CHAPTER FIVE- KEEP FIGHTING, NEVER BACK DOWN
Hey, guys, thanks to all the people who reviewed my story and I really appreciate it! I was watching WANTED last night and I thought the ending was really good, because Allan kills Sloam. Hee hee. Anyway… here's my story.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE ACADEMY- I JUST OWN THE NEW CHARACTERS.
"Behind you!"
There was no need to warn me. I already knew. Well, I guess I'll be dying earlier than I expected. I thought sarcastically. The Strigoi moved in on me and they all had cruel smiles on their faces. These assholes won't be smiling for too freaking long. I didn't waste any time and lunged at the one closest to me. I staked him and shoved his lifeless body backwards knocking two other Strigoi down and I staked them in no time. Alright, three down. Seven to go. One of the Strigoi tried to sneak up on me from behind, but I saw his attack in my peripheral vision and I spun around connecting my foot to the side of his face. As he tried to grab at my foot, my stake caught the back of his hand and he yowled in pain. Then, suddenly, I was tripped and when I fell to the ground, I saw five of the Strigoi fleeing into the forest. Stupid pussies. I kicked the legs out from under the Strigoi and then was yanked up from behind. The stake was hit out of my grasp and my hands were being held behind my back. The Strigoi got up and brushed off his pants casually as I thrashed against the other's hold. He looked at me and smirked.
"Danny, this was the one that was having a nice little discussion with out leader, not Dimitri. But she was talking to Kyle." He sneered never taking his eyes from me and I looked away quickly in fear that he would use compulsion on me. Huh. Kyle was his name and he was their leader with Dimitri. Such a normal name for such a disgusting creature.
"I know she was. And we are going to kill her for that, aren't we? Isn't that right, Jack?" the Strigoi behind me- Danny- said, tightening his grip on my wrists so it hurt. And it hurt a lot.
"Yes, we are. Dimitri won't be very pleased with this, not at all." The one in front- Jack- clucked as he studied me like I was some type of science experiment. I met his gaze and scowled as I kept struggling. Then he laughed. "You're a little feisty, aren't you, dhampir?"
"If you're going to kill me, just do it." I growled.
"No, I don't think I will. You're very strong, and very good at fighting. You would certainly make a great addition to our coven." He wanted to make me a Strigoi! No fucking way. I'd rather be dead.
"There is no way, you're going to make me Strigoi." I spat at him.
"Oh really?" then Jack's leg snaked out and hit me right in the ribs and I'm pretty sure he broke one of them. I cried out in pain and ground my teeth together to keep from passing out. This was worse than losing control over the ghosts. My vision swam and I knew that I'd have to do something and fast. Either that or I wasn't going to make it.
"How about now, dhampir? Do you want to reconsider you choice? I think you should." He advised like he was some Strigoi shrink. I took a deep breath and centered myself. Here goes nothing, I thought. I stomped as hard as I could on the Danny Strigoi's foot and his grip loosened enough for me to brake free, grab my stake and kill him. Jack, on the other hand, was ready for me.
"What did Kyle call you?" he mocked as we circled each other.
"He didn't call me anything."
"Yes, he did. Kyle said you knew Dimitri. You were asking a lot about him." Jack said, then his eyes widened. "You must be Rose Hathaway!" what the hell?
"What's it to you?" I ground out through my teeth as I lunged at him.
"Dimitri still talks about you, you know? We were sharing stories of what we remembered from our past lives and Dimitri mentioned a Rosemarie Hathaway. That must be you. I'm right, aren't I dhampir?" I didn't answer him, I was too confused. What should I do? Ask more or kill him? Kill the damn Strigoi Rose! You have to! My brain yelled at me. Right. Kill the Strigoi. I can to a dead stop and the Strigoi was surprised, which is what I intended, so I jumped at him and staked him.
"Don't worry, Rose. The others will tell Dimitri and he'll come for you. Don't worry one bit. You'll be dead." Jack said before I twisted the stake in his heart. I pushed away from him and limped toward the gate. It opened for me and I stumbled through.
