Chapter 9

Two weeks before Christmas. I had been two weeks before Christmas that dimitri put my training on a hold. Two weeks before Christmas today. After the night of my deflowering I didn't speak to dimitri. Mainly because he had been avoiding me. He couldn't get over the fact that he took my virginity and we weren't in love. I had to admit that it pissed me off beyond comparison. It effected the way he trained me. He never got to close. all he ever did was make me run. Fourteen laps each day around a half mile track. I ran seven miles each day and each day I shredded time off my stop watch. I remember when I first asked him why I had to run all the time.

" Dimitri... Why— why do we have to..l run all the time?" I grabbed my chest and sipped on my water. I had just ran seven miles straight and my legs were killing me. We were at the gym at around eleven in the afternoon and I was tired as fuck. He looked up at me from his torn and battered western novel. Who the fuck reads those? He sat down his book and stood up from his place in the mat. He walked to me.

" If you and Lissa are in a mall shopping and you suddenly See a bunch of Strigoi, what would you do?"

" that's easy, kick their asses...duh" I said folding my arms over my chest.

" What if your out numbered?"

"then I'll kill them."

" in public?"

"Well...Well obviously your the only one here that knows the answer to that question so please enlighten me Dimitri, what the fuck will I do?" I asked

He smiled and tied his hair into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. It took all the strength in me in order not to jump him right then a there. He walked away from me and grabbed his western novel and duffel bag before he looked back at me. " the answer is simple Rose, you run... Training is put on a hiatus until after Christmas break" he said grabbing his water bottle and taking a sip. I walked over to him and snatched the bottle away.

" Are you coming with Me and Lissa?" Before I could drink any he snatched it back from me.

" Where else would I be Rosemarie?" I rolled my eyes at my full name

" First off, it's Rose and secondly you have family too. Maybe you should spend some time with them. It is Christmas." he half smiled at me and put on his duster.

" We don't celebrate it at my house but yea, I would like to see them. To see my favorite sister Viktoria. You two are very much alike. You'd cause all types of catastrophes together. And my mother would love you too. Her name is Olena and She loves to cook," he smiled thinking back to his family " I have one older sister named Karolina ,she has two children. Paul and zoya. Sonya and Viktoria are my younger sisters. I have a grandmother too, her name is Yeva and I'm convinced that she just might be crazy. She's always giving us...riddles. That we have to solve. But I love her." he chuckled then shook his head.

" What about your father?" I asked. His smile immediately faded as he slipped on his guardian mask. Thats what I had begun to call it. He showed no emotions at all. Not love, nor pain. Nothing.

" What about him?"

" Did he stay with your mother?" I asked

" Sure, until I was fourteen."

" Why did he leave?" I asked quietly.

" Because, he was manipulating. And abusive"

" Did, Did he hit your mother" he looked down at my hands. They were beginning to bruise. I hadn't worn any gloves since we started practicing and it was starting to snow. He frowned and stood up. Reaching into his bag he pulled out a tube and some gauze. Then he sat back down and took my hands. He opened the tube a put a small dot of the white medicine in his finger before rubbing it on my bruises. It burned and I tried to pull my hand away but his grip on it tightened. Once he rubbed some on both my hands he began talking.

" Yes. He abused her. Until I turned fourteen and was strong enough to stop him" he said wrapping my hand in gauze.

" Please oh please tell me you kicked his ass" he looked up at me and I bit my lip. He Chuckled and nodded his head.

" Yes Rose, I fought him— and I beat him and demanded he leave. He never came back after that day" my jaw dropped.

" Your a fucking god. I can't believe you beat up your dad" he didn't smile at my comment. He just finished healing my hand and stared down at it. Then he looked at my hair and Stared at it. I became self cautious and wondered if I had something in it. God I hope it isn't bird shit. Slowly, he reached for a lock and pulled a feather out. I looked at it as the winter winds carried it away.

That was two days ago though. Two days that he didn't talk to me. Two days that school has been out and now we were in a hot stuffy car driving to the mountains. Me and Lissa usually go out of town with her family for Christmas break because my father took Christmas's very hard since that was around the time my mother left my father. But what do you do when her entire family is wiped out. You, a bunch of friends, and a twenty four year old man drive up to your fathers cabin in the mountains and spend Christmas there.

