Reality Bites - Wattys 2018 Shortlist

Chapter 6 - Black SUV

When I woke, I was ravenous. It had been hours since the rabbit stew, and my stomach was making its needs known. Stretching beside the still sleeping Eddie, I checked the clock. Nearly 9 pm.

"We must be close to the airport now? Where are we headed? Calgary?" I asked the Guardian driving.

"Yes. We'll be there in about fifteen minutes."

"Any chance of a food stop? I'm starving!"

Catching my eye in the rear-mirror, the Guardian smiled kindly. If there was one thing most Dhampir understood, it was hunger. Our genetic makeup meant we needed more food than a human or a Moroi. Combined with our rigorous training schedules, most Guardians and Novices ate every four hours to keep up the necessary calorie intake. It had now been more than twelve hours since breakfast, and I was famished.

"It's an hour and a half until the plane. There's a good buffet near the airport – we're scheduled to stop there."

"Buffet? Did someone say food?" Eddie piped up, stretching and sitting up in his seat. "I'd murder a steak right now!"

Just over an hour later we were standing in the airport lounge, uncomfortably full. Looking at his watch, the Guardian pulled out two boarding passes.

"This one is for you. You'll be met at the other end," he said, handing one pass to Eddie.

"Denver? Guess I'm off to Colorado," Eddie said with a happy smile. That's what I liked about Eddie – he saw the positive in everything.

"I'm not going too?" I asked the Guardian, surprised. I'd assumed that Eddie and I would be off to the next assignment together. Shaking his head, he passed the other ticket to me.

"Reno?! Oh well – I've never been to Nevada." I didn't know much about Nevada other than it was hot and dry. Real cowboy country. Dimitri would love it, I thought with a smile.

Boarding the flight, I settled in, plugging in headphones and listening to music. Closing my eyes I dozed, thinking about Dimitri. I couldn't wait to get back to campus to see him. After a week apart, I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to convince him that another trip to the gym storeroom was in order. I wondered what he was doing right now? Nothing like what I'd like to be doing with him I'm sure...

I must have drifted off, because the next thing I knew I was woken ahead of landing. Grabbing my bag, I disembarked. At the arrival gate, I spotted the familiar stance and uniform of a Guardian. Female, early to mid-twenties with short spiky bleached blonde hair. Very good looking, she cut a striking figure.

"Evening! I'm Rose – you here to meet me?" I inquired.

"Sure am! I'm Guardian Wells," she said, "but call me Trisha. We've got forty-five minutes before our bus, so let's get breakfast." Ahhh – a woman after my own heart. Even though I'd stuffed myself earlier, I was starting to get hungry again!

Heading to a breakfast diner, Trisha kept up a steady stream of chatter. She wasn't allowed to tell me anything about where I was going or what to expect, so she told me about her usual assignment. She was Guardian to a wealthy royal Moroi couple who lived in Boston. They'd traveled to Europe to visit family, so she'd been reassigned to help with the field assessments while they were away.

"I don't mind," she said cheerfully. "It's nice to hang out with Dhampir again for a while. Besides – some of the male Guardians aren't so bad looking," she said with a wicked grin.

Seeing my surprised look, she continued "Oh don't be so shocked! It's not the 12th century anymore. I don't want to settle down, and I sure as hell don't want a baby. Besides - if I'm going to fool around, I want a man who can go the distance, if you know what I mean?" she said with an exaggerated wink. "Moroi men just aren't built like Dhampirs. They don't have the stamina. I've always thought them a little delicate."

Thinking about Dimitri, and mentally comparing him to the Moroi men on campus, I had to concede she was right.

"You have a point," I said with a giggle.

"Do you have a special someone back at school? A special Dhampir perhaps?" she teased.

"Yeah – there's someone. And he's amazing, but it's complicated."

"Oh honey, they're men. It's never that complicated. There's not much about a man that can't be fixed by a trip to Victoria's Secret," she laughed.

Before I knew it, we were on a bus heading east. Trisha was great company, so we chatted the two hours to our next stop – Middlegate Nevada. There weren't a lot of female Novices, so it was refreshing to talk with a female Dhampir close to my own age. Especially one who was already a Guardian.

It was close to daybreak by the time we arrived. Pulling into the sleepy township, we got off the bus. Digging in her sports bag, Trisha found a car remote and clicked it. The lights on a black SUV parked nearby lit up. What the hell? Do they buy those by the hundred, I wondered. Driving for half an hour, we arrived at a tiny town Gabbs.

"This is where I say goodbye," Trisha said pleasantly. "It's been great chatting! Here's my address and number back in Boston. Look me up if you're ever in town," she said passing me her details.

We'd arrived at a campsite. In many ways, it looked a lot like the last. Two large canvas tents side by side. As we arrived, I saw Corey, a Novice friend from St. Vlad's waiting with his bag.

"Hey, Rose! Where did you come from?"

"Canada. West of Calgary. Mountain country," I told him.

"It's all desert here," he replied. "Have fun and drink lots of water!"

Waving Trisha and Corey goodbye, I stood to attention between the two tents. I'd just started to wonder whether I should go in and announce myself when a tent flap opened, and a familiar figure stepped out.

"Ah... Rose. I was wondering when you'd arrive. Go into the other tent. You need to get changed. Then you need to get me safely to the Yomba Reservation."

Stifling an inner groan, I managed to reply politely "Nice to see you, Guardian Alto. Looking forward to traveling with you."