Chapter 5
As the days passed I fell into a comfortable routine of practice, classes followed with practice before going to my room and finishing homework and reading books. Doing research, I have yet to go into my trunk locket and I know I have been putting that off, the old Rose flirted but I felt the loss of Jake intimately and remembered every moment spent with him so vividly still. I just did not feel like talking to guys. Dimitri, Christian, Lissa, Mason, and most of the time Eddie were the only people I talked to. Was it possible to love more than one so completely as I did with Steve, Klaus, and Jacob was it possible for one more? I was not sure having loved and lost someone who completely took over my being was not something you get over just like that. Here I was going through the motions. What was expected from me in this world, I was not sure what this was with Dimitri but it was not love, attraction maybe.
I was just too busy catching up with everyone and making sure I was ready for the things that were coming up in a few weeks. The bond and my experiments with that were also weighing heavily on my mind but I did not have any time for it. The shock of our return began to wear off a little. Lissa was hanging out with Christian instead of Natalie and that brought a new round of gossip. I just told Lissa to ignore it, my days revolved around church, school, practice, and homework. I was training and working out all the time, but as time passed, my body stopped hating me. My muscles grew tougher and my stamina increased. The biggest toll now seemed to be on my skin. Being outside in the cold so much was chapping my face and only Lissa's constant supply of skin-care lotions kept me from aging before my time. We couldn't do much about the blisters on my hands and feet.
Dimitri and I also developed a routine. It always started with stretching in the gym, and lately, he'd been sending me outside to run, braving the increasingly cold Montana autumn. Three weeks after my return to the Academy, Monday 30 October 2006, I walked into the gym before school one day and found him sprawled on a mat, reading a Louis L'Amour book. Someone had brought in a portable CD player, and while that cheered me up at first, the song coming from it did not. When Doves Cry, by Prince. "Whoa Dimitri," I said tossing my bag on the floor. "I realize this is a current hit in Eastern Europe right now, but do you think we could maybe listen to something that wasn't recorded before I was born?" I decided that I was going to keep up with Canon so I could know what was going on in this world, Certain things needed to happen, and every morning before I left my room I would read what was going to happen today.
Some of the things Rose said were funny and I had to memorize them so I could use it when the time came. I did not want to raise suspicions about Rose being completely different. Only Dimitri's eyes flicked towards me; the rest of his posture remained the same. "What does it matter to you? I'm the one who's going to be listening to it. You'll be outside running." I made a face as I set my foot up on one of the bars and stretched my hamstrings. Dimitri had a good-natured tolerance for my snarkiness. So long as I didn't slack in my training, he didn't mind my running commentary. I memorized all the questions I needed to ask him today, I knew the answers but somehow it sounded important to be acknowledged aloud.
"What's with all the running? I realize the importance of stamina and all that, but shouldn't we move on to sparring or something? I need some competition and our fight the first day was epic." "My job is to get you ready to defend the princess and fight dark creatures, right?" I nodded. "So tell me this: suppose you manage to kidnap her again and take her off to the mall. While you're there, a Strigoi comes at you. What will you do?" "Depends what store we're in." I grinned I just had to add that one in there. He gave me a look. "Fine, I will stab him with a silver stake." Dimitri sat up now, crossing his long legs in one fluid motion. For someone so tall he sure was graceful. "Oh?" He raised his dark eyebrows. "Do you have a silver stake? Do you even know how to use one?" "No I don't but if I ever want to kidnap the princess again, then I will make sure to get one of those before we leave," I told him grinning. "Or I will cut off his head." "Ignoring the fact that you don't have a weapon to do that, how will you compensate for the fact that he might be taller than you?" I straightened up from touching my toes, annoyed that I could not just tell him with the sword of Gryffindor. "Fine, then I'll set him on fire." "Again with what?" "Body spray and a lighter," I said annoyed or my magic, but I was not acknowledging that aloud either.
I already decided that I would only use my magic on Strigoi because I could kill them and make sure no witnesses remembered. "And you always carry a lighter and body spray?" "All right, I get it, you want me to run away, but I am telling you. I am resourceful and might just surprise you one day." I finished my stretches and he told me that he would run with me. We set out into the chilly October evening. The school was just about to start in an hour, and the sun was just sinking on the western horizon, lighting up the snow-capped mountains with an orange glow. It didn't really warm things up, but it made a very beautiful picture. Something I wanted to put down on a canvas. Would I have time though?
Soon I felt the cold pierce my lungs as my need for oxygen deepened. We didn't speak. Dimitri slowed his pace to match mine, so we stayed together. Twelve laps around the track I heard Mason cheering. "Good form, Rose!" I smiled and waved back. "You're slowing down," Dimitri snapped and I jerked my gaze from the boys in surprise. "Is this why your times aren't getting faster? You're easily distracted?"
