Vampire Academy: Dimitri's Point of View

Rumours

I wish could say that the morning's events were the most interesting thing to happen all day. After the bittersweet dream, the brutal death of the fox, and the realization that my student and our charge were terrified of something on campus, I had my fill of excitement for the day. Unfortunately, classes had yet to start and it seemed like I wouldn't be so lucky as to pass the rest of the day quietly.
Initially, things appeared to be going well. As I watched Rose in her Advanced Combat class, she fought better than I had ever seen her fight before. She had come close to beating a few classmates in hand-to-hand sparring over the last week or so, but today she won effortlessly. I knew much of her passion and energy was fueled by this mornings trauma. While felt proud of her achievement, I wish she was in the mindset to celebrate and enjoy it the way she normally would. While her playful gloating was usually very childish, it would be comforting to see her typical reaction. Her current serious nature was almost depressing. She was acting more like me, but for once that wasn't necessarily a good thing.
Rumors spread fast around here, and I could already hear whispers of blood and foxes from both student and guardian alike. After the class, I could see a few students gathering around Rose. Some held back with an expectant look hoping to get more gossip, but a few stepped up to offer either congratulations on the match or comfort over what little details they knew about this morning. One in particular, Mason, seemed to be particularly soothing to Rose and was able to offer a friendly shoulder to her in a way that few others could. It was easy to see that his affections ran deeper, but I was starting to realize that he wouldn't over step his boundaries despite their flirtatious banter. I was grateful for that. And I was grateful that she had a friend to support her in a way that I was unable to.
By lunch, the news of the fox had spread to every corner of campus. The main cafeteria was practically buzzing with gossip. Natalie Dashkov, Vasilisa's roommate and Prince Victor's daughter, seemed particularly elated with the attention she was receiving because of it. Every time she recounted the horror, she did so more elaborately and energetic. Lissa however seemed sick under the stares and whispers that focused so intently on her.
Rose was by her side the moment she was freely allowed to do so, providing a buffer between her and those eyeing them like caged animals at the zoo. I wished that I could provide some shielding to them as well, but I knew stepping in would only make the talk worse. I walked out of the student cafeteria and started making my way back towards the guardian's lounge. I was off shift for the rest of the afternoon until Rose's practice so I took some time to eat my own lunch before getting in a short workout.
I had only been in the gym an hour or so when I heard some other guardians coming in. While I occasionally chatted with other guardians on campus, I had a reputation for being quiet and reserved and most respected that. I wasn't often interrupted with idle talk, especially in the gym, and I was fine with the unspoken arrangement. Since most of today's chatter seemed to surround dead foxes, I wasn't keen on eavesdropping. That is, until I did catch one piece of information:
"..and then he set him on fire. The poor boy was completely engulfed in flame in front of the entire class, but there wasn't a single singe mark on him or his clothing afterwards. It was honestly spectacular, I'd never seen anything like it."
That was enough to capture my attention. "There was a fire in one of the classrooms?"
The shorter of the two men stared at me like he was surprised I could even speak, but the taller one (the one who had been telling the story as they walked in) seemed excited to have a larger audience. "Even better! One of the Moroi students went crazy and actually used his magic against another student! It happened during Messiner's Animal Behavior class. Things were pretty normal, some occasional student banter and bickering, but nothing out of the ordinary. I guess that Ralf Sarcozy started giving your charge and your student a bit of a hard time when out of no where he was completely ablaze! That quiet Ozera boy – what's his name? Christopher?"
"Christian?"
"That's it! Christian. He started cracking up about the whole thing. I guess he's the one that did it. But man, I've never seen anything like it. I doubt he'll get much more than a detention because there wasn't a scratch on Sarcozy when all was said and done. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. By the way, your girl is pretty quick. She had the Princess safe and out of the way before the rest of us in the room could take a step."
I was glad that Rose's first instinct was to protect Lissa, but she wasn't really one to let others fight her battles quietly. I wouldn't be surprised if she threw a punch somewhere in there. "Did Rose put up a fight at all?"
"No, not really. A few verbal quips but nothing physical. She actually handled the whole thing pretty well considering what a brat that Sarcozy boy can be."
As the two guardians left to continue their conversation, I made my way towards the track to meet with Rose for her practice. While most students and guardians were using the indoor track at this time of year, I still preferred to be outside. It seemed like Rose did too, or if she didn't she never complained about it to me. Either way, it was well maintained even during the winter months.