"Rose? Rose, are you alright? Rose!" I heard Blake's voice calling to me, but he sounded so distant. That's strange.
"Rose, damn it! Can you hear me?" I just want to rest, yes, that sounds like a good idea. If I sleep, maybe all this pain would go away. Now that was a pleasant thought.
"Oh shit. Man, we need to get her to the clinic." Some voice that wasn't familiar said. Oh well, I didn't need to worry about it now. The pain was too much, and I thought the ghosts were bad. My vision stared to go gray and I couldn't see properly. My adrenaline slowly drained out of me and my heart soon was the only thing I could hear. I could only feel the pain now; it was all I could think about.
Then everything in my world vanished and I was sucked into complete darkness.
I woke up to a stupid bright light shining right into my eye. What the hell? I groggily tried to sit up but pain shot through my body and I gasped. Gentle hands pushed me back down onto the bed I was lying on. I looked to my left to see a female doctor I didn't know, hmm.
"You're awake. Now what is your name?" the lady said, looking concerned.
"Rose Hathaway," I mumbled and closed my eyes against the bright light. "Can you turn that thing off?"
The light clicked off. "How old are you?"
"Eighteen."
"Do you know where you are and what happened?" the doctor was taking notes on a clip board. I glanced down at my body to see that I wasn't wearing my sweat pants, my tank top was pulled up revealing my stomach and there was some kind of brace around it. My leg was all bandaged up and there were red dots of blood soaking through, my right wrist was also bandaged up and I remembered how the blond Strigoi had dug his nails into my thigh and ran them across my wrist. Then I remembered the Strigoi and how I thought he had broken my rib. Well, obviously I was right. I groaned and rested my head back on the pillow.
"Miss Hathaway?"
"Yeah, I'm in Siberia at the Siberian Academy and I was fighting Strigoi and I got hurt and then I blacked out after I got in the school gate." I said; my throat felt parched so I tried to clear it, which only made it hurt more.
"Yes that's right, Miss Hathaway." She said smiling proudly.
"Please call me Rose. So, what's the damage?" I said, trying to sound brave, which worked pretty well.
"Well, your leg is cut up pretty badly and so is your wrist, you have two broken ribs and lots of bruises. But other than that, it's not so bad." Ah, okay, I can deal with that.
"Right, thanks for fixing me up. Oh! How are Blake and Tory? Please tell me they're okay." I begged. I would feel forever guilty if they weren't okay.
The doctor chuckled. "Yes, yes, they're fine. I had some trouble getting them to leave you alone so I could work." She smiled kindly.
"Thank you so much. But what's their damage, doc?" I asked anxiously.
"Well, Blake had a nasty cut on his arm, but it's bandaged up tight and the bleeding has stopped. And Tory, well, he just needed to see a feeder and some rest."
I sighed in relief. "How long have I been out?"
"About one whole day; you were banged up pretty badly, Rose."
"Yeah, I can feel that." We both laughed a little, but I needed to make sure that my friends were okay. "Hey, doc, would you say I'm free to go?" I asked hopefully.
"Well, as long as you don't involve yourself in any physical activities you would be. Just take it easy, Rose."
"Great, that's perfect. Um, can I have my pants back?"
She laughed and I blushed. "Well, here's the thing: I'm not allowing you to wear your pants because there is blood all over them and they are ripped all over and you wouldn't be able to wear pants anyway, because that would put a strain and pressure on you bandage. So I've got you some shorts and a sweater." She turned around and pulled a pair of white cotton shorts and a white designer sweater out of a bag. She'd give me those?
"Here you are." She handed me the shorts and sweater and smiled at my shocked expression. "They're mine, but we don't have anything else around here right now." She paused. "Well, unless you want to wear scrubs."
"I'm good thanks. Do you want me to return them?" I asked politely.
