Two days, two whole days of missed classes and training. While it doesn't seem like that much of an issue, I was still really glad to be out of the hospital and back to seemingly normal academy life – well that is if I could ignore the stares and whispers of my classmates. It was loud and it felt like they were purposely speaking in raised voices so it wouldn't be easy to miss, unmistakable even.
Apart from my annoying peers, there was yet another thing that irritated me to high heavens – one (or rather two) that was impossible to ignore. It felt like their eyes were boring holes in my back as I made my way across campus, towards the training facilities. I saw Lexi in passing and I wanted to stop and ask how she was doing, but a firm hand on my back urged me forward, so I resorted to giving her a sad smile which she returned instantly.
When did my life start sucking so much? Oh right, when the three of us decided that a wild weekend in Atlantic City was worth whatever trouble we would get into. It wasn't – worth the trouble – and if by some miracle I could do it over, I would most likely lock Lexi and James in a room to keep them from going too. It was too late to cry over spilled milk though and I had to take my punishment without any tantrums or snide remarks – at least out loud, in my head I could do whatever I wanted.
The three of us had always joked that St. Vladimir's was a prison – or juvenile detention center – but now it seems like our parents have taken that joke to completely new heights. Part of the conditions of release – release being probation – was that James, Lexi and I had to be accompanied by our very own guardians to and from class.
If that wasn't bad enough, none of us were allowed to speak to each other or meet after school, unless it's related to class and none of our teachers would actually be stupid enough to group us together – not after the stunt we pulled. I can't say I blamed them, though I did blame them.
I remember when I woke up in the school hospital, the fluorescent lights harshly beating down on me, my dad was sitting at my bedside. He looked worried, but as soon as he saw I was awake that worry changed into disappointment, anger, confusion even. I've never had any reason to actively be afraid of my father, but in that moment I was almost cowering. It's not that he scared me, it was mostly because he was so quiet and restrained that had me wish I could be anywhere but there. He hadn't even waited until I was properly awake before he started lecturing me.
"Reckless and dangerous" is what he'd called our little excursion and it reminded me so much of the lecture Micah had given us.
Micah… As soon as I thought that name the only thing I wanted to know was if he'd gotten into a lot of trouble, but I waited and only after I'd apologized profusely did I ask my father where Micah was – though I wasn't foolish enough to use his name in front of my father.
"Lilith, I think you should worry about your own punishment rather than his. He's made his choice when he so foolishly defended you."
I didn't think what Micah had done was foolish in the least and I could have sworn my father added, "Though I understand", but it was way too low to be sure that's what he actually said. My father's words to my question made me realized that I hadn't even known what my punishment was.
Which brings us to why I'm being escorted by Tweedledee and Tweedledumber. I was also no longer rooming with Lexi in the Moroi dorms, they'd shipped me off across campus to the elementary dorms – to say I was irate when I found out is an understatement.
I remember yelling at my dad that just because I could pass for a thirteen year old didn't mean they had the right to treat me like one. My dad had actually cracked a smile, but then told me I shouldn't act like it if I didn't want to be treated as such.
I couldn't really fault his logic, he did have all the reasons in the world to be mad at what we did, but saying I acted like a thirteen year old was going too far even for him – though deep down I knew he wouldn't have been so angry had the strigoi incident not happened.
I had gotten an earful about that as well, but I didn't take that lecture too seriously because it looked like my father had been very proud to know that both James and I had actually survived our first strigoi attack at sixteen, even if it was only by the skin of our teeth. Besides I was beating myself up about that and I knew the nightmares weren't going to go away any time soon so his lecture was literally not the foremost thing in my mind.
My prison wardens weren't that bad though, they were just doing their jobs, and they had told me that they heard the reason I was sent to the elementary campus was because that's where Micah was – again they didn't actually use his first name.
Apparently my father had been impressed by Micah's will to keep us out of trouble that he thought having him at the elementary campus with me might dissuade me from trying anything stupid. I couldn't really confirm this as I hadn't even been to my new dorm room yet, I literally walked out of the hospital and into a school day.
"I heard they went strigoi hunting in Vegas and almost got Alexandra killed."
I heard Louis Conta snicker to his cronies just as I walked past them in the courtyard. I stopped and glared at him, but one of my guardians pulled me along by my arm and I almost had the urge to punch the guy.
Honestly if I hadn't been a novice, my assigned guardians would have scared the shit out of me. They were both guys, late twenties to mid-thirties, impossibly tall – though not quite as tall as my father – and the amount of monija marks between the two of them were staggering. I had known – as soon as I saw them – that my father had chosen these two specifically with the idea that I wouldn't be able to slip them, but then again I was trained by my father so nothing was really impossible and I seriously doubted that the two of them had half as much one on one training as novices as I'd had.
I was planning on befriending them so they'd become comfortable around me and relax, but to do that I needed to relax and that wasn't easy with all the whispers and stares. Oh I knew training was going to be a blast with all this animosity that I was feeling. I was practically salivating when we arrived at my first class – basic defense.
We didn't normally spar in defense class, but it seems like today was an exception. Guardian Castile paired us up and to my extreme dismay he was partnered me with one of my guardians.
"Come on Uncle Eddie, this hardly seems fair."
I protested, causing most of my classmates to snicker. He glared at me and I knew he wasn't happy that I called him by name, but in my defense it was difficult to call him Guardian Castile because he was always around growing up.
"You know the rules novice."
He said as he turned around going on to explain what the lesson was going to be. I noticed that James was paired up with one of his guardians as well and as I listened to the training plan, I suddenly understood why only the two of us had Guardians as partners.