I decided not to talk about the fire incident with Rose unless she brought it up first, since she didn't seem to step out of line during the interaction. Part of me wanted to pass on the compliment about her protective instincts, but I knew that the strain of the day out-weighed any good it would do to rehash another issue. She never talked about it, and the training session few by quickly with her unnaturally quiet and focused.
That evening, I finally had some peace and quiet to think about everything that had happened. I was on perimeter patrol near the North side of campus. There wasn't much out here so it promised to be a fairly quiet night. Most of the evening consisted of checking the protective wards and listening to hear any students sneaking off in pairs. Neither were an issue. The evening's work simply felt like a nice, long walk.
I considered calling Tasha about the the whole fire incident. I had no doubt that the school had already informed her about Christian's episode, and I hadn't really been there to witness it myself so I likely had no further information to provide, but I felt a small pang of guilt since I had promised to keep and eye out for him and hadn't really done so in weeks.
I knew there would be some discipline. Using offensive magic on another student practically demanded some sort of punishment. However, he would likely get some detention, community service, or (at most) a suspension of some sort. He wouldn't be expelled. Even if nobody liked to acknowledge it, he still was a Royal and that has certain privileges.
Any discipline would come from the school however, not Tasha. She was an advocate of Moroi using their magic both defensively and offensively, a very unpopular position. Even more importantly though, she was an advocate for standing up for others when needed. Something told me that she would actually be proud of his actions. While I could never say it out loud, and probably shouldn't even acknowledge it to myself, I was a proud of him as well. His shocking yet non-damaging display was in defense of both Rose and Vasilisa and the bully deserved it. While professionalism held me back now, I could guarantee that my own retaliation would not have been so kind at his age. I might pull off a good show of calm self-control now, it didn't come without years of personal practice. Naturally, my temperament was inherited from my father; quick, angry, and with the possibility to become very violent. I was ashamed to say that left unchecked, I had the capacity to resemble him much more than I would like to admit. Gratefully, I had guidance and support from two of the kindest souls I'd ever known: Ivan and my own mother. Both of them grounded me and set the example that I emulate today.
Still, my learned patience had its bounds...
After my shift, I made my way back towards the guardian apartments. I passed by the novice dorms and could see several groups of students in the common area. It was still early enough on the Friday evening for there to be a fairly even distribution of study groups and social group. Since Rose was basically on house arrest for the foreseeable future, I wasn't surprised that she wasn't present among her peers.
Truth be known, I was fairly impressed with her recent dedication. Not only was she doing well in her extra training sessions, she was also catching up quickly in her classes. Her grades in her non-combat classes were only average, but that was better than most of her teachers expected. As far as anyone could tell, she had been keeping to the terms of her probation and seemed to be flying under the radar for the most part. It was almost like the young woman that I had been working with for the past few weeks had nothing in common with the delinquent girl who ran away two years ago.
Just before I had passed the dorm completely, I heard my name being called. It was Guardian James Anderson. He was one of the newer guardians here, only about a year younger than myself. We trained together occasionally and he was a decent sparring partner, but we rarely saw each other outside of the gym.
"Guardian Anderson, what can I do for you?"
He looked behind him before advancing a few more steps closer to me, keeping his voice low. "I'm on dorm hall duty tonight, and a janitor just called in a couple of students sneaking off towards the fourth floor lounge. The girl matched Miss Hathaway's description. I was just about to head up there when I saw you, and thought you might want to check it out instead. Just on the off-chance that it's her."
I hesitated a moment. Rose had been doing extremely well, and part of me wanted to trust that it wasn't her running off. The other part of me knew that a stressful day like today might be just the thing that would break her of her good behavior. Guardian Anderson knew about Rose's probation and my arrangement as her mentor. While we weren't exactly friends, we were friendly and I knew him well enough to know that he didn't pass off his responsibilities at the drop of a hat. If he was offering me the opportunity to check on the students, it was for the benefit of Rose and I, not himself.
"I'm sorry, I just thought -" He started to turn back towards the doors.
"No, you're right. If it is Rose Hathaway, then she's my responsibility and I should take care of it. Thank you for bringing it to my attention."
"No problem. You've been doing really well with her. She was quite the handful when I started here, but you seem to be getting through to her. I know she's still on thin ice and I'd rather not see us down one more female guardian, especially since she's quite talented when she puts her mind to it."
"Me neither. Thank you. You said fourth floor, right?"
"Yep. Up the stairs and to the left. It's on the female side so it's pretty quiet these days."
He was right, the female half of the dorms were extremely quiet now. The building was split in two, with most of the common rooms on the shared first floor. While the male side of the novice dorm building was still fairly full and most male students had a roommate, the female side was practically empty by comparison. None of the female novices were required to have a roommate (though they could request one) and there were still quite a few empty rooms. The fifth and sixth floors were completely abandoned and Rose was one of the handful of girls to occupy a room on the fourth floor.
