Reality Bites - Wattys 2018 Shortlist

Chapter 2 - Worse

For the first time in weeks, I'd slept well. I'd pulled my pillow to me, nuzzling it and pretending it was Dimitri. I'd fallen asleep smiling, imagining I was in his arms and he was kissing me, replaying his words in my mind 'Roza, there will never be a day I don't want you.'

I slept as late as I could. We'd be switching to human time for the field trip, so we'd been told to meet at the cafeteria by 1 am. After I woke, I showered. Shaving my legs and underarms, I also took the time to wash, dry and then braid my hair. I didn't do it very often but given I'd be living rough for a week, I thought it best to get it up and out of the way. When I had my hair up my molnija marks were clearly visible. Running my fingers across them with a sigh I remembered the horrible cost I'd paid to earn these. Mason had been a good friend, and his death still preyed on my mind. The field trip would not be the same without him.

Packing a few necessities into a small bag, I was done. I'd heard from other Novices that this was one trip where it paid to pack light. Since Dimitri and I hadn't trained this morning, I was hoping he'd be in the cafeteria for lunch and the field trip instructions. I really wanted to see him before I left. Idly wondering what Dimitri would do with his extra hours while I was off campus, I tidied my room – making my bed, putting away some washing I'd done the week before and straightening some books on my desk. With nothing else to delay me, I locked my door and headed down to lunch. The cafeteria was already busy, Novices sitting at tables eating and talking loudly.

"Hey, Rose!" Eddie called, spotting me and gesturing for me to join him at a table of Novices. "Jake heard it's going to be rainforest this year!" he told me excitedly.

"Nah – I heard it's snow again," butted in Mark, a lanky Novice also in our year.

Bet both of them are wrong, I thought as I walked over to get a juice and a couple of chocolate doughnuts. Realizing it might be a while before I had another decent feed, I supplemented my selections with a large plate of eggs, bacon, mushrooms, hash browns, toast and baked beans.

"Sure you've got enough there?" Christian asked sarcastically, having come in with Lissa while I was filling my tray. "They'll have food wherever you're going, you know," he continued.

"Can't be so sure of that," I told him, happily stuffing myself.

Eddie, Jake, and Mark seemed to agree, jumping up and taking their trays back for second serves.

"Dhampirs," Christian muttered. "Mortal enemy to Strigoi and any plate of food."

Lissa shot him a disapproving look, although I knew she also found the amount of food myself and the other Dhampirs consumed alarming.

"So when are you leaving?" she asked me.

"Any minute now. We're just waiting for the Guardians to arrive."

Right on cue, Alberta walked into the cafeteria, followed by the other senior teachers and Guardians. Dimitri was with them – looking handsome as always.

"Novices," Alberta started, the room immediately falling quiet. "We'll be assembling to leave momentarily, however first I need to explain how the week will work. We've changed things a little bit this year. Instead of one location, there are four."

This was news! An excited murmur ran through the assembled group, Dhampir and Moroi alike. While Moroi students would not be attending the field trip, it didn't mean they were unaware or disinterested.

"Each Novice will be allocated randomly to a location and assigned a Guardian. The Guardian will be your pretend Moroi. You will stay in each location for between twenty-four and forty-eight hours, after which you will be transported to your next location where you will be assigned another scenario and Guardian."

This was huge! The logistics alone were mind-boggling. I wonder who the Guardians would be? With the number of Novices undertaking testing, they must be bringing in extra people from outside.

Looking at Dimitri where he stood, hands behind his back at ease beside the other Guardians, his face remained impassive. No surprises for him here. I couldn't help but feel a surge of annoyance. This must have been in planning for months – the least he could have done is tell me! His eyes suddenly meeting mine across the room, I shot him a look of irritation. Always the professional he didn't respond, although I swear I saw a flash of amusement flit across his face. Hmmph! Plenty of time to deal with him when I got back, I thought mutinously, studiously ignoring him and concentrating on the rest of Alberta's instructions.

With a final wish of good luck, it was time for us to go. I joined the other students pushing forward to the front of the room where Alberta had hung lists of the initial allocations. Hoping to get an idea of the different terrains, I was disappointed when I saw the groups simply marked Green, Red, Blue, and Yellow. Running my eyes down the list, I saw I was in the Blue group, along with Eddie and a couple of other pals. Calling out to Eddie, I grabbed my bag, and we started towards the campus garages where the Blue group had been told to assemble.

There were four black SUVs waiting for us.

"I bags shotgun!" I shouted, pushing Eddie out of the way and climbing into the first vehicle. Grumbling, he and another Novice took the back seats. A few minutes later a Guardian I vaguely recognized climbed into the car.

"Might as well get comfy, kids – we'll be driving a while."

"So where are we going?" I asked, feigning nonchalance.

"Somewhere five or six hours away," was the only answer I got, before he started the vehicle and drove towards the long driveway leading off campus. After about thirty minutes I realized we were heading North West. Great. That meant we'd be crossing into Canada and heading into the mountains. Looks like Mark was right, after all. Snow!

One pit stop later we arrived. As expected, we were in the mountains, and while it wasn't snowing at the moment, it sure didn't feel far off it. There were twelve of us in all – and I note not one of us was wearing a jacket. Gathered beside the cars, we stood in front of two large tents. A Guardian I didn't know came out to address us.

"When I am finished talking you will go into the tent on the left. Find your name on the pegs and change into the clothes provided. There is a backpack there with your equipment. Put anything you want to take with you into the backpack. Leave any clothes or equipment you don't want to take on the peg. When you're finished, come through to the tent on your right where your Guardian will be waiting." With that, he turned and walked back into the right-hand tent. Didn't blame him – it was not long after daybreak, it was freezing, and it looked like they had a heater running in there!

Walking into the tent with the other Novices, I noticed I was the only girl in the Blue group. Guys severely outnumbered the girls in Guardian training. Still, I would have expected one or two others in a group of twelve. The realization seemed to come to a few of the guys at the same time. One dude, in particular, seemed to be paying me just a little too much attention as I did a quick stocktake of the new backpack and the small bag of things I'd brought. No way I'm changing in front of you, mate, I thought.

Dallying as long as he could, he seemed to finally get the message - walking across to the other tent and leaving me alone to quickly strip and change into the gear provided. At least the clothing was warmer, I thought grimly. I hated the cold. In fact, the only thing worse than being cold was being cold and wet. Yep - good chance of that too, I thought as a tent flap was whipped open by the wind. Storm clouds were coming in.

This is seriously going to suck, I thought shouldering my backpack and heading to the second tent. Cold, wet and in the mountains. Could this get any worse?

"Novice Hathaway. So nice of you to finally join us."

I turned to see the other Novices standing in pairs with their allocated Guardians. And in the center of the room, waiting for me? My mother!