Xavier POV ( italics - while unconscious)
I could feel fingers touching my face, caressing it. So soft, like a dream.
"Wake up X, we have to get going," a feminine voice spoke to me. My eyes felt heavy, I wanted to open them but they wouldn't respond to me.
"I don't want to." I felt my lips reply, as if I wasn't in controlled of myself.
"X we have to, we have to get to our Moroi." They protested. I felt myself roll over onto my side and grab the person in front of me.
"Char..." my eyes opened I was looking into a pair of dark brown eyes. Her dark brown was in her eyes my hand reached up without my permission reaching for the offending strands of hair blocking her face from my view, I fingered the stands in my hands and moved the strands back off her face. Her eyes smiled with amusement while her face was blank a trick we were taught to keep our emotions at bay. I smiled and leaning forward closing my eyes. I felt our lips connect.
When I opened my eyes I wasn't in bed with Char I was standing in a field, my eyes were watering, beside me was a Moroi. My charge.
"Xavier... I'm so sorry," she whispered. "It's all my fault. I should've waited, I shouldn't have pushed Charlotte to continue without out you," she paused. Trying to find the right words. "If I'd known there were more, if I known that she'd..."
"Yes," I looked down. "Yes, it is your fault." I agreed. And I turned around walked away back to the cemetery.
I looked down at the plot, Alexandra, my charge, insisted that Char had it. That it was her fault that she's gone. Guardians normally didn't get a plot if they were changed into a Strigoi. She thought I needed it. She knew my connection with Char. To say goodbye.
Bright red eyes, flickered into my memory the last time I saw her. When she smiled this time it wasn't her gentle soft smile it was hard emotionless and blood dripped from her lips and she was running towards me to rip my throat out...
I woke up gasping for air from my dream? I felt my body shudder. I didn't know what I was seeing, was it a dream? Who was Charlotte? She looked familiar... Why did I kiss her? Alexandra, I needed to find her. I needed answers.
I went to get up from my bed and I groaned, my ribs. I clutched my ribs, I felt the tape through my shirt I was wearing. What happened? I groaned slowly laying on the bed. I looked around I was in the infirmary. I huffed, I'd only left here not long ago with Rose... Rose. Shit. Our fight. I put my hand up to my face I had a bandage on the side of my face, I fingered it debating whether to pull it off and leave the infirmary.
I pulled myself back up into a sitting position and swung my feet over the side of the bed, as I was about to place my feet on the floor, the door swung open. My head snapped up to see who was intruding.
"I see you are up Guardian Skyle, how are you feeling?" asked moving across to me with a note bored.
"Sore," I replied with a grimace.
"Figured you would be," she nodded. "How is your head?"
"Again sore, but not bad," I answered truthfully and she nodded.
"I need to go and get Guardian Petrov. I'll be back," she spoke to herself more the last bit than to me.
"Wait," I called out to her. And Dr. Olendzki stopped looking back at me raising her eyebrows at me in question. "Before I came to the Academy..." I started and she started to walk back into the room when I stopped.
"Yes?"
"Who was my charge, Alexandra? I remember the first name but not the last name," I finished. Feeling stupid for asking.
"Hmmm... I'm not too sure but I can have a look into it. Ill mention it to Guardian Petrov..." she suggested and I nodded not too sure what else I could say. Dr. Olendzki left and shut the door behind her.
Apov (Alberta)
"I don't know who he was fighting but they must have been angry to cause that sort of damage and not stop. It makes me wonder that they look like," I told him and he nodded and bent over to pick him up. We shared his weight and walked to the Clinic, as we walked in and Maire was just coming out of one of the rooms, and she looked at me and then Xavier and then back at me.
"What happened, Alberta? Please tell me you didn't do this." Marie asked.
"No, I was doing my rounds when I saw Xavier lying on the floor near the novice's dorm," I told her, and a bit annoyed that she suggested that I did this.
"Xavier?" she asked and I nodded. "He left with Rose a few hours ago when she was well enough to go," she told me and I thought about this.
"Do you know how long he was out for?" I asked she looked over his body and face, it looked like she was trying to work it out.
"Well, to be honest they seem to be a few hours old. The dried blood on his face and hands is dry and it smells a bit off," she told me still looking at his body, while getting a cloth. "Do you know where Rose is?" she asked suddenly looking me.
"She's probably in her room," I replied but I was eager to go and see her to make sure, and I think Marie noticed my discomfort in not knowing where Rose was.
"Go. I need to make sure he is okay. I'll call you back later when he is awake, I'm sure he'll come round soon," Marie told me I nodded and thanked and ran towards the novice dorms, again. I got indoors and ran up to her stairs, I had a bad feeling and I need to know she was okay. I got up to her floor and I saw a door open and it was Roses' I ran to the open door and looked around Rose wasn't in here, but her draws were open. I looked in them and the clothes were gone, I hoped to see her clothes in her closet so I walked over, and they were gone as well, I looked where she normally kept her stake and that was gone to. I was getting more and more anxious when I couldn't find anything; her clothes showed she wasn't here, not in her room but not at the Academy.
I ran out slamming her door, and I ran past the Guardians on break who gave me a funny look. I ran back to my office thinking about what to do, and trying to sort out my thoughts, I was just about to go and wake Princess Vasilisa when Marie knocked at my door.
