Dimitri told me.
Project Z must have been my father. He was the only "he" that Dimitri had mentioned escaping that day. There were two other Projects, other than himself. Project V and Project O. Project V had been killed two years ago. He didn't say anything about Project O's whereabouts.
"My father was Project Z." I stated more as a question rather than a statement.
"Yes. I was the youngest Project to ever be brought in. My father turned us in. My mother was Project O. She's not Spirited, but because she was a descendent of a Spirited, they kept her locked up as a high risk. We hadn't been there for long, mama found out that she was pregnant and they were planning on killing the baby. Abe had been there for a few years, biding his time, but he could have gotten out anytime he wanted to."
"Then why didn't he leave?"
"Years before, he met my grandmother. He said it was coincidence, but she says it was fate. My grandmother had told him to 'wait in the place for a boy to come along. He will save your descendants.' At the time, he had no idea what she was referring to, but later when he was captured, her words came back to him. He was waiting for the boy to come along, and I was that boy."
"And you are supposed to save his 'descendants?' Does that mean he has more children? My mother told me he had run off with a stripper, are they her children? Is he married?" I asked a string of questions, but he only gave me a very confused look.
"You're his only daughter." He started slowly, as if his next words might scare me away. "He didn't run away from your mother. Your mother ran away from him, from us. They got me out of The Academy and kept me hidden until they could bring me back here. It took a couple years, but they got me home. They stayed with us for a couple years more, hiding."
"They? You knew my mother? Who was she?"
"Yes, I knew your mother, but I don't remember much about her. I was very young when she left."
"She left…Why did she leave?" My father didn't leave my mother like she had told me. I resented my father because I thought he didn't want or love us, but now I find that my whole life has been a lie that my mother constructed. Why would she lie to me about something like that?
"She didn't tell anyone that she was leaving or why she was leaving, she just left. Though Abe imagined that when she found out she was pregnant with you, she took off." He looked at me apologetically.
"So, it's my fault she left." I suddenly felt dejected. I knew my mother loved me, but she ran away because of me.
"Oh, Roza. It's not your fault." He said wrapping me in his strong embrace. "She left for a reason, one we don't know and may never know, but it was her choice to leave. It was most definitely not your fault." I nodded at what he said, not because I believed it, but because it made sense.
"Who was she? My mother. I mean, obviously I know who she is, but not about her life with Abe. How did they meet?"
"They met at The Academy."
"Was she a Guardian?" I asked feeling a little betrayed.
"No, she was a Project."
"A Project?" I felt my face contort further in confusion. "Which one?"
"Project V."
"My mother was a Project?" My head was spinning from all the new information and I felt my body start to mimic my mind. How could my mother have been a Project? She wasn't Spirited, I would've noticed if she was Spirited, right? How could she have kept so much from me?
"Roza?" I heard Dimitri's concerned deep bass, but the image of him was starting to blur around the edges and his voice sounded muffled.
"Comrade? You're looking a little blurry." I felt my voice become weaker as I spoke the sentence. My vision started to narrow and the sound of my blood rushed in my ears. I think I heard Dimitri call my name before I lost all sense of the world.