Five in the space of just over half a month.That was a disastrous statistic. If I didn't pull myself together I probably wouldn't even make it past the middle of the next academic year without the truth being exposed to the entire community. That would mean a year and a half of being known as the Ivashkov princess at the Academy.I shuddered at the thought. That was not a scenario I wanted to become a reality."I got it.""Do you?""I really do, Joey." I sighed and finished off the last bite. "I'll try my best to keep a lower profile. I can't promise anything if threatening stuff gets thrown my way though.""At least be more aware, Kai, that's all we're asking.""I got it." I nodded. "So, what's the plan for us students now?""You have free time to relax in the designated areas until after lunch. For now, most students are either in the dining hall finishing off their breakfast or in their rooms, I suspect.""Alright, I'll just finished the food and go get another coffee before headi
To say I was shocked when I walked through the kitchen doors would be one heck of an understatement. The chefs were all gone and on the centre counter there was a mouth-watering spread. A burgundy candlestick was centre stage along with a bright red rose."Welcome to our first date, little knight." Axel declared flamboyantly, his arms spreading wide, gesturing at the food.I was so moved I couldn't find the words to refute that this was not a date. Since he made such an effort, it stole the breath from my lungs and the words out of my mouth."Oh Axel, honestly you really don't know how to meet someone halfway, do you? I joked somewhat breathlessly."It all depends on the person in question and whether or not they really want me to meeting them halfway or whether I could take my chances," he chuckled.He stepped around the counted and tugged me towards the food."I don't really know what you like so I thought why not give you multiple options and I can find out this way?""So, it's bas
Rachel Estella sighed softly and stood up, she smoothed her black pencil skirt and then grabbed the files from the table in her hand and headed towards the door in front of her. She stood in front of it for a while, adjusted her dress and then knocked softly. She waited patiently and soon a tired raspy voice asked her to come in. Rachel pushed the door and walked in to the magnificent office, the walls were painted a light blue and grey giving it a homely vibe. There were a few artifacts around which matched well with the fact that her boss loved art so much. The furniture was one of a kind, personally customised. Apart from the desk in the middle of the room and the three chairs around it, there was also a shelf and a beautiful flower vase beside the window that watched over the whole city and the room at the other end. That rich and homely vibe always had a way of calming down Rachel's nerves that most of the times she doesn't want to leave. " You can use the sofa later " a deep
Rachel looked at herself in the mirror one more time, she was wearing a black suit. Today was the first day with her new boss, and she wasn't sure that they would work together in harmony. A sigh escaped her lips as she adjusted her skirt that tightly hugged her curves. Rachel Estella tied her chestnut hair in a tight pony tail, she looked at her self one more time in the mirror then grabbed her hand bag and brief case before walking out of her apartment. It was a two bedroom apartment, with a large living room and a kitchen located on the seventh floor of the apartment building, it wasn't that cheap but it was enough for her and Sam whenever he was around. Rachel rode the elevator to the underground parking lot, then headed towards her car; she had forty minutes left to get to work or else she would be late. Sincerely Rachel didn't want to see Fred but she was still going to work, after all it was only because Sir Richard wished it so. It has been close to two years ever since th
"Good morning Sir, here is your schedule for today." Rachel Estella said in a loud dull voice right after she had walked in to the office. Fred leaned back in his office chair and looked at her, today she was wearing a trouser and a red suit with her hair pushed to her left shoulder. Her eyes were lowered to the notebook in her hands while her face showed all seriousness. His lingering gaze moved from the white heels she was wearing to the tight trousers that showed off her great curves up to her face, and yet, somehow his eyes made a shiver rush down her spine. The way he looked at her like he was willing to devour her with just a beckoning snap of her fingers made her shudder internally, Rachel was one hundred percent sure that she didn't like it. These two weeks are going to be the hardest, but she had promised Sir Richard that she would at least try to stay, and despite his son's habits Rachel was trying to drag it on for as long as she could hold on. "You have a meeting at ni
The blood spluttered over her face as she knelt beside her lifeless father with his head resting on her lap. Her tiny fearful eyes stared upwards. Her mother's face was contorted with pain as the Strigoi drank from her neck greedily. Blood gushed from the wound where the monster had plunged his hand through her stomach holding her in place."Run little sky. Run," her mother choked out with her last ounce of strength before her loving eyes turned blank. Her five ft six frame sagged in the Strigoi's hold and with a malignant laugh; he wrenched his arm out pulling guts along with the movement. Amelie's body fell without the support keeping her upright. Kalani's eyes followed as her mother's body crumbled to land over her father's body.She stared with wide blue and green eyes up at the monster with a bloodstained mouth. A mouth stained with her mother and father's blood. The Strigoi reached out with a sly smile and the small girl cringed away shaking her head. He lost his patience and in
