Hey so I said I was going to answer your theories, if possible. Someone wanted to know if Christian is evil or turns evil, I can't reveal much about it, but just stay in tune and you will find out soon, like really soon. Thanks for those who reviewed with positive support for my story, that really made my day. A lot of you want to know when there fist kiss will be. Hmm who's to say that they will even have a kiss? I might go evil on you and make them not kiss lol. Or maybe they will smooch a big wet one. Who's to say. Shower the love this way and I'll make them kiss. Lol I'm just joking, you don't need to if you don't want to. But please review. I love hearing from you. Even if what your going to say is that my story sucks, I don't care, I'll take it ;)
"So why are we going to the cemetery." She asked for the hundredth time. We were in the car—she was driving of course—and I had to repeat again that it was because I wanted to test the soil for environmental needs. I didn't know if people actually did that but Mia pretty much bought it.
The cemetery was covered in knee high grass and scattered trees. Leaves littered the ground, some tangled so deep in the grassy vines they became a unit. It was rather sad what they let this place become. The dead underneath were long forgotten in this rotting cemetery.
They built a new cemetery in the other side of town. They said this one was so full and old they needed a better place to rest the dead, but really what they wanted was a better place to hold funerals. They didn't want the visitors who were sending off their deceased to see this old cemetery.
The last person to get buried here was a man named Vladamir about forty years ago. His only son moved away from this town over twenty years ago. No one seen him since, not even to visit his father's grave.
I didn't like that, the feeling of all the forgotten souls underneath my feet. It made me feel like they were calling out to me, begging me to remember.
Mia parked the car in the shabby little parking lot before we set off. There were no iron fences surrounding it, or any other method stopping someone from coming in. It was just a plot of graves in the open landscape.
I couldn't see the little room from where I stood—I still wasn't exactly in, more like bordering around the edges—I realized I would have to go in.
"Come on." I called to Mia. She looked hesitant to go in. Her face was scrunched up and her eyes were begging me to let her off the hook. In any other situation I would have, but right now I didn't want to go in by myself.
"Don't be a chicken just go in; it's not a big deal. Wait; don't tell me you're afraid of a little cemetery." I taunted. Sometimes the only way to make Mia do something was to taunt her. That way her pride would get in the way of her fear.
"Of course not." She sniffed. "It's just that my heels are going to get dirty."
I looked down and saw her golden four inch heels that combined with the black and gold dress she was wearing. Who wears that to school anyways?
"Excuses." I told her, still trying to play up her pride. "You can just tell me you're scared; I won't tell anyone."
"I am not scared! Fine let's go in then sister." She took the lead and I followed behind her, secretly pleased that my plan worked.
The tall grass kept tickling our legs like phantom hands the further we went in. The skin there started to get red and blotchy from the weeds and from my constant scratching.
I played up the role of the project by getting soil and collecting it in a little plastic bag. All the while I kept my eyes open for the room. The cemetery was a big piece of land ranging to about two acres. But what made it so difficult to spot something were the trees. They were huge and planted carelessly, all over the place. The branches of each tree twined together linking each of the trees to one another.
After a long while of searching I was ready to give up. Maybe Christian was lying about the room being here. He specifically told me he didn't want me to come. If he didn't want me to come he probably gave me the wrong address to go to. It made sense, why would Christian give me the right address. I was going to kill him.
I turned around to tell Mia that we were leaving when I caught her looking at something. She was looking at a scuttle of trees all clumped together, but behind that there was something peaking from between the small cracks they left between each other. What was that? It looked like a wall.
"Where are you going?" Mia asked. I hadn't realized I was walking towards it till Mia said it. But by then I was already half way to the trees. "Wait up." I heard her footsteps hurry up behind me.
I already knew what it was before I got there. I squeezed myself between the trees and saw a little room with peeling paint and boarded up windows. The color was probably once white but throughout the years it had yellowed. The door was scratched up like in my dream. The graffiti littered the ancient door that was barely hanging on to the hinges.
"We are not going in there are we?" Mia asked from behind me. "That place looks awful and bums probably piss in there." Her nose wrinkled up. "I bet it smells like piss and feces in there."
"Only one way to find out." I told her, and walked inside, ignoring her protest.
