Next Generation Dhampirs

The Holiday Spirit

Since the train was scheduled to make various stops throughout Italy, we decided to stop in Naples before Assisi.

The train station there was small and the walls were covered in graffiti. There were only two other trains there so we were able to hide in the crowd.

Dimitri got us a rental car and we drove to a hotel in the outskirts of the city. It was near another train station that I heard someone call a "Cumana" that led into another small town.

We spent the day settling into the hotel and the next exploring. There was a small beach at the end of the Cumana line that we visited, then we decided to look at some of the towns. There was a little cluster of them all together near a lake they called Lake of Bacoli.

The people there were really nice, if not a bit questionable. A few people tried to haggle us, but I speak Italian and Dimitri looks like he eats babies for breakfast when he's angry, so we made a nice combination.

The festivals were nice, but my favorite was Ferragosto. August 15th to 18th, they had concerts, shows, contests, games. It was beautiful. The whole thing was set up at this place called Acquamorta and the light shows were beautiful.

On the last night, they had fireworks over the water. Our whole group sat on the rocks out by the water and watched them light up the sky. James and Christian wore sunglasses and every once in a while James would give my hand a gentle squeeze.

A week later, we left to go back to Court, arriving just before the end of August. We stayed for a few days before queen Lissa gave us our schedule to get ready for St. Vlad's.

"You have to get to the school a few weeks early to get settled. You'll receive your class schedules, classroom arrangements, and dorm assignments when you get there," she had explained.

Both Declan and I were a little shaken when the day finally came to go to St. Vlad's, packing silently as we braced ourselves for what was to come. Even though neither of us said anything that whole day, our thoughts were loud, giving me a headache, dulled only by the constant sound of Declan's voice in my head.

We left sometime around midnight. Queen Lissa had requested that we stay at Court for a week to readjust to the schedules. On the jet, it was just me and Declan, along with some flight attendants and the pilot.

The flight was completely silent. Even when we spoke telepathically, the conversation was kept light and rarely came to a definitive end.

The flight wasn't nearly as long as I wanted it to be. We got there and a guardian named Natalia showed us around. All the dhampir guardians stayed in the same wing on campus, so Declan and I had rooms close to each other.

When Natalia showed me the room I would be staying in, I was taken aback upon entering. The walls were completely bare except for one poster of a cowboy on a horse over the bed.

"We thought you might be comfortable here. It's been empty since guardian Belikov left," Natalia explained sheepishly.

I nodded wordlessly. This was really happening.

I dropped my bags by the bed and the dhampir carrying the rest of them followed suit.

"I'll let you get settled," Natalia added, ducking out.

"Thanks," I muttered.

I sat on the edge of the bed and looked around. This was my dad's old room. I didn't know whether to be creeped out or feel better. To be fair, they had done it to try and make me feel more at home. But, if anything, it was making me feel homesick. I had just started my life with my REAL parents and now I had to leave.