More than a friend

Ch 17: Bitchy Mood

*WARNING TRIGGERING CONTENT BELOW*

CPOV

"What is this?"
"That is the schedule you and your team will work on during this project," said Queen Tatiana.
I woke up this morning with the intention of confronting Rose about her unusual mood last night. You would think after getting my aunt off our case, she would be in a lighter mood. Instead, she seemed almost detached from the world around her. Unlike when she was with Lissa, she wasn't oblivious to the world around her. She just ignored it. However, my plans fell through when I received an email to go to Her Royal Highness's office.
I barely had enough time to shower and get dressed before I had to sprint to her office on the other side of court. Her email was very vague, just stating that she wanted to meet with me this morning. My immediate thought was that she wanted to replace me as head of the program, and she wanted to do it in person. Which just seemed odd since she had people to do that for her, but when I got there, I was given a file. Written in big bold letters read 'The Three-Week Project.'
"Three weeks? How do you expect us to organize and train a team of moroi people whose magical capabilities are limited to lighting a candle in three weeks? It's impossible."
"I'm aware of the challenges you face, Mr Ozera, but we are at a time crunch. We've just received reports of another strigoi attack. Seven dead, four moroi, three guardians," she paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "One of the victims was a child." I fell back into my chair, loss for words. "The young child was found in the bedroom of the home. There were signs on her body that led us to believe that she was raped before she was drained of blood," said Tatiana in a struggled voice. I felt my blood boil, and I gripped the edge of the table so hard my knuckles turned white. The thought of those sick, soulless, pieces of shit coming near Sofia, let alone touching her, made me want to burn every single last one of them in an eternal inferno where they could never escape .
Tatiana's voice snapped me out of my murderous thoughts, "I understand that this may seem like an impossible task, but we have no other option. We have to do this as fast as possible. That is why you're leaving this evening."
"Leaving? What are you talking about?" I asked, completely taken aback. "You and the team will be leaving for St. Vladimir's Academy this evening. You have the day to recruit whoever else you feel could be useful to this project. If not, then we move forward with those who we already have."
"But why St. Vlad's? We have all the facilities and personnel here?"
"Because you will have a better chance of finding moroi at the academy who will be willing to learn how to fight. I've heard of the illegal fight clubs that were forming around there, and I think it's time we use them. Also, I don't want to risk having this be put on hold due to political issues that may arise. So, while you train the moroi at the school, I will calm the storm that will most assuredly turn up."
It made sense. I can't believe I forgot about the political uproar this would bring. But if there was one place I didn't go to more than the moroi court, it was St. Vladimir's Academy. But what choice did I have?
"What time do we leave?"

XxX
RPOV

Within an hour, the team and I were notified about our plans to leave for Montana. Everyone agreed without complaint, and soon we were all boarding the private jet to the prestigious vampire academy in the middle of nowhere. There were ten of us. Adrian, Lissa, Mia, Tasha, Louis, who was a talented earth user, and Christian. The dhampire were Eddie, Dimitri, James, myself, and of course, Sofia, who was bouncing with excitement to be flying for the first time.

She was also really curious about seeing the academy. It would be the first time she would be surrounded by not only people but children just like her. Despite being amongst children at her preschool, Sophie found it difficult to make friends. We could blame some of it on her spunky personality, but we knew the real reason was because she simply didn't fit in with them.
From a young age, she knew who she was or, more specifically, what she was. This made her acutely aware that she was different. She was much more developed athletically than the other children, to a point where they would exclude her from games. Mentally, she was much more mature as well and didn't have much patience for simple things that entertained the minds of the children her age.
I guess that was my fault since I had treated her more as an adult than as a child. But that was just how we were. I would be open and honest with her (to an extent), and she would be blunt and straight with me. However, that's not the most endearing quality most six-year olds look for in a friend.