I couldn't believe what I found was almost unreal. Every inch of the room was wiped clean. There was no trace of the dirt; no hot wax remained on the floor. Even the brown armoire was gleaming as if recently polished. Someone had cleaned this room spotless.
My suspicion rose. They were covering their tracks, leaving no evidence behind. This room wouldn't be clean; it hasn't been used in years. There would have to be grime and dust coating the floors. The walls would have to have had at least a couple of spider webs. But there was nothing. No evidence to incriminate a person. No splattered blood, not even a fingerprint.
I was sure this was the room where Natalie spent her last moments alive. It looked different without the dust, the candle light, and the shadow, but it was this one. I was sure of it.
I still looked around the room, hoping I would find something, anything. But it was useless. This person was good.
Mia followed me throughout the small room like a shadow. She was hesitant; I could tell she didn't like being in here. Maybe she felt, to some extent, the horrible atrocity that had been committed here like I did. I would find her gaze wondering over the walls, the armoire, but most importantly the center of the room.
Footsteps broke my concentration, I was currently examining the wall I had seen the shadow lean against on in my dream. The footsteps were getting louder, they were heavy, not the light footsteps you would hear a girl make. These were strictly male.
The footsteps stopped right in front of the door, and when it burst open I expected to see an angry adult screaming at us for trespassing, even Christian and Dimitri crossed my mind. Who I didn't expect was Eddie
Eddie was standing in the entrance of the room. His wisps of dirty blond hair were sticking to his forehead and his flat brown eyes were staring at us expectantly.
His eyes settled on mine. I noticed that there was something in his pug face that didn't sit well with me. It was almost like he was expecting us there.
The silence stretched on until finally, Mia, broke it. "What are you doing here you little weasel?" He looked at her with a creepy grin before returning his gaze to me. I noticed that Eddie was tall, clearing a good six feet, and had a slightly stocky build.
"Shouldn't I be asking you ladies the same question. Or is it normal for you two to visit a cemetery."
"Absolutely not, we don't hang around here, that's reserved for creeps like you." Mia said giving him a haughty look before she grabbed my hand. "Come on Rose let's go before more creeps come out."
She led the way out, dragging me with her, but Eddie was blocking the door. He leaned casually against the door frame as if he didn't notice that he was blocking us. "Move." Mia growled.
"Are you sure you want that? I do remember you wanting to be right against me last night. Your lips were practically glued to mine." Mia's face paled. "So you do remember." He grinned.
No, that was impossible, Mia kissing Eddie? That would never happen. But one look at Mia's face confirmed it.
His creepy gaze turned towards me. "Mia told me some interesting news yesterday. Apparently you and Dimitri got together for a little chat. Word of advice," he moved closer to me and whispered against my cheek, "don't go near him." His breath brushed against my face. I resisted the urge to scrub my face clean of his smell.
Mia stood frozen as Eddie turned away and left. I waited till I couldn't see his figure walking away before I led Mia out of the room.
Mia was quiet the whole way back. She seemed out of it and didn't even protest when I drove the car.
I knew she didn't want me to mention the kiss; she was emanating the aurora of hostility. I couldn't fathom the thought; what would lead Mia to kiss Eddie. And when did she even have the time to do it. It had to be after my date with Dimitri, after Mia saw me get out of his car. She must have snuck out, upset. And Mia does some pretty stupid things when she's upset; Eddie being, by far, the worst.
What I couldn't get into my head was why Eddie was there to begin with. Eddie who was just Eddie, the kid who had sat behind me in first period for half a year. Why would he be here? And more importantly why did I get such a bad vibe from him. He always seemed perfectly harmless in school. And what was with that comment about Dimitri? I mean sure they sat together for like two weeks, but they never talked. They would ignore each other completely. Why did Eddie suddenly think he was an expert on Dimitri?
This trip was supposed to answer my questions, not add new ones, I thought grudgingly.
"Girls, you're home." My mother said as she set the dinner plates on the table. She had piled them up with chicken, mash potatoes and vegetables. My mouth watered at the sight; the only thing I ate today was a banana. I was suddenly ravenous for food.