She shook her head. "Not at all, you can keep them. Well, I better leave so you can get changed. Just holler if you need anything."
"Thanks!" I called after her, and then I hesitantly slipped down from the bed and winced as I put pressure on my leg and my ribs were throbbing. I hastily (but carefully) slipped on the shorts and gently put on the sweater over my tank top. I saw my shoes on one of the chairs and I slipped them on and walked out of my room.
"Rose!"
I glanced up and was immediately engulfed into a huge bear hug from Blake. I winced and gently patted his back, leaning away slightly. Blake pulled back to see what was wrong and I gave him a kind smile.
"I'm a little battered up here, Blake." I smirked and he automatically pulled away and stared at me with what obviously was genuine worry and compassion.
"Are you alright? How bad are you hurt? Where are you hurt?" he shot the questions at me. I was about to reassure him that I was okay when chuckle came from behind Blake.
"Calm down, Blake. Just because you have a crush on Rose now doesn't mean you're her mom." Tory stepped around a now beat red Blake and gave me a look over. "How're ya doing, Rose?"
"It's all good, just a little beat up, you know." Then I gave him a stern stare. "What about you? I saw that you used a consuming spell, even though I told you not to. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"That's good, next time, don't use the consuming spell."
"There isn't going to be a next time. And I wasn't going to let my best friend die! The Strigoi was on top of him!" he protested.
"Yeah, okay. My friend did the same for me." I messed up his hair and turned back to Blake. Who was staring at my leg, or more precisely, my bandaged leg.
"Y-y-your hurt!" he stuttered as he finally ripped his gaze from my leg and met my stare.
I smirked. "Yeah, I just told you that and you saw me when I got in the gate. That's what happens when you fight Strigoi. Oh, um, we won't be starting training as soon as I hoped because of my ribs, I can't really fight or train right now." I added. Blake was nodding furiously before I'd even finished talking.
"Yeah, yeah, that's okay. No problem, you broke your ribs and you need to heal."
"Thanks," I paused. "Now we have to go talk to the headmistress. Do you know what time it is?"
"Um, yeah; it's been a day since we got here and you've been out for all that time. So it's, um," Tory glanced at the clock behind me. "breakfast time for all of campus."
"Great, this school is probably laid out the same as St Vlad's so we should be able to just cut through a quad and go through the cafeteria and get to her office from there." Both boys agreed and we headed for the door of the clinic.
"Take it easy, Rose!" the doctor called after me.
"I will, thanks again, doc!" We walked out the door and there was a nice breeze blowing, which cooled off my hot face. It would still be cold for Moroi, but for dhampirs it was spring time. I breathed in the cool air and we walked in silence for a bit then abruptly, Blake broke into it.
"Damn, Rose, I just realized! You killed six Strigoi!"
"Yeah, I did. And you killed one yourself." I threw my arm around his shoulders so my elbow was at the back of his neck.
"So that means you get six more marks!" he exclaimed.
"No, where am I going to get the marks, kid?" I tightened my elbow briefly.
"Well, you should get the respect you deserve. So we could ask the headmistress if you can get your marks done here!"
"Yeah, Rose! A battle like the one you put up needs some memorial." Tory agreed nodding.
"Guys, I'm perfectly okay without the marks. I don't need them. You'll find that out someday, Blake. Marks aren't everything."
"You have a lot of marks, and I don't have any at all. You got two when you were seventeen and I don't have any."
"Don't worry, kid. You'll have more than me someday. And I'm not the normal type of dhampir, if you know what I mean." I smirked. "And if you think I need some marks, than you definitely need yours for your kill."
"Yeah, Blake, you need a mark too." Tory said, now on my side. We walked into the building and Blake was gushing about getting a mark of his own when we walked into the cafeteria.
Every single head in there turned our way. Perfect.
I held my head high and kept walking straight through the cafeteria. Some kids met my eyes and others quickly looked away. One boy, who was about my height, give or take an inch taller, and had dark brown hair that came down in front of his eyes. He seemed to be studying me and then nodded appreciatively, then decided to greet us- or, well, I thought he meant to greet us. Just in a different way than most people would.
