The Khigir Hunters

8. Russian Delights

I woke up to someone pounding on the door.

"Yulia?" I heard a light whisper. I groaned, shuffling under my blanket in response. The creaking of the door opening made me pop my head up from my warm covers. A light suddenly turned on, causing me to squint my eyes. Low and behold, Chris entered my room and slithered over to me, then chuckled mischievously.

"Nice hair." He teased. I simply snorted in acknowledgement. My disheveled morning hair was never a pleasant sight to see. I eyed Chris; he was dressed in dark jeans and wore a white t-shirt with a hooded grey jacket.

"Mmm... what time is it?" I rubbed at my tired eyes.

"5:00 AM." He said like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"What?" I mumbled, finally opening my eyes. I tried to search his face for an answer, but a quick look out my window confirmed it; it definitely was five in the morning. Don't these people sleep? "It's early..." I sighed.

"Yes it is." Chris agreed, amusement dancing in his chocolate eyes. When he saw me cock an eyebrow in confusion, he elaborated; "You have school today you know," I paled, "and Leon wants to talk to you." School? Today?! I don't even know what school I'm going to!

"Don't worry, Yulia. You'll have plenty of time for an explanation, especially now that you're up this early." Chris teased, adding a wink for extra effect. I groaned, causing him to grin.
"You can head downstairs for a shower and then breakfast." Chris shot me a genuine smile.

"Thanks." I stretched my arms.

"Take your time, but not too much time, there's still a lot we have to go over." Chris grinned, then ruffled my hair. My first reaction was to flinch away, because after all I really wasn't familiar with him, but I held back and instead willed a more normal reaction. I whined in protest, and moved my now overly tousled hair back in my pillow. I heard him snort in amusement then close my bedroom door. All of this playful affection was new to me, and most importantly actually having siblings, brothers. If I had to chose, I guess I'd prefer to be with Chris. He was kind, and actually looked like he cared... maybe a bit too much though. I can't speak too soon however, because I don't know any of them well enough yet.

I threw myself out of bed, and reached down to throw my discarded bags onto the mattress. After searching every nook, I discovered that only some my clothes were packed, but luckily that included two pairs of my shoes. There was also my toiletries, a couple of my books, and hairbrush... that was it. I grabbed a clean outfit and carefully placed my mom's slippers underneath my bed, and tied on a pair of worn sneakers. I strolled over to my door, opened it, and stuck my head out. No one was in the hallway... and the bathroom is downstairs. Ugh, why?

I began my descent down the creaky staircase, cringing every time the wood cried out in distress. When I finally reached the bottom, I froze. I was now in the living room, which consisted of two large sofas, a bookshelf, and an old thick television set sitting on top of an end table. It was currently on, playing some dated western. Perched on one sofa was Dimitri, and Jay on the other. I passed by as quietly as possible, even though they looked engrossed with the gunslingers on the screen. There was no doubt in my mind that they heard me come down, but decided to ignore me.

I found my way through the archway, and into the kitchen. Victor was checking something in the oven, dressed in an identical outfit as yesterday.

"Yulia." He greeted once he saw me. I gave him an awkward smile.

"Could you show me where the bathroom is?" I asked, a bit embarrassed.

"Of course." Victor began to lead me back to the living room. Before we got there, he pointed out a door to the right. I thanked him, and walked inside, and ended up taking a long shower. I had decided on a pair of skinny jeans and a gray blouse with Karine's jacket over top. I put my wet hair up in a ponytail so it wouldn't dampen my shirt too much