"So," My mother clamped her hands together, a forced smile on her face. "You two went out together. Did some sister bonding time, that's great." She said, unenthusiastically. "It's just that, even though I love that you two are going places together, right now you just can't do that. You heard what was on the news." Her eyes became concerned, they slightly watered. "I don't want what happened to that poor girl to happen to you. If you want to do things together do them here at home, not outside, ok. Can you two promise me that?"
"Yes mom." We said simultaneously.
"Good, now go eat. I made a lot of food." I didn't waste time digging in. I hardly noticed when my dad joined us, the only coherent thought going through my head was dang this chicken is good.
I had eaten every bit of food off my plate, wiped it clean, when I noticed that Mia had hardly touched hers. She was just pushing it around with her fork. I wasn't the only one who noticed.
"Sweetie, why aren't you eating your food?" Mom's stern voice penetrated our silence.
"I am not very hungry. Can I just go to my room?" I had to admit, Mia didn't look so well. Her face was still pale, and there was a look in her eyes that hinted towards desperation.
"Sure, honey. Do you want me to bring you some Tylenol or Advil—"
"No, I'm fine, just having that time of the month." Mia shrugged. She was lying.
"Woah." My dad put his arms up in a please stop jester. "I know I live in a house full of girls, but can we refrain from talking about that thing till after I am done eating. I don't want to get the mental image of a bloody pad while I have food in front of me."
My mother's nose wrinkled up in disgust. "Why would that pop up in your head?" She asked.
"Because you girls have left a good share of those in the bathroom and I've had the misfortune of seeing them." He confessed, horrified.
"They're not that bad. It's natural."
They continued to banter all throughout dinner. Mia slipped to her bedroom but they were too caught up to notice. They didn't even notice when I left soon after. Their discussion had escalated to bloody tampons, and I could only handle so much weirdness in one conversation before it got too weird.
I went upstairs and in and impulse took a left turn in the hallway towards Mia's room. I had given her enough time to recuperate. I needed to know what the real deal was between her and Eddie.
I found Mia lying on her bed, her face buried in one of her many pillows. She looked up when she heard the door shut.
"Took you long enough." She said.
I looked at her in question.
"Don't look at me like that. We both know you were dying to ask me about Eddie." She shivered in disgust.
"Why'd you do it? I mean Eddie. It's just not something you would do." It wasn't. Mia went for hot guys, with good abs and a cool status. Eddie was by all means a loser.
"I don't know. I was just really upset so I snuck out. I cruised around town for a while and went to eat at that burger place by Western. He found me there and started talking to me. I told him to go away though." She looked at me desperately, willing me to understand. "I did, I told him to go; to leave me alone, but he wouldn't. He started creeping me out so I decided to leave. But then he just grabbed me and kissed me. And I tried to make him stop, I did." She sounded close to tears now. "And then, I don't know. Suddenly I started to kiss him back. I don't know why I did; it was like my lips had a mind of their own." She took a deep breath. "We started talking after that, I still wanted to leave but I couldn't make myself go. He was comforting me, and I needed it. I told him everything that bothered me and he just listened. I needed someone to listen to me, to my problems, and he provided that. I know I shouldn't have done it, but in that moment it felt like the right thing to do." Her shoulders slumped sadly.
I knew her, I knew Mia. I knew she would never go around and kiss Eddie. Something did happen. Just being next to Eddie made it clear something was wrong with him. I didn't know what it was, but I was going to find out. Mia looked so frightened and scared, she had no idea what was going on. I hated him for making her feel that way.
"Rose." She sobbed. "What do I do? What if Eddie decides to tell the whole world what we did? My social status will be ruined."
"Even if he does tell, no one will believe him. Hell the only reason I believed him was because I took a look at your face. You just have to pretend like if he's a big liar."
She looked up at me teary eyed. "You think that will work." She sniffed.
"Absolutely." I assured her. I spent the rest of the afternoon in Mia's room just talking with her. It was the first time in years we had done that. We both laid back in her bed and I held her in my arms. She told me about her friends, about all the times she had kissed boys. I even, embarrassingly, asked her to describe how a kiss felt like.
To my surprise she didn't laugh at my request. She told me how a kiss was warm and wonderful. How feeling a guy beneath your lips—one you liked—felt like you were both sharing a connection.
"You're so lucky." I told her once she finished describing one of her most passionate of kisses. "You can actually attract guys, and you have so many friends. You don't repel them like I do."