"Is he your boyfriend?" the kid said nodding to my arm that was still around Blake's neck.
"Nope. We're just good friends." I smirked.
"Oh, so you're still free?" he said in a falsely innocent voice.
"Nope, not to you, at least." I retorted and the cafeteria burst into laughter. The boy narrowed his eyes.
"Who are you?" he demanded rudely.
"Is this your academy?" I shot back. I'm sorry, but I'm not cool with stupid jerks who think they own everyone. The boy was taken back by my snappy comment and I took that as an advantage to shove around him, dragging Blake with me and Tory following as he smirked. We left the cafeteria in an uproar of laughter and once we were out Blake and Tory laughed outright.
"How'd you think of that so quick?" Blake said.
"It's my nature, kid, just pure instinct; I'm unique." I grinned while the boys laughed. We finally made it to the headmistress's office and I took my arm off Blake, knocked and waited politely.
"Come in," a shrill voice said and I pushed open the door to see a stout little woman with gray hair peering over the tops of her glasses at me. She placed a book mark in her book, closed it, placed her glasses to the side and stared at us. I also took note of the two guardians standing silently on either side of the door.
"I don't believe that you three are students here, how may I help you?" she said politely. I smiled and matched her tone perfectly.
"No, we aren't students here. I'm Rose Hathaway, this is Blake Macy and Tory Ozera." I said motioning to each of the boys in turn. "My friends and I were in the area and I wanted to take them somewhere safe." She sat up straighter and leaned forward, fixing me with an interested stare.
"Rosemarie Hathaway? Janine Hathaway's daughter?" she asked, smiling slowly.
"Yes, that's me," ever since my last encounter with my mom, some of the tension eased and now, I didn't hate her so much. With Dimitri's-wince-help, I had figures out that I never had. I was proud to be her daughter- she was one of the best guardians out there.
"Of course you can stay at my academy, Miss Hathaway. Your friends as well," she added smiling at Blake and Tory. Then her gaze found my attire and zeroed in on my bandaged leg.
"What happened?" she gasped.
"We, um, had a little mishap with Strigoi on our way here." I said quietly. I didn't think I needed to go into detail- nor did I want to.
"She needs six molnija marks. She killed six of the Strigoi we ran into and some of them ran away and two of them trapped her and one gagged her and broke her ribs. So I think that she needs some marks." Blake suddenly said. I blushed.
"Yeah and Blake should get one too, he also killed one of the ones we ran into." Tory spoke up.
"No, that's really not that necessary. I don't need the marks." I said quickly before either boy could go into more detail, but the headmistress seemed intrigued with this information.
"No, no. You made the kills, you get the marks. I'll have an appointment set up with Charles for you two." She said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Feel free to use anything on campus, anything at all. You may have the rooms in guest housing as well."
"Thank you so much," I said then turned to follow Blake and Tory out the door when the headmistress called to me.
"Rosemarie?"
"Yeah? No, go ahead, I'll catch up with you later." I said to the boys and walked into the office again.
"You've been out in the world, and that mission at St Vladimir's in Montana with the Strigoi. You know quiet a bit, yes?" she said, with a knowing smile and glint in her eyes. I wasn't sure where she was going with this but I decided to be truthful.
"Yes," I nodded slowly. The look and her smile became more pronounced as she said her next words.
"How would you like a position as a guardian here at my academy?"
So… how'd you like it?? Loved it, hated it or was it okay? Read and review please! The next chapter Rose runs into an old friend who knew her from her academy days. Wonder who it is?? I need you guys to keep reviewing because I might just stop updating if I don't get enough reviews. Naw, I'm just kidding! I'd like to give a shout out to all the people who added my story to their lists and the people who have reviewed. Thanks so much, luuuuurve ya'll! Hahaha.
~alice~