Secret War

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I was here after what felt like forever. I was in Russia now. For the first few days Adrian didn't visit in my dreams but then he appeared again and he almost seemed shy. It was kinda cute. He thought that I needed space from everything and he heard about Lisa's reluctance to let me go. Anger flared when I thought about how she wanted me to stay by her still. She knew that I loved Dimitri now and yet she couldn't understand why I needed to do this for him.

We both knew that she would do this had it been for Christian who had been turned Strigoi but her selfishness just wouldn't let me go. It was always about her, it's always what she needs and wants but never me. Only Dimitri and occasionally my mother ever put me first. Sometimes I wondered whether Lisa ever knew how I felt at all. I mean, just because she was Moroi and she was a Royal didn't mean that she had to take that attitude with me. It wasn't fair; she couldn't even let my wishes be the priority just this once. I had never asked her for anything.

Blinking I shook the ugly thoughts away and pushed the dark cloud threatening to crush me. It was happening quite a lot recently since I arrived here in Russia. Every now and then if I thought about things for too long I would start hating. Damn something was going wrong with my head.

Looking around I tried to recognise the settings around me. Finding a run down house was a lot harder than I realised. Sighing I sat on a trunk of a cut down tree and rested. I'd been walking for a while now and sleep was beginning to catch up with me. Suddenly I felt the odd suppression of my mind and my senses became alert. Darting my eyes around me I looked for any movement.

"Hi," a girl around my age smiled cheerily. She was hanging upside down and her twin tails dangled. She had black hair with red streaks. She wore sunglasses which was odd considering how there wasn't really any sunlight in the woods. She had a buttoned up trench coat and ragged jeans.

"Isn't that dangerous?" I asked cautiously.

"Not if you know what trees are stable and which ones aren't. You look lost, need any help?"

"I'm fine," I told her bluntly. "What're you doing dangling off a tree?"

"It's what I do, I like scaring the shit out of people then help them after," she grinned. "Only you didn't get scared, you really are a fighter."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean you don't just take shit and accept it. You do things your own way; you do things the way you think is right. Hence you're not asking for help and you're here on your own in Russia. I wonder how long you decide to go on like this..."

"I don't know what you're talking about kid." I grunted. Besides, I didn't know whether anyone spoke English so I couldn't ask for help. I kept looking for the Strigoi I could sense but I couldn't see anyone other than us two. Looking at her again I couldn't see any features that would indicate Strigoi but then again most of her was covered up.

"Look," she flipped and landed a few feet ahead of me. "I may like dangling from a tree but I have things I gotta do. So are you coming or are you waiting for a Strigoi to jump you? Just to say, they ain't gonna do that, not on my turf. They might stop you but they won't attack unless they consider you a threat. And," she ran over and suddenly wrapped her arms around me. "Now they'll know you're not. Follow me if you want, if not town's that way." She pointed behind me and started walking.

I sat there for a few more moments just staring at her retrieving form. I couldn't really understand what she meant but I had nothing to lose following her so I did but I kept my distance. One thing that surprised me, she knew about Strigoi. I thought about the possibility of her being a guardian but she looked too young. Then she mentioned about Strigoi not attacking on her turf. I thought about what that could mean but I came up with nothing.