Her head snapped to me. "I am not lucky. You don't know how good you have it. You think having lots of friends is great." Her eyes were ablaze. "Well too bad all those friends would ditch me in a second if my social status dropped. I don't have any real friends, their all fakes. You don't know how lucky you are that you have Christian. I've seen the way you two are together. I've seen the way you protect each other when you're being insulted." Her tone became sad."My friends would never do that for me."
"I know I make fun of you and Christian a lot, but the truth is, I wish I had a friendship like the one you two share. Even if you two are a pair of weirdo's, you look so happy when you're together. Like you don't have a care in the world. I wish I could do that, just go around not caring what anyone thinks." She smiled sadly at me. "You're special you know that. I always envied that you could dress like shit and still pull it off. You don't have to try like the rest of us do to look good."
I stared at Mia in shock. I never knew she harbored those feelings. I always thought she was happy being popular and beautiful. She never let on to how she was really feeling. I found myself being somewhat grateful for my life, except for a couple of big things. First of all she didn't have a demon on her trail, secondly she wasn't a seer. And third of all she didn't have a murder haunting her dreams. All of which I couldn't mention to Mia. So instead I just mentioned the obvious.
"Well at least when you move on with your life you could leave this routine and be someone new. I will always be me, the freak. Or have you forgotten that me not caring what anyone thinks comes from being referred to the town freak so many damn times. Even if I were to change my look I would still be an outcast."
"But you're happy."
"No, I just make the best of what has been given to me." And I did, I made the best of my time with Christian. When I first met him I didn't want to be friends with him. I thought he was creepy. But seeing as I didn't have many choices I went along with it and became his friend.I ended up getting a best friend out of it. To this day it has been the best choice I have ever made.
"It's good that you do that. I think I would have cried myself to sleep each night if it were me. But you didn't. You're so strong. I wish I had some of your strength. Then maybe you wouldn't have to be comforting me all the time." Mia whispered timidly her head tucked down close to her neck.
"Naw, I'd still do it." We looked at each other and laughed. It was nice, freeing almost.
We talked more after that. This time I told her all about what Christian and I do. I told her about his weird obsession with the underworld, all the books I had to read with him. And I even got to see her wide eyed expression when I told her of all the times we attempted to contact the dead.
I told her of a particular story when Christian and I got a book instructing us how to contact the dead from beyond the grave. It said we had to get something the dead person owned when they were alive, so Christian got his grandfather's pendant and thought it'd be a smart idea to contact him. I snuck out and went to his house in the dead of night. We turned off all the lights in his bedroom and lit three red candles, putting them in a triangle between us. We were facing each other and we put the pendent in the middle of the candles.
The book said we had to conjoin hands and say the phrase "dead in this world speak now from the other world" in Latin. We had to say them over and over for a period of an hour so that the spirit could hear us.
Even though Christian didn't want to admit he was afraid, I could feel his hands shaking from fear. For an hour we repeated the verse and when the hour was up we had to spread the plant Rudas around us. The house was so silent we could hear each other's breath. Our hearts were pounding, and the air was fast becoming too thick to breathe in. All at once the candles extinguished and a dark shadow passed over us.
Christian and I screamed so loud, and he ran to the light switch and turned it on. The wide fear was apparent in both our faces. The room was empty and there was no sign of the shadow. We both chalked it up to overactive imaginations.
That night we slept together—not in that way. We just slept in the same room together. He offered me the bed, but I told him I would sleep on the floor. We both ended up camping out on the floor. He told me he wouldn't feel comfortable on the bed if I was on the floor.
Even though Christian would never admit it, he was afraid of sleeping in that room by himself. I took pity on him and told him I would sleep there that night. I wouldn't want to sleep by myself in that room either. At least not for that first night when it had freshly happened.
When I finished telling Mia the story she stared at me slack jawed. "You slept with a boy." She screeched out.
"Calm down. I didn't sleep with a boy. I slept with Christian, who doesn't count as a boy. At least to me he doesn't count."
"Still, I can't believe you sneaked out. I always thought it was only me who snuck out."
"Yeah, not quite. I do my share of bad things. I just don't get caught."
"Oh is that a jab at me, because I always get caught."