The entire gang was here. Well technically not here with us. We were split up into two cars. Me, Christian, Lissa, Jill, Mason, and Dimitri was in one car. Eddie, Mia, Kim, Adrian, and Tasha was in another. I know what your thinking. Why the fuck is Tasha with us? She hasn't really been a pain since the party. She has toned it down a lot. She even pulled me over a couple weeks ago to apologize for being a bitch to me.

I was walking down the hall eating a granola bar when I heard her call my name. I rolled my eyes and looked for the nearest exit but couldn't find one. So I sighed and waited for her to catch up with me.

" Rose, so glad I caught you. Your a very hard person to find" she said putting her hands in her hips and taking a big gulp of air.

" Thats because my time is my money Tasha. And wasting time is like wasting money. So what do you need?" she twisted a lock of her shiny black hair and sighed.

" I just wanted to apologize.. For being a bitch to you all of these years. The truth is I was just jealous of you." I almost Choked on my granola bar.

" why would you be jealous of me Natasha?"

" Because you have it all. The guys, the friends, the money. You don't even have to be loud and trashy for people to like you. That doesn't mean that your not but even a new student could look at you and see how wonderful you are. That's not the same for me. I can't snap my fingers and get what ever I want. I have to work really hard for it. And in my jealousy I started to get blinded. I couldn't see what a good person you were until I actually spent some time with you. Your a cool chick Rose and I just want us to bury the hatchet and start over. What do you say?"

I thought about smashing my granola bar in her face but it was so tasty plus she was being sincere. So I took the higher road and forgave her. She squealed. Yes folks, like a pig. And hugged me. That day forward she never was bitchy to me again. She even dropped her pups and began sitting at our table. And as I hung out with her more and more I realized what I cool person she was too. So what If she was a tramp. She still was cool. So that's why she was with us two weeks later.

I tuned into the radio and realized that dimitri had it on some crap ass station that played nothing but country music. I tried to turn the dial but he smacked my hand away. I looked at him as if he grew a second head. He didn't purposely turn it on this crap did he? I turned to make half my body face him.

" Dimitri, this crap sucks. May you please change it" he agreed and moved to turn that dial. I leaned back and closed my eyes until I heard the old retro shit coming from the car speakers. My eyes snapped open and I turned to face a smiling dimitri. He winked and looked back at the road.

" how about turning it on something that isn't older than all of us put together— even you" I said the last part under my breath but I'm pretty sure he heard it.

" Rose, it's either this or the other station" I turned to face him. He couldn't be serious. Both stations sucked ass so why would that even be an option. I folded my arms and began to hold my breath. He looked at me like i was the one growing a second head now.

" She isn't going to breath until you give her what she wants. She mastered that move in the second grade" Lissa said with a small smile.

Dimitri looked at me. Then back at the road. Then back at me and laughed. Fully laughed. I would have smiled to see him laugh so whole heartedly but now wasn't the time. I pretended like I was fading out and he called out my name. I leaned my head to the side and dropped my arms to my side. I would have made a great actress Because dimitri suddenly turned it to something that actually kicked ass. I quickly picked my head up and smiled. Then I patted his head.

" Good boy" he growled and my heart jumped. We rode in the car for six more hours and I was ready to scream. Until I finally recognized the cabin I used to spend Christmas in as a child. I hopped out before dimitri could pull into the drive way and ran to the door. I lifted up the welcome mat and found the door key. But before I could open the door I noticed that the door wasn't fully shut. I called out for Dimitri and he quickly ran to my side. I pointed to the door and he pulled me behind him. Lissa and the others were looking from the inside of the car. I turned to see dimitri meticulously looking around the front of the cabin. Then he whispered for me not to come outside. He slowly opened the door and walked in. I counted to thirty before I decided it was long enough. I slowly walked inside and nothing seemed out of place. All of the furniture was still here. Still the same as I remembered. Just a little dusty. But when I walked into the living room I was shocked.