I have no where else to go, Alice.
They were words that repeated in my head the next day. I couldn't understand what they meant. Aleksandr always had somewhere to go; he was Clan Hela. He could go to any Institute and the Clan would give him a place to stay. What of his parents and Anastasia? If he thought they would turn him away- then something severe must have happened. Nothing like a typical family squabble, either. He would rather be under my roof than the Clans. Considering the anger he held... the logical conclusion was that the warlock had done something so atrocious that even the Clan wouldn't have anything to do with him. If he had his membership striped, then he wouldn't have Witch catcher runes.
He wouldn't have any runes.
I tried not to think about it. Especially on such a beautiful day. Michael had spread out a blanket onto the lawn behind the palace, and we had a loose version of a picnic. As I sipped blood out of the glass, I only thought about Aleksandr. Michael wore a loose fitting white shirt, which looked more like a medieval tunic than anything someone would wear today, and a light blue pair of jeans. I wore a deep blue sweater and black pants that hugged my frame.
"... the Professor said we had to do a ten minute presentation! Ten minutes, and they didn't even have the assignment on the syllabus at the beginning of the semester. If I knew that this was a project I had to do then I would have dropped the class." Elizabeth ranted over the phone speaker. The phone was rested on my stomach as I laid across the blanket.
"Yes, they definitely should have had the project on the syllabus." I replied to her, acknowledging her feelings even if I had no idea why assignments should be on a syllabus. I absently watched the clouds inch across the sky. "Did you sign up for classes next semester already?" I asked, having no idea how college worked and when things happened.
"Not until November." I could hear chattering in the background of Lizzie's voice. It sounded like she was at a restaurant or a cafe. "Speaking of November, are you going to stay in Russia for winter?" Lizzie recalled the conversation we had last time we talked- which was only a week ago. I glanced at Michael and he raised an eyebrow at me. I had suspected the two of them discussed this prior to it being brought up now.
"I don't know. I'm still deliberating. It's a warm day today." I observe, but I knew this was a rarity in this time of year for St. Petersburg. The sun was out, the sky was blue and other than the freezing breeze, it was enjoyable. Then again, vampires had some immunity to temperature so that probably had something to do with it. "But it's October. I have another week or two to decide." The words that came from my lips were the same ones Vladimir had said.
"Where will you go?" Elizabeth asked.
"Maybe Paris. It snows there but not as much. I was also considering Rome. Snow wouldn't be a problem there." It wouldn't be as convenient for night walkers, I reminded myself.
"I wish I could winter somewhere it snows." Elizabeth told me.
"That's because you haven't dealt with a lot of snow." I snorted. Michael nodded in agreement with me. "Northern Siberia is beautiful but it feels like the snow never ends."
"Where is Siberia?" Elizabeth asked. I rolled my eyes.
"It's a good thing you aren't majoring in geography."
"Hey!" My sister laughed on the other end of the line. I smiled at the sound. "I'm just asking."
"Russians refer to Siberia as anywhere east of the Ural mountains, and north of China and... Mongolia." My face contorted slightly, trying to draw up an image of the land in my mind.
"Where are the Ural Mountains?" The witch wondered next. I run a hand down my face and shook my head. How was I supposed to describe their location? West of Siberia and East of Moscow? She'll be asking where Moscow is located next. This was an endless cycle.