"Yep." I looked outside her window and noticed it was dark. We had been talking for a long time. I knew I had to go already, but I didn't want to. I was afraid that when I left what we had would disappear.
"Wow, it's getting late huh." Mia pointed out. "I guess we need to go to sleep and all cause it's." She glanced at her clock. "Eleven. How'd it get so late?" I honestly didn't know. It felt like six minutes had past instead of six hours.
"I guess I'll go." I whispered quietly as I walked out the door. "I'll see you tomorrow Mia."
The last thing I saw was her wide smile as I closed the door.
When I went into my room I didn't go to sleep. I knew that I had to go to Christian's house in the early morning—probably at one or two am. I was breaking the promise I made Dimitri about not going, but I couldn't let this go. I knew that Christian had the book. Even if he denies it, I know that it's there. I saw it.
I decide to go at two. I put on and all black ensemble—black pants, shirt, and shoes—to blend into the night. I felt like a robber, a criminal.
I cracked open my window slowly—I didn't want it to squeak—and climbed out. The morning air came with a chill. The streets were completely abandoned.
I used the mossy vines attached to my house to balance myself before I landed with a thud on our lawn. I quickly righted myself and looked around. Everything was still undisturbed. There were no car's driving in the streets, no lingering voices. It was dead silence.
Walking to Christian's house at night wasn't a rare occurrence. I had done it a plentiful of times. But this was going to be the first time we didn't arrange the meeting. I felt like I was betraying him. Christian whom I do everything with; suddenly I was leaving him out of the loop. He didn't know what was going on with me. I didn't know how to tell him. I knew I should. He was one of the few people who would believe me. But I couldn't, not yet at least. I needed to figure it out first.
I had been walking about a block when I took notice how unbelievably silent it was. I noticed it when I first came down from the window, it had been dead silent. I didn't think much of it at first but as time progressed I started to get suspicious. There had to be at least one small noise to accompany me. It was never this silent, at least not for long. A noise always shattered it, but there was none.
I looked around, there was nothing but dark lined up houses, with empty lawns. There were no dogs in this neighborhood to give a friendly howl. And the trees along the sidewalk were still. Birds and squirrels usually made at least a small noise against the trees, but nothing . That's what it was, I realized. The silence, it was because all the animals—birds, squirrels, and insects—weren't making their usual noises. They seemed to have disappeared.
My breath caught in my throat. Didn't animals leave when they sensed a great danger? They had like a sixth sensed which allowed them to feel something we humans didn't. I felt an icy chill creep up my spine.
I began to walk faster. The sooner I got to Robert's house the better.
I had managed to walk another block when I felt it. It was so shrill, it made my bones quake. I was assaulted with the presence of a person. I could feel them near me even though I couldn't see them.
"Hello." I called out. It was stupid, but I'd rather this person come out in the open then stay hidden.
I felt the prickly sensations crawl along my skin. It was the same sensation you get when you know you're being watched. I turned around slowly before I saw him. He was standing at the end of the block, deep in the shadow of the tree next to them. He was so well hidden that all I could make out was his height; he was tall, very tall.
For one brief second I let myself hope it was Dimitri. That is until he ran towards me. I shrieked when I saw him charging. There was no doubt from his posture. He was not coming towards me for a friendly visit. He pumped his legs faster, running like a track star.
Panic bubbled inside me as I worked the courage to run away from him. My heart beat faster, perspiration slid down my forehead. I ran faster than I ever had, pumping my arms and legs. Still it wasn't enough, he was catching up fast. My breath was coming out in rasps.
I wanted to scream, to yell for help, but I didn't have enough air in my lungs to do it.
If I ever had to describe what the worst way to die was, it would have to be being chased down by a mad man. Simply because being chased is one of the most scariest things in the world. Even as a kid, I would get scared when we would play tag and someone would chase me. The act of being chased is just something so unnerving that at one point I thought about stopping and turning myself in. Anything would be better than this.
I kept running though. I had tears pouring out of my eyes. My heart was nearly coming out of my mouth. He was closer, too close. I could feel his heat; his feet were almost stepping on mine. I felt an arm grab my shoulder. I tried to shake it but I collided with something hard in front of me. Hands, warm comforting ones steadied me. I clutched to them for dear life and buried myself in their chest.
