I AM SO SORRY! DON'T SHOOT ME! I have had a crazy few months and have had no spare time to write this story properly. I want to do this right, and have enough time to think my story through. I have a few weeks off now, so hopefully I'll be writing a lot more – and maybe even finish the story! Anyway, I hope you are still following this story, and enjoy this next chapter.
Disclaimer (I've forgotten to do this last chapter – opps!): I don't own VA!
Chapter 5:
Dimitri's POV:
I have never felt more confused in my life. Nothing makes any sense. As I walk with Tasha, our hands intertwined, people keep giving us strange looks. These looks are different from the ones Tasha usually gets. People are doing double takes and looking shocked. I even catch a few looking at our hands and having disgruntled looks on their faces. A sense of déjà vu washes over me, but quickly disappears as we enter the apartment building.
As we enter Tasha's – I mean our, apartment; I look around and notice something.
"Where are all my things?" I ask her. She freezes for a moment before relaxing and smiling widely.
"Well, we only just decided recently that we would live together, so all your things haven't been transferred yet."
My suspicions increase. I have a feeling she is lying to me. I don't know why though. This is so confusing. At least the doctor gave me something for my headache; although the drugs have made me very tired.
Tasha seems to notice this and says, "Dimka, why don't you go lie down and rest. I'll bring you some hot chocolate."
Maybe rest is a good idea; and I love a good hot chocolate. I go and lie down in the bedroom. Shortly, Tasha brings in two mugs of hot chocolate and hands one to me. She sits next to me on the bed and sips her drink. Sipping my own drink, I pause and look at Tasha. She gives me a questioning look.
"Did you double it?" I ask. She gives me a confused look.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I always double it. Doubling it's the secret." Once again I get a sense of déjà vu, but not as strongly as before. Something doesn't feel right. How could she not know I double my hot chocolates?
"I'll double it next time," she says with a smile. I give her a small smile in return. Tasha is definitely acting weird. Maybe I should find someone else and get information out of them. I don't want Tasha to get suspicious though. I'll try and find someone tomorrow. It's getting quite late. I stand up to get ready for bed, and then stop in my tracks.
"Tasha, how am I supposed to get ready for bed if none of my things are here?"
She looks nervous and stumbles to answer. "Umm, well you're things will be here soon, so don't worry about it for tonight."
"Oh," I dumbly say. "Well, maybe I should go and grab some things; at least my toiletries and some clothes." She looks at me so panicked; I almost take back my statement. But why would such a trivial thing upset her?
"Dimka, how about we do that tomorrow?"
"But what am I suppose to sleep in?"
She smirks and gets a gleam in her eyes. "You don't have wear anything to bed. We have seen each other naked before, Dimka."
I cough uncomfortably. "Well, I don't remember seeing each other naked, so it's a bit awkward for me to sleep next to you with nothing on."
"Well, you can leave your boxers on if that makes you feel better."
I grimace slightly. I guess that's the best option. It's too late in the night to be running around Court anyway. Not to mention I'm exhausted. With a sigh, I start to remove my clothing. Once I'm shirtless, I notice Tasha staring at me – specifically my chest, with her mouth hanging open. She is acting like she has never seen me shirtless before… Surely, she would have. I mean we slept together… didn't we? She is pregnant with my child, isn't she?
She seems to snap out of her shock and gets ready for bed as well. Thankfully she dresses herself in simple t-shirt and shorts. It would be weird to see her in something more revealing. She hops into her side of the bed and settles into a sleeping position.
"Goodnight, Dimka." She says quietly. I slide into bed next to her, relieved she didn't make any moves on me.
"Goodnight Tasha." I reply, and close my eyes, welcoming peaceful sleep.
Adrian's POV:
I woke up with a very bad hang over. The events of the previous night were blurry to me, but luckily I made it safely back to my apartment. Thanks to Christian. After he messed with me about last night, things got weird. He tells me the cradle robber is now Tasha's guardian? That cannot be right. There is no way he would do that to Rose. They fought to be together for so long. He wouldn't throw it all away like that. I stare at Christian's blank expression, trying to figure out who the hell knocked Belikov in the head and gave him the stupid idea. Wait, why is Christian's face blank? I study his face closely and recognise the signs of compulsion.