In an academy like St. Vladimir's rumors spread like wildfire and guardians talk so I shouldn't have been surprised when Eddie said the following:
"Listen up novices, today we'll be doing something a little different, but necessary. I want one of you to act like a strigoi. Don't think about your partner as a friend, attack to kill. If you're killed, you'll sit out the rest of the class, whether you're playing the role of strigoi or guardian. If you're strigoi and you kill your guardian, you can choose to assist any other strigoi in taking down theirs. If you're a guardian and you manage to kill your strigoi, you are expected to assess and assist the guardian you feel is having the hardest time. Go!"
An ear piercing whistle cracked through the darkening air and while I didn't want to admit it – what followed was complete and utter anarchy. The pairings didn't seem all that fair – if I was being honest – weaker student were paired with stronger student and the stronger students were playing strigoi.
Many of my peers voiced their concerns about this, but we were promptly told that out in the real world, facing real strigoi – the chances we'd be stronger than them would be highly unlikely. It was a test in strength, stamina and ingenuity, where the strong don't always survive but the smart do. The speech made me think about what Micah had said about the academy giving us all the tools we need to not die, it was a little terrifying that they were suddenly telling us these things they previously wouldn't even have dreamt of mentioning.
As novices, we were sometimes seen as fragile so they prepared us as best they could while not letting too much slip just to bombard us with information when we graduate. It's a really underhanded tactic, but it's worked so far – why mess with a good thing, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Winning mentality right there, I groaned and was met by my peers' snickers as they probably thought it was because of the situation I found myself in. Little did they know that this kind of test made my blood sing in pleasure.
By the ten minute mark, I understood exactly why we'd been told that – as there were suddenly twice as many strigoi as there were guardians – and we had to get a little creative taking them out. I managed about three kills, while still fending off my initial strigoi and I'd seen James take out at least two – but things were starting to get a little hairy and five minutes later, both me and James were the only guardians left facing about ten of them.
At that moment I remembered something my dad had told us once when we were complaining about doing sprints, I'm doing this so that if by some sick twist of fate your outnumbered one day – run!.
It's like James and I had the same thought at exactly the same time and we each gave the other a curt nod before we turned around and ran like hell. We made it about half a mile before we heard the sound of the whistle cracking through the night sky, signaling the end of the lesson and we leisurely made our way back to the training grounds, smiling and laughing all the way.
Upon our return, some of our classmates looked at us with disdain, others in disgust – but our guardians and Uncle Eddie gave us looks of pure pride, because we'd realized we were outnumbered and acted accordingly to keep ourselves alive.
As if things weren't bad already, they got worse fast, the rumors were starting to become intense to say the least. Most of our classmates had told the seniors that it was on account of me, James and Lexi that we were being subjected to so much brutal training.
I'd been stopped in the hall countless times by pissed novices demanding to know what exactly we did that had the Guardian so twisted in knots. I never got to answer though, because every time such a demand would be made a strong hand would urge me forward. That hand belonging to the guardian whom I sparred with, Guardian Galkin – a twenty four year old mountain of a man with four molnija marks tattooed on the back of his neck.
He just slightly reminded me of my father, with the same dark eyes and hair – the same killer instincts as well – though his was cropped short at the sides and longer on top, sticking in all directions – more so after the fight. I had no doubt that he had the same type of rigorous Russian upbringing than my father had, and I knew for a fact that's exactly why he was chosen to guard me.
It was weird though, damphirs didn't have guardians – they became guardians – they were reserved for moroi, which is why most kids in school knew without a shadow of a doubt that we must have done something terrible and it did nothing to stop the rumor mill from rolling.
I saw both James and Lexi, in passing, a couple of times in the hall during that first day and though I desperately wanted to ask them how they were doing, I kept my head up – facing forward – so I wouldn't cave. It all went by pretty much in a blur and at the end of the day I was too tired to complain about the fact that I would have to retreat to the elementary dorms – that is until I saw my dorm room. It was so tiny, there was barely space for a bed and a dresser.
"You have got to be kidding me, right?"
I exclaimed turning towards Andrei – Guardian Galkin – as I threw my hands up in the air in exasperation. He shrugged and gave me a small smile.
"Afraid not, Lily – and before you even try, there's really nothing either of us can do about it. Orders from your father isn't something we can – or will – override. You'll have to talk to him if it bothers you that much."
I sighed in defeat and even though I did want to argue I knew he was right and I waved them off after Andrei said they'd be just outside if I needed anything.
I fell down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling like I'd done countless times in the last week, it was the same type of ceiling – the same stark white color – than Lexi had in her room, yet it felt so unfamiliar. I knew if I stayed there I would probably fall asleep and I still wanted to take a shower to wash off the day, so I lazily got up from my bed and gathered my toiletries and towel.
Upon exiting my room both my guardians' attention shot towards me, but when they saw the towel and bag in my hands it seemed like both of them became really uncomfortable. My father should have really thought about a female guardian for me, especially in times like these. I knew one of them was supposed to accompany me, but it's not like they could stand watch in the showers.
I was just about to do a happy dance in my head at the thought that I'd probably be able to sneak out before they even noticed, but that thought was short lived.
"Come on, I'll walk you."
Andrei said and I couldn't help the look of mortification that crossed my face. Andrei actually laughed, a deep hearty sound emanating from his chest. It wasn't a sound that I'd heard him make before, but it was oddly comforting
"Don't worry Lily, I'll just stand guard outside."
At that, I let go a breath I didn't even know I was holding and Andrei just shook his head at me when that breath sounded more like a sigh. Too tired to explain myself I followed him towards the showers and true to his word he stayed outside. I only momentarily thought about sneaking out through the bathroom windows, but I was even too tired to attempt that feat.