They smelled like honey suckle, like the woods on a spring day. They smelled like home. I found myself letting out a few tears before I choked back the sob that was threatening to come out. Those hands pried lose my fingers and came to rest on my cheek, tilted my head up to meet chocolate brown.
His eyes looked down at me with such concern I almost cried, but I couldn't. I couldn't let Dimitri see how affected I was. He was so strong, I felt ashamed to admit my weakness.
"What happened?" He looked behind me to see if anything was there. As expected the streets were silent once again. There was no sign of the man. He was gone, for now. "Rose, look at me." I did. "What was chasing you?" His brow wrinkled. I knew he had an idea as to what it was, but he wanted me to confirm it.
"I don't know. I couldn't see his face, he was in a shadow."
He stilled. "Shadowed?"
I nodded. His face hardened. "What did I tell you about going out alone?" He was trying to collect himself, but the anger was radiating off of him. "Do you know what could have happened? You could have been killed. Why don't you ever listen?" He ranted. His eyes pierced me.
"I'm sorry." It was all I could say. But I knew it wasn't enough.
"Sorry? You're sorry. You don't how sorry you'd be if he would have caught you. Do you think this is a game, Rose? Because, trust me, the next time you do something stupid you won't be thinking it's a game." He looked so mad, so worried. I hated knowing I was causing this to him. He wouldn't have to be saving me if I would listen to him.
"Let's go." He huffed. I didn't know what else to say to him so I just followed. The streets were still empty but there was noise now. The wind whistling in my ear, the animals resuming their night lives. It was as if Dimitri brought the life back to the streets. His presence was comforting. I walked beside him knowing I was safe. He had become my safe harbor. I didn't know what to think about that yet.
I had traveled a good distance when the man chased me. We were only about half a block away from Christian's house. Dimitri didn't talk—probably still mad at me—but he did place his hand on the small of my back. I took that as a sign that he was getting over his anger.
It took us a couple of minutes to arrive in front of Christian's cream colored house. Dimitri looked like he was observing the perimeter. He was studying the landscape, the house. Trying to find the best way to execute the plan.
I was just simply planning to climb up the tree that was next to Christian's window and get in through there. But Dimitri thought it was too risky. Especially since I admitted that the window does make a certain grinding noise when opened.
He finally seemed to settle on a plan. "We should just walk in through the front door."
"What? You want us to just walk in through the front door like a pair of house guest?" Was he crazy?
"Exactly," he grinned. "Judging by the house and the little patio set I see peeking out the back yard, they most likely hide the key in one of those fake rocks beside the porch."
"They're not fake." At least I don't think they are. I've seen those rocks there since the first time I came to his house. They seemed pretty real to me.
"Trust me, at least one of those rocks are fake. No one buys decorative rocks unless one of them is holding a key." I didn't know whether to ar or keep my trap shut. I chose the latter and let him saunter up to the porch and pick up one of the rocks.
He shot me a mocking smile when he pulled out a key. "Told you there was a key in here." He said as I walked towards him.
"Yeah, yeah. So you found a key, big deal. That still doesn't save us from the fact that we have to go into someone's house." I was never nervous about breaking into Christian's room. If he caught me all I would get was a stern questioning. If his parents heard someone breaking in they wouldn't go down to check it out. They would call the cops in a flash.
"Don't tell me you're nervous. What happened to fearless Rose?"
I ignored his question. "Dimitri, what'll happen if we get caught?"
"We won't." The determination in his eyes almost had me convinced. "Plus, as long as we're both quiet they'll have no reason to know anyone's in there."
"Ok." Quiet, I can be. I had been sneaking out of my room for years without my parents knowing it. I was stealth when I wanted to be.
Dimitri opened the door slowly and poked his head inside. He went in first and signaled me to follow behind him.
Christian's house was so dark inside, I had trouble seeing. It took me awhile to get used to the poor lighting. I barely made out the couches in the living room before Dimitri gestured me to go upstairs.
We crept up the staircase, our footsteps barely registering on the floor. Dimitri wasn't making any noise behind me. Even his breaths were muted. He's done this before, I decided. He was too quiet, too calm, for this to have been his first time.
I struggled to keep my breath even. Just a couple more steps, I thought.
