Chapter 3

...

My sickness dissipated by morning. The only sickness left was a mixture of confusion, anger and jealously. They all melted into one.

Dimitri's disappearance angered me. I wish he had told me the truth. I wish he would have just come out and said it to my face. "I don't want you." But he didn't. Had he taken advantage of me? Did he enjoy making young girls cry? What's worse is that I can't help thinking about him and her. I so badly wanted to know the truth. I so badly wanted to put another grotesque scar across her pretty little face.

I was in one of those moods again. Everyone I was around annoyed me to the point where I thought I would snap and attack them. I tried to ignore them as best as possible, but my fiery side seemed to have other plans. Lissa didn't even notice anything was wrong. She just said I looked better and continued her chat with Christian. I was glad she didn't really talk to me but at the same time I felt hurt. I wanted to lash out at her for being so blonde and blind.

Mia seemed determined to provoke me. I ended breakfast by scrunching up my napkin and throwing it at her. The table stopped and stared at me as I walked off without saying a word. Yes, that's right, I'm mad. I'm crazy. I'm a fucking lunatic. I walked off without a single care of what they all thought about me. What would they know?

The only person I didn't want to piss off was Peter.

He came in late for training evidently pissed and grumpy. His dark blonde hair was in shambles.

He didn't even look at me as he stormed across the room. After he chucked his bag to the floor, he turned his dark eyes on me.

They'll be no sympathy for me today (I realised).

"Six laps around the oval." His voice didn't seem as angry as he looked. I began to protest. There was no way I was going to do six… "NOW!" he yelled, making me jump.

What the hell?

What's gotten into him all of a sudden?

Barley halfway through my third lap he ordered me inside. He stood in the middle of the matted area. I steadily walked over, watching him bandage up his hands.

"Today we focus on your close quarter's combat." His northern accent was thicker then I remembered.

"My what?" but he didn't respond, instead, he threw a punch at me. He hit me right in the face, just below my cheek bone. He hit me hard.

"What the fuck?!" even Dimitri didn't hit that hard! I hadn't thought Peter would be so rough. "A little warning might have been nice!" He relaxed his fighting stance, chuckling slightly. It wasn't a humorous chuckle, it was a cynical chuckle. One that made the anger boil up inside me.

"You might wanna calm down if you want to get through today." He said, circling me threateningly. I had to admit, what he was doing was pretty cool. I think winding me up was apart of the plan, and he was doing a very good job at it. Especially in my state. "You looked pretty pissed today at breakfast."

"You looked pretty pissed when you came into training this evening." He chuckled at this.

"I was. Still am."

"And why is that?" I returned the hand that was on my cheek back to my sides.

"There's some things that I don't quite understand."

"Like what?"

He dashed forward towards me at a frightening speed. I barely dodged his attack.

"You."

I felt my legs fail beneath me as he got me from behind. I jumped up almost instantly. I couldn't let this arse hole beat me so easily. What would Dimitri say?

"What do you mean me?" I said tauntingly. If I wanted to win, maybe I shouldn't provoke him. But I couldn't help it.

"You in general."

"That doesn't make any sense." Peter pulled back and relaxed a little more.

"You were practically skipping to training yesterday morning."

"Yeah?" I shrugged "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing! It just looked like you were looking forward to it."

"You've only known me for less than forty-eight hours and you're already trying to figure me out!"

"You're like a living breathing roller coaster."

"Maybe you just don't know much about women?"

"I didn't think I was talking to one." He eyed me up and down curiously. I swear if ears could blow smoke, mine would be at that moment. Do I seriously look that innocent? What is it about me that just screams "VIRGIN" to older men? Everyone my age thinks I'm a slut. The fact that I have two molnija marks doesn't help my reputation as a bad arse student either! But these older men, seriously!

Peter continued his assault. I somehow sneakily caught the side of his leather jacket pulling him backwards. It backfired though, because he somehow got hold of my arm and spun me around. I hit the floor hard and I cried out in pain.

