ATTENTION: Story is going to be off FF for a while due to editing. And the great plagiarism plague that is going around. Please bear with me. I am doing my best here.

I slipped as quietly as possible so I would not wake the sleeping Lissa. Kirova had demanded that I see her as soon as I could. Why was everyone bothering me lately? However, I had to admit that I was really excited as to who I was going to get as a mentor. The nerves were starting to kick in as well. I wondered why. The only thing I asked God for was that the person was not as evil and careless as my mother was. Moreover, my mother was definitely something that had been specially created from hell. Sometimes, people called her the killing machine. Yes, she was that good. I wished that she was that good, too, as a mother. But, hey, we cannot have what we want. Everyone should have known this. I knew this.

The ground was sticky with ice. I had to focus on not falling. It was not that difficult of a task. In less than ten minutes, I was standing in Kirova's office. The receptionist said I could walk in, that Kirova was not busy. And so, I did. I walked right in like I owned the place. (Okay, not that dramatic.)

Headmistress Kirova snapped her head up at the sound of my entrance. "I am here; let's get down to business, Headmistress." I always liked to keep the mood light between her and me. I did not want her to always hate me.

"Rose, nice of you to join me." She said, putting her papers aside. She smiled, very happy that I was in here, in her office. For some reason, that was unbeknownst by me, everyone loved me. "Rose I called you in because I wanted you to let you know that your mentor is here. He wants you to keep the same schedule you have been having with Alberta. So, you have to keep on going to morning practices."

I nodded, chewing on my lip. I had been hoping that morning practices would be the first thing he canceled. I had been so happy that there would be no more morning practices, and then, they come up with this! That was a sign…a sign that said that my new mentor was just as crazy and evil as my mother and not fun like Alberta had been.

I was starting to get a little more worried. Why was life so hard? Kirova patted my hand when she noticed my anxious expression. "Don't worry, Rose. You are the best, and for that, we had to call in the best. I know you can do this. And I trust that you can make Alberta proud."

"Your wishes will be redeemed." I finally said. Years of knowing her, I knew that was the end of the conversation. She excused me with a, "You are free to go." As soon as that was said, I left the room.

I really wasn't paying attention to what I was doing when I got out of Kirova's office. So, it wasn't till I ran into him that I noticed a big, tan guy standing there. Oh, God, was he sexy. But the words that came out of his mouth made him seem less sexier.

"Watch where you are going," he said, his voice laced with a Russian accent. He was a dhampir. He was tall, brown haired, brow eyed, but most important, he was sexy, a sexy that was beyond plain, regular sexy. He made me breathless, he made me warm, he made my head spin. From the looks of him, he looked no older than his twenties. I had a sudden urge to just fall on my knees and start to worship him. He was like a god. A Russian god. And maybe soon, my Russian god. Yum…

I didn't say anything to comment on what he had said. Nor did I plan to say anything. Plus, he wasn't paying attention to me, or anything in particular. It was as if he were still trying to find his way around. Russians these days. I knew enough to conclude that he was a new guardian. Then, with horror, I realized that he was my new mentor! Oh, hell! This was purely hell! I thought the ground had stopped shaking, but when this happened, I knew it hadn't.

I kept on walking. Around the corner, I could spot Eddie and Mason, all talking in one group. They were talking to someone, and it was until I came closer that I noticed who it was. A smile spread on my face as I noticed. Lissa, my best friend.

"Rose!" She said, throwing her arms around me. "How did it go with Kirova?"

"Great…And hey, I just saw my new mentor." My voice defiantly could have sounded more excited. But I could not be more excited. Having someone as hot as I was going have, made life a lot more difficult for me.

"Cool! What's his name?" Lissa asked, getting excited over the fact the she was going to meet someone new.

"I don't know, hence why I don't call him by name." Lissa started laughing when that sentence came out of my mouth. "Don't worry; I will find out soon enough—"

"Rose!" Good God, Rose everywhere. To my joy, it was Alberta. Just the person I needed to talk to. She would guide me to my new mentor.

"Guardian Petrov?"

"Rose, come. Follow me. I want you to meet Guardian Belikov in my office."

Guardian Belikov…that seemed like a normal, Russian name. It was sexy, just as he was. I imagined myself, one day, with him. God, was I that hormonal, to think about some future with a guy that was older than me and who I just barely knew? If anybody I knew found out about this, these thoughts, they would definitely call me a freak. I shuddered at the scene I would cause if they found out.

It was him. Yes, it was him. As soon as Alberta opened her door, I saw him. He was my new mentor! I swear, I wanted to melt.

"Rose, this is Guardian Belikov." I don't think he noticed me when had seen each other out in the hallway.

"Nice to meet you, Guardian Belikov." I said, trying to be polite. He replied to my greeting with a nod of his head. So much for manners. I learned—or observed, that he was not the most outgoing person. He was not really social, either. I could tell all this by a look. I should have not been quick to judge. After all, you can't judge a book by its cover.

In the meantime, Alberta was speaking. "Rose, you have the rest of the day off to get to know your mentor better. And he wants you to get used to his methods of fighting."

I nodded, agreeing to all this. The whole day with him would be bad. I just knew it. "Thank you, Guardian Petrov."

"You two are excused." Guardian Belikov started walking ahead of me. He didn't tell me to follow. He knew and I knew that I had to follow him.

It was an awkward silence as we walked. Soon, we arrived at the gym. He pulled a chair and motioned for me to sit down. "First off, tell me about yourself."

"First, my name is Rose Hathaway." I was going to continue but he interrupted.

"Daughter of Janine Hathaway?" He asked, his brown eyes getting more focused now.

"The last name says it all, but we are not talking about my mother. It's Rose time now." I took a breath and he nodded. "I am seventeen years old, and that pretty much sums it up." It was sad, really. That was all I had to tell him. Other things about me, were probably something he was not familiar with. And I didn't want him to get the wrong impression of me.

He nodded again. "All you need to know about me is my name, which is Dimitri Belikov." Jeez, talk about rude. "Now, let me ask you some questions of your previous training."

"Go ahead," I said, wondering what he could possibly want to know.

"Were you using the A-technique or the B-technique?" I had no idea what he was talking about, much less if I had done them. My guess was that I had never done this in my life. Alberta never used terms like those; she straight up told me what we were practicing. I should have known that this mentor/novice pairing would be bad.

"You know, I have no idea of what you just said. Can you please repeat what you said?" I sounded like a fool right now. But what the hell? How were you supposed to learn, if there were no questions involved to learn from.

I swear, a miracle occurred before me. Dimitri smiled! Oh…my…God! He smiled! I felt like dying.

"I can't really explain them. I'll show you how they work, though." Dimitri said, motioning me to go stand next to him. "Ready?" I was too slow to nod because he was already attacking. I tried to block all his blows but failed completely. It was stupid to try and block all his hits. I felt like a child who tried to block hits from an older child.

After some hours of being fascinated, he let me go to eat dinner. But before I left, he spoke. "Remember, morning, afternoon, evening and weekends practice is running with me." SHIT! Advantages of having a sexy mentor: None. Disadvantages of having a sexy mentor: Where should I start listing?

I was so sore. I could barely walk straight. Something in my soul hummed that tomorrow's practice would be worse. I ate dinner, alone, and then went to my room and fell asleep.

Will UD soon! 6/4/2012