Traveling through the house was the easy part. Going inside Christian's room to search wasn't. We would have to be quiet while searching, and to top it all off have someone be only a couple of feet away. Knowing that at any moment they could wake up and catch you.
As soon as we opened his door I noticed something different. Christian's entire room was littered with books. They were thrown vicariously around the room. I didn't even know he owned this many, and that wasn't even counting the comics he has stashed under his bed.
I wasn't sure where to begin. Any one of these books could be it. But something told me that fate was going to screw me over. It was confirmed when Dimitri nudged me on the shoulder.
"What?" My whisper was barely audible.
He pointed towards Christian where he was currently sprawled half way off the bed. His mouth open wide where a loud chain saw snoring was emanating from.
I was going to ask Dimitri what his point was when I saw what he was really pointing at. Christian was cradling a book in his arms. I had a bad feeling about this. I took a step closer and managed to see the faint lettering of the title.
Christian was holding The Seer's Handbook.
Apparently Christian was keeping his own secrets, starting with the book. What happened with never having heard of it? He looked so damn sincere when he told me. And now I find him, red handed, with the book. He lied to me. I was supposed to be his best friend and he was lying to me.
I almost tore the book from his grasps, but Dimitri stopped me. He glared at me hard as he held me in his arms. I was fuming.
He pinned me against his chest with one arm while the other snaked to me face and pulled my head closer to his lips. "What do you think you're doing?" He whispered venomously.
I shook my head. I didn't even know. In that split second I was mad enough to get us both discovered, but rationality returned to me.
"I'll get the book." I whispered. He looked at me questioningly. "I promise I won't do anything."Even though I really wanted to smack Christian over the head with the book.
He released me slowly, gauging my reaction. I approached Christian with Dimitri on my heels. And very carefully removed the book from his hand. I looked at his face to make sure that he wasn't waking. My heart went completely still when he stirred. His breathing cut off before it went back to normal and I relaxed.
I signaled to Dimitri htat I had it and quickly got out of the room. I didn't want to be in there one more minute. Dimitri followed me out.
Once we were a safe distance from the house I began the rant that had bubbled up in Christian's room.
I released all of my frustrations about Christian lying to me about the book. How we were supposed to be best friends to the end. Yet he was keeping secrets from me. By the end I was huffing for air, trying to regain my calm. Dimitri didn't say anything. He only listened to me yell.
"Are you done now?" Dimitri asked when I stayed quiet.
Was I done, I thought. "I think I am."
"Good." My face hardened, he noticed. "Don't look at me like that. It's good that you took that off your chest, that's all I meant. As for Christian lying to you, think of it as the end of innocence. Only kids are honest to each other. Adults lie all the time; whether for their own benefit or for others. You got to learn to accept it." He sounded so wise; his words, so truthful. Christian and I had lost our innocents. We weren't sneaking into each other's room, goofing around anymore. We were drifting.
In this short period of time Christian and I had taken two steps back. We used to do everything together. I would see him every day and text him constantly. For the first time in years I didn't spend my day with Christian.
"What are you thinking of?" He asked.
"I just realized I didn't see Christian all day—if you don't count his sleeping form, which I don't. It's just weird."
"On the plus side, you got to spend your day with me. That's like an added bonus." He winked. Why couldn't he stay serious for one second? He was always reverting back to his cocky self-assured nature. I knew why, he was hiding himself, keeping his emotions in check.
"So does this mean Rico Suave is back?" I asked.
"Hardly, Rico whatever has nothing on me." He scoffed. "He's the imitation, I'm the original."
"Yes, I bet Dimitri Belikov is what every girl wants to scream out." I replied sarcastically. "It's a bit of a mouthful though, don't you think. Not as easy to roll out of your tongue."
"Oh your tongue will be rolling, don't worry about that." He looked at me meaningfully and I gave a harsh laugh. He was doing it again. Looking at me with those eyes that muddy my brain.
"We should really get you home. Talking in the middle of an empty block at two thirty in the morning isn't exactly smart." He looked around reminding me of the danger I was still in; of the man who chased me down.
"You're right." I clutched the book tightly to my chest—guarding it with my life. I chanced a glance at him. He was so tall compared to me. His body posture was menacing, he looked ready to take down anything that came at us. He was protecting me, I realized. Making sure that no harm came to me, like a body guard of sorts.