"Don't. Touch. The leather." His voice was a low growl. He twisted my arm slightly.

I cringed in pain. I didn't want to give this guy any kind of satisfaction.

"So what are you gonna do now Rose Hathway?" he was teasing me now.

"Scream out in pain?" I groaned.

"That's option number one. Or you could figure out a way to get out of the situation." I laid there for a moment, my breathing rough. He was obviously a very impatient man because he twisted my wrist a little bit more. I cried out again.

"Time is tickin' Rose," but I couldn't do anything. I was stuck. "Your hand can only twist so far."

"What the hell am I supposed to do?!"

"In battles you need to think fast. If you want to be a great guardian…think fast." Wow, such depth. With that, I tried to escape. With my free arm I spun myself around onto my back.

Big mistake.

I was fast, but Peter was faster.

A sickening crack echoed around the gym with the mixture of my cries of pain.

"Oh shit," I barley heard Peter mutter over my scream "He's gonna kill me."

…

Peter had rushed me to the hospital wing surprisingly fast. His cool demeanor was completely shattered and I was positive he was on the verge of having a heart attack. He kept apologising to me over and over. I didn't take any notice of him. I was too preoccupied with the searing pain in my left arm. Peter's arms were wrapped protectively around me, helping me to stand up right. Every time I winced or yelped in pain he would freak out. Even when Mrs Olendzki was observing the damage he was cursing to himself. I'm almost ashamed to say I felt kind of sorry for him. But I really did wish he would shut up.

"No training for a while I'm afraid Rose." The doctor informed me.

"Crap." I muttered as she went to inform Peter of the bad news. He rushed to my side. Although, now I'm thinking maybe no training is a good thing.

"Are you okay? Does it hurt? What if I do this-"

"Mr Kurr!" Olendzki smacked his hand away from my casted elbow. "You should leave now." Oh , thank you. Thank you! "Miss Hathaway needs her rest."

I was placed in my own small room. One I had used many times in the past. It was pretty much my second home the hospital wing.

The two left me to sleep. Peter stalked out of the room sulkily, closely followed by Doctor Olendzki.

"I will be informing Ms Kirova about this Mr Kurr." I could barley hear their hushed voices through the wall.

"Please, call me Peter." His voice instantly changed. His tone was instantly recognisable to my ears. If I wasn't mistaken, it would sound as if he was trying to woo her.

"Don't pull out your macho bravado on me Mr Kurr," Oh snap. "I'm afraid to say I am resistant to that irresistibly sexy accent of yours."

Oh shut up. Was I really hearing this?

"I'll have you know…" Doctor Olendzki's voice became muffled as a soft howling blew past my head. I removed my ears from the wall and turned around. The shut curtains were flapping violently in the wind. Which is funny because I don't recall ever opening the window. "…and I guarantee you, Kirova won't be the only one informed about-" the howling became so great it hurt my ears.

"Ugh." I muttered to myself as I hopped out of bed and walked towards the glass shutters. I closed them, this time making sure they were locked. Who would open a window during this kind of cold weather? Through the tinted glass I could see the orange glow on the horizon. I stared in wonder for a minute. Soon realising my feet were bare and that I was shivering all over. I got back into bed.
To my dismay Peter and Olendzki were no longer bickering.

I wasn't even exactly sure what they were bickering about, but it sounded as if Peter was going to get into a lot of trouble for this. I kind of felt sorry for him. Kind of.

I was curious to know who Kirova was calling.

But only a little.

I found I was too restless to sleep. My fingers were aching and I couldn't even feel my wrist. Stupid new guardian. I'll get back at him. That is, once I am able to move my left arm again.

I continued to fidget and search for a comfortable position, but it felt as if there was still something for me to do. Something that I need to complete before I went to sleep.

"Little Dhampir." I stopped moving as soon as I heard a soft voice speak across the darkened side of the room.

…

Sorry about the slow update. Assessment has just been piling up. It sucks. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.