"Alberta, Xavier has woken up," she told me.
"Thanks I'll be there soon," I nodded at her, I was glad he was awake. I need answers about what happened to him. I shot out of my office and back to the infirmary, when I got there Marie was waiting for me. "How's he doing?" I asked concerned about him.
"He should be up and going soon, he's going to be a bit sore but he'll heal quickly his nose is recovering. His ribs are tapped up and he is a bit black and blue , has a lot of bruising on his body, but he's awake," she updated me, I sighed and nodded. "You can go in if you want," she told me and walked away. I walked into one if the rooms, which turned out to be the wrong one. Dimitri was sitting on the bed, sitting in his clothes which had traces of blood on. I turned around and walked back out muttering an apology, I went down two doors and knocked and there as a muffles reply, I walked in and Xavier was lying there with wide eyes.
I could define all the hits to his face and upper arms, I was wondering who did this and why they would do this to him and leave him there.
"Look I want the truth and I want to know who did this to you," I told him, well more like commanded him. He sighed and muttered something but I could hear what he was saying. "What?" I asked him confused.
"Rose," he whispered but loudly enough I could hear him.
"Wait, Rose? Rose Hathaway?" I asked disbelieving. "Why would she do this to you?" I asked wanting some answers.
"Yes, but Rose..." he trailed off.
"What? Nothing you say will get her in to trouble at this moment in time, we just need to work what happened," I reassured him.
"We'll I'm not too sure, she was running away from me because she found out about Guardian Belikov being here, and we were near the novice's dorm and she stopped and it was like something in her had snapped and she was ready to kill," he told me, and I cursed Spirit Darkness.
"Hmm, do you know about Princess Vasilisa's gift?" I asked him.
"Yes, Spirit. It's the five element but there aren't that many who have the gift," he answered.
"Do you know about the attack that happened on the night of the Strigoi attack?" I asked and he shook his head. "Well, there was a group of Royal Moroi who got a group together, 'Mana'" I told him.
"I've heard of it, they had it at the Academy I grew up at. They do it to see who can use 'compulsion'," he summed up and I nodded.
"Yes, well a group did it here and because of Princess Vasilisa gift she can use 'compulsion' against others but it was ... a dark 'compulsion.' Anyway Rose arrived and while Princess Vasilisa was ... sort of torturing one of the students and Rose absorbed the side effects of Spirit and the side effects turn her somewhat lethal," I explained and he nodded.
"Oh, so you think she had absorbed the side effects?" he asked.
"Yes, I don't think she would do this personally to you without a reason, not unless you really pissed her off," I joked. I stayed for a while longer and then I remembered about Rose not being in her room, I stood up and he looked up a bit startled by my move. "Sorry, I'll be back," I told him and walked out and rang Jean.
Ring, Ring, Rin...
"What do you need Alberta?" Jean asked when she picked up.
"I need you to check the school grounds and ask if anyone has seen Rose Hathaway, take a few Guardians with you and spread out and check in soon." I ordered.
"Okay bye," she said and hung up, I walked back into Xavier he looked up confused.
"I have to check up on some things," I lied, and he didn't look like he believed me, but he nodded.
"Do you know where Rose is?" he asked looking at me. Crap. Crap, shit.
"Er no, I haven't seen her," I replied shortly, and soon after my phone went off I look at the ID caller 'Jean' I answered and went outside his room.
"Hello Alberta, no one has seen Rose Hathaway, but there was a report of someone outside the wards by the forest who might have gone into the forest. And the path in the forest leads to the caves," she updated me, and I was getting a bit panicked of thinking about Rose down by the caves.
"Okay, I'll meet you and four other Guardians at the front of the Guardian building in an hour. Call Stan and Chase tell them as well," I told her and hung up. I walked back in to his room to see if he was up to finding Rose. "Are you up to walking and maybe fighting?" I asked looking at his body.
"Yes, they just need to let me out and maybe change this bandage on my face," he replied, I nodded.
"Okay, go get showered and changed and meet me at my office in forty-five minutes," I told him, and walked out to find Maria. I found her in Dimitri's room, they didn't notice me I coughed and she spun round and looked at me. "I need to speak to Dimitri," she nodded and went to walk out. "Maria, Xavier is coming with me so he needs out," she nodded and walked out. "Thanks" I called out after her.
"Dimitri, I'm sorry about earlier on," I apologised profusely.
"Don't worry, I know Rose means a lot to you and I hurt you as well and I am sorry as well," he said looking down. I knew he still cares about her even though he doesn't have the right to.
"Dimitri are you okay to walk and maybe fight, if needed?" I asked him.
"I should be, my ribs are painful but they'll be okay to fight. Where are we going?" he asked looking at me.
"I'll tell you later, meet me outside the Guardians' building in an hour," he nodded and I walked out to tell Maria. She was sitting at her desk filing some paperwork. "Maria, Dimitri is coming along with me as well, so he needs out" I told her.
"When are you going?" she asked.
"We'll be going in an hour, thanks you Marie," I said and she nodded and waved me out.
Authors Note:
So there is the other chapter as promised. The beginning is a filler but I needed to add it to this chapter before Alberta got to him otherwise I couldn't fit it in later and it shall all make sense later on.
Thanks for reading.
Vickie-Louise