"Christian, who told you that Belikov is Tasha's guardian?" I ask. His expression is still blank as he says, "Tasha did." My eyes narrow. What is Lady Ozera up to?
"When did she tell you this?"
He furrows his brow in confusion. "Yesterday… I think?" His lack of confidence makes the statement come out as a question.
"And where did this happen?" His expression becomes more perplexed.
"I – I don't know. I can't remember." He says. I sigh in frustration. Definitely compulsion.
"Do you know where she is right now?" I need to find her and figure out what happened with her and the cradle robber.
"No, but I'm assuming she would be in her apartment this early in the morning." He says, the blank expression gone.
"Okay, great," I say as I make my way to the door. "Make yourself at home, or come with me if you want."
"Where are you going?" he asks, sounding confused again. I roll my eyes before facing him.
"To your aunt's apartment," I say, giving him a pointed look. He rubs his eyes and sighs.
"Fine, I'm coming with you."
As we walk across Court we pass a few shops, one being a jewellery store. A smirk forms on my lips.
"So, when are you going to make an honest woman out of our lovely Queen?" My smirk intensifies as I watch Christian start to squirm in discomfort.
"Uh, well…" He suddenly comes to a stand still and gets a very concentrated look on his face.
"What?" I ask. "What is it?"
He turns to look back at the jewellery shop again, and then he examines his surroundings looking confused. He shrugs off his weird behaviour and continues walking.
I catch up to him and exclaim, "What was that?"
He looks guarded, like he doesn't want me to know, but he mumbles, "I just had a weird sense of déjà vu, that's all."
"Oh…kay then," I say slowly. Deciding to change to a lighter topic, I ask him, "What did you get Her Majesty for her birthday?"
"Some perfume." He answers automatically. He stops again. He gets that same concentrated look on his face.
"Dude? Hello? Were you knocked on the head?" I ask. He looks at me, still looking confused. He then sighs in frustration and continues walking, as if nothing happened. I follow in total bewilderment. I let his weird behaviour slide. As we are walking, and start to wonder that maybe Christian's scatterbrain behaviour may have something to do with Tasha's compulsion.
We make the rest of the trip in silence, both of us consumed in our thoughts. We were just about to enter the apartment building where Tasha lives when a Royal official approached us.
"Excuse me, Lord Ivashkov. You have been requested at the palace."
I look at the man, confused. "What for?"
"It's about legal matters regarding our late Queen." He bows his head in respect for my deceased aunt. I look back at Christian and sigh.
"I guess you'll have to go and find Tasha yourself," I say to him.
"But what I am suppose to do?" he asks.
"Find out why Belikov has suddenly become her guardian. There's no way he would do this without a good reason," I reply. I decide to leave out the detail that his aunt may have compelled him. I figure that accusation won't go down well with him. There is something seriously fishy going on and I want to find out what it is; but royal duties call. I bid farewell to Christian and head towards the Royal Palace.
Christian's POV:
As I enter Tasha's apartment building alone, I struggle to come to terms with my confusion. I feel like I've forgotten something – or a lot of things actually. I don't remember Dimitri saying anything about being Tasha's guardian. He has never even discussed the idea with me. I don't know why he would suddenly change his position without an explanation. I guess that's why I am heading to Tasha's now – to see what's going on.
I approach her door and knock. To my surprise, although it shouldn't be a surprise considering the current circumstances, Dimitri answers.
"Dimitri!" I exclaim. "Why haven't you been answering your phone?"
He gives me a confused look. "I wasn't aware that I was missing calls, Lord Ozera."
Lord Ozera? When was the last time he called me that in a casual setting? I narrow my eyes.
"Well, you have missed a lot of phone calls. Where have you been the last couple of days?" I ask. He grabs his phone out of his pocket. I notice that the screensaver is different. It usually has a picture of Rose, but now it's just a generic background. My suspicions increase as Dimitri looks at his phone and says there are no missed calls.
He looks perplexed. "I have been in hospital. I was attacked and–"
"Dimitri, who's at the door?" I hear my aunt call. "Oh, hello Christian," my aunt greets me as she comes to stand beside Dimitri.
