Reaction to Vampire Academy

Chapter 15 - Kirova POV

Kirova was getting bored again and so took the book once more. How can everyone sit and listen so intently? She thought bitterly to herself.

MASON DELIVERED. He found me the next day before school. He was carrying a box of books. 

"I got them," he said. "Hurry and take them before you get in trouble for talking to me."

He handed them over, and I grunted. They were heavy. "Christian gave you these?"

"Yeah. Managed to talk to him without anyone noticing. He's got kind of an attitude, did you ever notice that?"

Christian snorted at that while everyone else smiled or laughed. When no one chooses to talk to you, the response tends to be to develop coping mechanisms and stop caring.

"Yeah, I noticed." I rewarded Mason with a smile that he ate up. "Thanks. This means a lot." I hauled the loot up to my room, fully aware of how weird it was that someone who hated to study as much as I did was about to get buried in dusty crap from the fourteenth century. When I opened the first book, though, I saw that these must be reprints of reprints of reprints, probably because anything that old would have long since fallen apart. Sifting through the books, I discovered they fell into three categories: books written by people after St. Vladimir had died, books written by other people when he was still alive, and one diary of sorts written by him. What had Mason said about primary and secondary sources? Those last two groups were the ones I wanted.

Abe and Alberta laughed. "She really doesn't like to study which makes this funny".

Whoever had reprinted these had reworded the books enough so that I didn't have to read Ye Olde English or anything. Or rather, Russian, I supposed. St. Vladimir had lived in the old country. Today I healed the mother of Sava who has long since suffered from sharp pains within her stomach. Her malady is now gone, but God has not allowed me to do such a thing lightly. I am weak and dizzy, and the madness is trying to leak into my head. I thank God every day for shadow-kissed Anna, for without her, I would surely not be able to endure.

The room grew quiet. "It sounds like St Vlad not only had the same magic but struggled mentally too. What concerns me is the reference to Anna. How is she helping him?" Abe asked, though not really sure he wanted the answer.

Anna again. And "shadow-kissed." He talked about her a lot, among other things. Most of the time he wrote long sermons, just like what I'd hear in church. Super boring. But other times, the book read just like a diary, recapping what he did each day. And if it really wasn't just a load of crap, he healed all the time. Sick people. Injured people. Even plants. He brought dead crops back to life when people were starving. Sometimes he would make flowers bloom just for the hell of it.

"Ms Karp favored plants too, had her own little wilderness growing in her classroom" Alberta said sadly. With each connection made to Ms Karp, she grew more concerned Rose and Lissa both. 

Reading on, I found out that it was a good thing old Vlad had Anna around, because he was pretty messed up. The more he used his powers, the more they started to get to him. He'd get irrationally angry and sad. He blamed it on demons and stupid stuff like that, but it was obvious he suffered from depression. Once, he admitted in his diary, he tried to kill himself. Anna stopped him.

Tatiana gasped. "That is exactly how Vasilissa has been, and she had been using a lot of compulsion when she had those outbursts". Abe grew even more concerned for Rose and felt terrible, she was carrying so many burdens, especially for one her age.

Later, browsing through the book written by the guy who knew Vladimir, I read: And many think it miraculous too, the power the blessed Vladimir shows over others. Moroi and dhampirs flock to him and listen to his words, happy just to be near him. Some say it is madness that touches him and not spirit, but most adore him and would do anything he asked. Such is the way God marks his favorites, and if such moments are followed by hallucinations and despair, it is a small sacrifice for the amount of good and leadership he can show among the people.