I made my way towards the lounge at the end of the hall. There were a few of these lounges scattered throughout the dorm building and were intended for smaller gatherings, but most students kept to the main floor lounges. The upper lounges didn't allow for co-ed use. As I got closer, it was quiet enough for me to here muted voices behind the door. I pressed my ear against the threshold to hear more clearly. I was disappointed to recognize Rose's voice, before it turned to shock at the ensuing conversation.
"Don't you think everyone would know if I was giving blood?" Rose's voice held some of the same forced confidence that I had heard on more than one occasion. Even slightly muffled, I could make out the nervousness in it.
"Unless you weren't doing it before you left. You did it while you were gone, didn't you?" The unknown male's voice sounded like a cat that caught the canary. "You fed Lissa."
I pulled away suddenly. It didn't matter who this young man was, a rumor like that would spread like a wildfire and could be damaging to Rose's career. It hardly mattered if it was true or not, and even thought it was true and done out of necessity and dedication, it wouldn't make much of a difference to others. It could brand her for life.
"I'm not a blood whore!" Rose's frantic voice was much louder this time, clear even without me pressed against the door.
"But you want to. You like it. All you dhamp girls do." The male voice was cocky and domineering. I had heard that tone before. It was the way my father sounded when he overpowered my mother, the voice I had heard from many a Moroi man trying to charm an unsuspecting dhampir girl. The manner of speech was enough to push me over the edge, but I held on with the final fibers of my self control.
"Stop it." Gentle and pleading, her false bravado was barely hiding her fear. I felt that last shred of my anger snap as I heard those words and imagined what inspired them.
I stood to my full height, set my jaw, and opened the door without warning. My eyes hit the couch just in time to watch the two teenagers spring apart from each other, Rose practically throwing the boy off her as soon as his grip loosened.
In the few steps it took to cross the distance between us, I saw red. Anger had tinted my vision as I focused on the Moroi. No matter how much my fists clenched at my sides, I knew I couldn't hurt him. However, I could scare him enough to never look at Rose again. Or any other dhampir girl for that matter.
I grabbed him by his shirt, right underneath the collar, and lifted him up. His feet were still touching the ground, but I was in full control of nearly all his weight. He couldn't run, he couldn't fight, he was at my mercy.
"What is your name?" I barked. My voice was unnaturally level considering the pure fury raging behind it.
"J-Jesse, sir. Jesse Zeklos, sir." Figures, he was a royal. Still, there was no sign of the cockiness I had heard only moments ago. He was terrified and that gave me a strange sense of satisfaction.
"Mr. Zeklos, do you have permission to be in this part of the dorm?" I already knew the answer but I wanted to watch him squirm a little longer.
"No, sir."
"Do you know the rules about male and female interactions around here?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then I suggest you get out of here as fast as you can before I turn you over to someone who will punish you accordingly. If I ever see you like this again" – I pointed in the general direction of Rose and the couch – "I will be the one to punish you." I locked onto his eyes, narrowing my own to make sure I had his attention before I spoke my final words. "It will hurt. A lot. Do you understand?"
Jesse's eyes went wide as he tried to swallow the lump in his throat. I knew he saw the truth in my threat and was probably imagining all the horrid ways I could make him feel pain. He was only able to manage a small nod and a barely audible "Yes, sir!" as he began to quake under my shadow.
"Then go," my final word was emphasized by me practically throwing him to the door. Part of me knew that while I never truly laid a hand on him, my threatening words were more than enough to earn me a disciplinary write up. However, it felt good to watch him run out of the room without looking back. I smirked at the sight. In a moment, I felt like I had stood up for my sisters. I had stood up for the girls in my class and in my small town who had fallen prey to the lures of such men. I had stood up for my mother. I had stood up for Rose.
Rose. My anger was rekindled as I remembered that she wasn't totally innocent in this. If her previous record was any indication, she had invited and perhaps encouraged this situation. Maybe not what he had suggested moments before my entrance, but certainly the events leading up to it. Even if she hadn't, even if the boy had arranged everything, she knew better than to walk into such a predicament. She was already walking a narrow road with her probation and if anyone but me had caught them, I don't know if I could have saved her from expulsion. I may not have the authority to punish Jesse properly, but Rose was my full responsibility and I had no qualms about penalizing her.
I turned to face her finally, ready to give her a piece of my mind. And then, my mind was blank.