"Hello Aunt Tasha," I reply.
"What brings you by? Are you here to talk more about offensive magic? Because I've got plenty more ideas to share with you," my aunt says. Before I can respond she grabs my arm and pulls me down the hall and starts talking rapidly about her great ideas.
Just as we are about to exit the hall, she turns to Dimitri and calls, "Don't worry, Dimitri. We'll be back soon. You just stay there and rest!"
Dimitri calls back, "Alright, but where are you going?"
"Just out to show Christian my ideas in a more suitable setting," she replies. We leave Dimitri behind and exit the building.
"What's going on, Tasha? Why is Dimitri suddenly your guardian and not mine?" I ask, getting straight to the point.
She shrugs nonchalantly, "He requested it."
"But why?" I demand, quite agitated. She shrugs again, as if it's no big deal.
"I guess he finally realised that I can give him everything he wants." She says with a slightly smug look. I stare at her, disbelieving what I'm hearing.
"But… he's in love with Rose…" I say. "How could he do this to her?" Recalling my earlier conversation with Rose, I ask, "Does she even know?"
Tasha shrugs once again. Her blasé attitude to this situation is starting to really irritate me.
"Wait a minute," I say, realising something. "Dimitri said earlier that he had been in hospital… that he had been attacked? What happened there?"
Tasha's expression changed to sympathetic. "We were attacked by Strigoi on an outing together. Dimitri suffered a minor head injury and had to stay in hospital overnight. He should be okay though."
No wonder he looked so confused before, I thought. Another thought occurred to me.
"Did he get a new phone? Because he didn't receive any of our missed calls." And the screen photo changed.
Tasha nods. "He lost his old phone during the attack." I suppose that makes sense. That happens all the time in attacks.
I sigh in frustration again, for what seems like the 50th time today. Everything is so confusing. Nothing is adding up. Dimitri adores Rose. Why would he just up and leave? And why don't I remember what happened for the past couple of days?
Maybe I should take my mind off of things and do something fun. Tasha suggests showing me some more advanced fire magic moves, and we end up spending the next few hours working on improving our magic skills.
Adrian's POV:
I sigh with relief as I exit the palace in the late afternoon. I had spent the whole day there, sorting out legal matters. Turns out my beloved late aunt has left everything to me. Everything. I'm pretty much the richest Moroi in the world now. It doesn't make much difference to me though. I've always been well off. I'd much rather have my aunt here, alive and well, than have all her riches. I take a deep breath and take out a cigarette. I start to think about how much my life has changed recently. I lost my girlfriend, even though she was never truly mine. I lost my great aunt, who was the only one who really knew me. And now I have all the money one could ever want. But now I guess I'll have to worry about fending off women who just want me for my wealth – even more so than before. I sigh in contentment as I smoke my cigarette. This is exactly what I need after such a long day.
As I'm smoking, I see Christian walking across the courtyard. His appearance makes me remember everything that happened this morning and I find myself rushing over to him.
"Christian!" I call as I catch up to him. He turns to face me.
"Well, well. The Great Adrian Ivashkov finally leaves the palace. What took you so long?" He asks in his usual snarky manner.
I brush off his comment and ask him what happened with Tasha. He relays everything that happened to me, and as he tells his story my suspicions about Tasha grow even more.
"So you didn't get to talk to Dimitri at all?" I ask, impatiently. He shakes his head.
"No, Tasha pulled me away pretty quickly." He says.
"And you say he got a head injury? From an attack?" I clarify. He nods.
"Was he admitted to Court hospital?" I ask. He is slow to answer, and then he gets that damn confused and concentrated look on his face again.
"I… I remember leaving the hospital yesterday… But I don't remember why I was there."
I suddenly get an idea. "Well, Firefly. Let's go to the hospital and find out what really happened to Belikov."
Ooh Adrian's getting suspicious! I had gone back and forth on this chapter so many times. I had originally written it so that Christian and Adrian figured out that Tasha had compelled Christian. But then I realised that it was way too soon for anyone to find out just yet. But they are slowly getting there! And what about Dimitri? He isn't totally convinced about the situation he is in either. Anyway, let me know what you think, and once again I am so sorry for the major delay! I hope to be on top of this for the next few weeks