This man came out in the early hours of the morning on a hunch that I would disobey. He sneaked out of his house and came to find me so I wouldn't be unprotected. He helped me break into a house to find a book that might not have been in there to begin with. And I wouldn't even be here without him. The chasing man would have caught me if not for him.
I owed Dimitri a lot, I realized. I hadn't done anything but bicker with him, and all he has been trying to do was help me.
"Thank you." I murmured. He looked towards me, surprised.
"For what?"
"For everything. I know I haven't acted very grateful for your help, but I am. Sometimes you're asshole ways make me forget that you're helping me. So in case I forget at least I said thank you."
"Heart felt speech, Rose. I think I almost cried a little. But the asshole comment lost you some cool points."
He walked me to my house. His face becoming angry when I told him I would have to climb up the vines to get to my room.
"And risk falling to your death." He said incredulously. He crossed his arms and gave me a hard look. "I'll cut you a deal. I won't make you go through your front door, if I am absolutely sure you'll be able to go in safely through your window."
"Deal." I wasn't sure exactly how he was going to make sure it was safe. Maybe test the vines and stand under me in case I fall. Unfortunately neither guess was right.
"Dimitri put me down!" I whisper shouted. I still had my parents catching me outside to worry about.
"Let me think about that. Umm no."
Dimitri had, in his opinion, come up with the perfect solution. He decided that for me to go up safely he would have to carry me up there.
He carried me on his back, basically giving me a piggyback ride. And while I thrashed and beat on his back, he climbed up the vines with the ease and precision of an expert climber. Even having me on his back didn't deter from his form.
"This is completely unnecessary. I've climbed up these vines like a million times before."
He paused in his climbing. "Why, Rose, I didn't know what a rebel you were. Am I going to have to make a stake out outside your house a regular occurrence?"
"Absolutely not!" He had resumed his climbing and finally made it to my window. Sliding it open, I was aghast when he pushed himself inside.
Dimitri was in my room, he entered my sanctuary. His big hands reached behind him and gently—more gently than I expected—pulled me off of me lightly on my feet.
He apparently didn't have manners either because he started looking around my room, going through my stuff. I pulled him back by his sleeve. "What do you think you're doing?" I whispered urgently. A little bit of panic might have slipped through my tone.
"Just wanted to see your inner sanctum." He made a grand jester of waving his hand around my room.
"You don't think that maybe you should have asked me."
"No need, I know you would have said yes." He grinned. His eyebrows raised. "Unless I'm wrong, tell me Rose, do you want me to leave." He had stepped closer to me, too close. His eyes challenging but there was something in them. I couldn't quite figure it out, but it was something like longing.
"Why do you even want to see my room?" I challenged. "Don't have any good things in yours, you've got to grub off of mine."
He got a lazy grin on his face. "Darling, I don't need to grub off of you. I have my very own personal house. If you ever want to visit, give me a call. I won't mind if you grub off of me." He took another step closer to me and a hot flush settled all over my body when I felt his hand reach into my pants pocket. He was so close I could smell him, his body heat was consuming. And all the while he looked at me, his eyes teasing. I could have slapped his hand away but I didn't. I had no idea what he was doing until he pulled out my silver cell from my front pocket.
He dialed something into it while I tried to unsuccessfully snatch it out of his hands and gave it back to me. "There, now you'll have more than three people on your contact list."
"I…. what?" Did Dimitri give me his phone number?"
"Oh and Rose, sweet dreams." He whispered as he walked over to my window and climbed out. I was left in shock. It took me a second to re-cooperate myself but by then he was gone. There was no sign of him when I looked out my window. The streets were empty again.
Dimitri was becoming a constant in my life. His name was there, officially on my contacts list.
I had gotten a boy's—a cute boy's—number today. Somehow the thought made me giddy. I wasn't one to get digits.
The next morning came too soon. I felt like my head had barely touched the pillow when the alarm rang. It was hard to open my eyes, they seemed permanently glued shut.
With a groan I finally managed to coax them to open. But when I opened my eyes I noticed I wasn't alone. Sitting down on my desk chair angled towards my direction was, Dimitri.