What was his problem? I increased my pace channeling my anger into my pace. I was not aware that he was timing me. Jackass. When we finished the laps he checked my time and it seemed that I shaved two minutes of my best time. I just went back inside for my cool-down stretches, not feeling the need to gloat as Rose did. I just sat down on the ground when it happened. I felt like someone had shot me. Sharp biting terror exploded in my body and my head. Small razors of pain. My vision blurred and for a moment I wasn't standing there I was running down a flight of stairs, scared and desperate, needing to get out of there, needing to find .... me. Cursing myself for briefly forgetting about what would happen today I pulled myself out of Lissa's head by force, using every Occlumency technique I knew, and ran. I ran as fast as I could towards the Moroi dorms. It didn't matter that I'd just put my legs through a mini-marathon. They ran hard and fast like they were shiny and new. Distantly, I was aware of Dimitri catching up to me, asking me what was wrong. But I couldn't answer him. I had one task and one alone: get to the dorm.
It's looming and ivy-covered form was just coming into view when Lissa met up with us, her face streaked with tears. I came to a jarring stop, my lungs ready to burst. "What's wrong? What happened?" I demanded, clutching her arms, forcing her to look into my eyes. But she couldn't answer. She just flung her arms around me, sobbing into my chest. I held her there. stroking her sleek, silky hair while I told her it was going to be all right -- whatever it was. I could not remember which animal was mutilated first rabbit or fox. And honestly, I didn't care now, now that she was safe in my arms. Dimitri hovered over us, alert and ready for any threat, his body coiled to attack. A half-hour later, we were crammed inside Lissa's dorm room with three other guardians, Ms. Kirova, and the hall matron. This was the first time I'd seen Lissa's room. Natalie had indeed managed to get her as a roommate, and the two sides of the room were completely different contrasts. Natalie's looked lived in, with pictures on the wall and a frilly bedspread that wasn't dorm-issue. Lissa had as few possessions as I did, making her half noticeably bare. She did have one picture taped to the wall, a picture with her and me dressed up like fairies, complete with wings and glittery make-up.
On Lissa's bed, there on the pillow was a fox, its coat was reddish-orange, tinged in white. It looked so soft and cuddly that it could have been a pet, its throat had been slit. Blood stained the soft coat and had run down onto the yellow bedspread, forming a dark pool that spread across the fabric. The fox's eyes stared upward, glazed over with a sort of shocked look about them, like it couldn't believe this happened. What happened to the fox was sick and twisted, and too fucked up for words. Natalie was not right in the head, I knew she was responsible for this and I also knew how far she was willing to go. That was the reason I was not going to do anything to change her fate. Lissa stared at it, her face death pale, and took a few steps toward it, hand reaching out. She loved animals, it was clear to me. I took her hands in mine and pulled her towards me. So I could hold her tightly and hide her face from the gruesome scene. "It was still alive when I got back," Lissa whispered to me, in my neck. "It was twitching. It must have suffered so much." "Did you --" "No but I wanted to ... I started to...." I hugged her tighter wishing I could protect her from this.
She was just a kid. "Rose .... do you remember that one time ...." "Yes." Not really but I read about it. "What if someone saw? What if someone knows?" I pulled her away from me so I could see the tear-stained face. Rose dismissed this immediately but what if she actually acknowledged it? I could feel both Natalie's and Dimitri's eyes on us. "Everything is going to be ok," I said instead. Not looking like she believed me Lissa nodded. "Get this cleaned up," Kirova snapped to the matron. "And find out if anyone saw anything." Someone finally realized I was there and ordered Dimitri to take me away, no matter how much I begged them to let me stay with Lissa. He walked me back to the novices’ dorm room. He didn't speak until we were almost there. "You know something. Something about what happened. Is this what you meant when you told Headmistress Kirova that Lissa was in danger?" I shrugged not knowing what I was supposed to tell Dimitri, I ran out of time before I could finish the day's piece. "Rose if you know something, tell me. We're on the same side. We both want to protect her. This is serious."
I spun around, taking a page out of the great Niklaus Mikhaelson's book, Diversion Tactics -- get angry and yell and they will forget their questions. Mostly it worked, with others not with me. "Yes, it is serious. It's all serious and you have me doing laps every day when I should be learning to fight and defend against different opponents. I need to defend her. If you want to help her teach me how to fight properly, I already know how to run away." Dimitri watched my outburst calmly, with no change in his expression. When I finished he simply beckoned me forward like I hadn't said anything. "Come on. You're late for practice." Unlike Klaus I didn't lash out further, only biting my lip to stop my mouth from saying anything else and followed after.