Music blared through the speakers of my convertible and the wind swept my hair behind me. Checking both sides of the road, I made sure no speeding cars were near by before spinning my wheel for a U-turn and parking almost perfectly alongside the curb. I readjusted the spacing before clicking the button for the roof to come back up. I loved my daily drives along the coast from school to work. It set me in the mood.I headed around the back to where the back door to the bar was. Using the key from the chain I unlocked the door and stepped in making sure I locked it behind me. "Hey Kai!" Ana greeted when she saw me."Yo, what's the situation out there?" I gestured at the bar."When I pocked my head out there five minutes ago, it was jammed." Ana grinned."Really?" I beamed. "Well then hopefully there'll be tonnes of tips tonight!" I cheered."Totally have to agree with that! So I take it you just came from sports practice?""Yeah, we have a football tournament coming up." I nodded."Awes
The first thing that I noticed was the rumbling noise in the background that reminded me of a plane. The second was the hushed whispers around me. The third was the really uncomfortable restraints around my wrists. I searched my mind for what had happened and everything came rushing back. The Moroi at the club, the fight in the changing rooms and someone hitting the back of my neck. Dread filled me as I realised, I was on a plane and I was being escorted back to the Academy that I'd left all those years ago.Slowly I peeled my eyes open and readjusted to the light. Looking up I felt a blush creep onto my cheeks. I was staring right at Joe. Somehow I was lying on his lap and I immediate sat up back into my own seat. I found the way that he stared at me unnerving, it was like he wanted to say something but thought better of it. "You're awake," he said unnecessarily at last."Yeah…" I trailed off. "You play dirty, you knocked me out.""It's not called playing dirty. It's was a necessity
To say I was shocked when I walked through the kitchen doors would be one heck of an understatement. The chefs were all gone and on the centre counter there was a mouth-watering spread. A burgundy candlestick was centre stage along with a bright red rose."Welcome to our first date, little knight." Axel declared flamboyantly, his arms spreading wide, gesturing at the food.I was so moved I couldn't find the words to refute that this was not a date. Since he made such an effort, it stole the breath from my lungs and the words out of my mouth."Oh Axel, honestly you really don't know how to meet someone halfway, do you? I joked somewhat breathlessly."It all depends on the person in question and whether or not they really want me to meeting them halfway or whether I could take my chances," he chuckled.He stepped around the counted and tugged me towards the food."I don't really know what you like so I thought why not give you multiple options and I can find out this way?""So, it's bas
Five in the space of just over half a month.That was a disastrous statistic. If I didn't pull myself together I probably wouldn't even make it past the middle of the next academic year without the truth being exposed to the entire community. That would mean a year and a half of being known as the Ivashkov princess at the Academy.I shuddered at the thought. That was not a scenario I wanted to become a reality."I got it.""Do you?""I really do, Joey." I sighed and finished off the last bite. "I'll try my best to keep a lower profile. I can't promise anything if threatening stuff gets thrown my way though.""At least be more aware, Kai, that's all we're asking.""I got it." I nodded. "So, what's the plan for us students now?""You have free time to relax in the designated areas until after lunch. For now, most students are either in the dining hall finishing off their breakfast or in their rooms, I suspect.""Alright, I'll just finished the food and go get another coffee before headi
"Excuse me?" I spluttered.I'd expected a dozen other questions to come out of his mouth but definitely not that. I tried to lean back as his hand reached out towards my waist but soon realised my mistake. He'd set himself up perfectly so that I couldn't run away. He basically had me against the wall."Please?"I was startled by the sincerity in his voice. He really wanted my permission for some reason and soon enough I realised the true meaning behind his words. He wasn't really asking if he could touch me. Not in a sensual way. No. He wanted a confirmation of his suspicions the same way that Drew had that time he burst into Martin's office.Our eyes connected when I stared at his face. There was no judgement and no sense of menace. He simply wanted to know. But more than that, he wanted my permission to know. In our current position, he didn't have to ask for my permission. He could've easily pulled my shirt up and seen the Ivashkov mark. His earnest respect for my privacy in turn s
The phone hardly got through the second ring when the line went through."Before you go into some kind of a rant, I need you to take a deep breath, Ali."There was a pause. Then I heard him take the breath. Then he released it. I could almost see the tension leaving his body just a little bit."Better?""A little," he told me. "How are you, little sky? You have no idea how much I wanted to come straight to where you are when I heard about what happened.""Oh? What kept you away?" I asked teasingly, purposefully adding a lilt to my voice. Not that I would have ever expected to wake up to see Ali, but the thought of him being the first face I saw after the situation I'd just faced calmed my anxiousness a lot."Jules threatened to cut an entire year's wage if I took off.""A whole year? That sounds a bit much, even for Aunty Jules.""Well... she started with a week and continued to keep adding until I stopped walking towards the vans."I whistled. "Gosh, it took them a lot to keep you aw
My parents formed a perfect team. Almost anyone who knew them was aware of that.The fact that they were a shadow-kissed pair probably helped with that. But it wasn't just that. I could remember Aunty Jules telling me stories of back when they were in school together and how even back then there seemed to be something that bound the two of them together. Call it fate. Call it chemistry. Whatever it was, it made my parents a fluid fighting duo, never getting in each other's way.I could remember Maria sharing her stories of how the two of them were always just so in synch with one another.They were also amazing parents.They never spoiled me too much. But they weren't unfairly strict with me either. They always seemed to maintain the perfect balance in life.They did what they had to do to protect family.No matter the cost."Raymond, the others need to know. We have to tell them.""Amelie, what are we supposed to say? That the Strigoi who killed you all those years ago wasn't just fr
Once we reached deeper and deeper into the woods, Sarah seemed to be more aware of her surroundings and stopped stumbling around everywhere. Travis and Sarah appeared to work quite well as a pair. Perhaps the fact that they've probably known each other for a few years already helped with their cooperation. Either way, I was glad that she wasn't being difficult. From the way that she had spoken earlier about how it would be a given that I protect her, I was scared that she might be someone really tough to handle, but so far things seemed to be going rather well and we had already managed to obtain three stamps within half an hour. Judging by how difficult everyone made this exercise sound, I would say that getting three stamps within that time slot was normal.We had until dinner time to try and collect all ten.That meant we had another three hours to try and collect the other seven. But it would only get harder as the afternoon wore on. We would grow wearier from each fight against t
The guardians on duty informed us to start calming down about two hours after the dancing began. That gave us enough time to wind down before heading back to our rooms and get an early night in preparation for the task the guardians had prepared for us. If I remembered rightly, the task was a shorter version of the Senior year 'protect-your-charge' task where we would have to protect the charge assigned to us for a certain amount of time. It was a practical test to allow the students to know what the job entailed and what the task of protecting a charge would mean.Before the night was over and as some students went back to their rooms first, Quinn took over the piano completely and Axel took the lead for a dance. I could tell after having danced with various other students tonight, that the way Axel held me occasionally had a much more mature feel to it. It was in the way he touched, the subtle teasing strokes of his fingers, the way his eyes could do crazy things to the body, and th
I was a little late in getting to the music room. Trying to find my way around was harder than anticipated. I'd tried to memorise my way around last night during our tour using the pictures and various details on the walls to help my navigation of the place but it wasn't so easy after all. By the time I reached the music room my head was hurting from trying to find my way around."I was beginning to think that you'd reconsidered spending a full hour with me, chick.""It is an absolute nightmare navigating this place." I complained as I closed the door behind me. "I do have a name you know. Chick isn't going to cut it.""I rather like that term until I find a more suitable nickname for you.""Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like whatever name you come up with." I sighed in exasperation, throwing my hands up. "We're going to set some rules for the next hour. No unnecessary invasion of my personal space, you get five strikes before I walk out on your ridiculously flirtatio
I woke up feeling tired and hungry. I had hardly slept, waking every two hours almost. It was exhausting. I didn't know what was wrong. I shouldn't have been that on edge. After all, this place was a resort where royals frequented which meant that there was plenty of security here. And yet for some reason I was still feeling high strung. I couldn't shake the feeling that something really bad was going to happen at some point on this trip.There was something or someone dangerous here.I was sure of it.But was it a danger to everyone here. Or was it a danger to a select few people here. That I didn't know."Oh wow… you look worse than when Els first wakes up." Roxy commented in surprise. "Are you alright, Kai?""I'll be fine after some food and coffee." I told her reassuringly. "I just didn't get much sleep last night.""You have about ten minutes before we're supposed to be at breakfast." Ingrid informed me as she gently tugged me out of bed and shoved me into the bathroom.I got rea